Google TV 2.0 Draws Near
There are reports that Google TV 2.0 is getting closer with app developers getting an add-on for the Android software developer kit (SDK). Let’s hope Google invites an adult from the likes of Motorola Mobility to help it determine whether the product is finished and ready for consumers, unlike what Google, Sony and Logitech foisted on them the first time.
Golden Age for Buying TVs
It’s the golden age for buying big TV sets as their prices are dropping and manufacturers are adding functions at the same time they’re facing reduced demand as the economy squeezes the consumers’ wallets and pocketbooks. Amazon in the US is selling LG’s 42-inch LED 42LV3700 HDTV for $650 including shipping to the home. It’s loaded with apps: Netflix, Hulu Plus, YouTube, Facebook, and others. The set has all the features: 1080p LCD, of course, LED backlighting, 2,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, three HDMI connectors, two for components, two for AV and an RGB connector for a PC. The set was over $1,000 a few months ago. Its no wonder Intel is getting out of smart TVs!
French Public Broadcaster Goes for HbbTV
The era of the connected home with its smart TVs has already arrived, hasn’t it?
France Télévisions, the government-owned public broadcast network, has selected HbbTV technology to launch a DTT portal and TV news app. The viewing device, whether it be TV set, STB, Blu-ray player or other, will need to have the HbbTV technology embedded.
Throughout the day, France Télévisions will send to HbbTV devices international, national and regional news bulletins, recent sports reports, the latest video weather forecasts and an electronic program guide.
It plans to add a social media sharing capability shortly.
Users will be able to access the portal plus France 2 HD and France 4 DTT channels. They will also soon be able to access all France Télévisions channels on all Internet connected-TVs that have HbbTV either embedded or in an Internet-connected STB.
HbbTV is a European-developed standard for hybrid STBs for receiving broadcast TV and broadband apps in a single user interface — hybrid broadcast and broadband, hence HbbTV. France Télévisions said it tested HbbTV during the 2011 French Open tennis tournament.
The France Télévisions catch-up news app will initially be available on Philips TV sets and over the next few months on more connected devices. More features, apps and services will be added as will more TV sets.
France Télévisions is a government-owned company that was formed by merging the public television channels France 2 and France 3, later joined by France 5, France Ô, and France 4. It’s funded by a government mandated television license fee and advertising.
HbbTV has already been selected by the public service broadcasters in Germany and Austria. HbbTV may make a clean sweep of all TV broadcasters in continental Europe. The BBC-backed YouView, whose specification has not yet been finished, has the inside track in the UK and Ireland but its tardiness may be losing it some of its appeal.
Google’s Schmidt Says Google TV Was a ‘Beta’ Version
Google’s motto of “Don’t be evil” evidently does not apply to Google TV.
Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt pulled an HP-Apotheker last Friday night when he said that the Google TV version that Sony and Logitech spent millions to launch was a “beta,” a test version that was not finished. Want to bet he didn’t tell that to Sony or Logitech when Google was trying to persuade them to engineer their products for Google TV?
And no one told us or the thousands of other buyers that foolishly spent money on a beta unit that didn’t work properly. Logitech said that in its most recent quarter it took back more Google TV adapters than it sold. Logitech cut the price of its Google TV adapters from $300 to $100. Sony is having trouble selling Google TV too as shown by its sharp price cuts of Google TV gear in order to dump its inventory.
“I think it’s a beta product,” Schmidt said. “Google typically brings out beta versions, and they’re not for the faint of heart, and I think that’s what you saw. We were not able to get the product perfect before we shipped it.” So, then why ship it?
A beta version is what a company gives its engineers to test, not something that you put on the market and tell the world how great it is. A beta version is not something you’d want your parents to use. By saying that, Schmidt has publicly admitted that Google TV devices were a fraud and Google knew it.
Perhaps Sony and Logitech should ask Google to reimburse their developing, manufacturing, shipping and marketing costs of the Google TV devices they produced. Sony even has a Blu-ray player that runs Google TV and developed an adapter like the one that Logitech offered.
It also appears certain that no responsible executive at Google, Sony or Logitech ever spent 30 minutes actually using Google TV, but just had some tekkie show it to them. If they had taken the time, perhaps they would never have inflicted Google TV on consumers. What a waste of time and money for Logitech Sony, their retailer partners and the consumers that bought a Google TV.
Maybe Google has burnt its bridges in the States because Schmidt said the company is in discussions with all the major UK broadcasters in anticipation of launching set-top boxes with the Google TV next year. Google is going to run into strong competition from TV set makers like Samsung and Panasonic that are already selling sets and Blu-ray players with their own smart TV platforms.
In addition there are two other major smart TV technologies being developed in Europe. The BBC-led YouView seems to have the momentum in the UK despite delays. On the European continent HbbTV has a big jump with content owners like Austria’s public service broadcaster ORF and Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1.
As with Google TV, HbbTV and YouView must be embedded in a smart TV, Blu-ray player or STB that’s connects a TV to the Web.
To read the rest of this article, please subscribe.
NetMovies Beats Netflix to Samsung Smart TVs in Brazil
Netflix better hurry! The Brazilian OTT service NetMovies is already available on Samsung smart TVs in Brazil. NetMovies said its goal is to get on 100% of smart TVs and Blu-ray players in Brazil. NetMovies offers the streaming of about 4,000 movies.
José Molinero, Samsung Electronic appliances consumption division VP, said that in 2011, Samsung expects to sell 45% of the smart TVs in Brazil. Where are Sony and LG? Vizio, the biggest seller of LCDs in the States, doesn’t sell in Brazil — or any country other than the States where it primarily sells through big box retailers Walmart and Sam’s Club.
For that matter, why isn’t Sony offering Qriocity and Crackle on TV sets in Brazil?
Molinero said Samsung will have Internet connectivity of 25 models of smart-TV sets, four models of home theaters and four models of Blu-ray players.
Like Netflix, NetMovies also offers home delivery for DVD and Blu-ray disc rentals in 11 Brazilian states in addition to its streaming service.
To read the rest of this article, please subscribe.
Smart TV Ads, The Missed Opportunity
By Geoff Whiting
Depending on what survey you read this week, my family is either the forerunner of a coming trend or one of the few noisemakers on the sideline that’ll never play a major role in the game.
That’s right, we’re cord cutters.
We have a digital antenna that’s rarely used sitting behind an Apple TV, the latest Roku STB and a PlayStation 3, all of which see a fair amount of use. As my wife studies for the DC Bar Exam our Roku has seen a lot more use, namely the Hulu Plus app for an almost non-stop “Desperate Housewives” marathon that thankfully is about to run out of episodes.
As we’ve sat through nearly seven full seasons, each episode with four or five ad breaks, a strong thought occurred: this device that we often tout as the king of interactivity and that has the potential to reach and intimately target my family with tailored videos and advertisements is completely falling short of its potential.
The most common advertisements come from Geico and Allstate for car insurance, a variety of TV shows that are only available on pay-TV networks like FX and the latest summer films. Being in the DC Metro area we’ve abandoned the need for a car. Unfortunately, I’m very picky about what I am willing to see in theaters for $20 to $40.
To read more, request a Free Trial edition or Subscribe.
Routers in the Living Room!
Ah! Six tuners, multi-room DVR, 500GB of storage, a built-in router, USB ports on the front and MoCA! What more could a digital media loving person want?
All of that is in the Arris’ Whole Home Solution STB that Canada’s Shaw Communications will offer its 3.4 million subscribers. Wi-Fi 802.11n is an option for those who don’t already have a Wi-Fi network.
It’ll be called the Shaw Gateway. Initial installations are in Calgary and ultimately will be throughout its footprint. It will connect to Arris Media Players that are attached to TV sets in other rooms so they can use the central DVR.
Shaw will use the boxes to offer broadcast and narrowcast video, video on demand, DOCSIS 3.0 broadband, two lines of carrier-grade voice over IP, OTT videos and media sharing of user-generated content. It also supports DLNA to connect with subscriber owned DLNA-enabled devices that are on the home’s network and supports CableCard conditional access.
The Arris Media Players (satellites) support full HD via HDMI, component, and composite outputs, front and rear USB ports, 10/100 Mbps Ethernet and MoCA 1.1+. It’s operated with a backlit remote control.
Arris Broadband Communication Systems president Bruce McClelland said the product “will accelerate and ease the transition of content delivery to a cost-efficient, all-IP model.” It will, he said, bring the broadband experience of the future into their customers’ homes.
The Real World: Routers in the Living Room
Consumers buying smart TVs, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles and smart TV adapters will start finding they need a router or switch in the living room and perhaps one in the bedroom, depending on how much equipment is installed there. An increasing number of devices need a home network connection, preferably wireline Ethernet for maximum reception.
Sure Wi-Fi could do but just as pay-TV won out over antennas for reception clarity in millions of home, so will wireline Ethernet win out over Wi-Fi, at least the current iterations of Wi-Fi. If wireline Ethernet is the chosen path, then it makes sense to put a router or low-cost switch in the living room so that only one Ethernet cable has to be run from the home’s router that’s connected to the broadband modem.
If the router or switch is being installed in an area of the house like the bedroom where Wi-Fi reception is dodgy, then it makes sense to install a second Wi-Fi multi-port router.
Having a router built-in to the DVR box as Arris is doing makes the installation easier and results in fewer wires. If it weren’t so cold there and for so many months, a digital media lover might move to Calgary.
Google Intends to Change TV as We Know It
Here we go! Google, the Web’s largest online video service, is challenging online movie rental services such as iTunes for eyeballs by adding about 3,000 movies to its YouTube movie rental service in the States. They’ll be blockbusters according to the head of YouTube, Salar Kamangar on a company blog. Reviews and extras will also be available.
The films come from Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate and Warner Bros. The offerings include “Caddyshack,” “Goodfellas,” “Scarface,” “Inception,” “The King’s Speech” and the “Little Fockers.” The Internet-friendly Warner Bros. also rents a few movies on Facebook.
Viacom’s Paramount, News Corp’s Twentieth Century Fox and Disney did not sign up, at least not yet. They may be concerned about piracy, weary over YouTube’s amateurish aura or just taking a “wait-and-see” attitude. As Netflix is showing, they too will come once YouTube gets the eyeballs.
YouTube movies are also available on TVs, Blu-ray Players and adapters that are based on Google TV.
Reviews are from Rotten Tomatoes, which Warner Bros. is acquiring, and extras such a cast interviews and parodies are also available.
LG Adds Smarts to TV Sets
There are millions of HD TVs in homes that are not smart TVs but whose owners want Netflix or other OTT services after seeing them at a friend’s. So far Apple, Roku, Boxee and Logitech with its Google TV have been the answer. There are also Blu-ray players.
LG has entered the fray and is now shipping in the States its ST600 smart TV adapter, which upgrades any HD TV that has an HDMI connector to a smart TV. It’s $129 at retailers like Wal-Mart, Amazon and NewEgg.
$129 LG Smart TV Upgrader
The big news is that it has a Web browser that lets users see news, reviews and other content. It’s not clear whether it’s a full Internet browser that lets users view TV shows on Hulu and the network broadcasters’ Web sites. They ganged up to prevent Google TV users from watching their shows.
LG’s Netcast service offers more OTT services than the $99 Apple TV, and includes:
Get Into Smart TVs or Else!
Some 30% of households using pay-TV services are at risk of cutting the cord altogether in favor of Internet-only alternatives like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video and others from a variety of devices that are already in the home, from game consoles and Blu-ray players to smart TVs and STBs.
That 30% figure comes from In-Stat who said that pay-TV subscriptions only had a 0.15% increase (148,000 subscriptions) in 2010, but also noted consumers are ever more willing to access video and related content through alternative means.
Neither age nor income impacted cord cutting, according to In-Stat. Nielsen however, says consumers under the age of 25 are twice as likely to snip it. Surprisingly, in 2010, more households added premium channels than dropped them. Another major surprise was that consumers valued cable sports significantly less than on-demand access to TV content or premium TV channels — this means that more sports won’t stop cord cutting, but more VOD and perhaps more TV everywhere will.
“A substantial portion of pay-TV subscribers exhibit similar characteristics to video cord cutting households,” said In-Stat. “It is important to track these ‘at risk’ subscribers, rather than the pay-TV subscriber base as a whole. In general, our new data confirms that adoption of online video is growing.”
With these new numbers, it’s easy to say that every CE company and every content service should have someone working on a smart TV offering. Consumers care about VOD more than sports, a notion that is a bit mind boggling as even we have carried the banner that proclaimed ‘Sports Will Save Pay-TV!’
14 Years of Reliable Reporting
Online Reporter is
a weekly research and analysis newsletter covering the digital media industry.
About Us
Editorial Sections
- Broadband Beat
- Cloud Computing
- DigiGrams
- Enabling Technology
- Home Networking
- Legal Matters
- Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics
- News
- Online Music Services
- Quote of the Week
- Sample Headlines
- Show Time
- Smart TV
- Stat of the Week
- Tablets
- Uncategorized