AT&T (T) on Monday unveiled a new video-on-demand service for its U-Verse TV subscribers at its annual Developer Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company is looking to keep its customers away from streaming services from Netflix (NFLX), Amazon (AMZN) and Hulu, and will offer the U-Verse Screen Pack for $5 a month. The service is only available to U-Verse subscribers and provides access to a library of 1,500 movies that can be viewed on any TV, computer or tablet. More →
Samsung (005930) has been teasing us with visions of a revolutionary new television set recently, and the company did its best to deliver at the Consumer Electronics Show Monday by showing off an 85-inch television set that bears a striking resemblance to a chalkboard. The Samsung S9 UHD TV comes with a “proprietary up-scaling engine” that “can up-convert HD or Full-HD to UHD-level picture quality by restoring detail information to create greater precision and real-life picture quality.” Samsung also showed off a Siri-like Voice Interaction feature on the TV set that’s able to execute commands and answer questions about programming that Samsung says makes the television “almost human.” Samsung has not yet provided pricing data or a shipping date, although the company says that it also plans to release a 110-inch version of the television set later this year. The company’s full press release is posted below. More →
“Ultra-HD” is the new 3D TV, and sales of new higher-definition television sets are expected to flop. The 2013 Consumer Electronics Show is upon us and TV vendors will look to 4K resolution at this year’s show in an effort to wow consumers. According to analysts, however, ultra-HD TV sales won’t amount to much in 2013 — or even four years from now. More →
Google (GOOG) and its manufacturing partners are once again going to try to make a splash at the Consumer Electronics Show. The company on Friday announced that its partners will unveil a number of Google TV products at the annual trade show. New products are expected to be announced from ASUS (2357), Hisense (0921), TCL (1070) and others, while existing partners like LG (066570), Vizio, and Sony (SNE) will show off the newest Google TV platform. Google revealed that Google TV is available through either set-top boxes or integrated TVs from nine partners across 10 countries around the world. It is still widely considered a failed product, however. The Consumer Electronics Show is scheduled to take place from January 8th through January 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While there will certainly be several sweet new television sets on display at the Consumer Electronics Show next week, the TV that generates the most buzz may be one that isn’t even at the show. Per AppleInsider, Topeka Capital’s Brian White thinks that Apple’s (AAPL) long-rumored television set will be “the elephant in the room” because of its potential to “totally reinvent the TV experience.” Specifically, White thinks that “Apple’s ability to develop hardware and software together, combined with a relentless, detailed focus on aesthetics and a robust ecosystem will make the company difficult to beat in the coming years” when it comes to changing the television set industry.
A number of industry watchers are waiting for Apple’s (AAPL) “next big thing” before they’re confident once again that the company can maintain rapid growth in the coming years. While many expect an own-brand HDTV from Apple to be that catalyst, a new report suggests Apple’s much rumored television will not be released in 2013. Near the top of a list of 13 predictions for 2013, BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield writes that Apple’s “mythical” TV set may indeed be in the works, but it will not launch this year. More →
Intel (INTC) is indeed working on a service that will look to change the way cable TV is consumed, but it is running into some of the same problems Apple (AAPL) has seen in its efforts to turn the TV business on its head. The Wall Street Journal reports that Intel is currently in negotiations with media companies to discuss plans to become a “virtual cable operator,” selling TV channel bundles that would be delivered to users over the Internet. The company is also pitching the idea of offering TV channels outside of bundles, however, and this is where it is running into problems. More →
Intel (INTC) looks primed to give the cable industry some much-needed competition. Unnamed sources have told TechCrunch that Intel is “preparing to launch its rumored virtual cable TV service and set-top box… on a city-by-city basis so Intel has more flexibility in negotiating licensing with reluctant content providers.” TechCrunch’s sources say the reason Intel is getting into the set-top box is simple: the company has failed to convince manufacturers to put its chips in their “smart” television sets and the company wants to show the industry how it’s done. Or as one source puts it, Intel is annoyed that “everyone [is] doing a half-assed Google TV so it’s going to do it themselves and do it right.”
The Consumer Electronics Show sees dozens of new television models debut each year, but we’re in for something special this time around. So says Samsung (005930), which has posted a peculiar teaser on its Korean blog. ”A true innovation of TV design is coming up with an unprecedented new TV shape and timeless design,” the company wrote in a post that was accompanied by the odd image seen above. No other details were given, but the company’s press conference starts at 5:00 p.m. PST next Monday so we don’t have long to wait for the full reveal.
The global pay-TV subscriber base is expected to top 900 million in 2013 according to recent estimates, driven largely by increased popularity of IPTV services and growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Market Research firm ABI Research says the global pay-TV market added almost 47 million net subscribers in 2012, pushing the global user count to 864 million. In 2013, however, the firm expects growth to slow as North American and Western European markets become saturated. More →
Google TV 1.0 and Google TV 2.0 haven’t drawn much attention in the marketplace at this point, but that won’t stop Google TV 3.0-packing HDTVs from swarming the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vega, Nevada next month. LG (066570) is among the first to take the wraps off of new televisions with the third major iteration of Google’s (GOOG) software baked in, and it will be bringing 42-, 47-, 50-, 55- and 60-inch models to CES 2013 next month. More →
Apple (AAPL) is reportedly testing a number of HDTV prototypes with manufacturing partner Hon Hai, though a launch in the coming year is said to be unlikely. Citing a single anonymous source, Focus Taiwan reports that initial testing of Apple’s own-brand TV sets is currently under way at Hon Hai. Display panels on the prototypes are said to range from 46 to 55 inches and several different designs are being tested. According to the site’s source, the final version of Apple’s debut HDTV is not likely to begin shipping until 2014 at the earliest.
