Apple Has Introduced A New App Called TV For iPhone, iPad And Apple TV

Apple has introduced a new TV app that’s designed to offer a unified experience for discovering and accessing TV shows and movies from multiple apps on the Apple TV, iPhone and iPad.The TV app provides one place to access TV shows and movies, as well as a place to discover new content to watch.Features within the TV app include:

• Watch Now: Watch Now is where viewers will see their collection of available shows and movies from iTunes and apps. From Watch Now, viewers can then go to Up Next or Recommended to choose what to watch.
• Up Next: Users can enjoy the shows and movies they’re currently watching, including recent iTunes rentals and purchases — all presented in the order they’re most likely to watch first. For example, when viewers finish an episode, the next one will automatically appear at the start of the Up Next queue, as will any new episodes as they become available. At any time, users can ask Siri to continue watching a show and immediately pick up where they left off.
• Recommended: Viewers can explore a selection of curated and trending shows and movies, including collections handpicked by Apple’s curators, and dedicated categories and genres such as kids, sci-fi and comedy.
• Library: You can access your entire collection of iTunes movies and TV shows that you’ve rented or purchased on iTunes.
• Store: If users are looking for something new, they can check out the Store to discover new content across video services that they’ve not yet downloaded or are not yet subscribed to, along with the latest releases on iTunes.

The TV app and single sign-on will be available in December as free software updates for the 4th gen Apple TV, iPhone and iPad customers in the US.

Hulu And Youtube Planning TV Streaming Services

Hulu has announced that it will soon begin offering subscribers the ability to stream live broadcast and cable brands in 2017. That'll include live sports, news, and more. Hulu's subscribers won't be required to have a traditional cable TV subscription in order to watch. Fox, ABC, ESPN, FX, and the Disney Channel were all involved in negotiations. According to Bloomberg, YouTube is working on a paid subscription service called Unplugged that would offer customers a bundle of cable TV channels streamed over the Internet, people familiar with the plan in 2017. YouTube executives have discussed these plans with most major media companies, including Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, Viacom Inc., Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. and CBS Corp. No rights have yet been secured at this time. More and more cord cutting services are coming available now more then ever. Is the death of cord TV upon us ? What do you think ? 

PlayStation Now Available on Some Samsung Smart TV’s

Sony has announced that games on PlayStation Now can be streamed on a device outside of the PlayStation family for the first time. If you own a Samsung smart television, you may have access to a library of PlayStation 3 titles for rent. If you have one, you'll be able to connect a Dual Shock 4 controller and access PlayStation 3 games via individual rental or subscription. 1 Month of the service is $19.99 and for 3 months $44.99. You can also rental a specific game for a specific time and price. All of the features present on other platforms are available. This includes trophy support, online gaming, and cloud-based game saves.

Google Announces Nexus Player

The Nexus Player is the first device to run Google's Android TV OS. Using the set top box will give access to movies, television shows, music, and video games like most set top boxes. Unlike most set top boxes The Nexus Player includes a remote with voice command functionality, along with a separate gamepad that will be available for playing Android games. A number of apps and services, like Netflix, Pandora and Hulu Plus can be used on the device. The Nexus Player is powered by a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor and includes 802.11ac 2x2 wireless connectivity. The Nexus Player with be available on November 3 for $99 and the controller will be priced at $40.

Stream TV To Your PlayStation ?

Recent reports say Sony is currently meeting with potential content partners in order to introduce an internet TV streaming service to PlayStation later in the year. The report states that just last week, Sony signed an agreement with Viacom that will allow the streaming of over 20 channels, including MTV and Nickelodeon, just to name a few. Sony has expressed an interest in streaming with there PlayStation Now game streaming service, which allows users to stream full games to there PS3 or PS4 over an internet connection. Its currently unknown if this will be exclusive to PlayStation products of if this will be on all Sony products

Netflix + Oculus Rift = Oculix

Netflix engineers have created a special Oculus Rift user interface for its popular streaming service. This lets the user control the menu using hand and head gesture controls. Movie and TV options through a virtual space and you can tilt your head and raise or lower your hand to scrolls through selections. Netflix had this to stay about the demo "While we think these hacks are very cool and fun, they may never become part of the Netflix product”. Below is a demo of the Netflix hack in action.