The Siri-Controlled TV is Already Here, And Your iPhone is the Remote

By Alex Heath on Dec 6, 2011

We’ve covered many examples of the SiriProxy in action. We even interviewed the man behind the networking hackery that has allowed people to use Siri to unlock their cars, control their rooms, and talk to their Macs.

There’s been a video example of Siri controlling a TV, but we’ve stumbled across a better video that integrates the TV experience with Siri in a more native way. With rumors circulating that Apple is looking to release a Siri-controlled TV set, we have a hard time figuring out how it could get much better than this setup by Todd Treece… Read More

 

Rumor: Apple Television Set for Next Year, Ranging in Sizes From 32″ to 55″

By Cody Lee on Dec 5, 2011

Analysts, investors, and tech pundits have been predicting an Apple-flavored TV set for quite some time now. It seems like everyone wants to see the company do for televisions, what it has for smartphones and tablets.

We’ve heard all kinds of gossip regarding the rumored television set — everything from integrated Siri voice control to built-in iCloud and App Store support. But this is the first time we’ve heard specific details on the hardware… Read More

 

Siri Proxy Used to Control TV, Gives Us a Glimpse at the Future

By Cody Lee on Nov 27, 2011

Ever since Pete Lamonica, a.k.a plamoni, unveiled his Siri proxy project last week, we’ve been excited to see what developers would come up with. The project allows knowledgable programmers to “teach” Siri new commands using a public proxy server.

We’ve seen Siri control a Wi-Fi thermostat, and we’ve even seen her start a car, but all of that is child’s play compared to what this user taught the digital assistant to do. Using the proxyand a Plex command line interface, he uses Siri to control his TV… Read More

 

Picks of the Week: Superman, Stamped, Fanhattan TV

By Alex Heath on Nov 23, 2011

It’s that time of the week! We frequently comb the far reaches of the App Store to bring you awesome apps for your downloading pleasure.

This week, we’ve got a super fun game for the iPhone and iPad, an app for rating things you like best, and a movie/TV discovery tool with a unique twist. We hope you enjoy this week’s picks! Read More

 

New Samsung TV Ad Takes a Stab at iPhone Users

By Cody Lee on Nov 22, 2011

Apple and Samsung have been involved in quite the court battle over the last 6 months. Apple accused Samsung of copying the trademarked design of its products, and since then, the two companies have been in and out of court.

Now it looks like the war is about to spill out into the advertising arena. Although companies have taken shots at Apple’s popular smartphone in commercials before, none of them compare to the Korean manufacturer’s latest TV spot… Read More

 

CBS CEO Claims Apple Approached Him Over Apple TV Deal

By Cody Lee on Nov 4, 2011

Over the last few years there has been ongoing speculation that Apple was looking to start a TV subscription service. The content would be available on Apple’s wide range of devices, and would rival that of Netflix and similar services.

Despite the rumors, we’ve never actually seen anything materialize. But CBS CEO Les Moonves rekindled the gossip yesterday afternoon with some comments he made on the company’s quarterly earnings call regarding the Apple TV… Read More

 

Patch Released to Let Jailbreakers Stream Live TV from the DirecTV iPad App

By Alex Heath on Oct 28, 2011

In case you didn’t know, satellite provider DirecTV recently updated its iPad app with the ability to stream live TV. Customers can stream a selection of channels on the iPad when connected to the same home network as the DirecTV HD DVR.

Like Time Warner, DirecTV has blocked streaming access to users on jailbroken iDevices. A jailbreak patch has been released to fix the block… Read More

 

Apple Launches “TV Time” Section in the App Store

By Alex Heath on Sep 27, 2011

Apple has launched a dedicated App Store page for “TV Time” apps for the iPhone and iPad. The listed apps let you watch, share, and do a host of other TV-related things on your iDevice.

Some of the App Store’s greatest classics are listed in this new Spotlight page, and there are definitely plenty of apps there to help you take advantage of this Fall’s TV season… Read More

 

App Picks of the Week: Kinetik, Gowalla, Fav.tv

By Alex Heath on Sep 26, 2011

Every week, iDB picks interesting iPhone and iPad apps to show you. While we tend to choose apps from the App Store, we occasionally throw in a web or jailbreak app as well.

This week, we’ve got two awesome App Store apps and one web app for you to check out. We hope you enjoy this week’s picks! Read More

 

Optimum TV App Blocking Jailbroken Devices

By Oliver Haslam on Sep 25, 2011

Optimum, a big player in the New York cable TV business, also offers iPhone and iPad apps to its customers that bring live TV and on-demand content to iOS devices. Optimum’s apps have proven popular for those who use the service, but they now appear to have waged something of a war on the jailbreak community.

According to reports from its customers, Optimum’s iOS apps now fail to work on devices that have been jailbroken… Read More

 

Netflix Becomes Streaming-Only Service, DVD Rentals Renamed to “Qwikster”

By Alex Heath on Sep 19, 2011

We don’t usually cover non-Apple related news here on iDB, but this recent announcement from Netflix was too big to pass up. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has publicly apologized for the way that the company handled its recent pricing restructures for streaming/DVD rentals, and has announced a total division of Netflix’s DVD and streaming divisions.

Many customers were outraged that Netflix essentially screwed subscribers of the DVD rental + streaming plan by raising prices, and Netflix has since rethought its approach to content distribution. The DVD rental service that made Netflix famous will be spinned off as “Qwikster,” while Netflix will be used for online streaming only… Read More

 

TBS for iPad and iPhone Updated with Support for Full-Length TV Show Streams

By Alex Heath on Sep 13, 2011

Following NBC and TNT, TBS has updated its iPad app with the ability to stream full-length TV shows. The iPad is increasingly becoming the hub for online content distribution, and the studios allowing TV and movie mobile streaming is one more step towards the future of media playback — a future that could already be considered a reality, depending on how you look at it.

Who’s ready for Conan on the iPad? Read More

 

TNT Releases Official iPad App, Lets You Watch TV Episodes and Movies

By Guest Author on Sep 11, 2011

TNT has just released an app optimized specifically for the iPad’s larger screen, bringing with it full-length episodes and movies for TNT satellite and TV subscribers.

The app provides features you’ve probably come to expect from similar apps, including episode guides, clips, behind-the-scenes footage, show schedules with reminders, and Facebook, Twitter, and GetGlue social network integration.

You will of course be prompted to authenticate your TNT subscription with your cable provider in order to get access to the app’s collection of full-length content. Current supported providers include DirectTV, Optimum, Dish, Comcast, Cox, Verizon, Suddenlink, and AT&T U-verse TV.
Read More

 

NBC Lets You Watch Full-Length TV Shows for Free on the iPad

By Zech TesfaYohannes on Sep 11, 2011

NBC has just updated its iPad app adding the ability to watch full-length TV shows. Also with this update adds performance enhancements and bug fixes. One good thing about this is that watching full-length TV shows is completely free and doesn’t require any subscriptions.

The app lets you check your local listings, so you can see when your favorite shows are on. NBC’s iPad app also lets you play trivia, to the show of your liking. Read More

 

Elgato to Launch iPad TV Tuner

By Oliver Haslam on Aug 31, 2011

Elgato, the company well known for making TV tuners and the like for the Mac, is set to release an iPad accessory that will effectively turn an iPad 2 into a freeview television.

Aimed squarely at the European market, Elgato’s tuner will come complete with a telescopic aerial and will receive the DVB-T frequencies. A companion app will also be available in the App Store, which promises the ability to record live television using the dock connector tuner accessory… Read More

 

Apple Quietly Discontinues 99-Cent TV Show Rentals

By Cody Lee on Aug 27, 2011

Several websites reported yesterday that Apple has discontinued its TV show rental program. The service launched last Fall and just never really garnered support from the major networks. They felt that the $0.99 price point was too low.

TV Show rentals were available through both the iTunes Store and Apple TV, but that is no longer the case. And Apple’s website has even been updated to remove mention of the rental option. So, what happened? Read More

 

Apple Interested in TV Subscription Service

By Cody Lee on Aug 26, 2011

In a recent article about Tim Cook, The Wall Street Journal dropped an interesting tidbit about Apple’s future plans to invade our living rooms. The article questioned if Cook was aggressive enough to muscle Apple into the TV industry.

As most of you know, Apple is rumored to be working on a television set. And there has also been ongoing speculation that it is thinking of launching its own subscription-based content service, worthy of competing against NetFlix or cable.

The Journal’s article lends some more credibility to the latter theory by confirming Apple’s interest in a “subscription TV service…” Read More

 

Cablevision Updates their Optimum App With iPhone Support and TV Controls

By Cody Lee on Aug 11, 2011

You’ve likely already heard of Cablevision’s Optimum app for the iPad. The software garnered a lot of attention when it first launched, allowing Cablevision customers to stream their entire channel lineups to their tablets.

A few days ago, the company released the popular cable-client for the iPhone and iPod touch, with the addition of a major feature. Not only can you watch live TV on your iDevice, you can now control the content on the big screen as well… Read More

 

One More Thing that Makes an iPhone an iPhone

By Sebastien Page on Aug 2, 2011

Apple just slightly edited 2 TV ads, showcasing several applications, including Apple’s own iPod and iTunes app. The concept of the ad remains the same as the ones that recently aired.

These 2 ads originally aired in April, but Apple decided to refurbish them by slightly changing the ending tagline. The previous ads ended with “If you don’t have an iPhone, well, you don’t have an iPhone.” These new ads end with “Just one more thing that makes an iPhone an iPhone…” Read More

 

Apple Reportedly Launching 3 HDTV Models Next Year

By Cody Lee on Aug 1, 2011

Would you buy an Apple TV set? That’s the billion dollar question I’m sure Steve Jobs and company are asking themselves right now, as speculation continues to suggest that Apple is bringing an HDTV to market in the not-so-distant future.

While the Cupertino company has identified their interests in the TV industry as “a hobby,” there have been several reports over the last 12 months that indicate they are about to take it to the next level. So what could Apple do to make their TV set better than the competition? Read More

 
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