Remember the good old days when the television used to be called the “idiot box”? Well, it’s now 2011, and boy how things have changed since then. LG Electronics has just announced that they will be unveiling a new set of digital televisions that aim to change the way we use our TVs. At the NAB 2011 show this week, LG will unveil a prototype of their Mobile Digital TV. The portable device has been designed to allow us to bring the complete TV experience and more, everywhere we go.
Watching shows isn’t enough for people sometimes, as evident by the increase in Twitter traffic during an episode of American Idol or Glee – people want to talk about shows. That’s why LG is introducing Tweet-TV. Instead of having to look at a separate device or screen for your tweets while watching TV, LG plans to enable a transparent conversational overlay over the show itself. In addition to discussions happening in real time, Tweet-TV will also enable broadcasters to have quizzes or contests going on at the same time with the show.
And for folks who want 3D on their TVs: auto-stereoscopic capabilities that allow users to watch 3D content without the use of clumsy 3D glasses. These Mobile DTVs will also work with Android-enabled smartphones that can tune in to Mobile DTVs to interact with Tweet-TV, and also for non-real time applications such as retrieving discount coupons from the TVs. Mobile DTV seems like a pretty nifty idea if you ask me, but whether or not such TVs become the norm – it’s much too early to tell.