In the kind of dystopian insanity that would have George Orwell banging his head on his keyboard, Samsung's newest Smart TVs watch you. In this video from the CES 2012 tech show, we see how the Korean manufacturer's latest tellies recognise your voice and gestures with a built-in camera and mic.
The camera can interpret simple gestures -- move your hand around to control a cursor and clench your fist to 'click' -- and even the different faces of your family members. You can associate permissions with various faces, so if your wee one turns on the telly they'll only be able to watch CBeebies.
Voice recognition means you can tell your TV which channel you want to watch and change volume, among other functions, which sounds like a really useful feature for people with disabilities, those who've lost their remote and fans of Montgomery Scott.
Samsung hasn't confined its TV innovation to the software this year -- its 55-inch Super OLED TV was one of the best we saw at CES. The futuristic-looking TV incorporates all the new Smart TV gubbins, and amazingly is less than a centimetre thick.
Impressive, but not quite as impressive as LG's 55-inch OLED, which is a barely visible 4mm thick and bore away the Best of Show prize at our Best of CES awards.
Hit play for more Samsung Smartness and let us know what you think in the comments below or over on our highly intelligent Facebook page.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 4
Add your comment
Peter Hudson 16 January, 2012 18:52
Do I really want to have to log into my TV? and do I really want to be waving my hand around in front of the TV when a remote has been simple and easy to use for years now.
I don't like the look of all these new smart TVs, I really don't need my TV to be complicated. I don't want TV apps, I have all that on my phone, computer, and iPad.
georg55 16 January, 2012 23:03
People have double standards when they heard that apple might release a tv with siri voice implementation every one was talking about how innovative it would be just works.now samsung has beat apple to market
people/fanboys included ane saying it's a gimmick, and whats wrong with the old remote.but when apple releases one at it big conference in late 2012/2013 wait for the ohhh ,ahhh ,its magical ,wait and see
no one/manufacturer to get credit but apple. good one sammy and LG with voice control remote
tbag 17 January, 2012 09:18
I agree with Peter that TV's seem to be becoming needlessly overcomplicated, voice control is quite an old technology that hasnt really taken off in the past as its more of a gimmick rather than an innovation (im yet to see anybody try out Siri in public in London!) For me a TV should be about picture and sound quality, the user should then be able to decide if he wants to have a media server plugged up with a connection to the internet.
billfred 17 January, 2012 14:33
You say overly complicated, I love having iPlayer and Youtube on my big tele or connecting my external HDD etc. without having to hook up my laptop.
You say it's about choice, then don't buy one dumbass!
It's still fair to say the voice control on phones sucked before Siri, and Siri still has a long way to go in my opinion. I still love the voice control on my droid even though I do have to remember the commands quite precisely.