August 13th, 2013 Apple made a strong move to advance their Apple TV and future video apps by rolling high tech TV content discovery and advice technology into its tech portfolio. This move happened when Apple bought out Matcha.tv for somewhere around $1.5 million. Part of the deal says that deal, Matcha’s creators will be part of Apple for at least the next two years. In May, without warning the Matcha.tv service deleted all personal user information and shuttered their service. Matcha’s Chief Executive Piekarz commented that the service did not shut down forever, they retooled to move forward in a different direction. That direction is now clear. Apple issued their routine comment on this deal that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans”
People already watching YouTube video or programming from their cable or satellite company know they can get suggestions on new TV shows or other videos to watch based on what they have been watching. It’s a great technology that will get better and better as more sources are added.
Matcha.tv searches Internet streaming video sites including Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime and Comcast’s cable TV service so users can discover video content over a wide spectrum. Matcha.tv links with social networks to let people know what their friends are watching and liking to add that content to their suggestions. The company added the HBO GO and WatchESPN networks to the mix so users would get more movie and sports related suggestions. Apple recently added a few other media sources Sky News, East Asia’s Crunchyroll and Qello to add an international flavoring to their offerings. Apple is working on adding a Time Warner Cable app and a VEVO Before the quiet shutdown, Matcha.tv was seeing real growth and they were consistently ranked among n the top 15 entertainment apps on Apple’s App store.
This is another one of Apple’s awesome tech decisions. YouTube, a site most every savvy Internet using consumer has visited, says over 100 hours of new content is uploaded to their site every minute, every day. Well over 6 billion hours of video are watched every month. Consumers want every user friendly app and device available to help them watch new content when they want. This new video content discovery and suggestion technology will likely be in future Apple TVs and iPhone, iPad and iPod apps. We love media and discovering new entertainment and educational content is a win-win for Apple and people who use Apple’s devices and apps.
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