The International CES taking place in Las Vegas is showcasing some exciting new technologies and products including televisions. It seems that most manufacturer are confident that TV is going to go through a major change soon. Every one may have a different idea about what exactly the change will be but they all seem to believe that the internet will have something to to do with it.
During a Cisco press conference at CES, the network equipment manufacturer claimed the the future of TV was already here. Marthin de Beer, Senior vice-president at Cisco, believed that the it is unbelievable that consumers still surf channels and cannot find something to watch. This will change as data indicates globally people will watch seven trillion hours of video per year. Michael White, CEO of Direct TV, stated that consumer will want to watch their programming from any where, at any time and from any device in the near future.
Canada is lagging in this respect. The content providers int he country offer many on demand channels but these services will not be competitive with apps and content that is streaming. Cisco predict that streaming video is the future and will generate a lot of revenue for providers.
Statistics already show that young people in Canada are already watching more streaming video content than regular television. For now providers like D-Link’s Boxee Box and Apple TV are connecting online content to the TV by using the cloud. They provide a very large range of divers content and some Canadian content. A large number of Canadians do not own Internet-enabled televisions so the box tops help connect traditional TV to the net in the country.
Services like Rogers On Demand and Bell’s FibeTV do exist int he country but they do not come close to Apple TV or Boxee. Both services are lacking in online streams, extras and apps. Netflix offers a lot of great features that consumers will start to expect soon and Canadian providers like Rogers and Bell are just not going to cut it if they do not step up their game.
Canadian television providers may be safe for now because most Canadian will not cut their cables in 2013 but as online streaming services mature providers like like Rogers and Bell will find them selves in a tough spot unless they innovate and provide the features that online streaming has to offer today.
Source: Techvibes