LG wants to make using smart TVs easier with webOS 3.0
It can bring your apps to the TV screen and organize streams like channels.
LG debuted its webOS-powered HDTVs back in 2014, bringing HP's mobile technology to the living room and making for a smart TV that mostly succeeded in being simpler and faster. Last year the second edition focused on speed, and for 2016 -- in world where dongles, set-top boxes and videogame systems are all competing to manage your streaming TV apps -- LG says it's working on usability and control. There are three new "Magic" features this year, with Mobile Connection that lets users toss apps up from their phone to the big screen, a new remote that's supposed to control more set-top boxes, and Zoom that can blow up parts of the picture without ruining the quality.
LG has also partnered with a new company called Xumo for a feature called Channel Plus, that lines up video from the internet in a guide that's as easy to search as live channels. The IoTV app is supposed to make it easy to control compatible LG boxes or other compatible hardware, there's Multi-view to watch more than one channel or even input at once, and a music player that can keep working while the screen is off. The first two rounds with webOS have left us impressed, and we'll find out at CES in a couple of weeks if this edition keeps the trend going.
