With bandwidth-heavy streaming apps such as Netflix, HBO Go, and Pandora out on the market, users are consuming more data than ever before on their smartphones. According to a new report by Nielsen out today, average U.S. smartphone data usage is up by 89% in the last 12 months. For carriers, as the report indicates, that could have huge implications: How will Verizon, AT&T, and others be able …
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iPhone, Android Mobile User Data Blasts Off, Windows Phone 7 Catching Up
The Netflix app for Apple iPhone enhances the value of a Netflix subscription by letting you watch movies directly on your handheld device. In the latest version, Netflix has added the ability to rate movies from your smartphone, but it removed DVD (disc) queue management tools.
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Netflix (for iPhone)
As noted by Business Insider, Major League Baseball has announced that live and archived streams of baseball games are now available through the Apple TV. The new services are available through a software update released today as part of the iOS 4.3 rollout.
Enjoy select Spring Training games and a full slate of regular season games on Apple TV.
Regular Season features include:
- HD Quality (where available)
- LIVE and archived games
- Home and away broadcasts*
- Quick navigation to run scoring plays or a particular at bat
The service requires a subscription to MLB.tv, which is available in packages costing $19.99 per month ($99.99 per year) or $24.99 per month ($119.99 per year).
The update also adds access to the National Basketball Association’s League Pass feature, providing free access to scores and stats while also offering the option to upgrade to receive live and archived video feeds of games. Video pricing is set at $64.95 for access to watching games for up to seven teams througout the season, or $99.95 for access to all teams’ games.
Other improvements include Dolby 5.1 sound for Netflix streaming, a redesigned onscreen keyboard, and new photo slideshow transition options.
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As noted by Business Insider, Netflix today revealed in its quarterly earnings release (PDF) that the new Apple TV released at the end of September has already surpassed the iPad in terms of number of hours of Netflix content streamed.
The devices with large installed bases – meaning Windows and Mac laptops, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo Wii – are the most popular devices for watching instantly from Netflix. AppleTV has done very well for us, and in just four months has passed the also-growing iPad in Netflix viewing hours.
While it should not be a surprise that the Apple TV is seeing strong performance when it comes to Netflix streaming due to its position as a set-top box for viewing content on a traditional TV, it is somewhat remarkable given the disparity in sales volumes between the two Apple products.
Apple’s most recent earnings release revealed that the company has sold nearly 15 million iPads, while the Apple TV only reached the one-million mark at the close of the year. While not all of the sales of either device have occurred in markets where Netflix offers streaming content, iPads still likely outnumber Apple TVs by at least an order of magnitude in Netflix’s markets.
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- AirPlay: Users who have updated both their iPad/iPhone/iPod touch to and new Apple TV to iOS 4.2 can take advantage of the new feature to stream audio and video content to their Apple TV. Apple has posted a video overview of how the functionality works.
AirPlay functionality is permitted through a number of Apple’s own applications, as well as third-pary applications configured to use the service. Netflix is reportedly not permitting content to be pushed via AirPlay to the new Apple TV, but the Apple TV already offers its own access to Netflix streaming.
- Find My iPhone: While there had been initial confusion about which devices are compatible with the new free Find My iPhone service, Apple’s setup page does appear to have offered correct information: A current-generation iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch is required for initial setup of the free Find My iPhone service, but once that it accomplished, and iOS 4.2-compatible device can access it. All users must update to the just-released version of the Find My iPhone iOS application in order to access the service through their devices.
- AirPrint: While Apple significantly scaled back the AirPrint functionality in iOS 4.2 ahead of its launch, the feature does allow for wireless printing directly to certain HP printers. Those looking to print to other shared or networked printers may be interested in looking into third-party solutions unless Apple quickly finds away to meet its original goals for the service.
- Safari “Find in Page”: Typing in the search box in Safari now offers users the ability to search for text within the currently-open page, displaying a toolbar to allow for navigation among instances of the term.
- Multitasking for iPad: iOS 4.2 bring multitasking to the iPad for the first time. In landscape mode, swiping left-to-right on the tray brings up the quick-access control panel, complete with access to music player controls, brightness and volume sliders, and an orientation lock switch. iOS 4.2 modifies the side hardware switch on the iPad, turning it from an orientation lock switch into an iPhone-like mute switch while making orientation lock a software setting.
- Folders, Universal Inbox, and Game Center for iPad: The iPad finally gains a trio of other features that iPhone and iPod touch features have already grown accustomed to: home screen folders, a universal inbox and Game Center. Folders allow users to drag app icons on top of each other on the home screen to create folders of related applications, offering easier navigation and a larger number of applications to be installed on the device. The universal inbox allows users to easily see email messages from all of their accounts rather than need to manually navigate between each account to check for new messages. Game Center is Apple’s social network and achievements platform for iOS gaming, allowing users to challenge their friends and track scores on compatible titles.
- iWork for iPad: As we previously noted, Apple is updating its three iWork applications for the iPad to support new iOS 4.2 features. Those updates are now live in the App Store.
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Update allows iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod Touch owners to use a video adapter to push Netflix content to a larger display, like a TV. Originally posted at The Digital Home
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Netflix iPhone app adds video-out
TechCrunch reports that Apple has settled a lawsuit brought by Sharing Sound, LLC over infringement of a patent essentially describing web-based distribution of digital music. The lawsuit, filed in May, targeted Apple, Microsoft, Napster, Rhapsody, and other companies, with Amazon, Netflix, and additional companies included in a similar suit filed around the same time.
The patent being contested – U.S. Patent Number 6,247,130, titled “Distribution of musical products by a website vendor over the Internet” – would essentially prevent all these companies from using any type of online store environment which allows them to provide song previews, a shopping cart or even a music player.
According to the report, most of the companies targeted in the lawsuits have already moved to settle their disputes, with Apple now joining the list as it seeks to avoid a court battle.
The application for the patent cited in the lawsuit was filed January 2000 and was based on a provisional patent application filed in January 1999. The inventor associated with the patent, Bernhard Fritsch, founded a short-lived digital music service known as MCY.com that launched in early 1999.
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I’ve been testing the new Apple TV, and I think Apple may have a quiet hit on its hand. By quiet I mean there won’t be long lines of rabid, un-showered fans camped outside Apple stores to buy the new gizmo, but Apple may slowly win people over with the new version.
While most of the features of the Apple TV have already been discussed, Morris offers a bit of hands-on perspective with observations such as much faster connections to networked iTunes libraries than the original Apple TV, and a unique Netflix streaming interface that is fast and easy to set up.
Morris reports that he has been told by Apple that it has opened up its AirPlay functionality for streaming content from other iOS-based devices to the Apple TV to third-party developers, although it is unclear exactly what is meant by this statement. Users currently testing iOS 4.2 have already reported that a variety of third-party applications that utilize the built-in iOS video player already seem to be AirPlay-compatible, so it is not clear if Apple’s comments are simply referring to this capability or if they are moving to open AirPlay up for other implementations from developers.
Morris uses the example of his mother, an iPhone user and occasional Apple Store visitor, as the prime potential customer Apple should be courting by pushing the new Apple TV for its Netflix streaming and AirPlay capabilities, as well as the greatly-reduced price point compared to the original version. But to reach that customer, Morris argues that Apple will have to make the new Apple TV much more visible than its predecessor.
The new Apple TV is very promising, but it won’t amount to hill of beans if Apple markets it the same way they did the last one — basically not at all. Apple can jokingly call it a ‘hobby,’ but if the company wants it to be a successful hobby they need to educate consumers the same way they did with the iPad.
With Apple also having posted the Apple TV’s version of iOS 4.1 for download, users have been poking through the operating system for hints and clues about its functionality. In particular, a forum user at Australian site MacTalk discovered a new icon for Apple’s languishing Remote application, suggesting that an update bringing features such as support for Retina displays and iPad, as well as Apple TV control, might be coming in the near future.
An assortment of other hints, such as references to FaceTime, external storage and DVD player support, have also been discovered in the Apple TV’s iOS 4.1, although it is unclear exactly what some of the functionalities are meant to be and whether they may simply be part of the shared iOS codebase or are in fact Apple TV-specific.
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The Hollywood Reporter claims that DVDs-by-mail and streaming service Netflix is set to make its first foray outside the United States tomorrow by announcing that it will bring streaming video content to Canada.
Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings will be in Toronto Wednesday to launch an online video subscription service that allows Canadians to download their favorite flicks and TV shows for a monthly fee.
Netflix entering the Canadian market, its first foreign expansion, has local video distribution players girding for cutthroat competition as still more Internet content-streaming behemoths like Apple TV and Boxee get set to launch north of the border.
The service will initially be streaming-only, although the DVDs-by-mail service could obviously be added in the future.
Earlier this month, Apple introduced a revamped Apple TV device that supports Netflix streaming, although the device is not scheduled to begin shipping until around the end of this month, with new orders currently seeing shipping estimates of 2-3 weeks. We will likely have to wait until Netflix’s official announcement tomorrow for confirmation, but it seems likely that the new Apple TV will support Netflix in Canada as soon as the service launches there.
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Apple Confirms No Software Update for Original Apple TV
Thursday September 02, 2010 04:14 PM EST
Written by Eric Slivka
Included in a nice overview of Apple’s new iPods and Apple TV from Ars Technica is confirmation that users of Apple’s earlier Apple TV models will not be receiving a software upgrade to enable Netflix streaming and other software features of the revamped model. Users of the older models will, however, continue to be able to purchase content, as opposed to the rental-only model for the new version, which lacks significant onboard storage.
Additionally, there will be no software update to bring the new features to older Apple TVs. Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.
Apple first offered a sneak peak of the Apple TV, then known by its code-name of “iTV”, in September 2006. The device was officially announced at Macworld San Francisco in January 2007, and began shipping as a 40 GB model in March 2007 with a 160 GB model following just two months later. The hardware had remained unchanged since that time aside from the discontinuation of the 40 GB model in September 2009, although Apple has offered several software updates over the years to increase the functionality of the device.
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