Apple is moving forward with its Web TV service as talks with main networks are “rapidly gaining momentum”,  The New York Post reports. According to The Post, Apple is currently in talks with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and it wants to launch the “as-yet-unnamed” service as soon as the late fall.

“The platform is ready and it rocks,” said one source.

Sources say that Apple wants to offer on the service local live TV feeds streamed on any Apple device.

Cable channels, including Discovery, will likely be part of the package as well — “as will ESPN, if Apple gets its way, sources said.”

The price of the service has not yet been decided. According to the “industry sources” it may range from $10 to $40 a month. The Wall Street Journal reported back in March that it will cost $30-$40 a month.

Apple is also expected to launch the next Apple TV model in the fall, with a slimmer profile, new operating system and interface, support for Siri and its own App Store.

Yesterday, Comcast unveiled its live Web TV streaming service called Stream.

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It seems they’ve started delivering on it as iFun notes that the channel now shows up in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary and other European countries.

Users also confirm the channel is now available in Brazil and Mexico.

ABC News sports both live breaking news coverage as well as on-demand videos to be streamed at will. At any moment, there are four different streams available, so that users can follow the genre of news they really care about.

It also opens access to a plethora of videos in ABC’s gigantic archives including “This Week in History” and “The Day in Pictures”. And quite surprisingly, this ABC News channel brings local broadcasts from many US cities also.

This includes content from WABC (New York), KABC (Los Angeles), WLS (Chicago), WPVI (Philadelphia), KGO (San Francisco), KTRK (Houston), WTVD (Raleigh), KFSN (Fresno) and WISN (Milwaukee).

The best part is that unlike the WatchABC channel on Apple TV, ABC News can be streamed completely free of charge. Yeah, no need of any paid subscription or any supported cable provider account.

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The Watch ABC set of apps have done a great job in upgrading ABC Network’s on-demand and live contents from the ancient website windows to our smartphones and tablets. And today, the Watch ABC iOS app was updated to support AirPlay, whereby you can directly play full screen videos on your Apple TV, instead of using the universal screen mirroring.

What’s New in Version 3.4.0
-AirPlay streaming now available via Apple TV.

Just like before, you’ll need to sign up with a supported cable operator account to make full use of the app, though few open contents are available for non-subscribers also. You can find a list of the supported providers, their schedule and other frequently asked questions here.

The update might sound unnecessary to many because Apple TV has its own Watch ABC channel, since last December. However, the real use of this update comes in cases where you’re watching shows on someone else’s Apple TV or when you are using some third party software like AirServer or Reflector to turn your PC or Mac into AirPlay receivers.

The addition is perfectly timed to precede the upcoming fall season of TV shows and the updated app can be downloaded from here for free.

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I woke up this morning to the news of two major content additions to Apple TV. This has been a routine lately but the difference here is that neither of these adds a new channel icon to the home screen, but instead streams within existing apps. Thank God they do!

First and the more exiting one is that The Oscars will be available for live stream first time ever. Yep! ABC is bringing live telecast of the Academy Awards night and the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Oscars‘ show to the Watch ABC channel on Apple TV and the corresponding iOS app. But apparently not everyone is entitled to the privilege as they’ve laid down a pretty complex and long list of restrictions on who can access the stream.

The show’s livestream will be available to Watch ABC authenticated users through eight providers: Comcast, Cablevision, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Midcontinent Communications, Verizon FiOS, Google Fiber and AT&T U-verse. The service is available only in ABC’s eight owned-station markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Fresno, Calif.

To know whether you can watch the content or what you need to do the get access, visit this link. However if you can’t get it, a special highlights show ‘Oscars Backstage‘ will be released soon after the event for all users.

Coming to the other half, ESPN has added about 15 Collegiate Sports Conference channels to its WatchESPN channels on Apple TV. Thankfully, these are much less complicated than the former as anyone can follow their favourite College conferences with just a click.

The included channels are America East, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Big West, MEAC, SWAC, CIA, Horizon, MAC, MAAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Southern, Sun Belt and Southland.

However analysts are confused to see the ACC Network among these new channels ‘coz this sports streaming giant was rumoured to be in talks with ESPN for a full-fledged dedicated network. Anyway, these channels are planned to cover more than 2000 men’s and women’s events starting with the Basketball tournament.

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Though many of you may think that there isn’t much to say here, we think it’s an interesting move from Apple, because this is the first time Apple adds region-specific, non-US video service on Apple TV. It could mean there is more to come soon: more services and more countries. It’s also interesting from the point of view of Apple’s strategy for the next Apple TV (set-top box or standalone TV set).

We are all still waiting on Apple to make its big announcement regarding television. The fact is, Apple is being down-right HUSH-HUSH about it all. One could argue, and it might as well be me, that Apple is sitting back placing content deals all over the world so that when there offering launches it is not a US-only-device. Everything Apple does is global. They do not sell a product unless they can get in every market possible. Well, a television service that is only based on content out of the United States would be lacking on the international stage. On the other hand, a television service with international content deals – that would be interesting.

Image: Christian Krämer

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There was one more thing coming at the end of Steve’s show today and this time it was one more HOBBY… The new Apple TV is here! This tiny matte-black box (80% smaller than the previous generation) will stream HD (720p) movies for $4,99 and commercial free TV shows for 99 cents  (ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America are on board;  all rentals, no purchases) and your Netflix content if you are a subscriber. It has HDMI, Ethernet, USB and optical audio ports, Bluetooth and dual band WiFi (802.11 b/g/n at 2.4GHz and 802.11 a/n at 5GHz). There will be no local storage. AirPlay – the new feature that will come with iOS 4.2 in November – will let you to stream movies from any iOS device to your HDTV through the Apple TV. It will be shipping within 4 weeks for the “breakthrough “ price of just $99.

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