The music streaming market is currently dominated by the likes of Spotify and Deezer, while Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video are blazing the video streaming trail. But now it looks like Apple is ready to make up for lost time.
It's looking more and more likely that Apple is poised to enter the music streaming market by making use of the Beats service it bought last year. And now there are reports that an Apple video streaming service is in the pipeline too.
MORE: Apple music streaming – Beats-based service plans revealed
The news comes courtesy of Re/Code, which has claimed that Apple is plotting its latest bid to crack the TV market. The move will involve cutting out traditional pay-TV providers such as Time Warner Cable in favour of an over-the-top service.
It would take the company into competition with the likes of Netflix, with sources revealing that Apple is talking to TV programmers with a view to launching such a service. But the discussions are said to be in the "early stages".
The new Apple TV streaming service would be in the same vein as Sling, which recently went live in the US. For $20 a month, Sling serves live and on-demand TV without the need for a long-term contract or any hardware installation.
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Apple's only other foray into the TV and video streaming market brought us the Apple TV set-top box – a device that we've previously described as having "simultaneously pleased and disappointed" due to a few missing features.
In recent years, it has faced increased competition from the likes of Google Chromecast and Roku's Streaming Stick (check out our video of the best streaming boxes). Last summer saw the launch of a new beta version of the platform, complete with a new iOS 7-style interface.
But if Apple is planning to launch its own video streaming service, it might be a while yet. Re/Code says that pricing and timescales "aren't close to being ironed out". Still, we'd think Apple has the resources to make it work. We shall see.
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[via Re/Code]
