To set the tone for the announcement of the new Apple TV, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the future of TV is apps. Apple plans to growing this segment of its market by opening up the platform for developers to create apps and games that are designed specifically for the Apple TV. The all-new Apple TV comes with high-performance hardware, and introduces new and intuitive ways to interact with. The Apple TV will be available at the end of October in the US with a starting price of US$ 149 (~RM 640) for the 32 GB version. The 64 GB model will be priced at US$ 199 (~RM 855).
Circling back to the claim of a new and intuitive way of interacting and experiencing the new TV, Apple has gone back to the drawing board and has come up with the Siri Remote. It’s called Siri Remote because the device will be able to accept voice commands and searches, which are powered by Siri of course. It will search for video content based on keywords like movie genres and users can even specify further once the results have returned. For instance, users can search using the keywords ‘comedies from the 90s’ and from the results page, follow up with ‘only movies’, to remove the series from the results. Users will be able to refine even further by asking ‘only good ones’, and Siri will use the ratings from Rotten Tomatoes to come to its conclusion. Users can also ask for sports scores or weather updates while watching TV shows and the results will show up as a pop-up; to which the user can respond by either pulling it up or switching to it entirely. Siri can also turn on Enhanced Speech to boost dialogues, and understands commands like ‘What did he/she say?’, for which it will immediately rewind back a few seconds and turn on closed captioning to actually show what the character on TV was saying. With Siri, users won’t have to click through menus to get to a specific content, and taking commands would not be an issue even when there are background noises as the controller comes with dual microphones built-in.
Siri is just half of the story as the controller also comes with a Glass Touch surface for navigation/interaction. Users can now glide their fingers across the top surface of the remote and TV programs will slide/move accordingly. Although conventional remotes don’t need for users to look down at it most of the time, the Siri Remote’s touchy-feely method takes changing channels to an entirely different level.
The new Apple TV has been built around an also new tvOS operating system which is in fact based on Apple’s iOS. This move on its own paves the way for the said plan to get more developers on board more, and to quickly push for more content. The apps and games themselves will get a new home through Apple TV’s very own App Store. Some of the apps that have been adapted for this format include Beat Sports, Gilt for clothes shopping, Airbnb, and MLB (Major League Baseball). The latter comes with stats view, notifications and split screen options. Switching between apps also has an iOS feel to it whereby it just requires a double-click on the home button to bring up the most frequently used apps. The TV will even have aerial scenic videos of cities and landmarks as a screensaver so that it’ll still look beautiful when it’s not playing anything. The OS will support key iOS technologies such as Metal for detailed graphics and visual effects, as well as Game Center for sharing gaming details with friends.
Apart from apps, games too will share the centre stage as the Siri Remote comes with accelerometer and gyroscope. Racing games like Asphalt, Manticore Rising space shooter, Rayman Adventures, Shadowmatic 3D puzzles, Guitar Hero and simple-yet-fun ones like Crossy Road have all been adapted for the TV and the controller. For the first time, Apple TV will also work with 3rd party controllers such as the Nimbus Steelseries Controller for gamers to get the best out of the Apple TV experience.
Developers can already download tvOS as well as the tvOS SDK which provides the necessary tools and APIs. Developers were also given an opportunity to get the Developer Kit but that ends today.
The brand new Apple TV unit comes with a 64-bit A8 chip, Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with MIMO, USB-C connector (for service and support only though), HDMI 1.4 (cable sold separately), LAN port, and an IR receiver for other types of controllers. The device supports H.264 video playback but only up to 1080p resolution. Dimension wise, the new Apple TV looks exactly like the old except that this time around, it’ll be a little thicker. See comparison page for details.
The Siri remote has Bluetooth 4.0, Lightning connector for charging, and a regular IR transmitter for controlling other TVs. Apple claims that the rechargeable battery will provide up to 3 months of battery life on a single charge with typical daily use.
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