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Yesterday Apple released iOS 5.1 for Apple TV. It brought few new things but nothing spectacular. The most noticeable is custom network configurations that can be set up by the Apple configurator. This application allows a user to configure and control multiple iOS devices they have in household. The latest update brings some new features beside the usual stability and performance fixes, so users will now be able to save multiple iTunes accounts and switch between them. Also Apple has added support for Shared Photo Streams and AirPlay broadcasting from Apple TV to all other devices.

Western Digital is expanding their product line. The Hard Drive maker (and maker of home media players) has decided to attempt to dive into the home networking market. To do this they are introducing a new line of routers called My Net. According to Western Digital My Net is designed to optimize the viewing of online streaming media services and online gaming.

Netgear has decided to upgrade their existing line of media players and has come out with three new ones. They hope that these will be decent competition for Apple TV and Roku's streaming boxes. The basic model the Neo TV will be available for $49.99, while the NeoTV Pro and NeoTV MAX will go for $59.99 and $69.99 respectively. The new line will have HTML 5 support and more content sources compared to previous models, also it will have Push2TV media streamer for pushing media from smartphones or laptops to the big screen.

At CES in Las Vegas a flood of smart televisions showed up, they are special because of their characteristics that combine the TV and a computer inside of the same device. However, the NPD Group conducted a research study of American customers with smart TVs, indicating that people are almost always ignoring the advanced capabilities of their smart TVs. Additionally they found that of all the services and applications they are offered they use only those that allow streaming of video, film and TV.

If you're a Last.fm user and you pulled three euros a month for a subscription, you probably did it for two reasons: to see who visits your profile and for the possibility of listening to internet radio. Last.fm's radio works in a way that you type in the performers name, genre or one third of the tag by which you want to perform a selection of music (or choose friends whose music collection you want to listen to), then the stream will immediately initiate. That is a great way to listen to music when you do not know what to play, or if you just want to discover new bands.

The Netflix App for Android devices has finally received a face lift! The lists of titles for viewing has been dramatically increased, the user interface has been greatly improved with short cuts and new features, and things have been moved around to be more user friendly and easier to navigate.

Microsoft has “discovered” that users today that typically need to use multiple services to get all they want. They often will use one for buying and downloading music and another one for streaming. Because of this, Microsoft has decided to offer their solution. The Xbox Music “all-in-one” music service allows its users to stream music free of charge, unlimited for first six months and after that up to 10 hours monthly, with an unlimited streaming option if they pay a subscription or buy and download desired songs.

According to the Financial Times, Google is reportedly negotiating with major music publishing companies regarding their services for streaming music. These services would supposedly be available at a subscription model or as a free service that would be financed through advertisements, similar to models from competing services such as Spotify and Deezer.