Beyond apps: the future of smart TV  The next phase of smart TV
development, focused around tablet-based guides and controls,
will finally get things right 2012 Consumer Electronics Show
Showcases Latest Technology Innovations A smart TV's connected
features can be controlled from a second screen, creating many
different commercial possibilities. Photograph: Ethan
Miller/Getty Images  A recent study by the NPD group showed that
more than 40% of households with smart TVs have never actually
bothered to hook them up to the internet. However, given the
state of the interface found on most smart TVs, this should come
as no surprise.  TV manufacturers got it into their heads that
users might like an easy way to connect to Netflix. Which was
not a bad idea. If only they'd stopped there. Instead, they
turned the screen into a Compuserve 1993 concoction of random
apps, few of which had anything to do with television. Which is
a problem because, as numerous studies have shown, people do not
like using the television a