Thomson to add a webcam feature to its smart TVs

Thomson wants to give you an option to use the bigger screen on your smart TV for video calls or online classes.

Since it looks like the work from home trend is here to stay, the TV has gotten some of its audience back, albeit via OTT streams and going forward, the importance of a big screen for various purposes like video calls and online classes is also not an impossibility. (Thomson)

After restarting its factory operations recently with a revised set of SOPs for employees, Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd. (the manufacturing company of the smart TV brand - Thomson) is now planning to take things to the next level as far as their TVs are concerned.

Since it looks like the work from home trend is here to stay, the TV has gotten some of its audience back, albeit via OTT streams and going forward, the importance of a big screen for various purposes like video calls and online classes is also not an impossibility.

To prepare for this and to give users an option of using the TV screen for a video chat or for lessons, Thomson has planned to integrate a webcam to its current line of products.

While the idea is great, it makes a better use case for a big screen, the integration of a webcam adds certain security concerns. Avneet Singh Marwah, CEO SPPL Exclusive Brand Licensee of Thomson TVs in India, assures that Thomson is looking into all possible security features before they start rolling the webcam out.

The customer will be able to disconnect the webcam when not in use, Marwah said, explaining that since there will be no signal, disconnecting as good as covering the camera up.

When asked about additional security measures the company might put in place, Marwah said, “Since we work closely with Android (our UI partner) we follow all the given guidelines, general security, and safety rules as per Google's ecosystem. Therefore it will be a complete secure system and the customer will have the option to customise their privacy settings accordingly.”

“We are in talks with some application developers. The existing apps integrated with smart TVs will be in use since they are already available for the television. For the apps that are not available and if we plan to use them, we will first check for potential security breaches in them, if they are susceptible, we will not use them,” Marwah said while speaking about newer apps they plan to integrate to optimise the webcam use.