Tim Cook announced that Apple believes the future of television lies in apps, noting the TV viewing experience has changed very little over the past decades but more content is now watched than ever before. Cook said watching TV through an app would be a better experience, letting you search for and choose what to watch.
With that in mind, the new Apple TV has been completely rebuilt from the ground up. Apple says it is based around powerful hardware, an all-new operating system and a redesigned user interface.
Apple TV can now be controlled nearly entirely by Siri. A promotional video showed Siri being told to find family movies and then refine the search to only animated shows. Siri can show what’s new or suggest something that you may want to watch.
An on-stage demonstration of the assistant’s abilities involved Siri being asked to find James Bond films. The search was then quickly refined by saying “just the classics” followed by “show me the ones with Sean Connery in” to filter the films down with just voice commands.
The controls are even more powerful than simple searching though. Asking Siri “what did she say” or “what was that” while content is playing will skip the video back a few seconds and automatically enable captions, making it easy to revisit misheard dialogue. Siri can provide information about movies including a description, starring actors and release date.
Where Siri can’t help, the new Apple remote will. It now features a touch-sensitive surface for easy navigation and direction control. The minimalist design has just six buttons, including a dedicated one to start Siri voice recognition.
Apple TV isn’t just about television. The new Apple TV can play music, stream media and play games. It features powerful hardware to bring apps to life, letting users view all kinds of content on one big screen.
The touch surface of the new remote can be used to interact with apps. A demo showed the smash gaming hit Crossy Road being controlled by swiping left and right on the remote’s surface. Creators Hipster Whale announced the Apple TV will be the first platform to feature an all-new multiplayer Crossy Road game mode.
The remote can also operate in a similar manner to the motion-based controller of the Nintendo Wii. Games can be played by physically moving the controller with the hand, making Apple TV a games console as much as a television.
In another of its multitude of different usages, the Apple TV is capable of acting as a shopping platform, letting people buy right from their couch and browse through new products with Siri and the touch remote. Alternatively, Apple also has features to please sports fans with.
The TV can stream at 60 frames-per-second for ultra-smooth action without missing any details. At the touch of one button, the footage can retreat into a smaller window, surrounded by match statistics direct from the pitch.
The hardware that the Apple TV is based around is Apple’s A8 processor, used in the iPhone 6. There is 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and an IR receiver. The new remote includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope and is “the only remote you’ll need” as it can even control the volume of your physical TV.
The 32GB model will cost $149 while the 64GB version will be $199. The Apple TV will be available from late October.
