Dream Big with Samsung's Smart TV

The first time I laid eyes on the Samsung Smart TV at their tech bloggers' event last April 7 at Seventh High (lucky number 7!) in BGC, I gotta admit, I was thoroughly smitten.  After learning about all its awesome features, the first wave of ideas about what I could do with it were just personal geeky ways I could upgrade my techie life.  But then, in a brief conversation with Jan Roman (Flat TV Panel Product Leader from Samsung's Consumer Electronics Team), I realized that the Smart TV -- when used in certain situations -- can potentially effect the most interesting changes in the way we interact and communicate.

Just a few examples:

School / Education

• Teachers could create customized kids' TV programs and show them on loop or on a schedule.
• Because of the Skype capability, hassle-free tele-education could actually be possible.
• Some schools have begun using Smart Boards, but a Smart TV could enhance the experience since it can connect to the internet.  Search on-the-spot for definitions, images, activities, related information, etc.
•  I wonder if the Smart TV is able to display side-by-side a TV screen and the web browser?  Sometimes when I'm watching TV or movies with my kids, they ask me random questions about things they see or hear on the telly, which would then make me grab my mobile device or laptop and search for the answer.  Wouldn't it be cool if I could do both on the same screen?

Airport
The Smart TV could serve as a, well, smarter centralized wifi-enabled information kiosk that displays flight schedules and news broadcasts at the same time.  Plus, with the Social TV feature activated, travelers could even log onto their social networks and keep in touch via their wireless devices.

Twestival, other social media gatherings

• Upgrade tweetups by using the Smart TV to livestream the event and turn on the Social TV feature.  Besides, what's a tweetup if people can't tweet about it? At the Samsung event, of course I could see the tweets of my fellow bloggers, but not all of them.  Would be great to have seen also the tweets of the other participants there and make new friends, match the Twitter handle immediately to a face.
• I wonder how many screens the Smart TV can display all at one time?  Can it tile upto 4 screens maybe?  That would make events -- especially the global ones that happen simultaneously -- a lot more interactive and relevant, giving participants a more meaningful experience of being in a "global community".

At this point, I want to be realistic about this wishlist because, honestly, our infra isn't yet how it should be.  If it were, so much groundbreaking could be possible (advocacy cameo: No to broadband cap! Give us better internet now!).  But I'm keeping optimistic about what our digital landscape might look like 5 years from now, especially when I remember where we were 10 years ago.  Imagine the Smart TV being part of that future.  Exciting times ahead!