The mobile wars are still being fought (with Apple leading by a large margin), but manufacturers may already have their sights set on another battleground: smart TVs.
The industry is still growing, but it’s a logical progression for tech giants like Apple and Google. The consumer electronics market is positively overrun with a demand for smart devices, and while it’s hard to envision apps for a refrigerator, iOS and Android would work on a TV screen.
The way people consume media is changing and a big change in the smart TV market is overdue.
Microsoft added three new video apps to its Xbox 360 console today that include on-demand content from Comcast, HBO GO, and MLB.TV.
Microsoft announced the new Xbox TV last October, and the service debuted with offerings from Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, and its own Zune store with plans to add more pay TV channel partners. Comcast’s Xfinity TV is the first time the cable TV giant has made its on-demand content available through a console, and HBO GO makes the network’s entire catalogue of shows available on the Xbox.
Many of the offerings require separate pay TV subscriptions or one-time payments.
Amazon is adding a slew of new shows to its Amazon Prime streaming service. Episodes and specials from the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science and Military Channel are all included. Amazon is reporting that the agreement adds over 3,000 titles to their streaming catalog. Amazon Prime costs $79 a year and the price includes free two day shipping on select items, the video streaming library and the Kindle Lending Library. To promote Amazon Prime, the retailer has been giving away a free month of service with any purchase of a Kindle Fire tablet.
Aereo is a startup company with a $12/month service that lets you stream live and recorded over-the-air TV using an iOS device or your web browser. You simply touch a show and live TV starts streaming on your device.
Unfortunately, Aereo is currently only available in New York, but the project is still an ambitious one. The technology behind the service is rather unique: Aereo has several large “antenna arrays” set up somewhere in Brooklyn, filled with thousands of tiny TV antennas. When users access their Aereo, account they are assigned their own individual mini-antenna.
A subscription allows you to tune in to live TV on any of the major networks in New York or schedule recordings just like on a regular DVR.
Netflix has released a new user interface geared towards kids on the Sony PS3. The Just for Kids interface is now a choice when you start Netflix on the system and only shows selected movies and TV shows suitable for children.
Netflix stated back in January that they would introduce the concept of different user profiles and tailor content to each member of the household in 2012, and hopefully the new kid-friendly option is just the start.
Cable giant Comcast is set to launch a new video-on-demand service for its clients called Streampix. This is surely an effort to keep people from cutting the cord on their cable subscriptions and switching to a streaming service like Netflix.
From the announcement:
“This new service complements the 75,000 TV shows and movies currently available on Xfinity On Demand, XfinityTV.com and through the Xfinity TV app. To launch Streampix, Comcast has entered into licensing agreements with leading movie studios and programming providers including Disney-ABC Television Group*, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution and Cookie Jar and built a line-up of top-rated content, which is available starting this week.”
If you have Xfinity Triple Play (TV, internet, and phone service) from Comcast, you get Streampix for no additional charge. Other customers can subscribe for $4.95 a month.
Part of our mission here at Mile High Automation is to find ways to use technology to improve people’s lives, and a big aspect of home automation is increasing productivity in a household. Another important feature in automation has more to do with personal enjoyment than anything else. That’s why we’re adding more focus on home theaters this year as we explore all the innovations in the consumer electronics field.
These days we have much greater access to the media we consume than ever before and a home theater, while not a necessity, can be a great add-on to a home. It may sound a little extravagant, but chances are you don’t know how much of a system you can really afford, so start talking with one of our specialists today and find out.
Not Microsoft Windows, plain ole pie-on-the-sill windows turned into a touchscreen computer by Samsung.
The video really wants you to imagine having one in your kitchen, but we know what people are really thinking…
Netflix has decided not to split its DVD service into a separate company named Qwikster and has announced that DVD rentals and streaming will stay together with no new price hikes in the near future.
In a blog post, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sums it up simply: “This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.”
I’m sure no one is saddened by the loss of Qwikster but there’s no news on whether additional features planned for Qwikster, like video game rentals, have been abandoned or if they’ll be integrated into the Netflix library.
Western Digital’s new WDTV Live Streaming player distinguishes itself from other set top boxes with Spotify integration in addition to streaming Netflix, Hulu Plus, Youtube, Blockbuster, and a slew of other, lesser-known online services. There’s no storage but it’s easy to set up, has built-in Wi-Fi, and the price is a reasonable $100.
All-in-all it’s not a purchase for someone looking to stream content to their TV without the added price of bells and whistles.
rss twitter facebook linkd-in