Alex Thatcher, a product manager for the company’s TV division, told reporters on hand at the Custom Electronics Design and Installation trade show that the company plans to have a commercially available version of the digital-enabled TVs ready to ship into retail stores by the middle of next year.
“The idea is to give you easy access to your digital media,” Thatcher said.
Using universal plug-and-play technology, the TVs also would be able to download content from attached storage hardware, digital cameras, cellphones and other mobile devices.
Thatcher said the development was a response to desire on the part of consumers to access all digital content through a single source. He said company research shows that, despite the growth in use of PCs over the past decade, the preferred medium among many consumers remains television.
Tim Bajarin, president of tech research firm Creative Strategies, agreed. "More than 50 percent of American consumers are storing digital video or music on their hard drives, and 25 percent of U.S. households rate the ability to view digital photos on a large-screen display as extremely important," he said.
To help sell the new technology, Hewlett-Packard is striking deals with music and video content providers and is expected to announce several strategic alliances at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.