A few weeks ago I had been talking to you about our new TV. In fact, I had posed the question “When is a TV not just a TV” and I, myself, am learning that answer on a daily basis. We find that as a Family in Motion, our lives revolve around the living room just as much as anyone else, but we want to do more than just watch a program. It’s not just about the soap opera or the movie or even the video game, but about connecting with one another on a daily basis.
And that’s it, isn’t it? The living room is just that…a place for living. A place for gathering the baby, the daughter, the son, the husband and wife. A central neutral location that doesn’t always encompass a chore, but rather a memory. Our family spends time eating popcorn and laughing, hosting date nights, slumber parties (groan, remind me never to do THAT again), and trying to one up each other on Dance Party.
But no matter what we are doing, the beauty is that we are doing it together.
Smart Interaction
The Samsung ES8000 has what they call a Smart Interaction. That means, much like some of the technology you are probably familiar with in the gaming world, you can use gestures and motions to interact with your television. The TV has a camera itself right on it and with a wave back and forth you can control the TV literally at your fingertips. I can assure that this helps when the remote has taken a temporary leave of absence, which so often happens in my life.
Where this is especially useful is when browsing social apps and playing games like Angry Birds.
Oh, and victory dances (which come after a successful Angry Birds win) as demonstrated here by Charlotte.
My biggest feedback when it comes to the motion control on the TV is that with the camera so high on the top of the TV and the TV itself sitting on a large entertainment center (gotta keep it away from prying baby fingers) sometimes the littlest people in the house have a hard time getting it to work successfully.
Which means they stand on the couch.
And after one ER visit today with 1 kid (totally unrelated to TV use, btw) I am about ready to pad, duct tape, and staple my kids to the floor.
In other words standing on the couch is the last thing on my list I am feeling OK about. For now this is our temporary solution, but keep in mind when you do your entire center set up that the wee ones will want to use the features as well and you may encounter this issue without careful planning.
If you want to learn more about using your new Samsung Smart TV to its full potential, you can watch this video over on the Samsung Youtube Page.
Also, if you want a chance to WIN this TV I have a contest for you!
Samsung Angry Birds App
To enter, we’re inviting fans to tweet a photo of themselves playing Angry Birds on a Samsung Smart TV with the hashtag #AngryBirdSaturdays for the chance to win prizes, including Samsung Blu-ray players, Angry Birds Plushies and the grand prize of a new Samsung ES8000 Smart TV. Don’t own a Samsung Smart TV? No problem – fans can play the game at many retail locations. You can find a list of retailers here as well as more information about the sweepstakes here: Angry Birds Sweepstakes and Official Rules.
Dates still left in this contest are
- - October 13
- - October 20
- - October 27
- - November 3
Good luck everyone!
~Trisha
Sponsored by Samsung Smart TV, with Motion Control.
Love that t.v. and Charlotte is too cute!
Too adorable, I love the photos.
Looks like she has a great time in your family room.
Ours is used for the same thing, the family to do things!
Wow, this TV is incredible! I must say Samsung has never disappointed me. I absolutely love their electronics even my phone!
I’ll let my daughter stand on the couch too 
Oh deal God I hope my husband doesn’t hear about this TV. He has been itching to move our current TV to the basement and replace it with another one. If he hears about this TV all bets are off.
That does look really cool!
And you should see what my kids have done to my couch.
You should see what my CATS have done to the couch.
Wow! I love how interactive it is, but I am not sure it would work for us in such a small house. If we move, I am putting this on my wish list!
Now that is really cool!! I know that the younger kids would love it… I’m sure the older ones would too but they’re so busy doing everything else that they just dont have the time to play.
Oh… mine stand on the couch once in a while too and they’re all still okay!
OHHH I want it! SO nice! I kind of like the motion sensor on the top because then my son can’t just turn on the TV on his own, but I do see how climbing on the couch would not be a good thing so really I could go either way on that. I LOVE angry birds I wonder how it works in the TV!
I really like how interactive this TV is with hand and motion control. My girls enjoy the Wii, but they are young, 3 and 4…we have already had a couple of controls fly across the room.
I let my kids stand on the couch and they enjoy jumping off of it. I can see my two little energy bunnies enjoying something like this. Even Mom and Dad too – would be nice to declutter the entertainment center too.
How much fun is it at your house! When I was a kid, we had to SIT on the couch, FEET on the FLOOR LOL. I’ve never played any of the Angry Birds games (yet) although my sister is pretty good at it. This might be enough to make me give it a try though–that TV rocks!
Besides the height issues (and standing on the couch), this would be really great exercise and hand/eye coordination work for my little Molly! Looks like a lot of fun too!
I let my kids JUMP on the couch! As long as company isn’t over, and as long as they don’t tell anyone (they tell everybody!), they can jump on the couch. For a few minutes. To get the energy out. And then they must sit. But even just a few minutes of jumping makes them happy, so it makes me happy too.
Sounds like a cool contest, but we don’t have that TV and can’t afford a new one right now.
That is soo cool!! I think my family would totally love it, especially since they are full of energy – okay I am full of energy too
That’s really cool, like the motion bar for an XBox built into the tv … crazy!
I’d love to enter the contest but we’re probably not making a trip to store to enter.