Road blocks ahead for new TV "toys" in Asia: the Apple TV and Microsoft IPTV ventures will face some challenges and obstacles before they take off in the region, according to broadcasters, distributors and telcos.(platforms)

Television Asia, March, 2007 by Groves, Don

The next big things in home entertainment, if you believe the hype at recent trade shows, will be Apple TV and Microsoft's IPTV-integrated Xbox 360 video games console. Apple Computer Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled Apple TV, a set-top box that allows users to stream content from their computers directly to the television set, at the Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco.

"Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century--you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store," said Jobs. Apple started shipping the new gizmos, which store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs and 25,000 photos, in the US in February, priced...

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