That's why I suggested making the brains of the smart TV separable - in other words, somewhat similar to the current situation, but with tighter integration between the TV display, speakers, and ports and the box. Samsung seems to be doing something like that:
It being Samsung, the hardware upgrade was apparently offered after a single year and completely redid the UI, but there's no reason the same principle can't be executed competently.
If you're the real Comex of iOS JB lore then I very much appreciate your work and you have my utmost respect.
So from what I understand about the Evolution Kit, it attaches to TVs 2012 and later and provides them with a boost to put them almost on par with 2013/2014+ TVs? Doesn't this cannibalize sales of new Smart TVs?
They already did that kind of thing, but it seems to have died off. My TV has an MHL port, and I've got an MHL roku plugged into it. One remote controls both the TV and the roku. Specific buttons get passed through to the roku. It's actually really nice.
http://www.samsung.com/us/2013-smart-evolution/
It being Samsung, the hardware upgrade was apparently offered after a single year and completely redid the UI, but there's no reason the same principle can't be executed competently.