Think smart TV is dumb? Samsung aims to change your mind by controlling your gear

The first such feature is the ability to ability to recognize your external devices automatically as you plug them in, and program the TV's remote to control them automatically, eliminating setup.

When I first learned of this ability at CES I was pretty skeptical, but seeing it in action at Samsung's TV launch earlier this week, it seems entirely real. During the demo Samsung's rep plugged in a couple of devices, including an Apple TV and an Xbox One, and the TV recognized them all. Specialized icons appeared on the screen, along with commands like "Guide" and "DVR" for the cable box. The TV remote controls them all.

It works in one of two ways. If the device works with HDMI-CEC, a control system that works over HDMI cables, the TV can recognize that and control it accordingly, mapping the TV remote buttons to the appropriate commands and operating the device via the HDMI connection. If it doesn't, the TV can analyze the device's video signal (Samsung wouldn't expand on exactly how) to identify it. Once identification is made, it queries its database and programs the IR (infrered) commands of the TV remote automatically, which are again mapped to buttons and blasted out by the clicker.

It sounds complex, but in the demo it happened seamlessly and relatively quickly as part of the TVs standard setup process, without having to enter codes or remember model numbers. Compared to setting up a standard universal remote like Harmony, it seemed like cake.

Don't throw away your Harmony Elite yet, however. The system isn't designed to work with setups where your AV receiver does the switching instead of the TV. Some esoteric functions might go missing. And Harmony supports a much wider range of devices--although Samsung to its credit says 90 percent of cable boxes are supported, and DirecTV is coming in June.

Smart home command from the TV screen

The second big addition is the ability to control lights, thermostats, security cameras, locks and even Big Ass Fans right from the TV screen.

Samsung's SmartThings smart home ecosystem is an open platform that supports thousands of devices. Now many of its midrange and more-expensive TVs--all models in the 7, 8 and 9 series--will act as SmartThings hubs, with all of the functionality of the external hubs that currently sell for \\$100. A SmartThings rep told me that at launch the TVs might not replicate all of that functionality, but "parity between the two is the goal" eventually.

Unfortunately, although many of those TVs are shipping now, they won't be able to act as SmartThings hubs until "sometime this summer," according to a representative I spoke with. At that point Samsung will ship out little white dongles called SmartThings Extend, which look like USB sticks and plug into the TVs' USB ports. The dongles contain (among other things) the antennas needed for control of SmartThings as well as Zigbee and Z-wave devices.