Samsung have released the SEK-1000 Evolution Kit, a small box that hooks up to your 2012 Samsung Smart TV and upgrades it to a 2013 version. By only adding a new CPU core kit with updated hardware and software instead of changing the whole TV, this could add years to your very expensive television set.
For now, it is only available for top-end Samsung TV’s, but unless Samsung has patents that gets in the way, this idea might spread to other manufacturers and even opens up the gate to modular Smart TV’s, where you could possibly even integrate other devices directly in the TV, no need for external machines, making it a truly smart machine.
With the price tag it has today, clocking in just over US$250, it is not for the everyday person, but with update kits like this coming every year, you can easily expand your TV’s life span for a fraction of the cost of a new TV.
As with all new technology, time will tell if this idea catches on or is trumped by other technologies or ideas. What do you think?