LG Adds BBC iPlayer, Facebook & Twitter To NetCast Internet TVs

Following Samsung’s launch of the Acetrax Movies app on its internet-connected HDTVs yesterday, fellow Korean TV maker LG Electronics today announced the addition of nine online applications to bolster its Internet TV offerings. Google Maps, Facebook, Twitter, Acetrax movies on demand service, vTuner internet radio app, and of course the increasingly indispensable BBC iPlayer are but some of the new services that will grace the NetCast portal on LG internet-enabled TVs (IETVs).

While present in the company’s 2010 batch of flat-screen televisions since the beginning of this year, the LG NetCast platform has to date only offered access to a very limited number of web services such as YouTube, AccuWeather and Picasa. However, recognising that more and more people are multitasking while watching TV, and that its competitors are also enhancing their respective IETV functionalities, LG has taken swift action to update its NetCast service with some of the more useful web applications to keep their viewers engaged and entertained in front of the television.

Existing owners of LG NetCast-enabled HDTV sets can download all nine new web apps simply by hooking up their LG NetCast televisions to broadband internet connection (either through Ethernet, or wirelessly via a compatible LG wifi USB dongle), and then pressing the [NetCast] button on the remote. A software update will ensue, after which the new services will be accessible through the NetCast menu interface, bringing the total number of web applications on the NetCast portal to twelve. Here they are:

  • BBC iPlayer catch-up TV service;
  • MLB.tv (Major League Baseball);
  • Viewster movies on demand service;
  • Twitter microblogging service;
  • vTuner internet radio;
  • Picasa pictures;
  • Acetrax movies on demand service;
  • YouTube online videos;
  • Facebook social networking service;
  • Accedo interactive TV games;
  • Google Maps; and
  • AccuWeather weather forecast service.

LG LED and LCD HDTV displays that are immediately eligible for the updated NetCast services are:

  • LX9900 3D TV series: LG 47LX9900 and LG 55LX9900;
  • LE8900 Infinia LED TV series: LG 42LE8900, LG 47LE8900 and LG 55LE8900;
  • LE7900 Infinia LED TV series: LG 32LE7900, LG 37LE7900, LG 42LE7900, LG 47LE7900 and LG 55LE7900;
  • LE5900 LED TV series: LG 32LE5900, LG 37LE5900, LG 42LE5900, LG 47LE5900 and LG 55LE5900;
  • LE4900 LED TV series: LG 32LE4900, LG 37LE4900 and LG 42LE4900;
  • LD790 LCD TV series: LG 32LD790, LG 42LD790 and LG 47LD790;
  • LD690 LCD TV series: LG 32LD690, LG 37LD690, LG 42LD690, LG 47LD690 and LG 55LD690;
  • LD490 LCD TV series: LG 32LD490, LG 37LD490 and LG 42LD490.

The following LG plasma TVs will receive the NetCast update by the 1st of December:

  • PX990 3D TV series: LG 50PX990 and LG 60PX990;
  • PK990 Infinia Plasma TV series: LG 50PK990 and LG 60PK990;
  • PK790 Plasma TV series: LG 50PK790 and LG 60PK790;
  • PK590 Plasma TV series: LG 50PK590 and LG60PK590.