Apple reportedly has sought to source IGZO panels from Sharp for the production of iTVs as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which unveiled their 55-inch Super OLED and AMOLED TV models, respectively, at CES, both have regarded OLED TVs are their killer products for 2012, and therefore the two Korea-based companies are unlikely to share OLED panel production capacities with Apple.

Source: Digitimes

In the latest episode of CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory” titled “Beta Test Initiation”, Raj Koothrappali starts a relationship with a well-known woman – Siri.

After buying an iPhone 4S, Raj starts building a creepy relationship with Siri – taking her out for coffee, inviting her on double dates, and even dressing her, in “a nice black case”.

If you are a fan of the show, you’ll know that one of Raj’s personality traits is that he has difficulty talking to women, so when Siri makes a human appearance, hilarity ensues.

You can check out the clip of humanised Siri below, but be sure to watch the full episode on CBS.

Time Warner has just updated its TWC TV app and it is now fully compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. Since its launch back in March 2011, it has been an iPad only app, but not any longer. If you are a Time Warner Cable subscriber, you can now watch live TV, manage your DVR and change channels on your set-top box on your iPhone and iPod touch.

If you are a Time Warner Cable video subscriber, the FREE TWC TV app turns your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch into another TV screen and lets you watch selected live cable channels while in your home, through your wireless home network. Watch Bravo from your bedroom, take Food Network with you to the kitchen or catch up on CNBC news from the breakfast table.

• Interactive program guide (IPG) – up to 7 days of listings. View detailed show descriptions including box art. Option to display “HD only” or “favorites only” by creating a favorite channel list.
• Search – search for programming by title or episode name and filter results by genre
• Set-top box tuning – tap on a network logo or “watch on TV” button within the program description to tune compatible set-top boxes directly to the channel
• DVR management – schedule one-time and series recordings on compatible DVRs directly from the IPG. Tap on the “DVR” button to see a list of all upcoming recordings and make changes or cancel recordings

Celebrities have tendency to bubble up across CES, but it’s not often one of them is an honest-to-goodness exhibitor. Seth Green, the most excellent comedian behind Robot Chicken and a big player in Family Guy, used CES 2012 to announce his investment and advisory role with an app called Shodogg. It’s a pretty simple HTML5 app which lets you quickly share mobile videos to your PC, tablet, Google TV, or just about any other web-enabled device. They’re aiming to launch a native iPhone app in March, and given the heavy “platform agnostic” angle, you can expect this on Android sometime soon.

Sharing streaming video can be tricky if the source doesn’t want to play nice, and even when they do, DLNA is still farm from perfect. Though there’s definitely room for an app like Shodogg, I think the biggest thing about it is that Seth Green is involved. Call me shallow. It’s just good to see smart celebrities getting entrepreneurial. Who knows, maybe if more of them focus on app development, the next generation of programmers could enjoy some amount of social prestige.

You can find out more about Shodogg over here, or jump right in and sign up for the alpha.

Comcast has announced that it is now rolling outs its AnyPlay service which is a small device that will allow you to watch your home Comcast TV channels on your iPad and other WiFi enabled displays.

With AnyPlay, you can watch the channels that are included in your linear channel subscription through the Xfinity TV app on the iPad, and very soon the Motorola Xoom™ tablet. This means that while someone else watches a program in the living room, for example, you can watch another show on your iPad from the backyard deck, kitchen or other places around the home.

• App Store link

Source: Comcast

USA Today, based on sources who have previously worked at Apple, is contributing some more information to the increasingly large Apple television rumor pile.

Apple is said to be looking at a 42-inch or larger LCD TV with built-in Wi-Fi. Inside the locked-down studio of Jonathan Ive, senior vice president of industrial design at Apple, there’s a slick 50-inch TV, according to the source who worked at Apple.

Previous speculation out of China suggested a 32 or 37-inch television with Siri controls.

Although this report mentions that talks with media executives have stalled, it’s apparent that a 42 or even 50-inch model vs a smaller display would likely help Apple get a better foothold during their primary push into this new and already-crowded product segment. And with CES just around the corner, rumors of Apple making a television are only going to get more frequent.

Source: USA Today

According to an article in British newspaper The Daily Mail, Apple is considering throwing its hat into the bidding ring for the rights to broadcast English Premier League soccer games. The deal is open for a new round of bidding before the end of this season in May.

The Premier League is seen as the type of premium content that will help establish Apple TV in the UK and boost iPad sales, while the iTunes subscription service infrastructure is already in place.

Apple will face some huge competition if it is to get its hands on some form of TV rights for these games. Sky, who currently owns most of the rights for live games, had to pay around £1.6 billion ($2.5 billion) for the privilege. Competition is also likely to come in from Google, ESPN and Middle East Network Al Jezeera.

If Apple did manage to secure some of the rights to live EPL games, it would then have to force consumers to buy an Apple TV if they wanted to see the content on their big screen televisions. This does not appear to make a great deal of sense for the consumer unless of course the deal is just to sell the games through iTunes; in a similar way to its TV episodes.

Source: The Daily Mail

Hit-or-miss rumor site Digitimes has additional speculation from “industry sources” that Apple may be looking to Foxconn to assemble orders of their upcoming Siri-powered Apple Television.

Following sources’ claims that Samsung Electronics and Sharp will manufacture chips and displays, respectively, for the so-called Apple “iTV,” others have suggested that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) have the potential to win orders for Apple’s smart TV.

The “sources” also added to conjecture that Apple is planning to release the Apple Television in late 2012, which may debut in 32 and 37-inch form.

Source: Digitimes

Randomly accurate rumor site, Digitimes has word from “industry sources” that suppliers are starting to build materials for 32 and 37-inch Apple Televisions for release in the second or third quarter of 2012.

Instead of a form of set-top box (STB) like the Apple TV launched in 2006, Apple’s new products will be full TV sets, the sources added [...] The displays of the new iTV sets will focus on 32 and 37-inch sizes initially, noted sources in the supply chain.

Steve Jobs mentioned in his official biography that he’d finally “cracked” the television, and we’ve heard rumors that Apple was recently in talks with media executives about a television set product. However, Apple is no doubt working on a lot of new products in the lab, so keep this filed this in your “expect it when you see it” folder for now.

Source: Digitimes

Siri can now control Plex media playback using the Siri Proxy. In case you missed it earlier, a developer created a SiriProxy to control a thermostat and then made the code available for others to use.

The SiriProxy stands in between your iPhone 4S and Apple’s servers. It then intercepts Siri voice commands. This proxy enables additional commands to be added to Siri’s repitoire without any input from Apple. It has been demonstrated as a tool to start cars and even control third-party apps.

The latest video shows Siri controlling media playback on a TV which is hooked up to a Plex enabled system. Plex is multi-platform software to organize and play back local and online media. The developer uses Siri via the Siri Proxy to play movies and TV Shows using the Plex command line interface.

The most impressive part of the demonstration is the speed the media plays after receiving the instruction from Siri. After you watch the video, you will have no doubt that Siri is the future for the Apple TV or of course the often rumored Apple TV set.

Source: 9to5Mac

As we head on into Thanksgiving for those of us in the U.S. we’d just like to say we’re thankful for all you TiPb readers out there. Before you head off for time with the family make sure you check out the TiPb Forums for the best darn discussion in iPhone and iPad today!

• iPhone 4 Forum: Vibration for SMS alerts, can it be customized?
• iPhone 4S Forum: Using GPS coordinates as Address in Contacts
• TV, Movies, and Videos Forum : Top 5 all time favorite TV shows?
• iCloud Forum No delete button in Photo Stream, will there ever be one?

If you’re not already a member of the TiPb Forums, register now!

eBay has updated its iPad app and it now includes a new feature for its U.S. users called “Watch with eBay”. Watch with eBay lets you easily find items related to what you are currently watching on television.

Watch With eBay is a new and fun way to discover items from the wonderful to the unexpected, all based on what you’re watching on your television. After a few quick setup steps, you can browse and view eBay search results based on any television program currently playing in the United States*. You may find DVD sets, signed photographs from your favorite actor or athlete, movie scripts, coffee mugs, jerseys, collectible pieces, and more!

The update also includes one or two bug fixes as well as the Watch with eBay feature. eBay says that the Watch with eBay feature is U.S. only due to current program data constraints. It does say it may bring the feature to more countries later on.

[App Store link]

Some animals just have no taste and this Pug is definitely one of them. Picture the scene; he is happily lying on his owner’s bed watching TV when a commercial comes on. The commercial is for the latest and greatest iPhone 4S but this Pug is having none of it. It sends him into a barking and growling frenzy, stamping his feet, gnashing his teeth, it really is a site to behold. As soon as the ad is finished, he settles down again and continues watching the TV.

Now as we all know, the iPhone 4S is the best iPhone ever, this little Pug must either hate the music on the ad or just hates ads all together. I am sure it has nothing to do with the iPhone 4S!

Source: TNW

Speaking on his company’s earnings call, CBS CEO Les Moonves said that CBS had turned down the Apple TV as a platform for its content. The revelation was revealed in response to a question about CBS’s appetite toward striking deals with new streaming providers that may not have the cash to pay up front for its content. Moonves claimed that CBS had turned down Apple and its Apple TV platform because the offer was based on an ad split revenue source.

This seems to confirm rumors that Apple is trying to secure some sort of Apple TV subscription service however it looks like it is going to be much harder than Apple had hoped. Apple has been slowly adding additional media content to the Apple TV platform; the recent iOS 5 update brought Wall Street Journal Live and NHL content. Hulu Plus is also rumored to be ready to go on the Apple TV but political reasons are cited as holding it back from launch.

Source: Gigaom

Apple already has a Hulu Plus app up and running on Apple TV but may be delaying its launch due to concerns it will compete with iTunes TV Show sales, according to 9to5Mac. Their sources claim the Hulu Plus for Apple TV is now feature complete and ready for release, and has supposedly been ready for release for over a month. The reason for the hold is thought to be political and not related to any technical issues.

While Apple TV 2 has had Netflix since launch, their content is mainly older, catalog shows, not the new releases that are more profitable for iTunes.

Hulu Plus is already available on iOS, and in HD on a few other set top boxes such as the Roku and the Western Digital TV Live. It would make so much sense to have it available on the Apple TV too.

Source: 9to5Mac

DIRECTV has updated its iPad app and it now offers the ability to use your iPad as a portable TV. Before you get too excited, it can only work within the walls of your own home and does not offer any form of remote viewing access to your content. Of course it does a lot more than just in home streaming to the iPad. It also lets you search, record and control all your DIRECTV content from home or when you are away.

The latest update also adds a few other new features:-

• 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.

[App Store Link]

A portable and easy-to-use device, EyeTV Mobile connects directly to the iPad and does not require an Internet connection. The EyeTV Mobile app, available for free at the App Store, offers a full range of TV viewing features including pause, rewind and record. The integrated EPG lets users view up to 7 days of detailed programme guide information and send recommendations to friends by email. EyeTV Mobile is available immediately at a price of 99.95 Euro.

Source: Elgato

While we haven’t had time to test all of them, but off the bat we’re getting mixed results with AirPlay Mirroring of iPad 2 TV and movie apps. CityTV wouldn’t work — it cited contractual obligations. CTV did work and so did Global. Crackle was buggy. We’re trying more now.

Some TV and movie apps use Apple’s built in media controls so AirPlay works automagically. Others… have opted out. We were kind of hoping iOS 5 AirPlay Mirroring would let us work around it. Maybe it will. Or maybe Hollywood will update to shut it out of more apps. We shall see.

Have you tried out your favorite iPad 2 TV or movie app on Apple TV yet? Did it work?

GetGlue, the social network for checking into your favorite TV shows, movies and music, has just updated their iPhone and iPad app to version 2.5.2 bringing all new features and a revamped UI to let users check-in to their favorite TV shows just in time for the Fall TV season!

Check-in to what you are watching, reading and listening to. Connect with friends, discover new favorites, and unlock FREE stickers and discounts. Join more than 1.5 million other users who are sharing 9 million check-ins per month.

• Interesting Conversations: See your friends and everyone else’s conversations about shows you watch – in real-time!
• Friend Leaderboards: Who is the biggest fan? Check out the leader board to see how you stack up against your friends.
• New Check-in Flow: Check-in faster and get more out of every check-in – stats, friends, specials, and of course, stickers!

GetGlue is available for free for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

[iPhone, App Store Link [iPad, App Store Link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

TNT has just released an iPad optimized version of its TNT app bringing with it full length TV episodes and movies.

Get complete access to your favorite TNT shows wherever and whenever you want. Check out episode guides, watch clips and behind-the-scenes videos, set schedule reminders and even watch full episodes of The Closer, Falling Skies, Rizzoli & Isles and more after authenticating through your television provider. Every life needs a little drama–now, you can take it with you wherever you go, for free.

• Full Episodes of TNT Series and Movies (after authenticating)
• Series Episode Guides
• Clips and Behind-the-Scenes Video
• Show Schedules with Reminders
• GetGlue, Facebook and Twitter Integration

[App Store link]

Have an app you’d love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we’ll take a look.

Sainsburys and Sky TV have teamed up to create a new style shopping trolley which incorporates a tilting iPad holder and speakers. Sainsburys will be carrying out a trial of the high tech trolley in its supermarket (grocery store) in Kensington, West London.

The shopping trolleys have been developed by Sky to highlight its Sky Go service which allows you to watch live sports or news on your iPad or iPhone. The idea is to get more people out shopping even when major sporting events are live on TV. With the new trolley and the Sky Go app you won’t miss a thing as you push your trolley around the store.

Ian Burgess of Setwo Designs, who created the trolleys, said: “Being able to create a gadget that is practical yet innovative is often a challenge but I think with the trolley we’ve cracked it. The trolley can be used in the traditional way for shopping yet streams the latest sports news easily.”Sainsbury’s believes that there could be commercial benefit in the trolleys if they make shoppers more likely to visit a store. Brett Hart, the supermarket’s trolley buyer, said: “We strive to make our customers’ lives simpler, which is why we’re looking at these new trolleys.”

[The Telegraph]

EyeTV Mobile is made specifically for your iPad 2. Simply connect it to the dock connector and open the EyeTV Mobile app (available on the App Store). The television signal comes straight from the miniature telescopic aerial so you don’t need an internet connection. You get unlimited live TV on your iPad 2 without touching your data plan.

• An easy-to-use iPad 2 TV tuner for live, mobile television anywhere
• Provides a full range of TV viewing features including pause, rewind, and record
• Receives and even records DVB-T radio transmissions directly to your iPad 2
• Connects directly to the iPad 2 dock connector
• Receives a DTT (Freeview) television and radio signal from the miniature telescopic aerial
• No internet connection required, so it doesn’t touch your data plan

I am a little concerned with the how well the telescopic aerial will work. From past experience with freeview reception, these sort of aerials never seem to work very well. Having said that, it is a neat accessory for the iPad 2. It should be available soon at a price of £99.95 ($166). For a list of counties which support DVB transmissions visit DVB.org.

[Elgato]

After promising that it would be available on July 6, UK satellite TV provider Sky TV has finally released its new app to allow users to access content while on the go. The app called Sky Go will offer users access to all five sports channels as well as a select number of Movie and news channels.

The app is the successor to Sky’s previous app Sky Mobile TV. The new app seems to offer a larger amount of channels but you are now restricted to only using it with two devices; which have to be registered. None of Sky’s entertainment channels such as Sky One are included which is very disappointing.

The app is free to download however you must have an active Sports subscription with Sky in your home to be able to access the content. Streaming works over WiFi and 3G and the app is universal for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

[Free – iTunes link]

Adobe has just launched its Adobe TV Mobile portal which is now optimised for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Adobe TV is a great source of tutorials for Adobes catalogue of products. With this update you can now watch the how-to videos on your iOS devices. Adobe claim that a mobile version of the site was the number one request from its audience so Flash arguments aside, Adobe has gone ahead and delivered the content to iOS users.

We added iPad/iPhone support because our customers asked for it. It’s that simple. There’s no subtext related to Flash, which we continue to use to deliver our content onto Flash-supported devices. We believe in delivering our content to all platforms and devices that are meaningful to our audience. We also believe in using our own tools, the best authoring tools on the planet, to create cross-platform, cross-device experiences.

You can access the mobile optimized site at http://tv.adobe.com/ and you will be automatically redirected to the appropriate page for your device. Have any of our readers used Adobe TV? Will you be using the mobile version on your iOS device? Let us know in the comments!

[Adobe Blog]

The BBC iPlayer mobile app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad is finally close to being released according to a report by Paid Content. The app was announced twelve months ago but needed the approval of the BBC Trust which was granted six months ago. The report suggest that the app will be released by the end of next month, coinciding with the departure of Erik Huggers, the BBC’s future media and technology director; who is leaving to join Intel.

BBC iPlayer is a free service in the UK that lets you catch up with programmes from the past seven days that you may have missed or want to watch again. iPlayer is accessible now via iOS devices through the mobile web version and it does work reasonably well.  Mobile users only account for four percent of iPlayer visitors; so an improved experience and an App Store presence will surely help to expand mobile usage.

The app will only be available in the UK but BBC Worldwide is planning a subscription based service, with content for other countries.

[paidContent:UK]

SlingPlayer Mobile for iPad is finally getting near to release. A short video walkthrough of the new app has been posted on Sling’s official YouTube account. The video emphasises that the app is all about the quality of the video, due to Apples excellent H.264 streaming capabilities. The interface looks very similar to other recent versions of Sling Player Mobile.

Now here is the bad news, Sling Player Mobile for iPad will be a separate app, no universal binary love here. If you already have the iPhone version you will have to pay again for the iPad version. It will cost another $30, the same price as the current iPhone version.

Also, Sling point out that the iPad version will only work with Slingbox PRO-HD and Slingbox SOLO equipment. Legacy versions do not have the hardware capability to stream at the iPad’s higher resolution.

No word on when this is going to hit the app store; but you can sign up now, to be kept up to date on availability information.

Are you are looking forward to this app? Do you think it is fair that you will have to pay again for the iPad version? Let us know in the comments!

[Engadget]

Bloomberg has aired their Game Changers special featuring Steve Jobs and now the video is available online. In it, you will learn many things about Steve Jobs, Apple, iPod, iPhone, iPad and everything else that comes with starting one of the most influential technology companies in the world.

Check out the video via the link below and then let us know your favorite (or least favorite!) parts in the comments.

[Game Changers: Steve Jobs - Video]

by Brian Tufo

Bloomberg will be airing a one-hour special on Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple and the man who helped bring us the Apple II, Mac, iPod, iTunes, Apple Retail, Pixar, iPhone and iPad. The special airs this Thursday, October 14 at 9pm ET as part of their Game Changers series:

How did this college dropout create what has been called the most admired company in the world? This week’s episode of “Bloomberg Game Changers” reveals the many layers of the intensely private Steve Jobs – from his style of leadership and management to his creative process. From the start-up years in the Jobs’ family garage to his recent transplant surgery and release of the revolutionary iPad, Bloomberg Television’s one-hour special examines Job’s early success and subsequent exile from Apple, his failure at NeXT, his redemption at Pixar and his triumphant return to the company he created. Featuring interviews with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak; former Apple CEO John Scully; journalist turned venture capitalist Michael Moritz; Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg; former Apple “Mac Evangelist” and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki and Robert X Cringely, technology journalist and former Apple employee.

Check out the video after the break and let us know if you’ll be tuning in.

[Bloomberg via 9to5Mac]

Netflix streaming from iPad or iPhone to your TV via iOS 4.2 AirPlay? That’s what Mark Gurman is showing off.

We connected some speakers to an Airport Express and the audio from the Netflix film wirelessly streamed and played perfectly with absolutely no hiccups. When the new Apple TV launches, you’ll be able to wirelessly stream both the video and audio to your television set; that’s right, I said television.

Now if only they let Hulu Plus do that…

[9to5Mac]

Chad says we buried the lede: Bloomberg also claims Apple’s annual special music — and this time TV — event will be held September 7. That’s not official, of course. We’ll only know for sure when Apple sends out the invitations.

Remember those rumors of $0.99 iTunes TV show rentals? They’re back. This time with word that FOX-owner Newcorp is in “advanced talks” over the service. CBS and Disney (which has Steve Jobs as their largest share holder) are also rumored to be involved.

Rentals would last 48hrs and would bring even more content to the newly launched iPad and iPhone 4, and upcoming iPod touch 4 and… iOS Apple TV/iTV?

According to Bloomberg Apple originally wanted to offer subscription a la carte TV, which failed due to networks not wanting to put their relationships with cable companies in jeopardy. (Sigh).

While a la cart TV exists outside the US (I pay $20 for 20 a la carte channels on my provider) it hasn’t been adopted by existing American providers. Would $0.99 rentals be a good alternative? Just one show a day would average $30 a month, so even if it’s a step in the right direction, it’s a tiny little hesitant one. And it doesn’t even begin to address live sporting events.

In an ideal world iTunes and iOS would be a complete, non-linear, on-demand TV replacement. Absent that, are individual ABC, Hulu +, and MLB apps are better solution? Or do we really have to wait for the dinosaurs of old media to become extinct simply so that consumers can pay them to watch what we want, when we want, and where we want?

[Bloomberg]

Verizon today announced they’re working on an app that would allow FiOS subscribers to watch the same linear TV shows on their iPad as they do on their current set top boxes. What does that mean?

At first, subscribers with an iPad will only be able to watch linear programming within their own home, which allows Verizon to authenticate and make certain that the users have access to whatever content they’ve paid for. Verizon CIO Shaygan Kheradpir said in a press briefing that the iPad app takes advantage of Verizon’s architecture, which he characterized as “cloud TV.” The experience is similar to what’s available today on FiOS set-top boxes, and takes advantage of the same software that Verizon uses for its set-tops. As such, Verizon says it should already have rights to stream the content, as it’s just another screen in the home.

In other words, it would be just like a regular TV, not video on demand or a la carte service. But it would be a TV you could carry around with you from room to room. Verizon is currently making sure their “content partners” are comfortable with the idea though. You know, those crazy backward thinking cable types can get mighty scared when it comes to their moving pictures showing up on an iPad… Sigh.

Also in the works is a video on demand service where content could be rented by the user and watched on any video capable device they own:

Under the new VOD platform, videos can be purchased through their set-top box or through Verizon.com and then be downloaded and watched on up to five different PCs and mobile devices.

We’ll believe it when we — hopefully very soon — see it. Any of you interested?

[NewTeeVee via @meinck]

In that stream of 700 iPad apps revealed last night, Engadget noticed a few gems including Netflix and ABC, and with CBS doing the HTML5-video thing and Hulu once again being rumored, could content consumption nirvana finally be near?

Netflix is said to be a free app that will be ready by the April 3 iPad launch. You’ll be able to browse and manage your queue and stream movies and TV shows right to your iPad. No word on weather its Wi-Fi-only or 3G as well, and no word on whether an iPhone and iPod touch version is coming (ahem!)

ABC’s player is also said to be free but Wi-Fi bound. You’ll still get your Lost and Grey’s Anatomy fix direct from the network, however. Whether it will make into the iPad App Store by launch day is unknown, as is their monetization method (i.e. will there be commercials?)

CBS, according to the Wall Street Journal, is sticking with their web-based strategy of streaming HTML5 video through Mobile Safari and not making a dedicated app. Hey, maybe that at least will give iPhone and iPod touch owners equal access?

Hulu, which carries the last two remaining networks, NBC and FOX is still unclear but the New York Times once again gets our hopes up. It’s not all rosy, however, as the network nuts behind the scenes reportedly aren’t happy with revenue and want something like subscriptions bolted one. They better get their act together and quickly or their old world thinking will condemn the bright boys and girls at Hulu to last place in the brave new mobile media world…

Verizon is once more firing back at AT&T’s 3G ads by releasing three more TV spots titled “Big Red”, “Sail” and “Shadows”. You will see that two of the three ads are actually spoofs of classic commercial campaigns. “Big Red” spoofs those Big Red gum commercials while “Shadows” spoofs DaBeers Diamonds are forever commercials.

Verizon just loves to try to push what seems to be it’s only advantage over AT&T, more 3G coverage. Once AT&T proceeds with their plans to enhance their network and coverage what will happen to these commercials? What then will Verizon have over AT&T? Sound off in the comments below!

Commercials after the break!

[Thanks for the tip Bruce!]

CNBC’s “Planet of the Apps: A Hand-Held Revolution!” airs tonight at 10PM ET/PT and should be viewed by all iPhone owners. It is a one-hour documentary, reported by CNBC’s Scott Wapner, that takes a look at how this cultural phenomenon had truly changed the way we live and how the launch of the Apple iPhone back in 2007 gave birth to a revolution in mobile technology and a new breed of entrepreneurs.

As the popularity of apps continues to soar and users view them as an essential tool for everyday life, Apple has opened the door for outside developers to create new apps and a new breed of entrepreneurs allowing anyone from an engineer to a Hollywood star to an everyday person to become an app developer.

It starts in 20 minutes! Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

The TV show Lie to Me, a few weeks back (season 2, episode 3 to be exact) decided to take the lies just one step too far — they showed an iPhone where one of the characters could swipe between SMS notifications.

To the trained eye, of course, it was merely screenshots of standard model text dialogs over the Notes app, with swiping no doubt courtesy of the Photo App, and sound effects added in post. (The whole screen, not just the alert dialog, changed on swipe). However, it shows that even TV now has to work around the vexing lack of great notification handling on the iPhone.

Sci-fi aside, it does show one possible approach. If instead of that nasty little box you had to cancel or reply to immediately, or risk losing forever, Apple let you swipe back to see previous notifications, would that be a good solution? Or are we still holding our breath (and turning ever-bluer) waiting or a Palm webOS- or Google Android-level solution?

Following last week’s crazy screen rumor that iPhone 3.0 would add movie and TV show direct, on-device downloads to the current music and audio and video podcast downloads, Apple Insider reports that they have:

…learned from people familiar with Apple’s training program that new self-guided training materials being distributed to familiarize AppleCare agents with the features of iPhone 3.0 software “definitely covered” the ability to directly download movies and TV shows on the device itself, rather than just syncing video content through iTunes.

And points out that “Apple never puts out product training this far ahead of a product launch.”

So what’s going on with that? We figure it’ll be Wi-Fi only, but could there be anything else going on here?

Maybe, in that news of Disney joining up with Hulu to offer even more free, advertising supported television and movie content via the web, could reduce the amount of people in the US who choose to pay for that same content, ad-free for rental or purchase via iTunes. However, there are some other factors involved that Business Week isn’t addressing:

• Hulu is only currently available in the US. iTunes TV and movies are available in Canada, the UK, Australia, and most recently Germany.
• Streaming content such as Hulu is a great option, but not always the best option for every situation. Being able to download, store locally, and watch or take content on the go to watch is still important. (And will remain so until the Internet is as ubiquitous and transparent as electricity).

Most importantly, however:

• Apple has repeatedly stated that they operate the iTunes store at break-even levels just to get people to buy more iPods and now iPhones. Whether that’s semi-disingenuous or not, the iPhone will eventually be able to play Hulu content as well — either directly off the web like YouTube or via a 3rd party Hulu offering in the App Store. More reason to buy iPhones and iPod touches.

If nothing else, Apple has proven to have some small insight into where the “fat middle” of consumerism. They don’t blaze trails, they don’t bleed edges, but they wait and see and when they feel a market is mature, they offer their take on it.

Our bet is we see that Hulu app… whether AT&T allows it or not is another matter…

Looked at our iTunes and what did we see? Genius enabled for Movies and TV. For those playing along at home, Apple first pre-announced this feature before making iTunes 8.1 available for download, then removed it just moments before the download went live, then said it wasn’t quite ready, and now has unleashed it on the world.

Sorta. Not all iTunes-purchased videos seem to generate Genius results yet, and some produce… non-intuitive recommendations to say the least. Those of you who have ripped your own, legally purchased DVDs to your collection under the principles of fair use might have a particularly hard time finding matches if you haven’t undertaken the arduous task of entering all the meta data, and even then…

So, feel free to share your Genius Video results in the comments, the funnier, the better. Eagle Eye returning Coyote Ugly for you to?

As we mentioned earlier, when you purchase an HD TV show from iTunes you’re actually getting two copies of the show — one version in HD and another in standard definition for your iPhone. They’re two separate files and, well, apparently they don’t always go great together. Ars Technica is reporting that when iTunes gets around to downloading the SD version, some users are finding that it’s overwriting the HD file.

They recommend turning on “Allow simultaneous downloads” and also offer a sneaky quit-and-restart iTunes trick. If that doesn’t appeal to you, just sit tight, Apple’s aware of the issue and will likely manage to fix it up (here’s a hint, Apple, just append the resolution of the video to the end of the filename).

How about it: are you downloading HD content yet?

Patent filings sometimes clue you in to the direction a company is headed with their devices. Sure, some are crazy and others are ridiculous, but you can get a general sense of what the company is trying to accomplish in those stencil-like drawings and comic-like blurbs.

Well, Apple has filed a patent that strongly hints toward developing an add-on/dongle/hub/dock-type device that will accept AM, FM, HD, or satellite radio along with cable TV, satellite TV, antenna, or IPTV. The multiple connecting devices, as shown in the patent filing, could range from being a dock, a stereo, or even a computer.

What makes this Apple patent unique is its ability to “tag” information about the current movie, TV show, or song, allowing you to save the information presumably to let iTunes develop a list of movies, shows, and music you might be interested in.

Honestly, I’m lukewarm about this “media extender” device coming into fruition partly because I would hate to have a dongle attached to my iPhone and more importantly, can’t imagine Apple pushing media that isn’t sold through their iTunes pipeline.

Either way, this patent filing makes for good conversation. What do you think?

ReadVia

For those who don’t know, Slingbox is a TV streaming device that allows users full control of your TV set at home through the internet. It’s basically a combination of technological prowess and fairy dust that enables this VERY sweet product to “just work”. Meaning if you’re a Dodgers Fan on a business trip in the East Coast, you can watch their games as if you were in your own living room. If you saved the season finale of Lost to your PVR, you can watch that too. 

Now that convenience is coming to your iPhone. Which is fitting since SlingPlayer Mobile has been available for WinMob, Palm, and Symbian for some time now and we all know none of those platforms offer a screen quite like the iPhone. Though it’s still very, very early in development, Sling has a proof-of-concept version of SlingPlayer Mobile running on jailbroken iPhones.

SlingMedia will also be holding live demonstrations of SlingPlayer Mobile on the iPhone and iPod Touch for those attending WWDC. Their Product Manager Vicky Shum will be at the Starbucks at 120 4th Street, San Francisco (across from the Metreon) between 10am and 4pm Pacific Time on Monday, June 9th. The demo is open to everybody, so if you’re in the bay area for WWDC feel free to check it out!

Thanks MegaZone for the tip and Rob for the heads up!

Yeah, Chrisey, hang on a minute, I’m conferencing in our mutual friend from Cupertino…

Hello? (Manage, this thing is easy to use!) Hello Stevie? Whoa, there he is… Stevie, It’s me Tony. So what do I gotta do to get on this computer thing… this iTunes Chrisey here keeps telling me about?

No, me, I don’t know nothing from nothing about it, but Chrisey tells me it’s, you know, the next big deal, and we want our taste.

Yeah, I’m using one of your — what do you call them — iPhones right now. Never mind how I got it, fell off the back of a truck with 10,000 of its little friends we’ve already shipped to China, capiche? Let’s talk content.

What’s that? Childlike sense of –? Listen hippie, we want flexible pricing and a bigger cut off the back end. We’re not those ***** from NBC you’re used to ******* dealing with, you hear me?

Simplicity? Zen? (Did he just tell say “boom”?!)

Okay. Calm down. Calm down. The suits from Time Warner are handled. Those ******* ********, they’ve blown it in the past, we all know that, but what’s done is done and this deal is good for them, good for us, good for you — good for everybody but those clowns up in Redmond, huh?

Yeah, okay, forgetaboutit. This time tomorrow you’ll be watching those foul-mouthed ***** on Deadwood and that crazy ***** Dexter or whatever right there on your little iPhone, okay? So why don’t you take one of your little barefoot walks down to Whole Foods and get one of those fruity drinks you like so much, and me and Chrisey will figure out the details, okay?

We good? HBO on iTunes now? Good.

Yeah, okay. Namaste to you to. Whatever. (Madone, you believe this guy?!)

Read

I remember well the days of yore when I had a whopping 5 channels to choose from for my viewing pleasure. Now before you start doing some quick math and send me Geritol for my birthday, I was just a wee lad then. Although I didn’t have much in the way of choices, I made sure to never miss an episode of “The Six Million Dollar Man”, re-runs of “Star Trek”, and a generous helping of “Sesame Street” and “Electric Company”. I also had to (gasp!) actually GET UP off the couch, WALK to the t.v., and MANUALLY change the channel! Ahhhh, those were the days.

Times have certainly changed. The average home now has about 114 channels to choose from. I switched to DirectTV recently and I get lost in the maze of menus and virtual cornucopia of channels and programming to choose from. You may be wondering what all of this may have to do with your iPhone. HARK! There is a handy AOL site designed just for the iPhone that can help you navigate the ever-expanding universe of televised entertainment!

Open Safari on your iPhone and tap in this web addy: http://iphone.television.aol.com. Next, enter your zip code (or the zip code of where you happen to be located — this is important). You are then offered a list of providers including Cable (i.e., Comcast), Satellite (Dish or DirectTV), and Broadcast. Select the service you are using. You are then presented with options for viewing listings for “What’s On Now”, “Complete Listings”, “Channel Guide”, or “Search All TV Shows” at the bottom. Searching is particularly useful if you are dying to know when and where the next episode of “Gilligan’s Island” will be airing (will those poor people EVER get off that wretched paradise of an island??).

If the list you have selected is particularly long, like the 800+ listings for DirectTV for instance, you may notice that there is a bar on the far right side of the screen, along the border, which allows you to tap on a range of channels to immediately jump to that location. Brilliant.

If you are on the road or sitting comfortably in your very own La-Z-Boy recliner at home, keep your iPhone handy and let this AOL TV Listings app help you find what you want to watch. Tune in next week right here (adjusting the rabbit ears is not necessary) for another Tip!

Disclaimer: Tip o’ the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (no, we certainly don’t promise you’ll enjoy the reruns of “Lawrence Welk” or “Love, American Style”).