????自互聯網出現以來，網絡電視就一直慢吞吞地徘徊在人們的視線之中。在各大有線電視公司推出“電視無所不在”活動，蘋果（Apple）、谷歌（Google）和微軟（Microsoft）等巨頭開始兜售旨在把互聯網帶入電視的硬件設備數年之后，網絡和電視的融合依然是不完整的。由于有線電視運營商、廣播網和技術公司競相爭奪地盤，消費者面臨一個亂七八糟的局面：不配套的設備和服務，更不用說斷斷續續的信號了。現在，新一代服務或許終將兌現無所不在的電視這一承諾了。

????最新的加入者是NimbleTV，它可以讓觀眾通過其網站隨時隨地錄下任何節目。在 Tribune Co.等公司的支持下，這家位于紐約市的服務商將客戶購自有線電視運營商的電視頻道以流媒體的方式置于網絡之上。客戶不是向諸如康卡斯特公司（Comcast）這樣的有線電視運營商付費，而是向NimbleTV付費。具體支付多少費用目前尚未確定，但這項費用將略高于一般的有線電視賬單。這家初創企業將充當中間商的角色，管理訂戶和有線電視運營商的關系，它會把大部分費用轉移給運營商，自身保留一小部分。

????聽起來很熟悉吧？斯靈媒體公司（Sling Media）的 Slingbox也運用這項技術。這種機頂盒設備允許消費者遠程使用手機或筆記本電腦觀看電視頻道。 Cablevision公司和時代華納有線電視公司（Time Warner Cable）提供的的應用程序可以在移動設備上復制用戶訂閱的全部或部分電視直播節目。康卡斯特公司推出的Xfinity允許用戶在網絡上收看電視節目，但只有在節目播出之后才可以這么做。NimbleTV旨在改善所有這些技術，它不僅去除了笨重的硬件，而且提供更好的畫面和一種能夠保存數千小時節目的虛擬錄像機。NimbleTV的創始人兼首席執行官阿南德?薩勃拉曼尼亞表示，這項業務的運轉無需經過有線電視運營商的許可。

????如果NimbleTV流行起來的話，它將有望打破有線電視運營商在特定區域的壟斷地位。譬如，如果奧馬哈一家小型有線電視運營商的收費比當地有線電視公司更加公道，NimbleTV的用戶就可以更換運營商。這或許將使不同地區的有線電視公司形成一種相互競爭的格局。

????就目前而言，NimbleTV希望避免重蹈Aereo公司的覆轍。在巴里?迪勒的 IAC公司的支持下，Aereo公司以流媒體方式將基本的廣播頻道記錄在網絡設備之上，這項服務面向大紐約市區，每月的收費為12美元。這家公司采用的技術手段非常獨特，它在布魯克林一家倉庫里存儲了一組陣列天線——兔子耳朵的高端版本；客戶實際上是在租用這些天線。甚至在這項服務于今年3月份推出之前，紐約市幾乎所有的廣播公司就聯合起來，以侵犯版權為由，向Aereo公司提起兩項訴訟。這些案子目前還未解決，Aereo公司依然在運作。

????這兩項服務顯示，網絡電視終于來臨了——至少在紐約市是這樣。但年營收高達1,500億美元的家庭娛樂產業是很難被瓦解的。只要消費者還愿意爭相收看電視節目，誰將買單，誰將收費就依然是一個懸而未決的問題。

????譯者：任文科

????Since the advent of the Internet, web TV has perpetually lingered over the horizon. Years after major cable companies unveiled "TV everywhere" initiatives and giants Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) began peddling hardware to beam the Internet to televisions, the merging of the Net and the tube is incomplete. Consumers face a mess of discordant devices and services, not to mention spotty availability, as cable providers, networks, and tech companies squabble over turf. Now a new crop of services may finally make good on the promise of ubiquitous TV.

????The latest entrant is NimbleTV, which lets viewers watch and record anything, anytime via its website. With backing from the Tribune Co., among others, the New York City-based service streams the package of TV channels a customer buys from a cable provider online. Instead of paying the world's Comcasts, customers pay NimbleTV. How much exactly hasn't been determined, though the fee will be slightly more than a typical cable bill. The startup acts as a broker, managing a subscriber's relationship with providers, passing on most of the fee to providers and keeping a small percentage.

????Sound familiar? It's the same technology used in Sling Media's Slingbox. That set-top device allows consumers to watch TV channels remotely using a phone or laptop. Cablevision (CVC) and Time Warner Cable (TWC) offer apps that replicate all or part of subscribers' live-TV lineup on mobile devices. And Comcast's (CMSCA) Xfinity allows access to shows online, but only after they have aired. NimbleTV aims to improve on all those by doing away with bulky hardware, providing a better picture, and offering a virtual video recorder that can save thousands of hours of programming. Founder and chief executive Anand Subramanian says he doesn't need cable providers to sanction him in order for the business to work.

????Should NimbleTV catch on, it could break the geographic monopolies cable providers enjoy. If, for instance, a small Omaha-based cable provider offers better prices than a local cable firm, a NimbleTV customer could switch. That might pit cable companies from different parts of the country against one another.

????For now, NimbleTV hopes to avoid the fate of startup Aereo. Backed by Barry Diller's IAC (IACI), Aereo streams and records basic broadcast channels to web-enabled devices for $12 a month in the greater New York City area. It does so by storing antennas -- high-end versions of bunny ears -- in a Brooklyn warehouse; customers essentially rent them. Even before its March launch, virtually all of the city's broadcasters banded together to file two suits, citing copyright infringements. The cases are pending, and Aereo is still operating.

????Both services suggest that web TV has finally arrived -- in New York at least. But the $150 billion-a-year home-entertainment industry is not easily disrupted. As much as consumers may be clamoring to watch on the go, the question of who will pay for it -- and who will get paid -- remains wide open.