Microsoft, Google, Boxee, Roku…many have tried to change the traditional mode of TV watching. They have attempted to bring Internet and television together, allowing people to watch their desired movies and shows on the large TV screen. Earlier this week, Apple jumped back on that bandwagon.
On Wednesday, Apple held a media event where it announced that iTunes now holds high definition, uninterrupted ABC and Fox television show episodes. These are available for the low rental price of 99 cents each and movie rentals are also now available. The company also upgraded the Apple TV receiver and that now retails for $99. TV episodes are delivered to the high definition TV set over the Internet.
This latest move by Apple is in line with efforts made by other companies. Amazon has a video on demand store and it just began selling TV episodes for 99 cents. Some television network Web sites offer free stationary or mobile Internet viewing of selected shows. Hulu is another free, ad-supported service owned by several of the television networks. These options allow users to watch only what they want and not pay for it. Traditional television does not provide that option.
While the TV episodes in the iTunes Store are live Internet streams, movies are rented as digital downloads. This restricts the TV audience to those with devices and bandwidth sufficient for real time transmission of high definition video. The episodes can be watched on a Windows PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.
Digital rights management restrictions still exist when it comes to television and movies. Apple TV owners cannot watch TV episodes downloaded from Amazon just like Amazon-compatible devices cannot play rentals from Apple. The standard television may never go into the trash due to this issue as well as the topic of professional sports. Most local games are not broadcast over the wired or wireless Internet.
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