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Apple will launch iTunes video app on Samsung Smart TVs this spring

Apple and Samsung are friends again. In an announcement ahead of this week’s CES, the two former rivals have announced that an iTunes Movies and TV Shows app will launch on Samsung Smart TVs. Samsung says the app will launch on 2019 Smart TVs in the spring and it will also be available via a firmware update to 2018 sets.

In addition to the app, Samsung TVs will support Airplay 2 for streaming from Apple devices. The release also says the iTunes app will support “Universal Guide, the New Bixby and Search, to create a consistent experience across Samsung’s platform,” so you'll be able to use Samsung's AI assistant to access you're Apple content. Insert flushed emoji here.

One caveat to the announcement. While Samsung says it will support 4K content streamed through the iTunes app, there's no mention of picture quality beyond that. Specifically, iTunes supports Dolby Vision, which isn't available on Samsung TVs. It's doubtful that Apple will be encoding iTunes video to use Samsung's semi-proprietary HDR10+ (a format no video service currently supports), so streams might not look as crisp as they could.

Nevertheless, the partnership, which will be exclusive at launch, clearly represents a new strategy for Apple. With a Netflix-style video service all but imminent, the new app is likely the start of a major expansion of the iTunes ecosystem, and it’s likely that Fire TV and Roku apps will follow. Late last year Apple opened up Apple Music to Amazon Echo devices in a push to expand the reach of its music service beyond phones and the HomePod.

FULL ARTICLE - https://www.macworld.com/article/333...-smart-tv.html

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