Apple TV y la covergencia

Un investigador del MIT comentaba que todo el proceso de convergencia y la revolución digital (incluida la que involucra a los medios, por cierto) sufrirá un gran cambio en el momento que las redes se conviertan en supecarreteras abiertas para todos y no sólo para los operadores de TV Cable y Telefonía. En especial, la apuesta esta centrada en amplificar las plataformas para el ingreso de la TV y especialmente la "entretención". Movistar en Chile puso en marcha Video Play, un servicio para subir videos grabados por el celular y a pesar que las expectativas no eran muy altas en pocos meses ya tiene 500 mil clientes. En mayor escala, Apple hará lo mismo con Iphone. La asociación con Google, permitirá que la búsqueda de videos (a través de Youtube) desde el teléfono móvil o desde otras plataformas, sea rápida y permanente. Tal como Current TV (la estación de Al Gore) Apple TV también apuesta a contenidos construidos por las audiencias. Habrá que ver cuál será el comportamiento de las grandes cadenas de TV: involucrarse en el proceso, demandar por derecho de autor o converger.

Por Arik Hesseldahl
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/
http://www.espacioblog.com/surfeando
In the high-stakes race to bring Internet entertainment from the PC to the TV, Apple and Google were already at the head of the pack. By joining forces, the electronics maker and search giant just extended their lead.

On May 30, Apple (AAPL) Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Apple TV, the company's newly introduced device that transmits digital entertainment to television sets, will begin carrying clips from Google's (GOOG) YouTube. For Apple, the addition of content from an already popular video-sharing site could help sell more Apple TV units, says Tim Bajarin, president of technology consultant Creative Strategies. "With YouTube, [Jobs] might have struck a new nerve and in the process gotten more interest," he says.

Big Plans
And it's likely to be a harbinger of future cooperation between the two companies, especially considering their existing ties. "You can't rule out more collaboration," Bajarin says. Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Google adviser Al Gore sit on Apple's board of directors. The companies have a history of collaboration. A Google Maps application, complete with satellite photos, was one of the headline features Jobs demonstrated when he first unveiled the iPhone in January (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/10/07, "The Future of Apple").

How might Google and Apple build on their bonds? Apple TV could incorporate additional Google features, like the ability to search for clips instead of navigating Apple TV's existing control panel, which is more like that of a digital video recorder, Bajarin says.
Whatever role Google (see BusinessWeek.com, 5/30/07, "Google Is Making You Dumber") and its tools play in the future of Apple TV, it's apparent Apple has big plans with regard to downloadable video in the living room, and it's natural to expect that the relatively low-quality video available on sites like YouTube will only improve.

Mixed Success
No doubt scores of online video services that either mimic YouTube or approach online video distribution in different ways will start jockeying for Apple's attention and a partnership deal similar to Google's. "This deal underscores the nature of this type of connected device to delivery of more than just your traditional commercial content," says analyst Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research in New York. "We're in a phase where there's a great deal of overlapping functionality with respect to video content."

And as Apple TV becomes the conduit of a wider range of content, Apple's circle of rivals widens. Apple TV competes in various ways with TiVo (TIVO), which lets users port video records of their favorite TV shows to their PCs. Game systems like Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3 are increasingly able to support video entertainment.