If you’re one of the lucky 100-plus Koreans who pre-ordered one of Samsung’s F9000-series 4K TVs this June, you’ll be glad to know that you’re getting your reward very soon. The company has just announced that both the 55- and 65-inch F9000 sets should ship to Korea on July 6th. As before, the series is a more affordable yet functionally similar alternative to Samsung’s 85-inch behemoth — customers get the Ultra HD screen resolution and Evolution Kit support at relatively modest prices of 6.4 million won ($5,670) for the 55-inch TV and 8.9 million won ($7,913) for its 65-inch cousin. We’re still twiddling our thumbs waiting for a launch on this side of the Pacific, but those who need something to tide themselves over can read Samsung’s translated press release after the break.
If you’re like us, you were wondering what impact Samsung’s acquisition of Boxee would have on Boxee’s Cloud DVR service. Unfortunately, we don’t have good news. Boxee is shutting down the service on July 10th, and customers will lose access to their TV recordings at the same time. We’re not surprised by the move, but it effectively shuts the company down within the space of a week. When Boxee’s apps, the Boxee Box and the Live TV add-on are either gone or on their way out, there aren’t really products left to offer — it’s all Samsung from here.
If you were wondering if Samsung actually did acquire Boxee in all its glory, wonder no more: confirmation is at hand. In a email note sent to the press this afternoon, Samsung has made it clear that they have indeed moved in on Boxee and will be bringing their technology and innovations in for their own connected device suite.
Here in a note from Samsung, the company lets it be known that they’ve “acquired key talent and assets from Boxee” and will be bringing them onboard asap. It’s not immediately clear what this means for the remaining Boxee software and hardware on the market today. Likely they’ll be supported through their remaining warantee-based lifetime then left for dead.
“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee. This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.” – Samsung
According to the Wall Street Journal, an inside source suggests that Samsung will be moving forward with Boxee’s cloud storage features specifically and will be aiming to improve the Boxee user interface and retrofit it to their own device lineup. Though Boxee has not yet left an official comment as such, we’re expecting confirmation from them as well – soon!
The New York Times has confirmed that Samsung has acquired streaming TV company Boxee. It’s not a monumental deal, but if anything the purchase will probably help Samsung slightly improve its connected TV interface.
Though the acquisition rumors from half a month ago hadn’t turned up any solid announcements as such, today’s report has Samsung picking up the Web-TV organization Boxee in full. According to Israel-based The Marker, Samsung has picked up the digital video startup for a cool $30 million, complete with 40 workers in tow.
This acqisition would have Samsung continue to employ 40 workers from the group – and it’s not clear at the moment whether this represents the full set of employees from Boxee or not, mind you. Samsung is expected to use Boxee technology in their own future TV sets and set-top boxes while it appears that the Boxee Box itself may turn to dust.
Having originally been established as a software in 2007 with several rounds of investment leading up to a total of $28.5 million, creators Avner Ronen, Idan Cohen, Tom Rock, Roy Vulcan, and Gideon Kazin turned in 2010 to a bit of hardware called the Boxee Box in collaboration with the accessory and peripheral company D-Link.
Fast forward to 2012 and the Boxee dongle comes forth as Live TV, ringing in at $49 and bringing on web content in a tiny package. Boxee found itself the subject of scrutiny from cable groups and the company aimed for Cloud DVR services – now with not quite as solid a future ahead of them, it would seem that Samsung as picked a key moment to bring a pocketbook full of cash.
But remember – as with all tips and suggestions without comment from either company involved in an acquisition, we’ll need to wait for confirmation before we can say Samsung is bringing on Boxee’s next generation. Hang around and see what becomes of it!
If you believe past rumors, Apple has sometimes had difficulty getting the media industry to agree with its vision of the future. Its solution may be to hire from the industry itself — Bloomberg claims that Apple has recruited Hulu’s Senior VP of Marketing and Distribution, Pete Distad, to negotiate future media deals. Neither company is commenting on the rumor, although the executive may not be immediately necessary: Bloomberg also believes that Apple is near an agreement that would bring Time Warner Cable subscribers and services to Apple TV boxes within “a few months.” Whether or not that deal happens, we suspect that Distad could at least help realize Tim Cook’s grand vision for TV.
Today DISH and Southwest moved their television service off the runway and into the sky (airplane metaphor). The service, called “TV Flies Free,” will work on iOS devices and other unnamed phones, tablets or laptops — “certain personal devices,” according …
While Netflix has scored some coups in originalcontent, it has arguably been slacking on deals for conventional TV shows — Amazon has landednumerousexclusives on that front in recent months. Netflix may be making up for lost time, however, with a multi-year subscription exclusive in the US for Fox’s New Girl. Effective immediately, customers can stream the Zooey Deschanel comedy’s first season; further seasons will come online as they finish their initial TV runs. We doubt that New Girl by itself will lead to many converts from other services, but its presence on Netflix proves that Amazon can’t let its guard down.
While some airlines are still trying to catch up by bringing WiFi to its fleet of aircrafts, Southwest Airlines is a step ahead of the crowd. Today, Southwest and DISH have teamed up to bring free live television, as well as on demand services, to all WiFi-equipped Southwest flights. This means that around 75% of Southwest’s flights currently can take advantage of free TV while in the air, which they’re calling “TV Flies Free”.
Of course, many airlines offer live TV on board through the built-in television displays behind the seat, but Southwest Airlines and DISH boast that it’s better to watch television on the device of your choice rather than have to be stuck with a small display that looks terrible compared to a Retina-equipped iPad.
Southwest says that only “certain personal devices” will be compatible with DISH’s in-flight television service, but seeing as how the company gave away free iPads to all those on board the inaugural flight, we’re guessing that most iOS devices are compatible, as well as newer Android devices as well.
DISH doesn’t say how many channels passengers get to choose from during the flight, but they do mention that 75 on-demand shows are available to watch anytime during the flight. There’s also no mention of how the service works, but from the video above, it doesn’t look like there’s a dedicate app for the service. Instead, it seems that passengers open up the web browser and watch TV through that.
As airlines try to win over customers on a daily basis, they’re attempting to find more and more ways to convince flyers to choose their airlines by providing incentives and free services like wireless internet, live television, and of course free snacks and drinks. It’s a competitive market, and the airlines that offer the best services are the ones who usually win.
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