Apple wants to challenge Netflix with its own video streaming service
Apple presented its own video streaming service on Monday. The service, called "Apple TV Plus," will offer exclusive access to series and films made on behalf of the company. Apple is thus competing with services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
For individual projects, Apple attracted well-known filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and J. J. Abrams, as well as Hollywood stars such as Jennifer Aniston and Resse Witherspoon. Spielberg himself came to Cupertino to present the service.
The TV app on Apple devices is also being expanded. Users will be able to subscribe to and use individual pay channels directly there. In the US, for example, HBO, Showtime and Hulu are included. Internationally, channels from the respective countries will be available, it said without further details.
The app is also said to make personalized suggestions based on what shows have been watched so far. The app will be available for the first time not only on Apple devices, but also on TVs from Samsung, LG and Sony, as well as on streaming boxes from Roku and Amazon's Fire TV. In addition, the app, which is currently available in ten countries, will soon be usable worldwide.
Another subscription service called "Apple Arcade" will offer more than 100 paid games from the App Store for a monthly fee starting in the fall. There will be no advertising or additional fees. Initially, there were no details about the subscription price or the available game titles.
In the U.S., there will also be an Apple credit card, which the company will issue together with the bank Goldman Sachs. Among other things, the company promises strict data protection: "Apple doesn't know what and where they bought, and what they paid for it."
In addition to the virtual version of the card in Apple devices, there is also to be a physical card made of titanium, on which only the user's name is written next to the chip - no numbers or signature, so that this data cannot be stolen. However, this data can be accessed via the app on the iPhone.
New news subscription
Apple is also expanding its product offering with a news subscription service that provides access to content from various media for a monthly fee. The "Apple News Plus" service will make content from around 300 magazines available in the USA and Canada.
Of the major daily newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times and the Canadian The Star in the process. It had already leaked out that the New York Times and the Washington Post did not want to join the service, preferring to rely on selling their subscriptions themselves.
The offer costs $9.99 per month - family members can read along for that price. All individual subscriptions together would cost $8,000 a year, Apple explained.
An important function of the app could be personalized suggestions for new magazine issues and individual articles. The layout of the articles is specially adapted to the screen size of the iPhone and iPad.
Apple had already bought the app "Texture" some time ago, which had deals with various magazine publishers in the US. No details were initially given about availability in Germany. The app is due to come to Australia and the UK in the fall. Whether and when the service will come to Germany, Austria or Switzerland was not said. (SDA)
