The Smart TV Weekly Digest is a curated collection of the week’s best articles about smart TVs and the future of content.

Apple’s smart TV to feature ‘unmatched aesthetics,’ could be game-changer for gaming
“Reports have suggested for more than a year that Apple is working on a smart TV product, and those reports were firmed up last week when an excerpt from Steve Jobs’s biography revealed that the Apple co-Founder was indeed working on an Apple television. ”I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,” Jobs said…”

New DirecTV guide suggests content to subscribers based on viewing habits
“DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) is launching a new “My DirecTV” feature for its interactive program guide which will recommend TV shows and movies to subscribers based on data about their viewing habits that it collects from HDTV set-tops…”

Video-Sharing Startup Shelby.tv Launches Into Public Beta With New iOS App
“Shelby.tv, the video-sharing startup (and stars of Bloomberg’s TechStars reality show), is today exiting out of its private alpha phase and launching into a public beta…”

iTunes Creator Leading Apple TV Development
“Jeff Robbin, who worked on the iPod and Apple’s online music store and player iTunes, is now leading Apple’s stealthy integrated television project…”

PBS ‘Like Drive’ attracts Facebook fans and engagement
“In a modern twist to a TV pledge drive, PBS ran a Facebook “Like Drive” last week that rewarded fans for helping promote some of PBS’ most beloved people and shows. Every day, PBS promised to unlock exclusive video clips on Facebook if fans “liked” the PBS page and shared statements of support on their own walls…”

Sandvine: Netflix bandwidth consumption jumps 10% since May
“The amount of video bandwidth consumed by Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) subscribers streaming TV shows and movies has increased by 10 percent since May, according to a report from Sandvine. Netflix accounts for 32.7 percent of peak downstream traffic to cable operators, telcos, and other broadband providers that sell Internet access through fixed networks…”

Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore demos Xbox Companion for Windows Phone [Video]
“With Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7.5 update hitting handsets over the past month, the company has been building new services to help extend the compatibility between its gaming and smartphone products and its Internet services. One such service, Xbox Companion, is intended to allow users to not only control their Xbox with their Windows Phone smartphone, they can also bring up contextual information to…”

Twitter Embraces Its Social Role in TV
“Most recently, Twitter entered into a formal agreement with the creators of the show X Factor USA to implement a social voting feature, which allows users to cast votes on the show’s outcome via Direct Message. Whereas a decade ago “American Idol” viewers phoned in their votes, today viewers turn to Twitter…” 

TW Cable Navigates TV in the Cloud
“Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) is starting to deploy a cloud-based interface that aims to improve the navigation and search capabilities and overall look of guides that run on set-tops that are equipped with a Docsis IP connection…”

What Netflix effect? Redbox will raise rates instead
“But the effect of that change wasn’t entirely apparent in Redbox’s numbers, as parent Coinstar reported revenues Thursday just slightly above Wall Street consensus. Even worse, Redbox announced it is raising its discount $1 a night rental prices by 20 percent…”

Google TV 2.0: Android Honeycomb. Apps. Awesome.
“Now Google TV 2.0 is here, armed with apps and a new content discovery system. And the search giant thinks they’ve got it right this time. Google TV still revolves around the same basic concept. It is not meant as a cable replacement, nor is it really meant to be a standalone box. It works best running on top of your existing cable hardware, serving up web vids along the way…”

Hands on with Zeebox, your new social TV guide
“You can think of Zeebox as a next-generation TV listings magazine. The app, which only works in the U.K. right now, is based around a simple interface — a list of programs that are on television right now. The first step once you have downloaded it is to make sure you’re getting the right listings on-screen…”

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