US TV cord cutter households will reach 4.7 million (4.7%) by year-end 2013
— Convergence Consulting Group
Smart TV forecast: gigabit Wi-Fi in the living room
The smart TV market will grow from 67 million units shipped in 2012 to 134 million shipped in 2015. As it expands, a simultaneous transition to higher-speed Wi-Fi connections based on a new standard — 802.11ac — will translate to fast growth for the new wireless technology in the TV space. Read more »
Hulu Plus rolls out new UI on Apple TV
Hulu’s Apple TV app has been given a major facelift to better highlight new content. The relaunch could set off a revamp of the service across various CE devices. Read more »
6 ways to watch your own videos from your iPhone or Mac on your TV
A guide for how to watch one of your home movies in the privacy of your own home using the Apple TV, a Mac or an iOS device. Read more »
Podcast Q&A: BB 10 data plans? Ink in Surface RT? Console gaming v. phones?
It’s another edition of our call-in podcast where we take your questions and provide answers. This week: Windows RT inking, useful Android freeware, BlackBerry 10 data plans and more. Read more »
HBO Go on Apple TV? It could arrive this year
Time Warner and Apple are negotiating over bringing the pay TV service HBO Go to Apple TV by mid-2013, according to a Bloomberg report. Read more »
The next Apple TV is still a box, just smaller
Still waiting for Apple to announce a big-screen TV? Then you might have to wait a bit longer: The next Apple TV device will be even smaller than the currently-selling version. Read more »
Apple TV adds streaming service Watchever in Germany
Apple TV users in Germany got some content of their own Friday: Watchever, the new streaming video subscription service from Vivendi. The move could open the door to more region-specific content deals for Apple TV. Read more at paidContent »
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How consumer media will change in 2013
Many of the biggest stories in the connected consumer space occurred mostly offstage in 2012, from Apple’s new media services to policymakers in Washington. Overall, the past 12 months have laid important groundwork for significant advances in the connected consumer space. The year 2013 should be eventful. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
No Apple television yet, but Apple is testing them out
Apple is testing TV designs, but before you get out your wallet, remember that these are just prototypes. We’ve heard these rumors before, and we’ll likely continue to hear them as Apple figures out how to move its strategy for the living room beyond “hobby.” Read more »
Analysts: Apple may have better shot at Apple TV outside the US
photo: Apple
Apple’s ‘hobby’ of improving the TV-viewing experience has graduated to ‘intense interest’. But what chance does Cupertino have of working with broadcasters? More in Europe than at home, analysts say. Read more at paidContent »
Apple sees TV “as a market that’s been left behind”
In his very first television interview aired Thursday night, Apple CEO Tim Cook was typically cryptic about how his company is looking at the television market. He would only reveal that they have “intense interest” in it. Read more »
Tim Cook hates office politics, loves when you email him
photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Apple’s CEO gave a long, wide-ranging interview on his first 15 months at the helm of the company. Here’s a quick round up of some of his more interesting comments, including more hints as to why Scott Forstall had to go. Read more »
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What the shift to the cloud means for the future EPG
The purpose of the on-screen guide has shifted. By connecting the guide to content-recommendation engines and advertising platforms, service providers and connected-TV device manufacturers are using the EPG as an access point for understanding consumers and reaching out to them to own the living room. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Connected consumer third-quarter 2012
The third quarter saw many parts of the traditional media business in flux. Other developments included the rollout of new device-based content ecosystems, red flags and red ink for traditional consumer electronics makers, and a resurgence of consumer purchases of movies. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Development strategies for the app-developer community
App developers are the cornerstones of the multibillion-dollar app market, but the overall community remains largely unknown. As app downloads increase, organizations that can bring tools, resources, and a collective voice to this group will be an important factor in the evolution of mobile-app development. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple TV adds shared Photo Streams, simpler account switching
With Monday’s software update the Apple TV is looking like an increasingly necessary part of the company’s overall vision for how iOS users access and share their content from all their Apple devices. Read more »
Will the future Apple TV be TiVo redux?
That Apple is negotiating with cable companies and other content owners to get live television and older episodes of TV shows on Apple TV is not news. What is interesting is the detail in Thursday’s Bloomberg story about what the holdups in the negotiations are. Read more »
The Apple Roundup: Despite growth, Apple TV, set-tops still not a mass hit
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Apple TV sales, and the pieces of the content puzzle it’s still missing, meet Apple’s two newest SVPs, penny-pinching at the Apple Store and new online tech support. Read more »
The Apple Roundup: Handicapping the arrival of new Apple TV
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: more evidence a new Apple TV isn’t coming soon, Apple’s room for growth, a longtime Apple ad maker quits, and the results of Korea’s Apple v. Samsung patent case. Read more »
The Apple Roundup: How cable today is nothing like the music biz of 2000
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: why Apple can’t disrupt cable today the way it did the music industry, where the Apple-Google spat is heading, an SMS security concern, plans for Oregon data center. Read more »
Apple pushing to add cable services to set-top box, according to report
Apple is talking to some of the biggest U.S. cable providers, but no deals are in place, according to the WSJ. Apple has an uphill battle ahead in order to catch up with Microsoft, who’s been able to woo cable companies to its own set-top box. Read more »
The Apple Roundup: Secure passwords can create a false sense of security
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Mat Honan’s iCloud hack wasn’t preventable with a strong password, hints about a larger iPhone in iOS 6, the Apple TV moves beyond hobby stage, and more. Read more »
The Apple Roundup: How close were we to an iCar?
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: More company secrets leak out at the Samsung trial, why an iPod nano smartwatch is “a dumb idea,” CBS’s apathy toward Apple TV, and Mountain Lion battery concerns. Read more »
Hulu Plus lands its own channel on Apple TV
The subscription version of Hulu is now available on Apple TV. Adding the channel was sort of an obvious move on Hulu’s part because of what Apple has done with its Airplay feature that lets users stream their Mac or iOS screen to their TV. Read more »
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Takeaways from connected consumer’s second quarter
Tablets featured prominently in the connected consumer space, both as a product category and as a component of broader platform strategies by major OS providers Microsoft, Google and Apple. Meanwhile Facebook began laying the groundwork to add payment processing to its platform. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
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Social-TV apps and consumer behavior
Social TV is any application, website or software that allows viewers to interact with television programming and share that interaction with others. Startups in this space hope to combine ubiquitous second-screen technology with well-established audience behavior to drive new value around shows. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Excuses for a shrinking PC market, and 4 other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: PC market apologists, Apple stores’ policy on selling gadgets to Iran, The Daily isn’t doing that well, how Aereo’s victory could benefit Apple, and Time Warner’s hopes for Apple TV. Read more »
Apple presses play on iTunes, Apple TV expansion in Asia
On Wednesday Apple made a push to expand its content business in Asia. iTunes is now available for buying music and videos in 12 new countries, and its Apple TV set-top box is now for sale in four new countries in the region. Read more »
Retailers & ‘the Apple demographic,’ plus 4 other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: the young, spendy Apple demographic, how design patents have become essential, Sprint’s curious sales woes at Apple stores, Airplay as Trojan horse, and conflicting reports of Verizon iPhone sales. Read more »
Here’s why Apple didn’t open up Apple TV
Apple was supposed to give third-party developers access to the Apple TV SDK today, enabling them to build apps for the TV platform. That didn’t happen, and for good reason: Apple platforms are a numbers game, and Apple simply doesn’t feel like playing yet. Read more »
How Apple can disrupt TV without a television, plus four other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Apple’s disruption of the TV business, how Tim Cook and Microsoft differ on the definition of PCs and tablets, what Facebook integration in iOS looks like, and iOS security. Read more »
DirecTV: Apple TV won’t “obsolete our technology”
While we in tech land tried to read the tea leaves of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s recent cryptic comments on the future of Apple TV, the media world saw the uncertainty around his statements as, “causing a boatload of angst and anticipation,” according to Variety. Read more »
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Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room
The adoption of tablets, social media and new interfaces and the changing nature of the TV itself mean the digital living room will continue on its path of rapid change, thanks to new ways of creating, viewing, bundling, distributing and selling content. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Apple TV is “probably profitable” and 4 other Apple stories to read today
Here’s our daily pick of stories about Apple from around the web that you shouldn’t miss. Today’s installment: Is Apple breaking even on its little Apple TV hobby?, whispers about a new Apple TV OS, and why it will never own a U.S. wireless carrier. Read more »
Bigger than an iPhone, yet smaller than an iPad: the next Apple TV?
It appears Apple is working on a device with a screen size larger than an iPhone, yet smaller than an iPad. Many have also been waiting in anticipation for what could be the next big thing in television. But what if these stories are all related? Read more »
ESPN: No talks yet about Apple TV authentication
As cable’s most powerful programming brand, you’d expect that ESPN would spend the day of its upfront presentation bolstering its still-very-lucrative linear TV model. But the Disney-owned sports media titan spent Tuesday hyping social media plans and shooting down rumors about Apple TV authentication. Read more at paidContent »
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Controversy, courtrooms and the cloud in Q1
In the first quarter of 2012 all eyes were on the screen, both big and small. Apple’s new Retina display pushed video streaming, and broadcast-TV streaming service Aereo’s launch was quickly followed with litigation. These events and more are discussed in a new quarterly report. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Will the next Apple TV be launched with Dish or DirecTV?
Apple may decide not to reinvent the wheel for any upcoming Apple TV product. Instead of offering access to integrated live TV feeds, it may partner with existing pay TV operators. Best suited for this kind of partnership may just be Dish or DirecTV. Read more »
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Apple looks to the small screen
This week’s announcement from Apple indicates more clearly than ever that the company’s path to disrupting the pay-TV ecosystem runs not through the living room but through mobile devices and the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
