Samsung confirmed on Friday that its 55-inch OLED HDTV will be shown at Berlin’s IFA trade show in late August, according to a report from SlashGear. At the event, the manufacturer will announce the TV’s official launch details alongside a new, premium range of HDTVs. Samsung describes the new televisions as even “more premium” than its OLED models, although that may be in terms of functionality rather than design or display technology. Samsung unveiled its OLED TV at the Consumer Ele...

More than 1 million cable television subscribers in the United States canceled their service in 2011, opting instead for online films and TV shows available through services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. Nearly 2.65 million cable or satellite TV subscribers have canceled their service since 2008 to rely solely on Web-based services according to estimates from the Convergence Consulting Group. “It’s pretty obvious that there’s actual cord-cutting going on in the U.S.,” Brahm Eiley, president of...

In a effort to cut costs and improve its financial situation, Sony is eliminating two divisions at its main electronics unit, promoting three executives and keeping a close eye on its money-losing television unit, Bloomberg’s Businessweek reported on Tuesday. The Japanese company will shut down its consumer products and services group, which handled consumer-level electronics, and the professional device and solutions group, which handled business oriented products and components. Executive Deputy Presi...

Apple hasn’t even announced the HDTV that has been rumored for months, but it is already the most talked-about television in the world. While the constant chatter is certainly building hype surrounding Apple’s first foray into the space, it also reportedly has the Cupertino-based technology giant in a bit of hot water. British television network ITV has apparently sent a strongly worded letter to Apple advising the company not to use the “iTV” moniker for its upcoming HDTV, The Telegra...

Prototypes of Apple’s upcoming HDTV are already being tested by multiple potential carrier partners Apple is trying to woo, The Globe and Mail reports. The Canadian paper calls the iTV “a product that has the potential to revolutionize TV viewing by turning conventional televisions into gigantic iPads,” and claims at least two Canadian carriers are currently testing the Apple television in their labs. Apple’s forthcoming iTV can be controlled using voice commands or by making gestures...

Apple will launch its own HDTV called the “iTV,” analyst Peter Misek of Jefferies & Company said on Monday. We’ve written dozens of reports on Apple’s alleged upcoming HDTV, and most speculate that the device will run a version of iOS along with the company’s Siri voice engine that will remove the need for a traditional remote control. Misek also said that Apple is in talks to partner with carriers such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T for access to exclusive and non-exclusi...

Google recently confirmed that YouTube now receives more than 4 billion video views per day. Reuters reported the news Monday morning and noted that the site has seen a 25% increase in videos viewed per day since May. Google, which owns YouTube, also confirmed that there are more than 60 hours of fresh video uploaded each minute, up from the 48 hours of video added per minute in May. Advertisements on videos generate roughly $5 billion in revenue each year, Reuters said, but just 3 billion videos feature ...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday published Apple’s patent application related to its Siri digital assistant service. We’ve already heard rumors that Apple is planning to launch a new television set that completely reinvents how we interact with TV by using Siri to replace the remote, but now it appears that the company has much more expansive plans for the technology. Read on for more. (more…)

Toshiba had a ton of products on display this year at the annual Consumer Electronics Show. The booth was chocked full of stunning new technology and we were blown away by several of the 3D products on display. Toshiba had its new line of Qosmio laptops with glasses-free 3D screens, glasses-free 3D TVs that were more impressive than the models we saw last year, and its Thrive and Excite X10 tablets were on display as well. We even had a chance to play a 3D game on a huge HDTV that was hooked up to a Qosmio la...

Apple recently filed for a patent called “Dynamic Backlight Adaptation for Black Bars with Subtitles” that may be used to provide improved picture quality in its rumored HDTV. Apple explained in the patent application that the black bars above and below video on widescreen televisions can make it tough for a television panel to display blacks properly. ”These non-picture portions complicate the analysis of the brightness of the video images, and therefore can create problems when determinin...

9% of consumers in the United States have already cut cable TV service from their monthly utility bills, the latest State of the Media Democracy survey from Deloitte indicates. The company also found that 11% of U.S. consumers are considering cutting cable TV. Younger generations are more likely to get rid of cable TV, too. Deloitte found that 19% of those aged 23-28 are thinking about canceling cable while 13% of Generation Xers and 7% of baby boomers said they are considering doing the same. “For the ...

Samsung may soon begin selling its televisions in Japan after taking a several year hiatus. Samsung is reportedly talking to Yamada Denki Co and Yodobashi Camera Co., two retailers in the country, Reuters said Monday. Samsung originally left the market citing an increase in competition from other television makers and a drop in profits. The South Korean firm is expected to unveil several new models during this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. LG, one of the Samsung’s largest competit...

Sharp is reportedly working to supply Apple with 32-inch and 37-inch LCD panels for its Siri-equipped HDTV. Manufacturers could begin building the new televisions as soon as the first quarter, DigiTimes said on Tuesday, and a public launch could occur in the second or third quarter next year. Samsung reportedly began building chips for the “iTV’ devices in November, too. The Wall Street Journal said earlier this month that Apple was already beginning to pitch the voice-controlled TV to top media e...

Until recently, iTunes users were able to purchase episodes of television shows a-la-carte or buy a whole season outright. The problem was, however, a user still had to pay full price for a television season even if he or she already owned a few individual episodes. Apple has reportedly fixed that problem by adding a “Complete my season” button that functions just like the “Complete my album” button in the iTunes Music Store. That means, for example, if you’ve purchased nine epis...