Despite initially approving AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, the Department of Justice later said it would appeal the merger. As part of those efforts, the DOJ has filed its opening brief with the Washington D.C. District Court of Appeals as it looks to protest the June decision that allowed the merger to move forward…
Nearly a month after the merger was approved, the Department of Justice now says it will appeal the AT&T and Time Warner deal. The original deal was approved for $85.4B and had no strings attached at the time.
A federal juge ruled on Tuesday that AT&T can proceed with its $85.4 billion acquisition of Time Warner. Judge Richard Leon ruled the deal is legal and he did not impose any conditions on the merger.
Today’s ruling comes as part of the antitrust lawsuit levied by the Justice Department last year.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple isn’t totally ruling out a Time Warner acquisition as talks between the network and AT&T appear to be moving forward. Yesterday it was reported that AT&T is looking at the possibility of a merger with Time Warner, then today it was separately reported that the talks could be much further along than previously reported. Now the WSJ is adding that Apple is once again monitoring the situation closely and has even approached the company in the last few months…
If you get your home internet connection via your local cable provider, then it may be wise to invest in your own cable modem. Why? Have a look at your bill. If the cable company provided you with a modem, you might notice that it’s charging you a monthly lease fee.
This leasing option seems to be more common in the US, but investing in your own modem could end up saving you money in the long run. Outright owning a modem also means that you can sell it once you’re finished using it.
Saving money isn’t necessarily the only benefit of purchasing or upgrading your own modem. It may be possible to achieve significantly faster download and upload speeds by taking advantage of new hardware advancements.
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Following our reports in recent months that Apple was looking to introduce a revamped Apple TV set-top box sometime around the month of March, Bloomberg is out with its own report today confirming much of what we’ve already reported. The report claims Apple is currently planning to launch the new Apple TV set-top box as early as April:
Apple Inc. (AAPL) is planning to introduce a new Apple TV set-top box as early as April and is negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc. and other potential partners to add video content, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
In January we reported that Apple was working testing the new box that could include a revamped operating system and possibly app and game support for sometime in the first half of 2014. We also reported that Apple was testing upgraded hardware that included built-in AirPort Express 802.11ac router functionality and versions that include a built-in TV tuner to control existing cable boxes. Most recently we reported that code in recent builds of iOS 7 point to refreshed hardware, at least internally. Bloomberg today confirmed a couple of the same details including a new interface for navigating content. It also said the hardware will include a faster processor.
Bloomberg adds that a launch of the product is currently planned for Christmas but that might change if Apple isn’t able to nail down deals with content partners in time. Content from Time Warner has been rumored to be arriving soon for quite a while now, but negotiations are still ongoing according to Bloomberg’s report from today.
There are a few snippets of AppleTV related news popping up today. The first we take with the usual grain of salt as it comes to us from the often unreliable DigiTimes. The publication has been reporting some more believable stories as of late, but today’s rumor of Apple purchasing 55 and 65-inch Ultra HD TV panels from LG seems to be more rumor than anything else.
Apple has of course been rumored several times to be building a full fledged HDTV to go along with the much expected revamped AppleTV service coming in the the near future. The latest from the usual lineup of analysts points to a launch as early as the end of this year or early 2014. LG and Sharp– two of Apple’s regular display suppliers– would be obvious choices to source panels, but there’s no proof at this point that Apple is beyond the experimenting stage and we’ve heard rumors from more reliable sources ranging from 40-inch to 60-inch in the past.
Next up for today’s AppleTV news is a bit more insight into the company’s current negotiations with cable and media companies. We heard previously that Apple is working with TimeWarner to bring AppleTV integration in the coming weeks, but, according to the NYTimes, its recent hire of Hulu SVP Pete Distad will also come in handy as it negotiates with others for similar apps:
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According to reports from Bloomberg, Apple is close to reaching a deal with Time Warner to offer TV shows on Apple TV, while also apparently recruiting Hulu exec Pete Distad to lead negotiations for content:
The companies plan to announce an agreement within a few months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The iPhone maker is also hiring Pete Distad from online-video service Hulu, where he was senior vice president in charge of marketing and distribution, to help Apple executives in negotiations with media and cable companies, two people with familiar with the matter said.
Distad is currently SVP of Marketing and Distribution at Hulu and in charge of content distribution and customer acquisition/retention on the company’s management team. According to his bio Distad’s current duties at Hulu include “subscriber acquisition and retention, paid, on-channel, and brand marketing, distribution and promotional partnerships, and content marketing.”
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After years of rumors, we’d like to think the Apple TV set is a reality…and so would Time Warner Cable’s CEO. Speaking at Business Insider’s IGNITE conference this afternoon, CEO Jeff Bewkes said he believes Apple has what it takes to change the television market. When asked about the company delivering the Apple TV set, Bewkes said, “I hope they do. I think Apple is a great device company. They bring good interface and navigation skills.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Time Warner talk about the Apple TV. In September, COO Rob Marcus said the company would be willing to give up control of the user interface, but he wants to keep the “customer relationship.” We’ve noted before the difficulty Apple will face to get cable companies to relinquish control of the user interface and user experience.
Recently, analysts have pegged the Apple TV set launch for the 2013 holiday season, but that’s not without timeframe misses in the past. Analyst Gene Munster said the HDTV size will be between 42- and 55 inches and priced between $1,500 and $2,000. At any rate, it looks like we’ll have to wait a while longer to get official word—if ever. In the mean time, check out a solid Apple TV concept.
Source: Business Insider
Image: The Verge
Time Warner Cable’s CEO Glenn A. Britt said in an interview on Friday that there is no simple way to stream Internet-based content to a television screen. Obviously, the top executive forgot about AirPlay—ya know, that little software tool included with Apple’s devices that is likely to disrupt the entire cable industry.
According to The New York Times:
“’I’m not sure I know what AirPlay is,’ he said, though he noted that he was an enthusiastic Apple customer. ‘Today we want to be on every screen. Today it’s a little bit clunky to get programming from the Internet onto the TV — not so hard to get it on your iPad. What’s hard is the plumbing, what wires do you connect, what device do you use. So the current Apple TV, the little thing, the hockey puck, really doesn’t do anything to help enable you to get Internet material on your TV.'”
Britt further noted that he hates set-top boxes and views smart TVs as a better method of viewing Internet video on a television, because they does not require an additional piece of hardware.
…Yeah.
DirectTV users can now do what Comcast, Time Warner and Optimum users can do – stream video in their homes to their iPads. The new 1.3.1 app (Free, iTunes) allows users to stream 40 channels of content…
Turn your iPad into a portable TV and watch your favorite shows in any room of your home.
– Quickly scroll through a list of channels available to watch on your iPad with a dedicated “Live TV Streaming” Module.
– Get tips in the help section to guide you through features in the app.
– Set parental controls to block live TV channels viewed on the iPad.
– Change start and end times to add padding to a program when setting a recording.
There is one caveat however. The new DirectTV doesn’t appreciate Jailbreakers and shuts down if it detects that it is being used on a Jailbroken device (below). Fix is here.
Channels that work with iPad below:
Cable television channel TNT, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner, has released an iPad app which gives you complete access to full-length television shows and movies aired by the network. As you’ve come to expect from similar apps, TNT for iPad lets you access behind-the-scenes videos, check out program guides and schedule reminders. It also integrates with GetGlue, Facebook and Twitter so you can pollute your friends’ social stream with the seemingly unimportant “I’m watching…” status updates.
Important caveat: Watching full episodes of television shows such as The Closer, Falling Skies and Rizzoli & Isles requires authenticating through your television provider. The TNT for iPad app is a free download from the App Store. Go past the fold for three additional screenshots of the TNT for iPad app.
NBC has also updated its iPad app with the same content found on the NBC.com web site. Yes, you can finally stream The Office to your iPad! Also, their TBS for iPad program does the same for Turner’s other shows, including episodes of Conan, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, available free on your tablet.
