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Google, Apple In iTV Talks

  • BBC News , Monday, September 18, 2006 11:03 AM
It was a curious turn of events last week when Apple Computer pre-announced a wireless video streaming set-top box code named "iTV" that will enable consumers to watch video from the Web on TV. BBC News confirms that Google is now in talks with Apple to provide video content on the device, but neither company would offer any further information. What sets Apple's iTV device apart from similar offerings already out there? Not much, apart from the sleek design and user interface we've come to expect from Apple. Thus far, none of the Web to TV devices has caught on with the mainstream market. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is somewhat similar in that it acts as a "media extender" when used with a Windows Media Center Edition or Vista-enabled PC. The Xbox is also able to stream live TV if the PC is equipped with a TV tuner card. It's estimated that few Xbox owners actually use the console in this way, as Microsoft offers no official figures on how many of its 16 million Media Center Edition owners actually use the Xbox for iTV. As Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted during the unveiling of the iTV device: "Everyone who's tried this before has failed."

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