Wii
The move to Internet TV, by the numbers
May 3, 2013: 6:36 AM ETHouseholds with broadband Internet access are increasingly piping Internet video to their TV sets, through a variety of devices.
FORTUNE -- We can examine the strategies of Netflix (NFLX) and Comcast (CMCSA) all we like, but the speed at which television moves off of cable and onto the Internet will be determined largely by what people decide to do in their living rooms. Now that they have the hardware and software tools to access TV online -- and, of course, lots of videos to watch -- all eyes are on home viewers.
More than half of them -- 56% of all households with broadband Internet access -- now have at least one TV set connected to the Internet, according to a report from Diffusion Group, "Defining the In-Home CE and Network Ecosystem 2013." About two-thirds of the nation's homes have broadband.
While viewers use a variety of means to get Internet video from Netflix and other services onto their TV screens, it appears that smart TVs are increasingly in favor, though most people are still porting video content through game consoles like the Xbox 360 (MSFT), the Sony PS3 (SNE), and the Nintendo Wii (NTDOY). About 62% of households own such a device, which are used about a quarter of the time for TV viewing, on average.
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But smart TVs are coming on strong, growing faster than dedicated Internet-to-TV devices like Roku or Apple TV (AAPL). About 14% of broadband households own a dedicated device, while about 25% own a smart TV. Ownership of smart TVs has doubled over the past year, while ownership of dedicated devices grew by only two percentage points. But only about two-thirds of smart TVs are actually connected to the Internet, according to the report.
Another report, this one from NPD Group, found that by next year, all of these means of connecting the Internet to TVs will eclipse connections via Blu-ray players. For now, more people are connected through Blu-rays than through smart TVs, but that's swiftly changing -- another sign of people moving away from movies on discs. The NPD Group report, "Connected Home," also found that 40% of households with Internet-connected TVs watch videos from Netflix, 17% watch YouTube (GOOG) videos, and 11% watch movies and TV shows via Hulu.
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Today in Tech: Nintendo's Wii U
Fortune's curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you every day.
* Nintendo pulled the wraps off its highly-anticipated new home videogame console, the Wii U. During the press event, the company emphasized the actual gaming experience over hardware specifications, though it was pretty quickly established that games would be in high-definition, a first for the company's home consoles. The MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Jun 8, 2011 10:19 AM ETPosted in: Apple, comScore, DigiTimes, Hussein Fazal, Jack Dorsey, Los Angeles Times, Nintendo, Steve Jobs, TechCrunch, Twitter, Video game console, Vinod Khosla, Wii -
Today in Tech: RIM refutes PlayBook criticism, Nintendo's new HD console?
A curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you everyday.
RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie refuted some criticism that the company may have rushed its PlayBook tablet to market. "I don't think that's fair," he told Bloomberg News. "A lot of the people that want this want a secure and free extension of their BlackBerry." The interview came after a few early MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Apr 15, 2011 5:52 AM ETPosted in: BlackBerry, BlackberryPlaybook, David Pogue, Flip, Flipboard, Jim Balsillie, Mike Bloomberg, New York City, Nintendo, PlayBook, Research in Motion, Wii, Zipcar -
The Nintendo 3DS: Hit or miss?
The gaming company's latest money-making handheld offers solid 3-D graphics in an oddly traditional package.
It's been more than five years since Nintendo released its Nintendo DS mobile gaming platform -- or less than two if you count those slightly tweaked upgrades with smaller (or bigger) form factors or video cameras. True to form, the clam shell-type device with two screens and a stylus didn't offer cutting edge graphics, but it MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Mar 24, 2011 5:49 PM ETPosted in: Augmented reality, Games, iPod touch, Mobile, Nintendo, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Playstation 3, Street Fighter IV, Wi-Fi, Wii -
Videogaming's online explosion
Online games such as Age of Conan and Farmville are hot. Now industry leader Activision Blizzard is jumping into the fray with a new Internet strategy.
When videogame publisher Activision announced its merger with Vivendi Games in late 2007, analysts predicted that Vivendi's Blizzard unit, maker of the hugely popular Internet-based fantasy game World of Warcraft, would help Activision migrate to the online world.
Three years later the combined company, Activision Blizzard, MORE
Stephanie N. Mehta, Deputy Managing Editor - Dec 20, 2010 5:00 AM ETPosted in: Activision Blizzard, Call of Duty, cloud computing, Gaming, Guitar Hero, Internet, online video games, Playstation, Wii, World of Warcraft, Xbox -
Electronic Arts reboots
The video game stock has been a laggard - but fund managers and analysts say it will bounce back soon.
By Mina Kimes, writer
Once a blazing hot tech stock, Electronic Arts (ERTS), the maker of "Madden" and "Rock Band," is badly in need of a restart. The video game company's shares have sunk 63% over the last three years while the NASDAQ has been flat. Sales growth slowed after EA failed MORE
Mar 30, 2010 3:00 AM ET -
Nintendo Wii officially recession-proof
The Wii Fit game is one of Nintendo's biggest sellers with 697,000 sold in the U.S. in November. Courtesy of Nintendo
By Yi-Wyn Yen
Nintendo seems to have bucked the recession. The Japanese video game manufacturer has doubled November sales of the Wii in the U.S. from a year ago, according to NPD's latest release on gaming sales.
The demand for the Wii remains strong since the game console's debut two years ago. The company MORE
yiwyn - Dec 11, 2008 6:43 PM ET -
The Xbox 360's holiday makeover
Xbox 360 gets an image makeover to compete with the Wii. Image: Microsoft
By Yi-Wyn Yen
The Xbox 360 is getting a major software update designed to transform it into a multimedia machine.
Starting Wednesday, all Xbox 360 owners will be required to update their gaming consoles so that they can watch movies in high-definition, stream TV shows and movies from Netflix (NFLX) and navigate categories like games, photos, and videos through a MORE
yiwyn - Nov 18, 2008 12:02 AM ET -
No slowdown for Wii and DS, says Nintendo prez
Ubisoft's Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party will be one of 130 new games for the Wii this holiday. Courtesy of Nintendo
By Yi-Wyn Yen
How hot is the Nintendo Wii? Even with the U.S. economy in meltdown, Nintendo may still struggle to meet demand for the third straight holiday season.
Nintendo is aggressively ramping up shipments of its popular video game consoles to avoid the shortage it faced last December. The company will MORE
yiwyn - Oct 6, 2008 2:12 PM ET -
Nintendo's big bet on small games
Spore, the highly-anticipated PC game, will come to the Nintendo DS. Image: Electronic Art
By Yi-Wyn Yen
LOS ANGELES - Turns out the next big thing from Nintendo will be new games for its miniature console, the DS.
Despite all the speculation of what's in store for the major video game consoles - the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 (MSFT), and Sony PlayStation 3 (SNE) - Nintendo (NTDOY) is paying a lot of MORE
yiwyn - Jul 15, 2008 5:36 PM ET
