So Sky have announced Sky Glass, a new Smart TV, made by the UK TV and broadband provider Sky.
What Is The Appeal
Before this point you needed a satellite and a Sky TV Box to watch full Sky TV (of course you could have used Now TV but that does not have anywhere near the amount of channels Sky has and Now TV uses a contract free model compared to Sky who has contracts that lock you in for at least 12 months and also Now TV is way more expensive if you just pay for it every month). With Sky Glass, you are streaming Sky over the internet which is different more convenient than a satellite dish these days (unless you live somewhere rural where internet is pretty slow and in that case Sky Glass is not for you). Another reason it might be exciting for some people is the TV itself is on a contract so you can pay each month in more managable amounts than if you buy a TV in one go (which isn't an option). The TV also has a microphone for the built in Sky assistant which you can trigger by saying, "Hey Sky".
The Camera Accessory
At the same launch event where Sky announced Sky Glass they also announced a camera which they have made in collaboration with Microsoft that sits on the top of the TV. The idea is you can use the camera to do a video call and watch TV with your friends over the internet. Now where Microsoft fits into this is they are the ones who actually designed the camera and it looks very similar to the Kinect for the Xbox so it is interesting to see something like that come back after the actual Kinect was discontinued a few years ago.
Some Of My Problems With The Idea
One of my main objections to the idea of an all in one tv with everything you need built in from the get go is that it centralises the control of your data when it comes to stuff like your TV watching preferences and what shows you like most and sure that was still a problem with the Sky Q box but with the adding of voice support and especially the camera accessory there is more data that could be collected from this TV. I mean what if Sky decides to use the camera to sense your emotions when watching different programs and stuff like that. That could be extremely valuable info in mapping everything about you and the way your mind works and can be manipulated. Sure they might not do that on day one but they could do so with a simple update to the privacy policy and the firmware of the TV. Also the idea of having your TV listening all the time waiting for you to trigger it is a bit worrying in itself and the subscription model for this TV adds to the dystopian feeling that you own nothing and you are just borrowing it (although I think after the contract you will probably own it).
Conclusion
So overall if you don't care about your privacy, Sky Glass maybe a great option if you want to get rid of your satellite dish for good and it will be interesting to see what happens when it is released in early 2022