We’ve been following this year’s legal battles of Aereo as major broadcast networks have sued the online TV startup over copyright infringement. Since the service streams TV signals of New York stations for a monthly fee without paying for the right to carry signals, Aereo has created an uproar in the television industry. Now Aereo has begun paying for content, after adding Bloomberg TV to its program lineup.

“We believe that our members will see deep value adding in Bloomberg Television as their ‘go-to’ source for financial news,” said Aereo founder and CEO Chet Kanojia in a written statement. The service also plans to announce expansion to 15 new cities early next year. Kanojia recently said that Aereo is pursuing additional content deals.

“Meanwhile, Aereo and major broadcasters are awaiting a critical decision from an appeals court in their legal battle,” notes the Wall Street Journal. “Last month broadcasters argued their appeal of a lower court’s decision in July denying the broadcasters’ request for a preliminary injunction shutting down Aereo’s service.”

The legal battle could take years to be resolved. “Without a preliminary injunction, Aereo has time to expand and streaming competitors also have a chance to emerge,” notes WSJ.

FAVI Entertainment recently announced it is shipping its plug-and-play SmartStick HDTV enhancer, which it claims is “your Smart TV, Home Theater and PC all rolled into one.”

“Like Roku’s Streaming Stick, it’s a media player that’s been squeezed into a dongle-sized form-factor, running Android 4.1 and packing apps like Netflix along with the Plex media server, a full Web browser and DNLA,” reports Engadget.

The SmartStick streams media through the television’s HDMI port and connects to additional devices wirelessly. “You can even add a $40 wireless keyboard to avoid the usual finger calisthenics,” notes the post.

According to the press release, the device offers apps such as Netflix, HBO Go, Epix, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and others. The 4GB device is priced at $50, while an 8GB version costs $80.

“Included with the SmartStick is the Plex app where you can wirelessly deliver videos, documents, music, images, movies directly to your SmartStick enabled television making your TV a hub of entertainment — no subscription needed,” according to the release.

Amazon’s cloud-based music storage and streaming service is now available on Roku and Samsung’s Smart TVs, allowing users to play digital music on a single device. The app “finally gives Roku a good response to Apple TV’s iTunes Match,” notes CNET. Months ago Roku announced that the Amazon Cloud Player was “coming soon.”

Like its competitor iTunes Match, Amazon Cloud Player charges $25 per year to store up to 250,000 songs. It also includes a feature that automatically identifies music files and upgrades the quality using a 256 Kbps file from the Amazon catalog. “That’s a ton of digital music, although the competing Google Play Music allows you to store up to 20,000 tracks for free and is available on Google TV devices,” explains the post.

The release was announced the same day that Amazon added its Amazon Instant Video app for the iPhone and iPod touch.

According to a related post from CNET, the Instant Video streaming app “allows for access to over 140,000 movies and television shows that can be downloaded for purchase or rental.”

Amazon offers access to its streaming library across devices including the iPad, Kindle Fire HD, PlayStation 3, PCs and Macs. The app is only available to customers who pay for the company’s $79-a-year Prime membership.

Cloud computing (and cloud reliance reshaping device needs) will be the major trend in consumer electronics for 2013, according to a new report from Ericsson ConsumerLab. “The electronics firm’s ‘Ten Hot Consumer Trends 2013‘ report suggests that not only is cloud computing becoming increasingly important in our daily lives, but young people’s use of the Internet will drive new businesses and products in the coming year,” reports CNET. Continue reading Report Predicts the Cloud as Top Consumer Trend for 2013

New York-based startup Launch.it has partnered with the Consumer Electronics Association to create a news platform for exhibitors at the Eureka Park TechZone, the startup innovation section of CES located in The Venetian. “Launch.it will provide a central spot for startups to publish their news and contact information at CES, as well as provide detailed analytics about visitors,” reports VentureBeat.

“Our big vision is a free self-publishing platform to unlock the news,” says Trace Cohen, president and co-founder of Launch.it. “We want to be the biggest searchable database [of news]… almost to disintermediate Google.”

“For its customers, Launch.it offers a bunch of useful features, including: a Wiki-like environment to allow customers to easily update their news, Facebook comments, the ability to buy and test out services, and the ability to let media and investors ‘follow’ companies for instant news updates,” notes the post.

The father and son company powers news sites for 300-400 companies and has partnered with Ultralight Startups and ShowStoppers, which manages product showcase events.

The ETCentric team will be reporting live from CES in January with plans to cover Eureka Park and any relevant news items coming from Launch.it and the CEA.

Besides an interesting push for wireless in 2011 with AirPlay adoption and a few compelling Bluetooth-equipped devices, Engadget suggests the Consumer Electronics Show hasn’t seen too much exciting in the audio realm over the last few years. In its preview of CES 2013, the tech blog doesn’t expect anything “exceptionally innovative on a widespread scale,” but notes a few items worth watching.

“You can count on a bigger assortment of wireless solutions, and likely the first big showing of the end of days for the speaker dock — excluding anything that Apple’s Lightning connector might make its way onto,” reports Engadget. “Still, the idea of the dock can live on with additions like Qi inductive charging, as we’ve seen from the likes of JBL and TDK already.”

More celebrity-endorsed headphones are expected, and major companies like Sennheiser will join the fray with headphones “in the $100 to $400 range with street-focused looks and audiophile DNA.”

The Las Vegas Convention Center will include space featuring HiFi audio, “with many boutique brands showing off their latest and best — usually with price tags to make your wallet cringe.”

“What has us really excited, though? We’re hearing talk that transparent speaker technology is poised to make a comeback,” notes the post. “Imagine the shell of your tablet, smartphone or laptop also serving as an essentially invisible speaker. Aside from the prospect of even svelter devices, the tech has the potential to sound miles better than the tinny-sounding speaker drivers most of our gadgets currently use.”

Check back with us in January, when the ETCentric reporting team promises to post any surprises we run across in new audio tech.

Last year’s Consumer Electronics Show broke attendance records, with more than 156,000 people descending upon Las Vegas. This January, the 2013 show is expected to match last year’s attendance and set a new record in terms of show floor space, with more than 1.85 million square feet of booths and exhibits.

“Every day brings more good news. We are bigger than last year, in terms of our footprint. That’s how we measure the size of the show in the trade-show world,” explains Consumer Electronics Association chief exec Gary Shapiro, who anticipates more than 3,300 exhibitors. “The thing I’m really excited about is the startup area,” notes Shapiro. “We did a deal last year for Eureka Park and we thought we’d have 30 companies. We had 100, and this year we have 140.”

Shapiro expects CES to be packed despite Microsoft’s absence. The company has traditionally given the opening keynote to kick off the show, but will be replaced this year by Paul Jacobs, CEO of mobile chip maker Qualcomm.

“That change is symbolic, as Microsoft represented the PC industry, while Qualcomm generates billions on the strength of smartphone and tablet chip sales,” reports VentureBeat.

Anticipated trends include touchscreen, gesture and sensor tech; wireless wallets; Ultra HD 4K TVs; 3D printing and cloud-based services. This year’s show will also feature an increased presence in terms of digital health, green technology and the automotive industry (including connected cars and electric vehicles).

“Another big draw will be anything connected to Apple,” explains VentureBeat. “Apple employees are coming, but Apple traditionally doesn’t exhibit or speak at CES. But the iLounge section devoted to Apple-related products built by other companies is now going to have 440 companies across 120,000 square feet.”