Competitions between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics based on their Smart TV operating systems (OS) are going to be reignited. They are both going to enhance their OS as they look to release their new products in 2018. If their OS focused on convenience of Smart TV in the past, new versions will focus on ‘connectivity’ that will form Smart Home environment. It is expected that their strategies that will differentiate next-generation technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) will face off against each other.
According to industries on the 25th, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are going to carry out huge updates on their OS and apply their OS to their 2018 Smart TVs. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are going to apply Tizen 4.0 and WebOS 4.0 to their Smart TVs respectively. Although Samsung Electronics’ Tizen 4.0 was introduced in May, this will be the first time when it will be applied to Samsung Electronics’ TVs. LG Electronics also only partially improved convenience level of WebOS this year after upgrading the version of WebOS every year in the past. Various functions such as IoT (Internet of Things) will be upgraded for TVs that will be released in 2018.
Industries predict that ‘connectivity’ between devices that will establish Smart Home environment will be prepared through upgrades of their OS. In the past, they upgraded their OS so that it is little bit easier to use TVs. For example, older versions of their OS offered functions that save channels by using remote controls in order to quickly access video contents and TV applications and that automatically recommend channels that are similar to the ones that are being watched.
A need for OS that will control and manage connections between devices through IoT and voice recognition-based AI technologies has become an issue as they are being emphasized in a field of home appliances. An environment where home appliances that are located near a person control other devices through voice recognition is being demanded.
Samsung Electronics’ Tizen 4.0 allows a Smartphone to control other devices through Samsung Connect. Besides TVs, it can also comprehensively control other kitchen and home appliances such as refrigerator, air conditioner, and washing machine. One can also monitor and analyze data through Cloud. LG Electronics is also expected to upgrade WebOS so that WebOS can strengthen connection and compatibility between devices and apply AI technologies. “Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics recently started to receive certifications from OCF (Open Connectivity Foundation), which is a standard for IoT, for various home appliances including TVs.” said a representative for an industry. “They are currently enhancing their OS so that IoT-standardized technologies can be applied.”
It is expected that Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will link their OS to their AI speakers that are going to be pushed as regular businesses starting from 2018. Samsung Electronics is going to work with Harman and is planning to release AI speakers that are applied with Bixby during the first half of 2018. LG Electronics also worked with Google, Amazon, and Naver and introduced speakers that are applied with various AI platforms. Majority of industries believe that their OS will be developed so that they are optimized for voice recognition and AI functions.
“Their OS that are mostly applied to Smart TVs are also being applied to other home appliances such as digital signage, beam projector, refrigerator, and washing machine.” said a representative for an industry. “There is a high chance that competitions between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics will escalate to other Smart home appliances.”
Staff Reporter Kwon, Dongjoon | djkwon@etnews.com
