IP Cams: The Missing Killer App for Connected TVs

Manufacturers of connected TVs are so enamored of Facebook, Skype and other silly widgets, they ignore the obvious.

I've always believed that the most obvious killer app for networked TVs is the ability to incorporate CCTV (surveillance cameras) into the display: When the doorbell rings, the TV displays the visitor in a PIP window, or even turns on the TV if it's not already on.

Duh, right? Integrators enable this functionality all the time. But why don't Samsung, Panasonic (a leader in CCTV technology), TiVo, Roku, Motorola and others build the capability into their CE devices?

It certainly would be a more welcome application than Youtube among the adult 55-plus crowd.

I was reminded of this missing app when I just received this message from Derek Cowburn, president of the integration firm Distinctive Audio Visual Environments:

With all the IP-enabled TVs, why has no one built in support for IP camera PIP? Seems that was the "killer app" of 1989 when modulators and PIP hit the scene.

The need hasn't gone away but the implementation was flawed. It took too long for TVs to warm up and by that time you could have answered the door. PIP can pop up immediately (triggered by event logic of course) and all TVs will eventually have Internet so ... what's the holdup?

How many ways do we really need to get our Facebook, Youtube, flikr, weatherand stocks? Most of what my clients want to see does not fit the limited Internet widgets offered.