LG Electronics Upgrades 70 Million webOS TVs with Latest Browser

LG Electronics researchers are conducting tests comparing the webOS browsers installed on the latest TV and the product released two years ago.
[Photo by LG Electronics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] LG Electronics announced on the 16th that it will conduct a software upgrade targeting 70 million units of 'webOS TV,' inspired by customer pain points.

The browser upgrade will be carried out sequentially starting this month for webOS TV models (equipped with webOS 4.0, 4.5, and 5.0) released from 2018 through last year. During this period, LG Electronics' global shipments of webOS TVs reached approximately 70 million units. LG explained that this is the first time it has upgraded the browser embedded in its TVs.

Customers using the target models can click the browser icon on the TV home screen to check the upgrade method and then download the latest browser. Through this upgrade, they can also use the latest webOS browser features such as ▲'Ad Block' that hides unnecessary advertisements, ▲'TV Half View' that splits the screen in half to allow simultaneous web surfing and TV viewing, and ▲'Malicious Site Block' that detects and blocks phishing sites.

LG webOS TV offers high browser usability by allowing easy TV operation using the 'Magic Remote,' which moves the cursor like a mouse. Previously, voices from customers requesting a webOS browser update, such as "LG! The time has come. Roll up your sleeves and provide a new browser," were received through LG TV user communities. Reflecting this, LG decided to proceed with the upgrade. Just as PCs or mobile devices without browser updates cannot properly access the internet, TVs also sometimes failed to display the latest websites correctly.

LG Electronics is strengthening the competitiveness of its proprietary software platform, webOS, by combining internal R&D with external collaboration, targeting the global premium TV market. Based on this, it also started a software platform business supplying the webOS TV platform to external companies from early this year.

Nam Ho-jun, Executive Vice President and Head of LG Electronics HE Research Center, said, "We will continue to deliver impressive experiences to customers through differentiated services unique to LG TVs, starting from customer feedback."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.