Apple TV solid for video, gaming
Use of other apps is where latest streaming-TV box might shine
NEW YORK — It turns out that Apple’s aptly named Apple TV isn’t just for streaming anymore. Its latest incarnation, which ships this week, offers on the big screen just about anything you could previously only do on an iPhone or iPad.
Whether that’s good may depend on whether you really want to buy shoes, browse home listings or read comic books on your TV. The new Apple TV looks to be a capable device for those purposes, although it’s not flawless. Its streaming-TV features also trump those of its predecessor.
The new Apple TV will set you back $199 for 32GB or $269 for a version with 64GB. Apple will still sell the old third-generation version for $89. Neither requires an iPhone or iPad, although either iDevice can simplify the Apple TV setup process.
The basics
Apple TV has been a dependable streamer, but until now its repertoire was limited to a few dozen services. Sure, these included Netflix and HBO. But Apple didn’t let you add other channels — say, competitive video game play from twitch.tv — on your own.
That’s all changed. The new Apple TV features an iPhone-like app store that lets you choose your own streaming services. And it’s no longer pushy about steering you to iTunes and other Apple services.
Video quality on the new Apple TV maxes out at high definition, known technically as 1080p. That should be plenty for most people. Video enthusiasts may complain that it doesn’t support a higher-quality video standard called ultra-high definition or 4K, as several other streaming boxes do. But there aren’t many 4K TVs or much programming for them available yet.
The Apple TV remote doesn’t have a headphone jack, but Apple TV offers support for Bluetooth wireless headphones.
It’s not yet clear whether you’ll be able to stream video from Google Play, a competing video store. Other major services, including Google’s YouTube, are expected on the Apple TV.
Innovations
The new Apple TV enables voice searches using the Siri virtual assistant. Request Seinfeld or Jennifer Lawrence, and Apple TV will look through catalogues for iTunes, Netflix and HBO, with more to come. You can even ask for a good documentary to watch.
Although similar capabilities are available on other devices, Apple TV goes further in a few ways:
• The remote replaces traditional rewind and forward buttons with a laptop-style trackpad. By sliding left and right, you control playback and navigate the onscreen keyboard more quickly.
• You can control playback by asking Siri to rewind 45 seconds or jump ahead five minutes, though some services won’t let you forward past commercials. Saying “What did she say?” will rewind video 15 seconds and briefly turn on closed captioning, when available. It works fully with iTunes for now, but the closed-captioning part doesn’t work with all third-party services yet.
• You can ask Siri for a specific episode, such as the How I Met Your Mother episode with Katie Holmes. Guest stars tend to trip up rival devices.
Beyond streaming
Siri offers weather, stocks and sports information. It was great for tracking Tuesday’s World Series opener without watching the game. This feature isn’t unique to Apple TV, but unlike the competition, Apple TV feeds you info without interrupting your video by sliding up results from the bottom of the screen.
As long as I enunciated clearly, results were mostly satisfactory. Apple TV’s version of Siri, however, won’t handle general web searches.
Apple TV catches up with rivals in enabling games. The remote has sensors that let you navigate spaceships and swing baseball bats by moving it around. But a bigger potential lies in bringing other apps to the big screen. You can browse places to stay on vacation through Airbnb. Images on the big TV gave me a better sense of these properties than phone browsing would.
Room to grow
Apple still needs to persuade developers to make more apps that exploit the larger, and often shared, TV screen. It would also be nice for Apple TV to work better with payment services. You can easily buy videos and games with your iTunes account, but non-digital products are another story. Airbnb will let you browse places to stay, but you’ll need a phone or computer to book a room. It’s not exactly the couchpotato experience you expect.
Generally speaking, though, the new Apple TV has taken an important first step into a broader world. Plenty of devices do video and games well. With a new range of non-streaming apps, Apple has an opportunity to do much more than that.