Fresh off the back of their ‘Buy & Keep’ digital content development, Sky‘s latest planned technological innovation is one which could be more immediately noticeable if and when it arrives on the market, with fresh rumours suggesting that they are planning to launch a new form of set-top box that would be able to run 4K HD.

The UK’s leading satellite TV provider are hinted by The Sunday Telegraph to be planning a release of their hypothetical product in around the year 2016, the two-year time period enabling them to develop a product that would be a strong competitor to American companies entering the market such as Amazon and Apple, believed to be the most likely threat to Sky’s regional dominance by that time.

A revitalised set-top box is believed to be featuring ‘Ultra HD support’ as well as a new capability of offering customers cloud storage away from the traditional hard drive approach.

The latter of the pair is something that could be taken straight out of Netflix’s notebook, with the hints suggesting that taking the hard drive away from a Sky+ HD set-top box would move DVR services to an ‘external cloud data centre’ would in-turn enable customers to pause recorded content on one device before resuming programming on another through streaming to pick up immediately where they left off.

Meanwhile, on the ‘unique features’ front, the proposed new system – under the fairly uninspiring name of ‘Project Ethan’ (no offence meant to any Ethans out there) is being designed to improve the access to recorded and on-demand programmes on their cloud data storage via multiple platforms. Streaming aside, though, the potential headlining capability of Sky’s new product would be to carry 4K Ultra HD, as they seek to meet what will be a greater demand than at present due to more presence for 4K-capable television sets in the UK market place, as more products arrive on the market and prices drop towards a more consumer-friendly selection.

Having already trialled their 4K broadcasting satellite TV credentials internally, how long will it be before they can support the new format publicly, and will it be well-recieved as current HD is, or just another impressive technological breakthrough that does not quite ‘catch on’ with the public?

Having long been established as the sharpest thorn in the side to TV networks when it comes to internet streaming their own live content, Aereo are set to take on the ‘big 4′ of American TV networks (amongst others) as they go to court tomorrow in a case which some are claiming could trigger a chain reaction for the industry as a whole whichever direction it is taken.

Having progressed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington DC (USA), the case being heard as a ‘one-hour oral argument’ on Tuesday (22 April) will be one to determine whether or not Aereo (supported by Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp) have been legally operating since their foundation in 2012, having been accused of illegally streaming network content to subscribers without paying commission or gaining permission otherwise from the channels being aired.

The nine justices present in the court tomorrow are set to do so in the spirit of their predecessors 30 years ago, who only slightly voted in favour (5-4) of the newest viewing technology of its time, the Betamax video recorder from Sony, a case later dubbed “The Magna Carta” for the technology industry. In January 1984, major networks lost their appeal to claim that the VCR machine constituted ‘contributory copyright infringement’, through the heinous act of users recording content from their TV sets for later viewing.

Of course, the three decades that have passed since that verdict resulted in the art of digital recording becoming mainstream and then normalised within the TV audiences, a development which Aereo will hope can work in their favour and inspire the courts to give them the platform for similar success, a potential challenge to the $3b industry of ‘retransmission fees’ that networks currently receive in the USA from satellite and cable TV providers.

But with claims from ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox (including parent companies Disney, Comcast, NBCUniversal, and 21st Century Fox) that the Aereo service is infringing on their copyrighted content, it will be a difficult task for the defendants given the legal backing these networks will bring, and if failed, could provoke a knock-on effect that hits the likes of Google and Microsoft with their cloud storage technology.

For Aereo’s developments specifically, though, the networks are firmly opposed to something just ‘created to skirt copyright law’, unlike the now-accepted Betamax outcome (described as ‘genuinely innovative’), although that case is not mentioned in the legal brief from the prosecution (compared with Aereo’s 12 mentions). Network representative lawyer Neal Katyal summarised: “There’s nothing innovative about the [Aereo] technology.”

However the case turns out, it appears as though all concerned will have business as normal for two months at least, with a final decision believed to have a deadline of the end of June. Will it be Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia emerging victorious at that point, or will the legal team for the major networks snuff out any chance their thumbnail-antenna streaming rivals have of making a Betamax-shaped mark on the market?

The television industry are always looking for innovative methods with which to develop new ways of engaging or viewing content, and it appears as though Sky have landed on one that will be assisted unofficially by Twitter.

While plenty of programmes nowadays attempt to kickstart social media conversations and trends with a sometimes cringe-worthy official ‘hashtag’ caption, the idea of using the # symbol to help control your set-top box is one which has not been touched upon until Sky this week announced the unusual combination which they are trialling.

This approach is one which will see users able to access some of their favourite content courtesy their Twitter account, namely through tweets made by the satellite broadcasters on their official accounts. Under their current trial basis, the @SkyHD and @SkyAtlantic accounts are being used as demonstrations, meaning that select programming on Sky in general and more specifically their American-imported content network will benefit from the additional exposure.

Whenever those two accounts now post a message on the microblogging service with the #WatchOnSky hashtag, users are now able to watch and record programming through their Twitter timeline based on links in the post, as well as a function to remotely record a show, movie, or event through the Sky+ DVR platform and its ‘R’ option in the new service.

Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky TV’s brand director, summarised: “#WatchOnSky is another brilliantly simple way for our customers to find and watch the shows everyone is talking about. By simply clicking on a Tweet, customers can either instantly watch live TV or record shows for later. It’s all part of our commitment to make it even easier for our customers to discover great TV and make sure they never miss those virtual water cooler.”

A highly innovative idea that remains vague as to whether or not it will be successful, will Sky’s #WatchOnSky service manage to start setting the trend(ing)s in the global TV industry?

·         Update for iPads streamlines user experience, adding volume and power control

·         App now delivers personalized program recommendations

·         Dish Explorer app increases active users by 225 percent in first year

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Feb. 27, 2014 – In response to consumer input, DISH (NASDAQ: DISH) added new functionality to its second-screen iPad app, DISH Explorer, giving customers using the Hopper™ Whole-Home HD DVR the ability to control the TV’s volume and power from their iPad. The app update, available immediately in the iTunes store, also brings users personalized program recommendations based on viewing habits.

Launched in 2013, DISH Explorer is a second-screen app that combines program-discovery tools, social media engagement and remote-control capabilities on the iPad. By highlighting the most popular programs on TV using real-time TV viewing trends and its integration with Facebook and Twitter, consumers have a more intuitive and social TV experience.

“Over the past year, DISH Explorer has become the highest-rated second-screen app for iPad, in part because we continue to make updates our customers want,” said Jimshade Chaudhari, Director of Product Management at DISH. “While DISH Explorer has had native control of Hopper capabilities such as search, record and channel navigation, consumers also want to use the app to turn their TVs on and off and control the volume, now they can.”

In addition to the TV control feature, DISH also added a new “Picked for Me” section offering personalized program recommendations based on viewing habits.

Since its introduction at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show, DISH Explorer has continued to grow in popularity. In its first year, active users of DISH Explorer have grown by 225 percent. The dramatic spike in the app’s use can be partially attributed to the growing adoption of second screens. According to a recent Nielsen survey, nearly half of smartphone and tablet owners use a second-screen while watching TV every day.

The updated version of the highly rated app that combines program-discovery tools, social media engagement and remote-control capabilities is available for iPads in the iTunes store.

TiVo who made their name from producing physical DVR hardware, have now entered the virtual world after showing pay-TV operators a demo of their Network DVR (NDVR) Prototype at this years CES.

TiVo plan to offer a cloud service based on it’s Roamio interface that has, “Network recordings seamlessly integrated, Easily Searchable and Available Anywhere, Anytime.”

The incentive to cable companies is that they can offer anytime and everywhere streaming, manage content rights, and offer targeted advertising. TiVo have said that the NDVR being software based can be run on multiple devices such as tablets and  smartphones.

Speaking in a statement for Tivo, Joshua Danovitz, VP of innovation said, “With an increasingly complicated entertainment landscape that includes a multitude of content choices, sources and devices, both consumers and operators are challenged to find the appropriate means to navigate the burgeoning content. TiVo is once again defining the landscape of how viewers will consume entertainment, and how pay TV operators provide the best in class user experience.”