In one of the more surprising announcements at the start of a busy week of news at CES, Samsung and Apple have joined forces to bring iTunes content to Samsung TVs.
Samsung 2019 TVs will have access to the iTunes Store, and with it a huge library of HD and 4K movies and TV shows. You'll also be able to access your existing iTunes content. All this content will be integrated into Samsung's search feature, including the Bixby voice search functionality.
The partnership will also bring Apple AirPlay 2 streaming to Samsung smart TVs, allowing you to stream video straight from an Apple device to your TV.
Apple offers the largest library of 4K HDR films, available to buy or rent, which was previously only available on your TV via a separate device, such as the latest Apple TV 4K. Now it seems Apple wants to give more people access to its wealth of content, which has up until now effectively been limited to existing Apple customers.
The new iTunes Movies and TV Shows app will land on Samsung smart TVs in more than 100 countries, with AirPlay 2 support coming to Samsung TVs in 190 countries. The app is due to launch in Spring 2019.
Samsung is the first TV brand to benefit from the iTunes app integration but we wouldn't be surprised to see others follow suit. And should the much-rumoured Apple video streaming service subsequently arrive, it now looks like it will land on smart TVs in a similar fashion.
With CES now under way, expect plenty more TV news this week. Keep up to date with all the highlights on our rolling CES 2019 highlights page.
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