Advanced Television

Connected TV

New features not strong drivers of new TV purchases

According to the DisplaySearch Global TV Replacement Study, the main reasons why people decide to buy a new TV are the same ones that have been cited for years: to have a newer, bigger and better performing TV, and not just to replace a broken TV, although that can be a motivator. In an effort […]

June 9, 2011

iCloud is go but no video

Steve Jobs returned from medical leave to reveal iCloud the web-based service to synchronise content users store and share across their Apple devices – but not TV or movies yet. Anyone buying an app, book or music track for one device will see it replicated on the other Apple devices they own. “We are demoting […]

June 7, 2011

Xbox TV with Kinect Control

As reported here yesterday, Microsoft Corp has used day one of E3 in Los Angeles confirm plans for live TV via Xbox. It also confirmed plans presaged at CES in January to put its Kinect motion control into play for controlling media options on the platform so channels and VoD can be chosen with voice […]

June 7, 2011

Xbox TV ‘virtual cable’

Hard on the heels of the expected announcement later today (Monday 6th June) of an Apple TV service, US media is reporting ‘last minute negotiations’ with content owners in preparation for a full Xbox Live TV service announcement at the E3 games fest in Las Vegas later this week. According to those reports the service […]

June 6, 2011

BBC plan to save 20%

Digital channel BBC4 is set to concentrate on arts programming dropping drama and comedy from the low rating channel as the BBC aims to save £700 million (€785m), or 20 per cent of its budget. The cuts are revealed in the latest Work Plan for 2010-11 – the Plans are part of the Trust’s commitment […]

June 6, 2011

Spain backs HbbTV standard

Electronics manufacturers, TV broadcasters and the Government have lined up to support the HbbTV standard as a way to introduce hybrid TV following the model in France and Germany. Manufacturers believe the market will grow strongly over the next few years. Panasonic forecasts that in 2012 there will be 2 million Internet-ready TV sets in […]

June 3, 2011From David Del Valle in Madrid

Connected now the norm for new TV devices

According to The Diffusion Group (TDG), the number of households that will be using over-the-top (OTT) video services will grow from 106 million in 2010 to 250 million in 2016. While impressive, this is but 51 per cent of the households that will be capable of receiving OTT TV services in 2016. In other words, […]

June 3, 2011

Telecom Italia, Samsung offer free movies on demand

Telecom Italia and Samsung Electronics have teamed up to offer over 60 movie titles, which can be viewed free of charge and in 3D. With the purchase of new Samsung LED Smart TVs (starting from 32 inch models), 60 movies are included in the price, which can be viewed free of charge via the Telecom […]

June 2, 2011From Branislav Pekic in Rome

Cisco: 15bn connected devices by 2015

 The number of connected devices will reach over 15 billion – twice the world’s population – by 2015 predicts Cisco. It predicts the proliferation of tablets, mobile phones, connected appliances and other smart devices will drive this growth and consumer video will continue to dominate Internet traffic; that by 2015 one million minutes of video […]

June 1, 2011

Apple iCloud TV

In an unusual preview of next week’s annual developer conference, Apple has revealed it will announce an new ‘iCloud’ service that will include Internet TV. The company gave few details but analysts said it is likely it would allow people access to music, photos and videos on multiple Apple devices, without needing to sync those […]

June 1, 2011