Sony Claims it's Going to Beat Apple to The Punch With an Interactive TV

[webby]

Sony Claims it's Going to Beat Apple to The Punch With an Interactive TV

Much has been made of Steve Jobs' revelation in his authorized biography about having "cracked" how to develop a revolutionary interface for an integrated television set, a disclosure that has led to claims of Apple working to launch a Siri-enabled television set by 2013.

The Wall Street Journal takes a look at how seriously Sony is taking the Apple threat, sharing comments from Sony CEO Howard Stringer about the strategies the company is seeking to employ, beginning with a "platform" spanning all the way from mobile devices to television sets.

Sony has a "four screen" strategy of offering network services on mobile phones, tablet computers, personal computers and TV sets. "I spent the last five years building a platform so I can compete against Steve Jobs," Mr. Stringer said. "It's finished, and it's launching now."

Stringer also claims that Sony has some ideas about a "different kind of TV set" that it has been working on as it seeks to beat Apple to the punch.

Mr. Stringer declined to discuss details of what Sony has on the drawing board, but said, "There's a tremendous amount of R&D going into a different kind of TV set." He added that he has "no doubt" Apple's late leader Steve Jobs also was working on changing the traditional TV set.

"That's what we're all looking for," said Mr. Stringer. "We can't continue selling TV sets [the way we have been]. Every TV set we all make loses money."

Stringer touches on several other topics in his interview, including an admission that Sony failed to realize how difficult it would be to get content providers to sign on to provide 3-D programming, a reluctance that has significantly slowed adoption of the technology. Stringer also briefly mentions the iPhone and his belief that other platforms will match the iOS experience, but that those platforms will need to adopt the seamless experience Apple has championed for its "well organized" devices and ecosystem.

 

[webby]

LG Is Said to Plan to Debut Google TV at Trade Show in January


Google Inc. and LG Electronics Inc. may unveil a television using the search giant’s software at the January Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to two people with knowledge of the project.

The product would be LG’s first model with Google TV, said the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions aren’t public.
Google is trying to build a coalition around its Google TV software, which adds Internet features to televisions. Enlisting LG, the second-largest TV maker, may help shore up the effort amid dwindling support from an early partner, Logitech International SA. (LOGN) That company is backing away from the partnership after disappointing sales.

 

[Nomar06]

So what is an interactive TV going to do? basically a large screened computer that can have TV functions in it?

 

[KennyGS]

 

[webby]

no full details, despite saying it'd be a way you could control your TV similar to how you can interact with siri on the iphone. So in theory you could ask when a specific show may be on, tell it to record something, etc etc. Probably be able to tell siri something on the iphone remotely, and it would record shows on the tv, play your itunes/icloud stuff...who knows what all it would do. There are just a lot of speculations at this point

 

[webby]

Sony Looking to Cut Out Cable Providers with Web-Based TV Service

The Wall Street Journal now reports that Sony is working on the next phase of its efforts, seeking to launch a Web-based alternative to traditional TV that would skirt around cable companies' control of the market.

Sony is proposing to beam the channels over Internet connections to Sony-made devices, including PlayStation gaming consoles, TV sets and Blu-ray players, the people said. Sony has sold about 18.1 million PlayStation 3 consoles in the U.S. alone, according to NPD Group Inc., and many homes have other Internet-connected Sony devices.

Sony has reportedly reached out to a number of content providers, including Comcast NBCUniversal, Discovery, and News Corp., in attempt to strike deals to offer their shows on the service.
One stumbling block could be Sony's desire to license a smaller bundle of channels than existing cable operators offer to undercut the incumbents on price and flexibility, according to people familiar with the matter. That could be a nonstarter for media companies, which would prefer not to undercut their biggest customers.

The report notes that Apple made a similar effort several years ago, seeking to put together a "best of TV" package for delivery to viewers via iTunes, but those negotiations failed to produce a deal after content providers refused to budge on their demands for bundling channels together.

Apple clearly remains interested in the television market, with rumors of a Siri-enabled TV set launching in late 2012 or early 2013. It is not entirely clear what efforts Apple may continue to pursue on the content side of the TV market to complement the hardware and software, but just two months ago the company was said to have developed a "new technology to deliver video to televisions". As part of that work, the company was said to still have an interest in offering some sort of subscription TV packages.

 

[KennyGS]

I thought I just saw a report that Comcast's business is way down. I'm guessing people are dropping their cable in an effort to reduce household costs.

Unless this can be provided at substantially lower pricing than cable, it will be ignored.

 

[dentrecords]

It'll be interesting to see what happens. If an Apple TV set has the same display quality as their computers, it'll be absolutely out of this world. Not sure what Sony will do to make things that much more compelling as I've not found their UI to be all that spectacular most of the time.