A few years ago, Samsung posed the idea of a TV that would upgrade with the times. You’d buy it today, and then next year, a minor upgrade would give you some of the new features on your older TV. We haven’t heard much about that “evolution kit” product in a while, but the good news is that it’s still a thing.
The idea was promised in a product launched back in 2012, when Samsung was getting the best of its Full HD TVs done and dealt with, just before Ultra HD was due to start impressing people with that 4K resolution.
And in 2013 when we headed to CES in Las Vegas to see what manufacturers from across the planet were cooking up for the year, Samsung showed what the Evolution Kit looked like, with the product appearing in a small box that would attach to the back of certain TVs, upgrading the processing technology and throwing in a new operating system.
That was good news for people who had compatible TVs, and Samsung kept going with its Evolution Kit concept even with its 2013 and 2014 TVs, keeping the concept alive and well even for the Ultra HD TVs that were making their way out.
But there has been very little talk of the Evolution Kit this year, and beyond a hint from the Samsung team that it would come, we haven’t heard a peep.
Until now, that is.
This week at Samsung’s local launch for the Ultra HD TVs, a representative for Samsung told GadgetGuy that the Evolution Kit would be returning, and that it should even bring the new operating system Tizen along for the ride.
This inclusion suggests that owners of compatible TVs should be able to purchase an upgrade box sometime this year that will update the operating system and potentially bring the smarts the current Samsung line of Smart TVs, such as the ability to talk with compatible Samsung phones and tablets for delivering calendar information, while also making catch-up TV apps available including Netflix, Stan, and Presto.
We’re told the new Evolution Kit will act as more of a breakout box, providing an off-side connection box for the TVs in question, and that it’s no longer something you really attach to the back, making it more convenient for people to connect input sources, because getting behind a big TV to plug in a cord isn’t exactly fun.
As for pricing and availability, we’re nudging Samsung to find out what exactly that is, but we imagine the availability would be soon given the TVs have just been launched, and pricing should be under $500, but we’ll let you know when Samsung has that good and confirmed for us.
