Google seems not to have given up on making a much bigger impact on the television and home entertainment market than it did with the Google TV. Their latest attempt is Chromecast TV, a television dongle that transform your ordinary TV into one that can connected to the internet directly and smarter. Chromecast TV is Promises to be a simple and intuitive solution to having a smart TV and only priced at US$35.
There are millions of homes in the UK with televisions that cannot connect to the internet directly. Therefore, any access to internet TV (Over The Top) services is done via the computer or some other smart devices such as a phone or tablet. With access to Youview still subject to availability in some areas, households now have another option from Sky called NOW TV.
Mobile Operator Deutsche Telekom and on-demand content supplier MobiTV are collaborating to develop a media platform for tablets, mobile phones, PCs, Internet TVs and set-top boxes (STB). Through the partnership the MobiTV’s TV Everywhere solution will integrate into Deutsche Telekom soon to release converged media services. The MobiTV platform will play a big role is helping Deutsche Telekom to expand into the growing mobile TV market.
Wyplay has announced plans to demonstrate its Wyplay Studio Design Center at this year’s IPTV World Forum in London. As a connected home solution Wyplay platform is use by some to the world’s leading operators to provide TV services. The Wyplay Studio platform allows broadcaster and telecom operators to delivers high quality end user experiences.
Vodafone Spain announced that they are planning to launch a connected TV solution called 'Vodafone Internet TV' for its Spanish customers. According to IpTV-news, the service will combine both free-to-air and pay DTT channels (including HD), an intelligent HD PVR, content streaming from the home network via DLNA technology, access to various Internet video services via Widgets, OTT portals and catch-up TV. So far they have selected Wyplay to provide a Hybrid IPTV Box.
Like Logitech Sony has launched their incarnation of a Google TV solution in Sony Internet TV. Sony has released four models of the television plus on Blu-ray disc player to complement the range. To accompany the TV is a handheld RF QWERTY keyboard for easy browsing and typing. The screen sizes starts at 24-inch for $599.99 to 46-inch for 1,399.99 recommended.
In an agreement with Cello, a manufacturer of LCD TVs, Sky the UKs leading digital TV supplier and 3View, a provider of hybrid DTT (digital Terrestrial Television) and IPTV set-top boxes; the Sky Player is to launch on a new range of set-top boxes and internet ready television sets.
Edgeware and Entone have announced that Entone’s market leading IP video gateways and media hubs are fully integrated with Edgeware’s widely-deployed video-on-demand (VOD) servers. Edgeware’s servers offer native support for On-Demand TV, Time Shifted TV, Live Webcasting, Web TV and Ad-insertion services with unmatched scalability and efficient bandwidth management.
Owners of VuNow can now watch Hollywood blockbusters and world-class films from their living rooms. Verismo Networks and Sonic Solutions have joined up to add the popular Roxio CinemaNow® content to the VuNow Internet TV platform, Verismo is enhancing the entertainment options for movie lovers -- letting people watch an extensive content library directly on the TV without a computer.