Michal Ždanský Apple TV will offer real live television for the first time in its existence. Server Bloomberg.com claims that the contract between Apple and one of the largest US cable television providers, Time Warner Cable (TWC), is about to expire. Until now, Apple TV has offered some streaming services, for example Netflix or Hulu, she even came up with an app last week HBO Go for subscribers to this channel. However, TWC can offer hundreds of programs and thus turn the device into a full-fledged set-top box with a multimedia center.
For us, it is not very interesting in itself, but it is the first step towards the gradual introduction of other local cable TV or IPTV providers (UPC, O2TV, ...) to Apple TV. The second route Apple can take is third-party apps for Apple TV. If the company were to actually release an SDK with appropriate APIs for TV content providers (and thereby ensure a consistent user interface), then it would be up to the providers themselves to bring their offering to the Apple TV. As the press spokesman of the Czech O2 told us, if Apple TV turned out to be a good business model, the domestic operator would not oppose this possibility.
