“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,” Arik Hesseldahl reports for BusinessWeek.
“On May 30, Apple 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 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,” Hesseldahl reports.
“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,” Hesseldahl reports.
“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 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,” ,” Hesseldahl reports.
Hesseldahl reports, “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,” Hesseldahl reports. “At times, Apple TV has appeared something of a sideshow to the iPhone, the music-playing mobile phone to be released with AT&T in June. But the Google partnership and the possibilities it presents demonstrate the digital-TV box will hold its own in the pantheon of Apple products. Says Gartenberg, ‘Wherever iTunes can go, Apple TV can follow.’”
Much more in the full article here.
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