AllThingsD » Connected TV

Microsoft Sprints Ahead in the Race for the Living Room

Peter Kafka — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:18:31 +0000

If you’re placing bets on the “race to control the living room of the future,” it might make sense to wager on someone who’s already there. And who is solidifying that position every day: Six years after it introduced the Xbox 360, Microsoft is still moving a ton of the game units each month.

Specifically, it sold a record 1.7 million units in November, more than two times the competition from Nintendo and Sony. And while most of the people who are buying Xbox 360 game machines are using them to play games, Microsoft is being increasingly clear about its broader ambitions for the gadgets: As Simulmedia’s Dave Morgan puts it, these things are becoming cable set-top boxes.

That’s the upshot of the recent overhauls, which make it possible to control live and on-demand TV and Web video via its box. Which is exactly what Google has tried to do, with little success, and what everyone assumes Apple is going to try very soon.

It’s important to note, again, that Microsoft isn’t trying to work around the existing cable infrastructure — if you’re looking to cut your cord, the Xbox 360 won’t help you there. But if the game unit’s really big installed base — still growing! — does start using it as a video platform, then in short order Microsoft is going to have a whole lot of eyeball muscles to flex, if I can mix my metaphors. And then things could get very interesting.

Why Will Google TV Be Any Different From WebTV? Or AOL TV? Or MSNTV? Or…

John Paczkowski — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:12:43 +0000

At its I/O developer conference Thursday in San Francisco, Google, predicted it would “change the future of television” with GoogleTV, an effort to marry broadcast TV with the Web. And in comments about the announcement, the company’s executives hawked the new software and hardware bundle with similarly aggrandizing pronouncements.

There was this from Google Senior Product Manager Rishi Chandra: “We’re going to have the same impact on the TV experience that the smartphone had on the phone experience.”

And then this from Google CEO Eric Schmidt: “TV has not been reinvented in any significant way since color television was brought in in the mid-1960s.”

With Google TV, Google clearly believes it is ushering in the rebirth of television. But, to Schmidt’s point, sure, TV hasn’t been reinvented in 50 years, but not for lack of trying.

The evolutionary path of the device is littered with failed Internet-TV initiatives. As the Time Magazine cover from Apr. 12, 1993 suggests, this is not a new idea. Nor has it been a successful one, at least not in implementations to date.

Steve Perlman’s WebTV, one the earliest products to bring the Internet to television, failed to gain significant market traction and didn’t do much better after it was acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) and turned it into MSNTV.

AOL TV, America Online’s (AOL) effort to extend its dominance from the PC to the television with a Web-TV hybrid, was scuttled in 2003, three years after it launched.

Brought to market with the help of some impressive hardware partners, like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Microsoft’s Media Center Extenders never really caught on.

Launched more recently, Yahoo’s (YHOO) Connected TV initiative hasn’t garnered much notice. Then there’s Kodak’s (EK) Theater HD Player, which doesn’t seem to be doing that well either.

So what makes Google (GOOG) think it’s going to succeed where so many have failed? Particularly with a platform that, frankly, looks a lot like TiVo (TIVO) with a Web browser?

Aside from arrogance, that is?

Well, there’s an impressive list of partners. Certainly, adoption of Google TV stands to benefit quite a bit from Sony (SNE), Logitech (LOGI) and Dish Network (DISH) baking it into television sets, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes. And sources tell me other electronics manufacturers will soon join them. Content partnerships with Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN) will also help.

But the partnerships that matter most with an effort like this–cable company partnerships–are entirely absent. The simple fact is that cable companies like Comcast (CMCSA) and Time Warner (TWX) not only distribute the majority of the set-top boxes in the U.S, they also have a strong hold over content providers. Unless Google can convince them that their current business model is in need of something like Google TV, pushing the platform into the mainstream is likely to prove quite difficult.

[Image Credit: Time Magazine]

Where Is My All-In-One Connected-HDTV, Apple?

John Paczkowski — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 22:37:59 +0000

Apple has long described its Apple TV business as “a hobby” and dismissed speculation that it is considering an Apple-branded television. Indeed, during a February appearance at the annual Goldman Sachs (GS) tech conference in San Francisco COO Tim Cook reiterated that stance: “We have no interest in the TV market,” he said.

In a note to clients today, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster suggests that Apple (AAPL) reconsider its position on the television market. Home entertainment hardware is a $31.8 billion business, says Munster, and Apple could easily tap into it with a connected HDTV that offered immediate access to iTunes movies, TV shows, music and podcasts.

“Apple’s ability to deliver hardware, software and content that could replace an entire entertainment system with a single TV, puts Apple in a unique position for the emerging connected TV cycle,” Munster writes. “Apple already has several of the key ingredients for success in the connected TV market, many of which would differentiate Apple from current market players.”

Among those key ingredients:

Partnerships with over 100 TV networks and studios that could help Apple offer an a-la-carte iTunes TV Pass for select TV content
74 million iPhones and iPod touches–and, soon, untold numbers of iPads–that could all be integrated into a portable TV ecosystem
125 million active iTunes users, their credit card information and purchase history

This seems like a solid base upon which to build a connected TV business, particularly one designed to replace an entire entertainment system. Combine it with a reasonably priced iTunes TV subscription plan and you’d have a compelling offering indeed. But as I’ve noted here before, TV hardware is a tough business and the cable companies are wary of any offering that might threaten existing subscription fees.

Still, Munster is optimistic.

“Yes, TV hardware is a challenging, low-margin business if you don’t change the rules of the game; but we see potential for Apple to offer best-in-class hardware, software and content and charge a premium,” he says. “The bottom line, 32.4 million HDTVs sold in the U.S. a year is a real market, and if history repeats itself, Apple would find a way to compete in a commoditized market with a premium priced product.”

Munster notes that “An Apple Television would address more than just the HDTV market, as it would likely include audio and video features that could replace the TV itself, a Blu-ray player, a cable set-top-box, possibly a gaming system, an audio receiver made to combine these inputs and play music, plus the installation of these devices.”

Given Munster’s confidence in an Apple gambit in the television market, how long will it be before we see one? Two to four years, says the analyst–about the time we see an a-la-carte iTunes TV Pass.

Connecting With Your Inner Earpiece

Katherine Boehret — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:17:22 +0000

Apps are hot. These are the small programs that can be installed on a digital gadget to get it to do more than what it did when you bought it. Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone and iPod Touch are the best app platforms right now thanks to the company’s App Store, which offers an estimated 125,000 apps. Research in Motion (RIMM), Android, and Palm (PALM) devices also work with apps.

But why should smart phones have all the fun? Yahoo (YHOO) Connected TVs from Samsung, LG (LG), Sony (SNE), and Vizio allow people to load app-like “widgets”—including Facebook, Twitter, weather and stock quotes—onto their big-screen TVs. And GPS navigation devices take advantage of apps for information on fuel prices and traffic.

[ See post to watch video ]

This week, I tested a Bluetooth earpiece that also can be made smarter with apps: Aliph’s $100 Jawbone Icon (http://us.jawbone.com). Like many other wireless earpieces, it connects to your Bluetooth-enabled phone so you can talk, hands-free. Unlike other Bluetooth earpieces, the Jawbone Icon can be plugged into a computer and loaded with different settings and apps. This works using Aliph’s Web-based software platform called MyTalk (http://mytalk.jawbone.com) and some apps enable more than hands-free talking.

For now, there are only two apps that truly expand the functionality of the earpiece, in my opinion. But MyTalk is a good start in making this tiny Bluetooth device more sophisticated and encouraging more hands-free productivity.

The idea of connecting an earpiece to a PC is helpful in two respects. First, it turns the Jawbone into a dynamic product that can be updated and enhanced over time, rather than never changing from the day you buy it. Second, it lets users more easily adjust the settings of a device that’s too tiny to have its own screen, thus eliminating the need for more confusing buttons on the device. Over time, these earpieces could become even simpler and smaller as more of their settings are adjusted on the computer.

Since the Jawbone Icon and its MyTalk software platform launched this week, only five “dial apps” and 10 “audio apps” are available for synching to the earpiece. The former are apps that perform functions by dialing out on your phone, like hands-free text messaging; the latter are settings to adjust the voice making announcements in your ear, like telling you that the battery needs charging. As of now, only one of each app category can be synched onto the Jawbone Icon at any given time. Aliph plans to make the Icon capable of simultaneously running multiple apps sometime this year.

If you ever used one of the earlier Jawbone models and thought you weren’t hip enough to remember how its hidden earpiece buttons worked, the Jawbone Icon’s refreshingly simple design will bring a sigh of relief. It uses two easily detected controls. One is an obvious button on the top of the earpiece that controls the earpiece’s functions. The other is a tiny on/off switch on the inside surface that couldn’t be easier to use.

The Ace model personified

The Icon comes in six models with catchy names that match the “persona” of the audio apps: The Hero, The Rogue, The Ace, The Catch, The Thinker and The Bombshell—each literally has its own distinct voice. Each device weighs less and has a wider and shorter design than previous Jawbones. The Icons come in shades of black, silver, white, red and gold, depending on the model’s persona, and resemble handsome jewelry.

Each earpiece has a short, gray bendable USB connector that allows for easy access to a PC’s USB port. This is used for synching and charging the earpiece, though a separate wall charger also comes in the box.

I tested my Jawbone Icon by plugging it into both an Apple MacBook Pro and a Dell (DELL) running Windows 7. I logged onto http://mytalk.jawbone.com and requested an invitation to use the MyTalk software by sending Aliph my email since it’s still in a “private beta” or experimental phase. You’ll have to do the same until MyTalk comes out of its private beta stage sometime in the next few months.

After setting up an account using my email and a password, I followed on-screen instructions to get started with synching apps to my earpiece.

MyTalk’s dial apps include five programs that help you do more with your voice, so you don’t need to look down to type on a mobile device. Once synched with your Jawbone Icon, the app will activate as soon as you press and hold the earpiece button.

For now, only two of the five dial apps are really helpful for the headset: Jott and Dial2Do. Both let people use their voice to send themselves reminders, send tweets on Twitter, and send text messages—assuming the programs correctly interpret what is dictated. I had pretty good luck with this, though one test of the text-messaging function thought I said “needle” when I really said “noodle” and another interpreted “blinds” as “blind.”

Of the two, I found Dial2Do a little easier to use. Its Basic Account is free but is limited to sending yourself reminders, while a Pro Account costs $40 a year or $3.99 a month, and offers social-networking, emailing and text-messaging, among other things. Jott can only be used free for one week, but requires a credit-card number for signing up and will charge $2.95 a month after the trial week is over.

MyTalk’s remaining three dial apps aren’t too exciting: “Directory Assistance 411″ and “Voice Dial,” a feature that only works if your phone has built-in voice-dial capability, which most do now. Another app called 1-800-FREE411 lets users get 411 information without being charged carrier fees.

MyTalk’s audio apps include six playful voices, three in different languages (German, Spanish and French) and one plain, unaccented English voice. Each of the playful voices has a coinciding photo and name when you’re picking settings on the Web site. One called “The Bombshell” is represented by an attractive, blonde woman who speaks in a sexy voice. A voice called “The Rogue” says, “I am ready for my assignment,” when the earpiece is turned on. During most of my testing, I kept my Jawbone Icon set on “The Ace,” represented by a woman with a smart British accent who said, “They can wait,” when I declined calls.

The chosen audio app voice speaks every so often, like when the device is turned on, when you query the headset’s remaining battery life (an indicator light also tells you the remaining charge), when an incoming call is received or when you turn the headset off. But the Voice Dial app uses the standard voice that comes with your device’s voice-dialing capability—not the fun audio app voice you’ve chosen.

Another downside to the headset is that it isn’t yet able to tell you the name of whoever is calling even if you have them as a contact in your phone; instead, it only reads the phone number aloud. If you’re like me, you don’t know have many numbers memorized anymore, so this isn’t helpful. Instead, it forced me to look at my phone for the caller ID, defeating the purpose of a hands-free earpiece. Aliph hopes to fix this problem within a year.

The Jawbone Icon is the first earpiece to use a software platform for adding apps, and MyTalk makes synching easy. Although Aliph plans to offer more apps and software updates for the Jawbone Icon (and subsequent devices), there will likely always be some activities that are simply too difficult to perform using voice alone. But MyTalk is a good first step toward making the Bluetooth earpiece more useful.

Email mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

Bartz is Keynoting CES? Are They Putting Her on Five-Second Delay?

John Paczkowski — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:09:18 +0000

Carol Bartz, Yahoo’s all caps CEO has been tapped to deliver a keynote address at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.

What’s Yahoo (YHOO) got to tout at a consumer electronics showcase? Could be an update to Connected TV, the same Internet-to-television platform the company debuted at CES last year. Or it could be something else entirely.

Either way it’s likely to be an interesting session. As Bartz’s F-bomb-dropping performance at D7 demonstrated (see video below), she’s nothing if not colorful.

[ See post to watch video ]

Connected Life Head Marco Boerries to Leave Yahoo

Kara Swisher — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:27:15 +0000

Yahoo’s top mobile exec, Marco Boerries, is departing Yahoo, according to an internal email obtained by BoomTown that he sent to some staffers on Sunday.

I have also confirmed Boerries’s departure with company insiders familiar with the situation.

In a post Monday on a management restructuring at Yahoo (YHOO) that new CEO Carol Bartz is likely to unveil to the company this week–sources tell me it is now set to be announced internally tomorrow–I noted that Boerries was one of the more likely high-level execs to go.

He has been the EVP for the Connected Device Division at Yahoo for four years, coming to the company in 2005 with the acquisition of VerdiSoft. He also had earlier sold another software company to Sun Microsystems (JAVA) in 1999.

Nonetheless, many inside Yahoo expected him to go with the changing of leadership recently, after almost two years of turmoil at Yahoo. Like many, he reportedly wanted to leave earlier, but felt loyalty to former CEO Jerry Yang.

I wrote:

Boerries, a talented but more freewheeling exec under Yang, is another question all together. Already wealthy from selling several companies, the entrepreneurial exec is most often mentioned by sources as someone unlikely to stick around, especially if Bartz tries to rein him in more. (In addition, Boerries has family issues requiring that he spend a lot of time in his native Germany.)”

In his email, Boerries did not mention Bartz, but did indeed mention his personal issues.

“With a very heavy heart I have to tell you, that I will be leaving Yahoo!,” Boerries wrote, attributing his departure in an email titled “Personal Update,” to issues related to his family.

Because of that, Boerries has more recently been splitting his time between Northern California and Hamburg.

In the note to staff, he also noted all the successes Yahoo has had with its mobile and other device efforts.

It’s unclear what the impact of Boerries’s departure on Yahoo’s Connected Life unit will be.

But it seems more likely than not that Bartz will cut back, given that it is harder to monetize now and also because Yahoo does not have its own device, as both Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) do, which might help it create a more virtuous ecosystem.

Still, Yahoo has some extremely interesting products in the mobile space and, as is typical, really well done, such as many parts of its oneConnect service for smartphones.

In addition, Boerries unveiled a pretty interesting Connected TV effort at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, although this is also an area still struggling to find a lucrative business model.

Here’s a video of me interviewing Boerries, as well as Yang and outgoing President Sue Decker, about Connected TV:

And here is the Boerries goodbye memo in its entirety:

From: Marco Boerries
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:06:30 PM
Subject: Personal Update

Team,

with a very heavy heart I have to tell you, that I will be leaving Yahoo!

Most of you know about my personal situation, the “living in 2 continents” and the importance of my family to me. I cannot reconcile these personal needs, my future plans and ambitions and Yahoo! anymore. And that’s why it is time to say good bye.

I had four extremely interesting, exciting and mostly fun years at Yahoo! in which we developed and gained a leadership position in Mobile against all odds and are about to do the same for the Connected TV space. And most importantly I got to work with an incredible team: YOU!!!

I will never forget the time we had together, the launches, the keynote preparations, the off sites and of course the product and business reviews. It has not always been easy, and we have not always done everything right.

But we have achieved amazing things together and I am very grateful for your trust in me and the hard work and dedication you all put in so we could achieve some very amazing things that I am so proud of:

* setting the standards for great device experience with Yahoo! Go 2.0 in 2007 for feature phones
* putting us on the map with oneSearch and delivering answers, not just web links to our consumers
* winning in the mobile search distribution race by signing over 70 operator partners worldwide, that can deliver close to 1 billion subscribers in 2009 that we have the potential to convert into oneSearch’ers
* winning ATT, T-Mobile and Virgin and therefore the US mobile search distribution race and by doing so, leaving Google and Microsoft with the rest to divide up among themselves
* creating a scalable mobile platform with Blueprint and Blueprint Classic for 1000s of devices
* making and exceeding our OCF Goals every single quarter

And last but not least Yahoo! mobile “Your Starting Point to the Internet” in my opinion our best and most important product to date, especially the app version for smartphones. I demo’ed it to Walt Mossberg at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, who simply said: “I like it… I really like it!” What more can we ask for ?

And with that, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING

Please keep this very confidential and do not share until the official announcement later this week!

Marco

BoomTown's Annual Waltgelina Walk at CES: Walt and Katie on the (Less Crowded) Floor

Kara Swisher — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:15:05 +0000

As BoomTown did last year, I took to the much-less-crowded floor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week with tech review kingpin Walt Mossberg and Mossberg Solution columnist Katherine Boehret to get their take on the scene.

Big news for Walt was the Palm Pre launch and the Yahoo Connected TV initiative. For Katie, it was a $2,000 cellphone.

As I also said last year, I jokingly call Walt the “Brangelina” of CES, since he is stopped constantly on the floor by fans who want to meet him in person and those who just want to kibitz with him about the latest and greatest trends in the tech sector.

So, here are this year’s video ruminations:

[ See post to watch video ]

Jerry Yang and Sue Decker Talk About Yahoo's Connected TV at CES

Kara Swisher — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:04:49 +0000

Usually, BoomTown plays the stalker of Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. But, with an interesting product to show off, this time he invited me and also Walt Mossberg to take an on-the-floor look-see at the company’s new “Connected TV” effort yesterday.

Wading into what has been a longtime dead end for many tech companies–bringing the Internet to the television–Yahoo (YHOO) has struck a deal with South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung and other major television makers to put its software in televisions to link them to the Internet.

Using an onscreen dock, Yahoo is presenting its own services (like Flickr) and those from outside Web sites (YouTube) with this “widget engine.” With a regular remote, you can click through these applications easily and launch them in a side screen.

Yahoo hopes to create an entire ecosystem of these widgets, similar to what is occurring with the iPhone.

Publishers and vendors can use Yahoo’s open technology, although the company will offer monetization services, keeping itself at the center of the platform.

In the short amount of time I used it, it’s a nice effort and an important one if Yahoo is to try to lead in being a key player in devices other than computers.

Here’s the video of me talking to Yang (check out his attempted scary stare at me at the start!) and Yahoo President Sue Decker about Connected TV, along with an interview with Yahoo’s point man on other devices, Connected Device EVP Marco Boerries.

Here’s the video (I had to use YouTube to upload it, since Brightcove isn’t downloading properly):