Apple has acquired Matcha, a second-screen video search and recommendation service that was recently closed, for a fee believed to be between $1 million and $1.5 million.
Matcha was previously available as an iOS app, and it allowed users to get an overview of everything they could watch on a variety of cable TV networks and video-streaming services. But the service was closed back in May as it focused on a new direction — one which will now be controlled by Apple.
You can’t get music videos on MTV anymore, but that doesn’t mean the 60-inch TV strapped to your wall can’t get jiggy with Beyonce and Katy Perry’s newest music vids. VEVO announced today that it has added full AirPlay support to its iOS app, allowing users to stream audio and video to an Apple TV.
Although it was a great idea, this notion of a cheap Android game console, the Ouya left a lot to be desired at launch. The hardware had some obvious deficiencies, like controller dead spots, but more importantly, the game library at launch was practically non-existent.
Right now, it looks like the Ouya is a dud: a great idea that just didn’t have a chance because it couldn’t get a push. But you know who might be able to take that same idea and get developers to treat it more seriously? Amazon. And they’re working to do just that.
Popular music video platform Vevo is working on its own channel for the Apple TV, according to a new report from AdAge. The channel will offer free access to premium music videos 24-7, and Vevo will likely use ads to make money. Vevo already offers a free iOS app that plays short ads between videos.
On the Apple TV, Vevo will probably create an experience akin to Vevo TV, the company’s free, round-the-clock internet station that shows music videos and is supported by ads.
Because the Apple TV doesn’t have an open SDK for developers, Apple has to reach out to content makers specifically. More channels have been added to the Apple TV in recent months from the likes of HBO and ESPN.
Source: AdAge
It feels like Apple is falling way behind. But I don’t think that’s true.
I believe Apple puts enormous brain power and good judgement into envisioning the Next Big Thing. It takes them a long time to get it to market. But once it’s there, they iterate to perfect the original vision.
In the year or two after Apple launches an iPhone or an iPad, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing wrong.
But then, as we get further away from the last launch and closer to the next one, everybody falsely believes Apple can do nothing right.
Completely separate and unrelated to false perceptions about Apple, Google lately has been on fire. And lately they’ve been kicking butt not only in their traditional role of algorithm-based Internet services, but also in Apple’s sandboxes—namely design and hardware.
Apple has never been the kind of company that copies out of a lack of vision. Nor have they avoided copying.
What’s great about Apple is that they develop an ultra-clear vision about how to maximize the user experience, then they make that experience happen regardless of whether the solutions have to be invented, copied or—most commonly—Apple’s own unique spin on something invented elsewhere.
There are many ways in which Apple should not copy Google. But there are six ways Apple should copy Google and, in doing so, make Apple a better company with better products.
Been waiting around for a killer deal before jumping all over a new MacBook Pro with Retina display purchase? For the next three days Best Buy is giving away a free Apple TV to customers who buy one of two 15-inch MacBook Pro models that are $200 below MSRP.
Netflix has begun to officially roll out user profiles today, meaning you can now share an account with your family and friends without all their horrible movie choices clogging your Instant Queue.
Apple has reduced the price of the refurbished Apple TV to $75. That’s $10 cheaper than its original price tag, and $24 cheaper than a brand new model. It’s believed the drop may have been made in response to the Google Chromecast, which has been selling fast since it went on sale last week for just $35.
Apple seeded a new Apple TV beta to registered developers on Monday, and there were a couple of new features that the Cupertino company did not mention in its release notes. One of those features is a new, one-tap setup option for those with iOS devices, and the other is the ability to purchase music from the iTunes Store.
Along with the iOS 7 and iTunes beta releases published this morning, Apple has also seeded a the fourth beta build of Apple TV 5.4.
The new update is slim on new features, but includes a ton of bug fixes and gives iOS 7 devices the ability to set up an Apple TV after restoring or resetting all settings.
Here are the full release notes:
Buying a $35 dongle to magically stream all the video of the internet to your TV sounds pretty awesome, and based on early impressions Chromecast does a decent job, but how does its content stack up against the Apple TV and Roku?
Danny Sullivan created the chart above to break down the content you’ll find on Chromecast, Apple TV and Roku. If you only care about streaming video off Netflix and YouTube, then Chromecast is the best bang for your buck. But if you want to watch HBO Go, Hulu, or pull content from iTunes or Amazon, Apple TV or Roku have more content options.
Source: Marketingland
Via: Twitter
The people who believe Apple will sell a TV set are right. And the people who believe Apple won’t sell a TV set are also right. Here’s why.
This week on The CultCast: Logic Pro gets Pro’er with new features and iPad controls; Google Maps finally comes to iPad; Apple hunts for iWatch engineers; more iPad Mini retina rumors; Apple slangin’ TV deals with studios to kill commercials; we dish great computing tips on Tips Ahoooy!
Have a few laughs and get caught up on this week’s best Apple stories. Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.
Apple’s in the process of doubling down on the Apple TV. Following a report that Apple was working on deals with cable networks that would allow for commercial-skipping comes word that Apple is looking to cooperate with TV content providers to bring their own channels to the Apple TV.
According to Apple, the Apple TV is “just a hobby.” According to a new report, though, it’s way more than a hobby: it’s the dominant force in video streaming.
Tim Cook and co. have claimed that the Apple TV is just a hobby device, but that hasn’t stopped it from dominating the TV streaming box industry.
A new report from Frost & Sullivan claims that Apple TV now accounts for 56% of the worldwide IP streaming devices market and its nearest competitor, Roku, isn’t even close.
The Apple TV remote is a cute little brick of sleek aluminum simplicity, but its so damn skinny and small that if you’re like me, it goes missing for weeks at a time. If you need an extra reminder to put your toys away after you’ve played with them, Bloc has a walnut stand to keep all your Apple TV gear in place.
Apple has been trying to get a TV streaming service off the ground for quite some time. Instead of requiring your expensive cable subscription, Apple’s approach would likely be internet-only and rely on individual deals with the networks.
In order to entice the networks, Apple has proposed an interesting business model for advertising. According to a new report, Apple wants to compensate networks by paying them for ads that viewers have skipped.
Amazon is beating Apple in the eBooks racket by using Apple’s own pricing strategy for music.
But Apple can still clobber Amazon by out-Appling not the iTunes pricing strategy, but the Apple marketing strategy: Create a vastly better user experience for both content creators and content consumers! Oh, and focus on audio.
Here’s how.
Tim Cook isn’t the only one attending the Sun Valley Media Conference this week, a private gathering of over 300 industry leaders in which some of the big media inks get privately worked out. Eddy Cue — Apple’s savvy media dealmaker — is also there, according to Bloomberg reporter Jon Erlichman.
Is an Apple TV deal in the works? Asked if it was shaping up to a big week, Cook would only comment, “We’ll see.”
Via: TUAW
Apple CEO Tim Cook is on the list of guests expected to attend the annual Sun Valley conference in Idaho this week.
The conference is held by New York-based investment bank Allen & Co., and hosts over 300 industry leaders participate in panels on politics, business, tech and more over a four day period. It’s basically a place for some of the most powerful business people in the U.S. to figure out how to become more powerful as they hangout and try to strike up business deals.
Apple is close to securing a deal that will bring Time Warner Cable subscribers access to their cable television service through the Apple TV, according to sources with knowledge of the company’s plans, who have been speaking to Bloomberg.
The two companies are expected to announce the deal “within a few months.”
Apple is starting to give more attention to the Apple TV, as the recent additions of content like HBO Go and WatchESPN prove. Negotiations to stream cable content via the Apple TV have been underway, and Apple is almost ready to close a deal with Time Warner Cable. Former Hulu executive Pete Distad has also been hired by Apple to handle negotiations with content companies for the Apple TV, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Earlier this month it was discovered that Plex can be added to Apple TV without jailbreaking the device, and now a Russian blog has discovered how to add Russia’s UnliMovie digital TV service to the Apple TV by using the device’s Trailers app.
HBO Go and ESPN recently got added to the Apple TV, but only if you pay a hefty, monthly sum to a cable or satellite company for a bunch of other channels you never watch. The TV industry is evidently broken. You can have unlimited access to stream HD content for the price of a couple cups of coffee each month, but you can’t pay for HBO a la carte.
The Apple TV is slowly but surely becoming a more formidable media player with the addition of apps like HBO Go. But developers still can’t create apps and submit them to an Apple TV App Store; Apple handpicks partners to work with.