Why Apple can't save the smart TV

[Commentary] Consumers have spent the last few years in a purgatory of dongles, set-top boxes, and half-baked "smart" TVs. Manufacturers have watched as "second screens" grabbed everyone's attention, and then grabbed their wallets. The world has gone mobile and content has migrated to the cloud, while televisions still struggle to work with either medium. If any company could solve the Gordian knot, it would be Apple. That hasn't happened.

Instead, the "smart" revolution has been an excuse for everyone to run in different directions. Want an open platform? We have the Smart TV Alliance, Android TV, and the Tizen Association. A streaming device? There's Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV -- and that's just the A list. Then we have set-top boxes like the TiVo Roamio and Samsung's Smart Media Player, Web-streaming game consoles like Sony's Playstation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, and televisions preloaded with smart features that, it turns out, few buyers use. It seems unlikely that even Apple can save the smart television, and in fact, we could probably blame the iPhone for killing it.