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You probably are familiar with the term “three screens.” It essentially means bringing together content into the three main screens in our lives:  PC, mobile and TV. Many companies, like AT&T and Verizon, have a three screen strategy for allowing consumers to watch shows on any device.

Apple's iPad

However, it’s just a strategy at this point. Very few companies are converging the three screens.  Some of the U.S. cable companies are trying this with the TV Everywhere initiative. However, TV Everywhere is seen as just a way to retain cable dominance and not a way to bring about three screen convergence.

But bringing together the three screens is what IPTV is all about. Using IP to deliver content, opens up the possibility to send it via IP to other devices like mobile phones or PCs.

Just when three screens seems enough, we now have a new one with Apple’s release of the iPad last week.

Welcome to the era of the fourth screen.

The iPad is a new type of device. Not quite a computer. Not quite a smart phone. Not quite a portable media player. Not a TV set.

However it can do any of those things.

After selling about 350,000 iPads this week, it seems like it’s only a matter of time that consumers take to a new 4th Screen. Amazon’s Kindle had a chance, but it just doesn’t do enough to make it useful for many consumers. And portable DVD players seem quaint when compared to the ipad. Of course, other tablets will come but Apple deserves the credit for creating the new screen and doing it right.

Bonus: In Hong Kong, telco PCCW has been using a home media tablet for a few years now. It’s called the Eye 2 and it is popular among consumers.  It is a portable home media device, with Wi-Fi, 8 inch screen, and the ability to watch TV shows and music.

(Image from Willowm)