Samsung Reveals Internet TV Search System

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 2/14/2008

Ridgefield Park, N.J. — Samsung Electronics said it has developed a set-top box technology called See’N’Search that will enable users to call up Internet content on their TVs without the need for a PC, keyboard or special content programming.

According to a company spokesman, there are no details yet on when the product will be available or what it will cost; however, when it gets here, the system is designed to make intelligent decisions in finding and gathering links to content from the Internet that might be relevant to the programming a viewer is watching on TV. The system won’t require a keyboard to type in searches or IP addresses, and it won’t add the expense of special authoring through a content ecosystem.

The See’N’Search technology automatically suggests existing Internet media and information related to the programs users are already watching, Samsung said.

“See’N’Search technology will revolutionize how consumers will see and use the Internet in the living room in the next few years,” stated Alan Messer, connected consumer technologies director of Samsung’s U.S Research and Development Center. “By greatly minimizing the need to manually search for related content and special interactive content authoring, this technology enables consumers to directly watch or surf Internet content that is relevant to them.”

The See’N’Search box will use program guide information in addition to the closed caption metadata to search existing Internet content (HTML coding, Web video, etc.) and make recommendations that would appeal to the users.

The box will monitor the contents of the program being watched, using natural language technologies to determine the topics that are being discussed.

Users may press a More Info button to call up on screen a See’N’Search user interface with related information or media that the system found retrieved from the Internet. Viewers select a piece of content from any particular topic, and the box will take them to the site.

Samsung said See’N’Search information can also be transmitted from the TV or set-top box to any connected devices in the living room, such as Wi-Fi enabled phones, tablets or laptops.

“Samsung’s See’N’Search technology gives a whole new way of getting to the Internet without turning the TV into a PC,” said Victoria Coleman, Samsung’s U.S. Computer Science Laboratory VP.