Telecoms

Smart launches SmartBro Surf TV

Q: Key Point 3: Smart Bro SurfTV is a device that connects to a...

Smart Bro SurfTV is a device that connects to a television set and gives it access to the internet any where in the Philippines (well, as long as you have 3G coverage).

Q: Key Point 5: Smart Bro SurfTV comes in a boxed set complete with...

Smart Bro SurfTV comes in a boxed set complete with a keyboard, a mouse, a remote control, and a Smart Bro USB stick-type modem with a prepaid SIM, pre-loaded with Php100 worth of load.

Abe Olandres February 24, 2010 · 1 min read

Listen to article

ASUS Chromebook CM14 announced ASUS ROG unveils Strix OLED XG34WCDMS, Strix XG129C monitors BPI partners with Robinsons Retail for barcode cash deposits in stores DJI Osmo Mobile 8P globally launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 5, Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 announced

Yesterday, Smart announced a new online TV service called Smart Bro SurfTV. SurfTV turns your ordinary TV set at home into an internet appliance.

Smart Bro SurfTV is a device that connects to a television set and gives it access to the internet any where in the Philippines (well, as long as you have 3G coverage).

You basically plug the device into the RCA port of a color TV set. Smart Bro SurfTV then turns the set into a ready-to-run “internet appliance” where users can surf, chat, and email — through a multi-tasking TV.

Smart Bro SurfTV comes in a boxed set complete with a keyboard, a mouse, a remote control, and a Smart Bro USB stick-type modem with a prepaid SIM, pre-loaded with Php100 worth of load. The entire kit costs only Php4,500 and additional internet access costs Php10 for every 30 minutes.

Not yet sure what it can or cannot do compared to, say, a regular desktop (like how it handles downloaded files, etc.). We’ll just have to wait for the review unit to arrive before we can get more details.

React to this article:

smart bro surf tv smartbro surf tv

Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

7,991 Articles

View all posts by Abe Olandres →

160 Comments

ssv · 16 years ago

HAAAAYYYY!!!
another unreliable service…

is our DOTC or NTC using their heads…..

We are the ones who are fooled

Are they really capable in servicing that?

They cant even maintain the reliability of their other services..

Filipino’s … wake up!!!

This NTC i think had no knowledge enough of this kind of thing…

they simply put their asses well comfort because under the table just flows like a honey..

The future is high technology and is inevitable that communication system arent included.

This department of gov’t should be serious enough in punishing this telecoms..

or they where just pupies waiting to be feed by this fools.

Kurei Kageno · 16 years ago

I think it wonâ€™t be a hit. Hereâ€™s why:

This product is targeting the masses, or more specifically, people who cant shell out cash for a full-blown PC/netbook. Now,what kind of TV unit does this people have? Traditional CRT TVs, mostly. If anyone already have connected a PC to a TV using RCA(or even S-Video), the screen is barely readable. You have to be very close to the screen to be able to read it. This would also be a health issue, knowing how dangerous it is to stay near a CRT TV. It might be feasible to those using LCD TVs. But then again, most of those who have LCD TVs also have PCs.

Richard Bonzon · 16 years ago

This is great for the older generation whose afraid of computers but wanted to connect thru internet for their loved ones, but still its similar because of the keyboard. But for kids, it would’nt be good for their eyes to be soaked at the TV for a long time. but with an LCD TV this is great. but if you could buy a decent LCD TV, we can assume you would want to buy a decent netbook or a laptop would you?

elaine · 16 years ago

interesting comments here. i heard there is a demo at the smart tower in makati. will check it out since its a cheaper alternative than buying a whole pc. i surf the web a lot so if the demo works out, i’ll buy it. :)

luiboowee · 16 years ago

As the name suggests, pang SURF lang siya.

og · 16 years ago

is it true malabo dw ang dating sa tv if u using this devise internet tv?

st0mpb0x · 16 years ago

magandang product pero maraming kulang. para lang to sa mga mahilig magsurf. pero sa mga multi tasking users na gumagamit ng ibat ibang pc applications useless ito

TP · 16 years ago

I’m a smartbro user and medyo hindi na ko happy with their service. mabagal most of the time and madalas ma-disconnect. From what I’ve read in other forums, this is because congested na daw ang smart network sa dami ng subscribers. What will happen when madaming nag-surf TV? They are using the same network for this right?

mark · 16 years ago

marami din ang umaasa na mapakinabangan ang internet.. sa murang halaga na P4,500.00, you can own a device like that.. pero hindi naman lahat kaya i-afford ang isang multi-tasking LCD TV.. so balewala rin.. better to buy a second hand Desktop PC and a prepaid broadband like techwell17 said..

hindi ko sinisiraan ang SMART Telecom, actually i was once a SMART Broadband user..

BobC · 16 years ago

I used to be a big fan of Smart Bro. Before they launched their ads (those that were endorsed by Mo Twister) the service was very fast and when they dropped the price to 950 for unlimited plans, the download and upload speed were superb. I got the chance to download files at 300 kbps here in Global City Taguig before. Now, it is extremely slow. The average download speed is around 30 kbps. I guess many jumped in to Smart Bro after those marketing campaign and new pricing strategy.

I am concerned with Smart TV, if I am correct that feature will also run on the same network system. If right now subscribers find their internet very slow, how much more if a huge batch of users (from Smart TV subscribers)will be added.

I wish Smart will improve the quality of its network and ensure that the speed will still be fast despite the increase of users. Right now I am really frustrated with the slowness of their network. Good thing I just invested on the pre-paid service and not the post paid service. Smart please bring back the good ol high speed before engaging in new markets! :(

jun butial · 16 years ago

Please publish the complete details and data of operation including the efficiency.

Davao Region · 16 years ago

meron daw usb keyboard and mouse ang package. nabasa ko sa newspaper kanina.

IC DeaDPiPoL · 16 years ago

Any mall demo yet? Would like to see the quality of the gfx (TV-Out tends to max out at 800×600 on tv and it is still quite blurred)

For internet surfing this device should be able to display pages at a minimum of 1024×768

Most likely it could compete VS
-refurbished PCs (P4000+)
-PC/notebook/netbook with fast booting OS (Embedded custom linux OS)

onealberto · 16 years ago

not good for me, eventually not so bad. atleast smart have the concept, but in a misplace way.

Erin · 16 years ago

@sherwin: i know pero where would those feed come from? would this gadget support external storage devices?

Sandeep · 16 years ago

I am very much eager to hear the feedback of the product as I was in the team of developing the same.

All the best !!!

mousephotato · 16 years ago

I hate boot up… will this answer my problem?

Jim · 16 years ago

wow! surfing the web through tv! parang naglalakad na tv! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahL3WnStKgM

IC DeaDPiPoL · 16 years ago

reminds me of an old internet tv device sold here that connects to a hard coded dial-up ISP with prepaid cards. Exporting files was a chore and later revision of the web doomed it to obsolence afaik.

Also browsing using a tv was hard on the eyes (low res)

mcometa · 16 years ago

+1 kay techwell17.

Onynz · 16 years ago

I agree with techwell17 on that… this device will have no future…

techwell17 · 16 years ago

At a price of P4,500.00, this would not be a good deal for class C and D families. Better to buy a second hand PC worth 3.5K and a SBro plug-it device… ^_^

sherwin · 16 years ago

@Erin

What I meant by RCA vs VGA or high def/HDMI output relates to the screen resolution of your TV and doesn’t equate to the bandwidth that will be needed to surf your internet. it’s the device to the tv lang :) kahit dial-up ka pa it doesn’t matter po.

anyway, we’ll wait for some screenshots of that SurfTV.

Erin · 16 years ago

@sherwin: high definition on 3G will only have two possible outputs: congest the network to the point of unusability or choke the CPU/vid card of that device. :)

ciao!

sherwin · 16 years ago

@xmint, i can relate to that :)

Parang blast from the past, i used to use one of those things that you connect to your tv and that thing would dial-up to your ISP. back in those days, that dial-up “computer” really sucked, parang useless din.

RCA ang connection niyan? pangit ng output niyan, kahit naka high definition na 55″ ka pa, RCA eh analog ang resolution, sana pwede man lang VGA input, pero HDMI na sana.

@drealmarlon

there’s no way you can do IPTV over wireless, for now or maybe never. the bandwidth demand for a true IPTV service would require a cosistent flow of 5-7Mbps for Standard Definition and around 14Mbps for High Definition IPTV and of course multicast. In reality, GPON or FTTX or maybe Cable with the use of DOCSIS 3.0 or ADSL2+ or VDSL would make IPTV possible. Internet TV pwede pa siguro hehe.

drealmarlon · 16 years ago

for what smartbro plan is to put an iptv (internet protocol television) which is another way of television broadcast which is different from the common catv,analog tv and direct tv satellte.but the quality of this new way of watching tv is depend on how fast internet connection you have?

Unknown Soldier · 16 years ago

still premature compare to the connectivity problems… better settle that issue first before they sell another useless gadget.

they only know how to market but they cannot deliver the goods… tsktsktsk

jay-r · 16 years ago

cool ha…! how about downloading may feature din ba sya para dito..?

1pinoyblogger · 16 years ago

I use Smart Bro Broadband Plan 999 which I know uses 3G coverage.I think my place has a fair amount of signal. If Smart Bro SurfTV will have plans like from their broadbands, this newest product from Smart would be great for places with great 3G signals.

mousephotato · 16 years ago

Does it have external connection for storage?

I Do Follow · 16 years ago

So Internet-ready CPU sya na pang TV insstead of a monitor in other words.

X-

x-mint · 16 years ago

This one reminds me of something i used a long long time ago that i hook on my tv and uses dialup internet…. does anyone remember it?

choosypinony · 16 years ago

can it connect direct to a monitor only?

daddy joey · 16 years ago

nice. bat di pa nila ibundle ng tv. hehe!

Glenn Santos · 16 years ago

An affordable alternative to those in far-flung areas where computer access is hard to get. So you get a cheap (and slow i’ll bet) computer which you can connect anywhere since I know almost every house has a TV and some sort of cell signal. Not all TVs are compatible though.

James · 16 years ago

Parang Apple TV yata to…?

Andre Marcelo-Tanner · 16 years ago

I remember testing something like this before. I think the thing is that without a mouse or pointer, actually a pointer is hard to use even on the wii, i dont think this will fly

bugoy · 16 years ago

I use Xtreamer for my home theater. is this same kind of device? nakakapanood din kasi ako ng youtube sa xtreamer ko.

Jhay · 16 years ago

It’s like buying a netbook or nettop sans the screen.

This would be great if you have 3G coverage in your area and a nice LCD TV.

Christopher Quijano · 16 years ago

Guys,

I think SMART is doing their share on penetrating internet access to all people. Yung mga hindi maka-afford to purchase a computer can now access the internet via this device.

Hope that they succeed with this. Actually, this is not new in the local market — look what happened to EMC2 that Destiny Internet released way back before. I think its too early for that they released that device.

Jon · 16 years ago

Ouch. Internet through 3G. Though the idea is nice, relying on 3G would really be a pain, since not all locations have good coverage. If you have good coverage, congestion may be your next problem.

StrayArrow · 16 years ago

Wow will check this out…cool

MPonteres · 16 years ago

are they offering this nationwide or only particular area?

-Sent via YugaTech Mobile App

Dan The Beast · 16 years ago

i’m sure mabagal lang din yan. bili na lang tayo ng xtreamer or any other multimedia player. basta pagdating sa internet access sa telcos natin, wag na tayong umasa. tsk tsk tsk!