Television and the way we watch it are
undergoing a monumental change as software developers turn their hand to the
creation of innovative, useful and user-friendly TV apps.
Technology giants Apple and Samsung are
already developing smart TVs. Apple TV is currently in the form of a puck-like
box that allows you to buy movies and music through the iTunes store and browse
a limited number of intenet sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.
Although television production companies,
providers and broadcasters have already made tentative steps into the world of
apps with products such as on-demand viewing and digital programme guides, the
scope for further development is huge.
Comcast is promising similar search
advances as well as personalization features in X2, the cable giant's name for
what it calls a new entertainment operating system.
That software, which Comcast plans to begin
rolling out by the end of the year, is designed to recommend content currently
on live TV based on tracking a customer's past viewing habits as well as topics
trending on Twitter and Facebook. Comcast says X2's interface can work on TVs,
PCs and mobile devices—allowing users to manage their options from multiple
screens—and supports voice searching capability.
The Japanese company, for example, has
developed a tablet and smartphone app called Sony TV Sideview that augments TV
program guides. It supplies information on topics such as shows and
actors—while also letting people incorporate searches across Netflix, YouTube
and, of course, Sony's own video and music services.
Microsoft has experimented in other
areas—including offering an Apple TV-like set-top box without videogame
capability, building Xbox circuitry into TVs and adding DVR capability to Xbox
models, people familiar with its prototypes have said.
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