Who said Smart TV's had to be pricey? Certainly not Aussie tech manufacturer-slash-retailers Kogan, who've just dropped their 32-inch Agora 32 Smart TV in at £259.

Interestingly running Google's Android platform (Ice Cream Sandwich version) rather than a bespoke Smart TV offering, the TV will give access to the full raft of Google Play Store apps as well as letting you catch up on the latest episodes of Eastenders.

With Wi-Fi built in alongside a USB port for media playback, the set gives access to Android app versions of popular services such as iPlayer, Facebook and Twitter, as well as numerous gaming apps.

At this price point concessions have to be made, so you'll find the Agora 32 running a 720p display rather than a full HD 1080p panel, though edge-lit LED lighting should at least give contrast and colours some punch.

On sale now, you can grab an even cheaper 19-inch LED set from Kogan for just £79 at the moment.

Samsung's 85-inch S-Series UHD 4K TV was a showstopper at CES 2013, with its giant high-resolution display and easel-like frame housing its speakers. However, it unsurprisingly came with a whopping price tag, set to cost $39,999 when they launch in June. And don't even ask how much the 110-inch version costs.

Noting that its out of the price range of practically everyone on the face of the planet, it's now transpired that Samsung will be revealing 55- and 65-inch versions, ready to hit the Korean market in June ahead of a likely worldwide release.

With so little native 4K content available at the moment, $39,999 is a massive punt to take on a new screen, the benefits of which won't be seen for some years. And though pricing for the smaller sets can only be speculated at at the moment, it's got to be a fair sight more affordable than the giant screens.

Confirming that the screens will support Samsung's Evolution Kits (upgradable modules that will let Samsung offer faster processors and other improved specifications to the screens over time). the smaller sets will also feature micro-dimming technology for improved brightness and contrast levels, as well as upscaling of regular HD content.

Name: Samsung UE32F6400 3D Smart TV

Type: 32-inch 3D Full HD TV with web connected Smart TV features

Specifications: Click here for full specs

Price as reviewed: Around £600

We've seen the flagship 55-inch F8000 3D TV whopper from Samsung, and now we venture into more affordable territory with the 32-inch F6400. With many of the same connected Smart TV features of its big brother, can it impress in the same way? Read our full review to find out!

NOTE: We tested the 32-inch F6400 model. However, with the specifications between this model and the 40 and 46, 55 and 65-inch models almost identical, we're confident that our tests with the 32-inch model will reflect a very similar experience were you looking to pick up one of the larger televisions instead.

Design:
While not quite as dazzling as the flagship F8000 models with their slimline bezels and low-clearance stands, the F6400 Samsung TVs still look very attractive.

At 49.5mm thick, it's a fairly plump set by today's super-slim standards, but not so much to make wall mounting unsightly or impractical. With the stand attached, that depth jumps to 264.8mm, but again that's not a depth that even a smaller TV cabinet couldn't handle. A black glossy bezel of a uniform size just over a centimetre sits around the screen, with the edges finished with a clear perspex for a reserved, stylish finish.

For the F6400, Samsung have reverted back to their four-pronged chrome stand, what we at Tech Digest affectionately call the alien foot. It still looks great, and it's more stable than the curved arc stand that ships with the flagship models even with it's ability to swivel a little, though admittedly is a bit more "in your face" than the mostly hidden arc stand.

Though 3 HDMI ports, 3USB ports and the antenna are mounted on the right hand side of the rear of the screen, composite, LAN and a fourth HDMI port, along with power supple, go directly into the back of the screen, which may cause a few cable tidying headaches if using all ports when wall mounting.

Connections:

It's good to see 4 HDMI inputs on a smaller set at an affordable price, alongside an array of USB ports. Freeview HD only here though, which may rile those hoping to get a Freesat HD tuner too.

• Component In (Y / Pb / Pr) x 1
• Composite In (AV) x 1 (Common Use for Component Y)
• Digital Audio Out (Optical) x 1
• Ethernet (LAN) x 1
• HDMI x 4
• RF In (Terrestrial / Cable Input) X 1
• USB x 3
• Headphone x 1
• Scart x 1
• CI Slot x 1
• IR Out x 1
• Built-in Wi-Fi

2D Picture Quality:
The UE32F6400 has a standard 1080x1920 Full HD 1080p resolution, and performs above and beyond the picture quality we'd expect from a TV this price.

Out of the box the UE32F6400's Movie picture mode doesn't look half bad, and while it's still not at an enthusiast's level of picture perfection, ample image tweaking options (including white balance and green and red tint controls), will let you calibrate it just how you like it.

As with the F8000, Samsung's improved the backlight consistency for the F6400, and it makes a marked difference to the overall picture quality. With deep blacks and rich, detailed and accurate (once tweaked) colours, there's no problem with light leakage or image clouding with the latest models, with the blacklight and edge-lit algorithms working in tandem to really enhance the overall contrast of the image, and pull the most detail possible out of dark, shadowy scenes.

The screen's sharpness sees images really pop in high-definition, and firing up a Blu-ray disc lets the screen really let rip, offering up great detail for what these days (in the age of giant LCD living room panels) could be considered a second room or bedroom set.

Motion clarity on the presets is a little too aggressive for our liking, and you'll want to dial it back a bit with a custom setting unless you want to suffer from slightly watery movement. Once adjusted, fast action scenes move with little perceptible judder, and it's a very pleasant set to view movies and sport on as a result

As you'd expect, HD content looks the best on the F6400, but with the screen size here not gigantic, SD content looks perfectly fine too. The upscaling capabilities aren't quite as impressive as on the F8000, with some jagged edges appearing where they wouldn't on equivalent HD content. But with a screen this size a decent distance away, it's less noticeable anyway. Keep in mind that SD content on the larger F6400 models may suffer as a result.

3D Picture Quality:
The F6400 uses active shutter 3D technology, and it performs well for a TV this size. Of course, with a 3D visuals, you're looking to bag as big a screen as possible to keep the 3D effect immersively encompassing your peripheral vision, but for a 3D gamer sat up close to the screen, the effect is still pretty good.

However, the forced motion processing which impressed so much on the F8000's 3D visuals doesn't work quite as well here, introducing significant motion interpolation that can hinder the depth effect. It's possibly a processing side-effect of the low-powered F6400, using a dual-core system rather than the F8000 quad-core array. Even with the Motion Plus setting set to off, it was still present, and was only defeated by switching on the Game Mode, itself introducing a lot of judder. Which looks better is up for debate, and neither is perfect.

Two pairs of 3D glasses come with the set (the same design that's a standard across all this year's 3D models from Samsung), and they're very light and comfortable, with the watch-battery that powers them sitting in a snap-down panel over the bridge of your nose. Ideally we'd prefer bigger lenses to help us from peeking out of the immersive 3D visuals, but the ones on offer here are large enough to sit relatively comfortably over a pair of prescription glasses.

Sound:

The UE32F6400 suffers from the usual shoddy audio that the majority of flatscreen TVs seem afflicted with.

Though 3D sound options are available, the down-firing 10W stereo speakers sound hollow and tinny, lacking any real punch, though doing a good job of keeping voices to the fore.

As ever, our advice is to pair the screen up with a soundbar or home cinema surround unit, the sad price we have to pay since leaving the bulk of CRT screens behind us.

Web Connected Smart TV and EPG features:
Packing in both Wi-Fi connectivity and an Ethernet connection, the F6400 has access to many of the Smart TV bells and whistles of its pricer counterparts. Though there's no built-in webcam or mic, putting Skype video calling out of the question as well as the so-so motion controls, you can still use the microphone built into the second of the two supplied remotes to interact with the TV screen.

The F6400 shares the same radically overhauled Smart TV interface that we reviewed in the F8000, so aside from a few pertinent omissions, this next section is basically the same as when we reviewed the pricer set.

As well as connecting up with your household's other smart devices (which we'll talk about in the " Remote Controls and Smartphone Apps" section of this review), Samsung have given the interface a drastic makeover, increasing the homescreen count from one to five.

These homescreens each focus on different aspects of the TV's capabilities. The first is dedicated to live TV, offering a picture-in-picture view of the channel you're currently watching, as well as recommendations based on your viewing habits showing similar shows as thumbnails surrounding it. Access to the Guide, Timeline and Recorded TV (shows are stored on a connected USB device) sit on the bottom.

The second screen focuses on On Demand TV and movie streaming services, and again offers recommendations based on your viewing habits, improving over time. As it stands, it can be confusing figuring out which service the recommendation comes from (it's a pain to have the premium Acetrax service pop-up when we're only looking for Netflix content), and though a cool feature, it'd benefit from being able to limit the sources the Samsung guide trawls through.

A third screen offers social feeds, aggregating Twitter and Facebook accounts into one place, and giving priority to video content shared on each site that can be played back on the TV. Also present here (once you've accepted the option to install it) is a Skype app, though it's severely limited without a built-in webcam.

A fourth screen allows access to music, video and photos shared on your network or a locally connected device, displayed in all their glory on the big screen. Recorded TV shows can again be accessed from here too.

A final fifth screen offers a grid-like interface for accessing dedicated apps, covering everything from health and fitness videos to Spotify, a web browser (which is among the best we've tried on a TV), and a great selection of video services on offer including Netflix, LoveFilm, BBC iPlayer and iTV Player, as well as Samsung's own 3D channels. A surprisingly robust app store lets you add more apps to this hub, including TV-optimised versions of popular mobile apps like Angry Birds

It's an intuitive layout that can be controlled in a variety of ways, but the whole experience suffers from the use of a slower dual-core processor. While the F8000 has a quad-core processor, the F6400's dual-core means navigating the Smart TV menus (well, all menus on the screen in fact) seem a little sluggish by comparison. Without having tested the two TVs in such close proximity we perhaps wouldn't have noticed it at all, making it a minor grumble, but it's a point where the pricer set's premium value becomes clear.

Remote Controls, Voice Activated Controls and Smartphone Apps:As seems Samsung's standard this year, the UE32F6400 comes with not one, but two remote controls.

One is a standard remote with rubber buttons, including shortcut keys for accessing Smart TV features, as well as playback controls for videos and ARC-connected HDMI devices. It's comfortable and sensibly laid out, and Samsung have sensibly removed the rarely-used "Family Story" shortcut button. It's a shame that there's no dedicated button for accessing aspect ratio, leading to a lengthy trawl through menus to get to it, and the same goes for the Game Mode. Also missing is the backlight, which featured in last year's flagship set's remote, though arguably it's battery draining excess anyway.

The second remote control is smaller and more squat, and is identical to that which comes with the F8000 except that it has a black finish compared to brushed silver finish of the more expensive TV's remote. It features far less physical buttons in favour of a touch panel. It works surprisingly well, particularly when using it like a laptop trackpad for browsing the TV's web connected features. It also features a built-in microphone, meaning you can use the TV's voice-activated controls without shouting across the room, or over the volume of the set itself. However, it's not as instantly familiar an experience to use as the standard remote, and, just like last year, we still found ourselves using the regular remote more often than the touch-enabled one.

While Samsung's motion control system isn't present here, Android and iOS apps can hook up the screen for some second screen functionality. With them you can stream video from the TV tuner to a tablet or smartphone, control the TV from an app or share content from the phone to the TV. Unfortunately, there's no single all-encompassing app yet that covers all features, meaning you've got to use a handful in order to get to all the features. iOS apps are still missing a few features, but Samsung promise to add more features as time goes on. All in, the tablet/smartphone controls are more useful than the gesture and voice counterparts at this stage.

Verdict:

Samsung's 3D TV range scales nicely this year, with this inexpensive 3D Smart TV retaining many of the very cool features of its more expensive stablemates. 2D performance is excellent, and 3D performance fair. But the real star of the show here is the Smart TV platform, of an incredibly high quality and one that would have come with a massive premium just a few short years ago. If you're looking for a web-connected set that won't break the bank and let you dip into 3D thrills from time to time, this is a great value set to invest in.

Name: Samsung UE55F8000 3D TV

Type: 55-inch 3D Full HD TV with web connected features, webcam, motion controls and voice activated controls.

Specifications: Click here for full specs

Price as reviewed: Around £2,500

Samsung's latest edge-lit LED TV has every conceivable feature you could care to find in a modern television, from solid 3D performance through to voice controlled apps and an intelligent, attractive EPG. It's also pretty darn expensive. Are its many bells and whistles worth the extra cash? Read on to find out!

NOTE: We tested the 55-inch F8000 model. However, with the specifications between this model and the 40 and 46-inch models almost identical, we're confident that our tests with the 55-inch model will reflect a very similar experience were you looking to pick up one of the smaller televisions instead.

Design:
The UE55F800 is a truly beautiful set, with a jaw-dropping design befitting of its price tag. Measuring just under 35mm thick at its plumpest point (and barely 15mm at its thinnest), it's almost impossibly thin given its huge panel size. The image on screen itself is pushed to the fore thanks to a bezel only half a centimetre thick - the closest we've seen a television come to that "bezel-free" dream that all TV manufacturers are chasing at the moment.

Connections on the rear are sensibly accessible from the side, allowing for wall mounting, and can be hidden away with a snap-on magnetic covering panel, which will save from trails of eyesore cabling being visible around the rear should you plan on placing the screen away from a wall.The rear also houses a small control panel on the bottom right hand side should you misplace the sets two remote controls. The topmost edge of the television hides a small retractable webcam that pops out when pressed, smoothly extending to sit flush on the top edge of the screen. The lower edge has a small glowing Samsung logo which, like the boot-up graphic, can be disabled if you find it annoying.If you're not planning on wall-mounting the set, an attractive curved stand comes with television, arching around the rear of the screen and allowing the television to sit very close to the surface on which it stands, with clearance of little more than an inch. While the stand is stylish and unobtrusive, it's frustratingly balanced. It seems as if all the weight of the set is taken at the front-most points of the stands feet, meaning can lean forwards and topple over if not placed on a wide surface. Though relatively light at 18.3kg with the stand attached (16.8kg without) it'd still do some damage to the screen if it were to fall this way, so think carefully before placing it down.

Connections:

A solid 4 HDMI inputs is what we'd expect from a TV of this size and price, with a wide and useful array of ports and connections on the UE55F8000. The inclusion of both Freeview HD and Freesat tuners are welcome, giving plenty of viewing options to buyers.

• Component In (Y / Pb / Pr) x 1
• Composite In (AV) x 1 (Common Use for Component Audio L / R)
• Digital Audio Out (Optical) x 1
• Ethernet (LAN) x 1
• HDMI x 4
• RF In (Terrestrial / Cable Input) x 1
• RF In (Satellite Input) x 2
• USB x 3
• Headphone x 1
• Scart x 1
• CI Slot x 1
• R Out x 1
• Built-in Wi-Fi

2D Picture Quality:
The UE55F8000 has a standard 1080x1920 Full HD 1080p resolution, and with Samsung now testing the UHD waters, could well be the company's last flagship at this resolution. If that's the case, it's a fitting swansong - the image quality here is superb.

Usually we're ones to knock a television's preset image settings, but even out of the box the UE55F800 impresses. That's for the most part down to Samsung's refinement of their backlight system. Previous Samsung LED models have struggled to deliver a consistent backlight across the frame, and while the rest of the image has been colourful and punchy, dark scenes suffered from light bleed in and cloudy grey patches as a result. Here, the backlight is consistent right up to its maximum brightness setting, allowing those who enjoy a bright, dynamic image to do so without worry.

With this in mind, Samsung have also introduced a new Cinema Black feature to be used when watching letterboxed 21:9 ratio movies. This allows the set to factor in the black bars above and below a picture before applying any edge LED enhancements, giving solid black bars at the top and bottom of a movie, free of grey light waves and pulses.

With deep blacks and rich contrast performance nailed then, Samsung's stalwart colour accuracy looks as good as ever, with great detail and range in colour tones and subtle shadow details in murkier scenes.

Images are sharp and detailed, crisply bringing out all the finer points of that Blu-ray collection you've been building up. Images in motion look good too, thanks to the use of a native 200Hz panel and a scanning backlight. Though Samsung's more aggressive motion-processing settings still look a little otherworldly, fine-tune them with a customised setting and you'll find even the busiest action scenes moving buttery smooth.

We'd still encourage you to dial the backlight down a bit though if you want the most natural looking image possible, and it's a shame that Samsung still haven't managed to get a really good preset image setting nailed down. A matter of taste we suppose, but expect to do a little tweaking to nail down the most stunning image that this set can offer.

As ever, a HD screen this big will always do best with high-resolution content, and standard definition material can look a little blurry and muddy by comparison. It's no worse than big screen HD rivals though, and the upscaling attempted here by Samsung makes SD content look as good as is possible.

3D Picture Quality:
Using active shutter 3D technology, Samsung's flagship offers some of the finest 3D visuals you'll get inside the comfort of your own home. Watching Pixars Brave 3D, motion processing is now also applied to 3D images too thanks to the quad-core processing engine onboard, removing some of the judder issues that have caused problems on 3D Samsung sets in the past.

Crosstalk issues too are notably reduced, and we saw only one instance in the whole of Brave, with a background moon pictured with a separate shimmery edge. Best of all, the improved backlighting functions of the television and incredibly high brightness levels mean that the dark-tinted glasses barely make an effect on the overall vibrancy of the image.

Two pairs of 3D glasses come with the set, and they're very light and comfortable, with the watch-battery that powers them sitting in snap-down panel over the bridge of your nose. Ideally we'd prefer bigger lenses to help us from peeking out of the immersive 3D visuals, but the ones on offer here are large enough to sit relatively comfortably over a pair of prescription glasses.

Sound:
Flat screen TVs never perform that well in the audio department; when they're this thin, where are the speakers to go?

The UE55F8000 is a breath of fresh air in this regard then. With dedicated bass speakers, it sounds far richer than previous sets of this ilk, offering deeper, punchier sounds and a wide soundscape that nearly matches the scope of the picture on screen.

You'd still do well to match the telly with a soundbar or home cinema set-up, but for once it won't be painful to your ears if it isn't.

Web Connected Smart TV and EPG features:
Packing in both Wi-Fi connectivity and an Ethernet connection, it's easy to get the UE55F8000 hooked up to your home network, letting you access a wide variety of Smart TV content and apps.

It's a radical overhaul for the company's Smart TV service too. As well as connecting up with your household's other smart devices (which we'll talk about in the " Remote Controls, and Motion and Voice Activated Controls and Smartphone Apps" section of this review), Samsung have given the interface a drastic makeover, increasing the homescreen count from one to five.

These homescreens each focus on different aspects of the TV's capabilities. The first is dedicated to live TV, offering a picture-in-picture view of the channel you're currently watching, as well as recommendations based on your viewing habits similar shows as thumbnails surrounding it. Access to the Guide, Timeline and Recorded TV (shows are stored on a connected USB device) sit on the bottom.

The second screen focuses on On Demand TV and movie streaming services, and again offers recommendations based on your viewing habits, improving over time. As it stands, it can be confusing figuring out which service the recommendation comes from (it's a pain to have the premium Acetrax service pop-up when we're only looking for Netflix content), and though a cool feature, it'd benefit from being able to limit the sources the Samsung guide trawls through.

A third screen offers social feeds, aggregating Twitter and Facebook accounts into one place, and giving priority to video content shared on each site that can be played back on the TV. Also present here (once you've accepted the option to install it) is a Skype app, and with the built-in webcam, your set is turned into the sort of video screen that'd make Marty McFly envious.A fourth screen allows access to music, video and photos shared on your network or a locally connected device, displayed in all their glory on the big screen. Recorded TV shows can again be accessed from here too.

A final fifth screen offers a grid-like interface for accessing dedicated apps, covering everything from health and fitness videos to Spotify, a web browser (which is among the best we've tried on a TV), and a great selection of video services on offer including Netflix, LoveFilm, BBC iPlayer and iTV Player, as well as Samsung's own 3D channels. A surprisingly robust app store lets you add more apps to this hub, including TV-optimised versions of popular mobile apps like Angry Birds

It's an intuitive layout that can be controlled in a variety of ways as we'll detail next, making for the most attractive and speedy Smart TV interface we've yet had the pleasure to try.

Remote Controls, and Motion and Voice Activated Controls and Smartphone Apps:The UE46ES7000 comes with not one, but two remote controls.

One is a standard remote with rubber buttons, including shortcut keys for accessing Smart TV features, as well as playback controls for videos and ARC-connected HDMI devices. It's comfortable and sensibly laid out, and Samsung have sensibly removed the rarely-used "Family Story" shortcut button. It's a shame that there's no dedicated button for accessing aspect ratio, leading to a lengthy trawl through menus to get to it, and the same goes for the Game Mode. Also missing is the backlight, which featured in last year's flagship set's remote, though arguably it's battery draining excess anyway.

The second remote control is smaller and more squat, and is similar to that which can be found with the ES7000 models. It features far less physical buttons in favour of a touch panel. It works surprisingly well, particularly when using it like a laptop trackpad for browsing the TV's web connected features. It also features a built-in microphone, meaning you can use the TV's voice-activated controls without shouting across the room, or over the volume of the set itself. However, it's not as instantly familiar an experience to use as the standard remote, and, just like last year, we still found ourselves using the regular remote more often than the touch-enabled one.

Two returning features from last year's flagship sets are voice and motion controls, working in tandem with the remote's built in mic and the screen's built-in camera. Both have been improved, but neither is again perfectly implemented yet. Waving a hand to activate a text entry box is far less finicky than navigating with either remote, and is a nice way to guide the cursor around the screen, making it the lesser of two evils here. You still wouldn't want it to be the primary mode of control, and the screen still gets confused if you stand up or stretch, thinking it needs to turn on the motion controls. Voice commands are still ropey too - shows on the screen can annoyingly activate the trigger word, bringing up menus accidentally, while the speech recognition still makes plenty of mistakes. We still think it's the future of TV control, but it's just not quite there yet.

More successful are the Android and iOS apps, which work best on a Samsung mobile phone, but now also offer iPhone functionality too. With them you can stream video from one of the TV tuners to a tablet or smartphone, control the TV from an app or share content from the phone to the TV. Unfortunately, there's no single all-encompassing app yet that covers all features, meaning you've got to use a handful in order to get to all the features. iOS apps are still missing a few features, but Samsung promise to add more features as time goes on. All in, the tablet/smartphone controls are more useful than the gesture and voice counterparts at this stage.

Verdict:

The UE55F8000 is a real stunner, with magnificent picture quality, surprisingly good speakers, a raft of useful control schemes and a host of well thought out web-connected features. It is prohibitively expensive though, and we'd happily save some cash by ditching the voice and motion gesture controls until they've been perfected. Also of note is the slightly worrying stand design - we're sat looking at the screen as we write this and are still worried it may topple over if brushed against with a modicum of force. But these flaws, on the whole, are minor when put against the many superb features on offer here. If you can afford it, we can't recommend this TV highly enough.

As promised, LG have opened pre-orders on their nifty-looking curved OLED TVs, just two weeks after hinting that they'd get a release at some point this year.

Hitting living rooms within the next month as pre-orders are fulfilled, the 55-inch display was first revealed back at CES 2013, designed to fix "the problem of screen-edge visual distortion and detail loss" as "the entire screen surface is equidistant from the viewer's eyes". That's presuming your sat in the middle of the screen however - we can't see standard viewing angles applying to this design.

Model number 55EA9800, the screen is 4.3mm thick and weighs just 17KG. It uses LG's WRGB and Colour Refiner tech to boost image quality.

"LG is the first to launch the 55-inch OLED TV," Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG's Home Entertainment Company, said of the screens back in January.

"We believe our new OLED TVs offer the ultimate viewing experience, surpassing anything seen before. The new curved model complements our core OLED TV family with a unique design that capitalizes on the thinness of the screen and the aesthetic beauty of OLED TV."

The screens are up for pre-order at 15 million KRW in LG's Korean home turf. That sits at around the £8700 mark. LG has stated that other markets beyond Korea will get the screen in the coming months.

Samsung's 85-inch S9 UHD 4K TV, first unveiled at this year's CES, has gone on sale at Selfridges. And before you ask, you probably can't afford it.

Setting you back a whopping £35,000, you at least get a lot of TV for your money, with the 85-inch LCD panel running at a sumptuous 3,820 x 2160 resolution. It's also housed in a unique (arguably ugly) frame to support its considerable heft, allowing the TV to be easily rotated and tilted, as well as discreetly hiding a 2.2 speaker array with 120 watt output which should be a fair sight more impressive than what the usual flatscreen manages in terms of audio.

"We are very excited to launch Samsung's 85-inch S9 Ultra High Definition LED TV exclusively in our stores," said Richard Jones, Selfridges Technology Buying Manager (who we can't help but imagine has £-signs where his eyes should be).

"This is the world's first Future Ready UHD TV. The quality and definition breaks new boundaries in the world of HD TV. Our customers expect the latest and finest technology for their homes and personal use. We hope to pioneer the way forward in the latest releases and Samsung is exactly this. I'm sure it will be a huge success."

Catch the TV's CES unveiling in the video below.

YouView have announced the arrival of a software update that will bring EPG improvements to Humax boxes sold at retail and through BT.

Rolling out over the next two weeks, the update brings enhanced search capabilities to the box's TV guide, with exact search terms now being matched. Channel filters will also be added to the EPG, grouping channels together based on the sort of programming they offer.

A host of bug fixes will also be part of the update, with subtitle sync issues, forward and rewind playback problems and audio crackling annoyances all addressed.

The same updates will hit TalkTalk YouView boxes in the coming weeks.

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All AV-enthusiasts' eyes may be on the forthcoming 4K screen revolution, but if you're on the hunt for a good old Full HD set, Sony's 2013 W-Series Bravia TV line-up has just been priced. And despite the brand's pedigree, they're looking very reasonable priced, starting at an affordable £550.

Looking first at the high-end W905A, available in 55, 46 and 40-inch sizes, it starts at £1,400 and offers "Triluminous Display" LED backlighting for improved colour reproduction, 800Hz motion processing, Active 3D support and a long-duct speaker system for improved bass - a regular bug-bear of flatscreen TVs. NFC content sharing from select mobile devices is also supported.

The W805 and W807 series are next, in 55, 47 and 42-inch sizes. They drop the Triluminous tech, opt for 400Hz motion processing and use passive 3D tech, but retain the NFC sharing options, starting at £1,000.

Finally, the entry level W653 and W654 models, which start at £550. They drop 3D support and NFC tech, and come with 200Hz motion processing.

All the above TVs are web-connected, with access to Sony's Entertainment Network for movie rentals and catch-up TV services.

"Sony continues to deliver pioneering technologies to consumers, providing superb picture quality with rich, vibrant images that bring TV to life," said Chris Trewhitt, Product Marketing Manager TV, Sony UK

"This year, Sony lends its unique audio technologies to the television line, along with engaging experiences such as One-touch mirroring that instantly lets viewers show content from select NFC-enabled phones to the big screen. We invite consumers to go into stores and see it with their own eyes."

With all the focus recently on the possibility of an Apple iWatch launching, the rumour mill had all-but-stopped turning when it came to Apple's alleged TV plans. But new whipsers from supply chain sources and fresh opinions from leading analysts suggest that an Apple iTV is still just as likely to land soon as an iWatch is.

First off, the often dubious DigiTimes and their near-endless stream of supply chain sources: they're stating that they're seeing movements suggesting Apple are planning a 4K screen (the in-vogue high definition format 4 time sharper than 1080p, and seen as the next evolution in TV tech). With a resolution of 3840x2160, it'd certainly have the premium feel that Apple like to aim for (as well as the premium price tag) and could potentially be marketed under familiar "Retina" terms.

The source also claims that voice and motion control will feature (Siri, anyone?) and that an internet connection would be included.

DigiTimes new report lands alongside new analysis from renowned Apple analyst Gene Munster, telling Bloomberg that he expects Apple to release the iTV before the end of the year.

He also stated that there's "no question whether it's a set-top box versus a TV, it's an actual TV".

Apple certainly need to be looking to innovate this year. Though table sales continue to rise, Mac sales fall and Apple's iPhone smartphone dominance is increasingly being attacked by high-end Android devices. They may be swimming in cash, but Apple's share price has been a bit shaky this year, and it's been well discussed that investors are now looking to Apple CEO Tim Cook to unveil an innovative product to match Steve Jobs' best moments. Whether that takes the form of an iWatch or iTV however, or something different entirely, remains to be seen.

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Samsung have added Channel 4's 4oD catch-up TV service to their range of connected Smart TVs.

Available through Samsung Apps, the company's Smart TV service portal, 4oD offers thirty days worth of recently-broadcast content from the likes of Channel 4 and More 4, alongside archive content.

Shows like BrassEye and Peep Show are all available to be viewed on demand.

"We're pleased to be able to extend the availability of 4oD, our successful video on demand service, to Samsung's Smart TVs as we continue to widen the reach of Channel 4 content onto key platforms," said Sarah Milton, head of video on demand at Channel 4.

"Smart TV owners will now be able to catch up with recent popular Channel 4 programmes and access many shows from Channel 4's vast archive spanning 30 years of broadcasting - on demand via their television."

The app is available to all Samsung Smart TVs released in 2012, or newer.

The announcement follows a similar move by Sky, who also recently added 4oD to their catch-up TV offering.

Finlux have launched their biggest Smart TV to date, the 55-inch web connected 55S9100-T.

Also coming in 42 and 47-inch sizes, the 55S9100-T comes complete with a Wi-Fi dongle for hooking up to catch-up TV services such as BBC iPlayer, as well as web portals for YouTube and Facebook.

Freeview HD is built in, with the design of the set not unlike Samsung's more recent premium screens, featuring a four-pronged chrome foot base and a 1cm wide bezel. Four HDMI ports are on offer too.

The LED set also features passive 3D tech, and ships with 8 pairs of glasses. 100Hz motion processing should keep onscreen action moving smoothly.

Other features include built-in PVR functionality and the ability to control the TV from an iOS device.

"Our flagship product comes with all the bells and whistles," said Andreas Adamides, Head of Finlux UK.

"Half the price of rival products but offering the same quality build and functionality, it provides a range of additional features and items at no extra cost. It's highly competitive price means that many more people in the UK can take their TV and gaming experience to a whole new level."

No exact release date has been given yet, but the 55-inch model has been priced at £1,299. We'll have a full review in the coming weeks, so check back soon.

Alongside the flagship 4K Series 9 84-inch set, Toshiba have also been recently touting their more modest Series 7 TVs. 1080p Full HD and web connected 58, 50 and 48-inch models will touch down from May 2013.

Each screen houses built-in Wi-Fi, 4x HDMI inputs, 2x USB ports (with support for recording to USB), active shutter 3D (two pairs of glasses ship with the screens) and Toshiba's 200 AMR (Active Motion & Resolution) picture processing technology. Freeview HD is built-in, while there's also support for Intel WiDi screen sharing.

Style-wise, the screen continue in the aesthetic standards established by the Series 9 set, with an aluminium foot extending it's shiny looks up to the lower edge of the screen, while the rest of the reasonably thin bezel is finished in black.

The sets will also feature the new online Cloud TV platform.
Aiming to unify Toshiba's connected TV services, users will be able to personalise their interface through individual logins (with parental controls), organising a homescreen to show apps and video streaming services that best suit their TV viewing habits. As users use the Cloud TV interface the TV will begin to recognise viewing habits too, and provide suggestions of shows to view.

Plenty of the big-name video apps are included, such as Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and Blinkbox, while a universal search engine built by Rovi hunts down content across all services, including the built-in Freeview HD. A full Twitter client, with support for #hashtag searching and picture-in-picture views, is also included, with the app offering up trending shows and topics. Whether or not we'd actually use a Twitter client on our living room screens is another matter when it's so easy to tap away on a laptop or phone, but the picture-in-picture view with a Twitter feed side-by-side a live TV show could prove amusing for "social" shows such as X-Factor.

Skype video calling is also supported (provided you have Toshiba's sold-separately camera unit), as well as Intel's Wi-Di wireless screen sharing protocol.

No word yet on pricing, but we'll keep you posted.

Bigger is better, and for Toshiba's forthcoming 84-inch 4K Series 9 Ultra HD TV, that counts for pixel count as well as size. We went eyes-on with the new flagship set at a recent Toshiba press event. Here are our first impressions.

Measuring a massive 84-inches from corner to corner, Toshiba's top-of-the-range 9 Series 4K TV is an intimidating sight to behold. Though also set to be available in 58 and 65-inch sizes, those looking for the "cinema in the living room" experience should look no further. It dwarfs all those who stand next to it (small-of-stature star Tom Cruise was by chance staying at the hotel where Toshiba held the press event, and we can't begin to imagine what he'd have looked like beside the screen, Cuban heels and all).In terms of design, Toshiba have kept things relatively simple. A solid-looking chrome base supports the gigantic screen (it'd take some work to get this wall mounted), with the chrome styling extending to the lower edge of the screen. The rest of the bezel is finished in black with slightly rounded corners, and though not the thinnest bezel we've ever seen remains unobtrusive due to the sheer size of the screen. 4 HDMI ports will be on offer, as well as 2 USB ports and an SD card reader. Active shutter 3D is also supported, though was not on show during our time with the TV.

It's the 4K resolution that really impresses though. Running at four times that of Full HD for a whopping 3840x2160 resolution count, it provides a pin sharp picture when native resolution content is thrown at it. A show real including colourful demo footage was shown alongside Square Enix's next-gen E3 2012 reel, and the result was often stunning; colours were vibrant while the screen was bright, with movement (aided by the 800 Active Motion and Resolution system) smooth and judder free. Though impressive, it wasn't wholly perfect however. Edge-LED illumination is used to add brightness and backlighting to the panel, though it's intensity often meant it seeped into darker scenes, even in a relatively well-lit room, a problem only intensified when viewing the screen from an acute angle.

Likewise, an 1080p-to-4K upscaling demo on a 58-inch Series 9 model showing off a clip of Disney's John Carter movie proved troublesome. Toshiba's CEVO processing engine added a lot of noise to the image as it tried to push it towards ultra HD standards, while the motion processing effects gave all movement onscreen a watery look. It's common practice for companies to have all their TV's post-processing effects cranked up to the max during demo days, which was likely the case here. We'd imagine with a more subtle approach the issues here wouldn't have been so pronounced, so we'll be keen to see the screen performs in a real-world setting. Given the current lack of 4K content on the market however, the screen will regularly rely on its upscaling chops, so it's worth noting.Built in Wi-Fi powers Toshiba's new Cloud TV interface on the set, a feature that goes right across the company's 2013 connected TV range.

Looking to unify Toshiba's connected TV services, it allows users to personalise their interface through individual logins, with the potential to organise a homescreen to show apps and video streaming services that most interest individual users. As users use the Cloud TV interface the TV will begin to recognise viewing habits too, and suggest recommendations to view.

Plenty of the big-name video apps are included, such as Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and Blinkbox, while a universal search engine built by Rovi hunts down content across all services, including the built-in Freeview HD. It sounds great in theory, and if in practice the engine supports metadata pulled in from other connected devices such as Sky TV boxes, Freesat or YouView, it'll really come into its own.There's also a full Twitter client, with support #hashtag searching and picture-in-picture views, with the app picking up trending shows and topics. Whether or not we'd actually use a Twitter client on our living room screens is another matter when it's so easy to tap away on a laptop or phone, but the picture-in-picture view with a Twitter feed side-by-side a live TV show could prove amusing for "social" shows such as X-Factor.

Skype video calling is also supported (provided you have Toshiba's sold-separately camera unit), as well as Intel's Wi-Di wireless screen sharing protocol.

Which leaves of course price. Due out in the summer, Toshiba aren't yet revealing how much the Series 9 sets are going to sell for. But considering Sony's comparably sized 4K screen is set to sell in the region of £22,000, don't expect Toshiba's 84-inch offering to come much cheaper.

Panasonic are rumoured to be slowing down their TV production, and considering pulling the plug on plasma TVs altogether.

According to Japanese newspaper Nikkei, Panasonic will gradually pull back TV production over the next three years, and could even stop plasma TV production altogether as soon as 2014.

A quick look at Panasonic's books however show that it's hardly a surprising move. The company has struggled in recent years, with the TV division failing to turn a profit for the past five quarters. It's thought that Panasonic will instead refocus its efforts on the automotive and enterprise divisions, as well as in-flight entertainment systems, an area where they are proving more successful.

There's been suggestion that Panasonic would be pulling plasma production to a halt for some time now, with rumours suggesting the company had stopped pumping money into its plasma research and development centres some time ago.

For home cinema enthusiasts however, this will still come as a great loss. Once Pioneer gave up their plasma production and the stunning Kuro line was discontinued, Panasonic plasmas were the next best thing. With Panasonic now looking to remove themselves from the market, and AV enthusiasts still insisting that Plasma TVs offer the best picture quality, it's not certain where they'll now turn to for their TV fixes.

LG is setting its sights on your bedroom with their new LG MT93 TV set. 27-inches in size, the full HD 1080p IPS display is aimed at those looking for an all-in-one set to handle all gaming, TV watching and PC monitor needs.

Fully web connected with LG's usual array of Smart TV features, its IPS 3D display offers a "Mega" contrast ratio, allowing for more vibrant colours than other LCD technologies, with brightness levels hitting 250 nits and a low response time of just 5ms, making it good for competitive gamers.

The set also features stereo 7W speakers, as well as two HDMI ports, composite and component video inputs, three USB ports and an Ethernet port. LG's Wii-like Magic Remote is also included, as is Miracast and WiDi Wireless connectivity, letting you wirelessly hook up compatible mobile devices.

"LG designed its Personal Smart TV line-up to meet the growing demand for compact, multi-purpose devices suitable for bedrooms, studio apartments and dormitories," said LG's Il-geun Kwon.

No word yet on UK pricing or specific release dates, but we'll keep you posted.

Living With is a new feature at Tech Digest where we re-visit big product launches a few months down the line to see how they've shaped up in the long run. Be it new services added to connected devices, hardware reliability problems or software quirks that have only reared their heads over time, Living With will be an open forum for our readers to share their thoughts too. Feel free to add your observations in the comments section below.

After a series of delays held back the service many years until a final unveiling towards the end of 2012, YouView has gone on to become one of the fastest-growing TV viewing services in the UK, landing in over 230,000 living rooms by February of this year.

Tech Digest's own Chris Price reviewed the service back in August saying that while YouView did some interesting things with catch-up TV services, it ultimately has "a few big mistakes" making YouView boxes "less intuitive than they should be." Having lived with the box as part of a BT broadband package for the past few months, it felt like time to revisit YouView. Has its intriguing interface become easier to navigate over time, and have the service's few other problems been ironed out?

For the uninitiated, the YouView service combines both on-demand and catch-up content through a constant web connection with standard Freeview HD live programming, rivalling the likes of Sky subscription packages. Our BT package pumped YouView through a Humax DTR-1000 set-top box, which also offers 500GB of built-in storage space for TV recordings, as well as dual-tuners for recording two channels and watching a third at the same time (providing the third is on the same multiplex - the groupings that Freeview content is broadcast in).The YouView box does a few really interesting things when it comes to catch-up TV, fully integrating online TV services such as BBC iPlayer, Channel 4's 4oD, ITV Player and 5 on Demand directly into the EPG. Not only can you set shows to record seven days in advance, you can also rewind seven days too within the TV guide, hitting long-past shows and have them play through their respective catch-up services instantly. It's a great feature, one sorely missing from Sky boxes and one I've really come to rely on when watching TV. Though it's frustrating that some content seems to be inexplicably missing from the catch-up services, it's totally changed the way I watch TV; I've watched hardly any live TV as a result of the catch-up integration, and don't sweat half as much when I realise I've forgotten to set up a recording.

Though initially jarring, the way that on-demand and catch-up services is integrated throughout the YouView experience soon becomes second nature. You can use the universal search feature to find content anywhere within YouView and it'll redirect you to the appropriate source without having to faff about in app menus, while on-demand and catch-up content is split into easily browseable categories. One of our main gripes here however has yet to be fixed - I find it very frustrating not being able to filter out free content from those requiring a payment, such as shows or movies from the Now TV or BT Vision box office services. Of course the intention is to get you to cough up cash, but I'd rather have the option to simply ignore premium content altogether rather than having lengthy search lists to scroll through.Search could be improved too, as it's not all that intuitive inputting letters using the YouView remote's number keys. YouView have made the first steps towards addressing this through the introduction of an iOS app. While its functionality is currently limited to setting TV recordings remotely while on the go away from the set-top box (itself a great, forward thinking feature that combats similar options from Sky), it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to add a software keyboard here too in the future. It's a feature that could make navigating the box a significantly improved experience, and we hope that Android devices get similar app attention in the future too.

Though I'm still perplexed at the omission of a Wi-Fi connection (the Humax DTR-1000 requires you constantly be connected to the internet over an Ethernet connection), it's a decision that's made more sense the longer I've used the YouView box. Paired with a BT Infinity connection, the wired connection has mean't I've never once suffered the effects of buffering or connection drop out, and considering most of the TV viewing I've done through the box has turned out to be via online services, that's a more sensible choice than first assumed. Regardless, and despite the fact BT offer powerline homeplug units for those whose TV is not near their router, an optional wireless dongle should be top of the YouView to-do list.Lastly, we're still waiting on more of the 300 content providers who were said to be interested in getting on YouView to land on the service. When YouView was first touted as Project Canvas in 2008, getting the likes of iPlayer and ITV Player alongside live TV content sounded like a revolutionary idea. To an extent it still is, but with the advent of Smart TV, that excitement has diminished slightly, and YouView is lagging behind in terms of online TV and movie providers. Where's LoveFilm Instant and Netflix? They're on every tablet and connected TV set, and sorely missing here. Bringing universal search across Netlfix and LoveFilm Instant through the YouView box to those who subscribe to both on-demand services would be the sort of killer feature that'd really turn heads, though simply having them on YouView in any form would be a good start.

Despite my concerns, I find myself at a loggerheads with Chris's initial dismissive verdict. Through its implementation of online services, YouView is a true rival to Sky's living room dominance in my opinion, and one of the more advanced (as well as speedy) PVRs on the market. It has its quirks, but it's a comprehensive TV viewing experience, one that I expect will see its kinks ironed out before long.

For more on YouView from BT, including pricing and broadband deals, click here.

You can hardly call yourself a TV manufacturer at this years CES 2013 conference if you font have a 4K screen on show, hitting real-world stores soon. Toshiba, being the first to bring a 4K set to the consumer market in the shape of the Toshiba 55ZL2 have delivered their latest offering to AV fanatics, showing off the L9300 UHD TV series.

Ranging in size form 58 to 84-inches, the L9300 series use Toshiba's bespoke CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processor and, as there's no commercially available 4K content yet, use Resolution Restoration technology to upscale lower-resolution HD content to fit the 4K display without leading to too messy a picture.

Other specs include a 240 Hz refresh rate, UltraClear Dynamic Noise Reduction, built-in Wi-Fi,
and Miracast.

De rigueur smart TV functionality is also included, throwing in Toshiba's Cloud TV apps platform and DLNA wireless content sharing from computers, smartphones and tablets.

Hitting shelves this summer, there's no pricing available yet. But with the 55Zl2 55-inch model costing a pound shy of £7,000, expect that 84-inch model to be eye-wateringly expensive.

Click here for more news from CES 2013

Samsung's next flagship TV, the Samsung UN85S9 Ultra HD, looks set to tick every box a cutting edge set can after being revealed at CES 2013.

Measuring a ginormous 85-inches across, it packs in a 4K (UHD) display for crystal clear image quality, beating out this year's rival LG set by an inch in the size stakes.

Even more interesting is the set's design. Pencil thin, the floor standing set sits "floating" within a frame not unlike an artist's easel. This allows the set to be rotated and tilted with ease, giving the screen the appearance that it's hanging in the air. The frame also houses 2.2 speaker array, offering 120 watt output.

A quad-core processor powers the UI elements of the screen, pushing more content into the Samsung Smart Hub application and delivering intensive picture processing modes such as the Frame Rate Conversion engine and the Motion Judder Canceller. A built in webcam also offers Skype video calling, though I'm not sure I'd want to see any of my pals' faces blown up to 85-inches...

Due out in March, there's no pricing info revealed yet, but rest assured, you'll be unlikely to be able to afford it.

Click here for more news from CES 2013

Apple's often-rumoured TV set may finally be on the verge of becoming a real project, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

The strongest indication yet that such a device actually exists (Journal supply chain reports tend to be very accurate), they're claiming that the Cupertino company is currently testing a number of prototypes, working with Sharp and Foxconn to formulate a potential final product.

However, sources still state that the TV "isn't a formal project yet" and that Apple "could opt not to proceed with the device."

With Foxconn apparently working with the company in these early prototype stages, they'd be well placed to fulfill manufacturing duties should Apple give them the green light. Hon Hai, Foxconn's parent company, now hold a major stake in Sharp, whose Sakai plant in Japan is among the most advanced in the world.

The news follows Tim Cook's PR offensive last week, who stated that TV was "an area of intense interest" for Apple, and said that "TV has been left behind."

Apple are long overdue a new product category to explore, and after refreshing every major product line they currently hold this year, the introduction of iTV next year would be very exciting. If Apple can match a nifty hardware design with good TV content deals, they could have a real winner on their hands.

Via: The Wall Street Journal

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