Apple TV brings iPhone-like apps to big screen
New Apple TV arrives in stores Friday
LOS ANGELES, Oct 29, (Agencies): You’ll be able to pick up a new Apple TV at the company’s retail stores starting this Friday, according to a report from 9to5Mac. Apple stores have received inventory for the retail launch of Apple TV, and employees are being instructed to reorganize the stores to promote the new device Thursday night, according to the report.
Apple officially began accepting preorders for the new Apple TV Monday. CEO Tim Cook recently said that devices would start to ship to consumers by the end of the week.
The new Apple TV is Apple’s biggest refresh since the introduction of the video streaming device. The most notable difference: Apple has added an app store, which will enable developers to quickly bring their own apps to the device. Apple is selling the device starting at $149, and is offering a version with extra memory for additional apps for $199.
It turns out that Apple’s streamingTV box - 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 $149, or $199 for a version with extra storage. Apple will still sell the old version for $69. 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, Hulu and HBO. But Apple didn’t let you add other channels - say, competitive videogame 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. You can easily cus- 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.
I had to rephrase or repeat my questions a few times, especially if I was speaking quickly. 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 home to buy through Zillow and places to stay on vacation through Airbnb. Images on the big TV gave me a better sense of these properties than phone browsing would. You can also shop through Gilt and QVC.
Room to Grow Apple still needs to persuade developers to make more apps that really exploit the larger, and often shared, TV screen. Many of the apps now available are limited to one user profile or account, making them difficult for others to use.
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, for instance, will let you “favorite” places to stay, but you’ll need a phone or computer to book a room. It’s not exactly the relaxed, couch-potato experience you expect from TV.
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.