ON THE BIG SCREEN
In January this year, Samsung announced that
smart TVs from its 2018 line onwards would be
upgraded both to play Apple’s iTunes movie line–up
and to include Airplay 2 support. At the time, this
was the Ľrst third–party support deal Apple had
ever made for its video content. It wasn’t the last:
similar deals with LG, Sony and Vizio followed,
with some even including HomeKit support.
This may seem like a minor deal. It is not.
Apple’s presence on our screens has the potential
not only to revitalize the image of smart TV, but
to up its usage. As Apple’s attitude towards
cooperation has softened, so its spending
in content has grown: the company has pumped
a reported $3 billion into generating exclusive,
original content for Apple TV+, a full–scale
streaming service to rival Netľix and Amazon
Prime, set to launch later this year.
Naturally, the service will be available through an
iOS app and, most likely, on the Mac desktop and
through a web browser too. Apple’s newfound
willingness to work with TV manufacturers
suggests the company isn’t likely to lock it down by
platform, or even only to us Apple users. We don’t
know what it will cost — estimates range from $15
a month to TV+ actually being completely free,
which (while highly unlikely) would really put the
cat among the streaming pigeons. But with a long
Samsung’s QLED TV Magic Screen is smart enough to blend in with your decor
when you’re not watching a show.Image rights from top: Samsung, Pluto TV, Screen Media Ventures, Vevo. maclife.comAUG 2019 71
Three great free streaming services
Pluto TV
Pluto TV offers 100 loosely
grouped channels with content from
classic reruns to sports highlights. If you
have a Vizio TV, you might actually have
the Watchfree app installed — it’s the
same thing, just given a different name.
Popcornflix
A child company of distributor
Screen Media Ventures, Popcornflix has
an expanding library of movies and TV
shows, from classic Star Trek to big–name
comedy, all available to stream for free.
Check out its YouTube channel, too.Vevo
Remember MTV? As in the good
old days of MTV, before reality TV pushed
out all the music videos? Vevo is the de
facto place for the latest videos, and
registering a free account will allow you
to build playlists for that party.