It was reported yesterday that Apple has a few tricks up its sleeve, as it aims to revolutionize home entertainment, and maybe even replace your cable box.

First there was the idea of teaming up with cable providers such a Time Warner Cable to make Apple TV its set-top box with a software interface designed by Apple.  Then there’s the interest in acquiring PrimeSense, the company responsible for building the original Kinect technology used by Microsoft in the Xbox, possibly to make Apple TV gesture-controlled.

And finally, Apple wants to introduce an ad-skipping feature, but this would come at a price, most likely in the form of a premium or paid subscription.  The fee will then be used by Apple to pay off those media companies whose ads have been skipped.

Apple isn’t the only one aiming to revolutionize video entertainment, as there are a few other key players gunning for the same thing.

• Yahoo!

Yahoo was bold enough to broadcast a live video of its second quarter earnings call, where CEO Marissa Mayer made it known that the company will be making video its “primary area of investment over the next year.”

Original content for Yahoo Screen is still on the list, but Mayer sees that the company will be going in the direction of becoming a platform for video content rather than one who makes it much like Google’s YouTube wherein people are free to upload their very own home-made videos.

The problem with YouTube’s model is that advertisers are not interested in user-generated content thus it has funded video makers to create high-quality videos that would entice advertisers.

Mayer stated that it will continue with existing partnerships Hulu, ABC News and CNBC wherein Yahoo hosts videos made or distributed by the said companies and make money by taking a cut from the sale of video ads tied to the content.

Dish

The direct-broadcast satellite TV provider has opened its Hopper Whole-Home DVR to outside developers so they can make more useful second-screen apps like the Dish-made app Social which allows viewers to follow relevant posts and tweets or to comment about a show at the bottom on their TV screens.

One developer has incorporated the Dish API to his app, Thuuz Sport, which uses live sports analysis and social signaling to ping fans when a sporting event is getting exciting.  The incorporation of the Dish API allows Dish subscribers to switch to gameplay on their TVs and record live or upcoming events even when they are away.

Vivek Khemka, senior vice president of Dish product management, stated that by allowing third-party app developer to tap use its API, more ideas can come of it, even ones that they themselve would never have thought of.

Hopper has been controversial because of its AutoHop feature that allow viewers to skip ads, and has led to some networks who are ad-dependent to sue the company.  This may be the same fate Apple is facing if it pushes with its ad-skipping plan.

Google

Not to be outdone, Google was reported to have approached media companies regarding licensing their contents for an Internet TV service that would stream traditional TV programming.  What Google aims to do is pretty simple, really, it just wants to bring cable programming to the internet.  So instead of subscribing to a cable provider to get your programming fix, you’d subscribe to Google.  If this effort is successful, it could be detrimental to pay-TV operators who are already struggling to keep subscribers as more are opting for on-demand TV subscriptions from the likes of Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.