54 
The Apple TV rumours have been flying lately. Whether it’ll be a service, an actual TV, or just another set-top box, isn’t exactly set in stone. Adding to the rumour mill, the Wall Street Journal has laid bare everything it’s got on Apple’s so-called “TV assault”. Apparently Cupertino is “in talks” with its media partners to “change the way consumers watch TV”.
Unsurprisingly, the WSJ say Apple’s TV solution will rely on “wireless streaming”, not exactly a stretch at this juncture. Apple’s also apparently looking to take TV across all of its device range — again, not exactly far-fetched.
What is novel though, is that Apple’s apparently going to let you control your TV watching experience with your voice and movements — sounds very Microsoft Kinect-like to me. Apparently Jobs’s plan was to make the TV watching experience more personalised to the individual user; to be able to control the TV with your iDevices, and to throw in AirPlay streaming for good measure. If you think about it, and I’m purely speculating here, the beta Siri Apple shoved into the iPhone 4S could be just a taster for more to come. If you wanted to actually beta test your voice recognition to make sure it’s idiot proof before shoehorning it into the living room, what better way to get data than to send it out into the mobile field? Collect millions of queries from all accents, languages and topics, and blend it all up in a melting pot to improve, refine and perfect Siri — before the less tolerant buyers of home entertainment systems get their mitts on it. Imagine this:Â ”I’m sorry, I can only search for TV content if you are in the US and speaking US English”; not going to fly now is it?
The final nugget of WSJ’s reveal is that Apple’s apparently working on a PVR system, which could revolve around iCloud for both syncing and storage — considering how well Apple’s recent launch of iTunes Match went in the UK, it’d better get its arse in shape before launching anything that relies on iCloud for TV recording. If I were to miss the final of I’m Not a Real Celebrity, Please Let Me Stay because Apple’s having a hiccup, I’d be pissed. Does anyone still record anything these days anyway, what with on-demand catchup content freely available, at least in the UK?
If Apple really is talking to media executives about its TV plans, and the WSJ has a pretty good track record with these things, then it’s likely it really is working on something new in the space. Apple’s notoriously guarded about these things until the very last-minute. It’s still firmly in the rumour-land right now, but it’s inching its way out of vaporware and into the realm of vague possibility. Would I want to shout at my TV to tell it to change the channel? Probably not. Do I want to be able to voice search for stuff rather than tap it out on my TV remote — definitely. Whatever happens, I’m sure Apple’ll come in with something that’s been done before; convince you it’s revolutionary, and make a butt-load of money blasting everyone else out of the space. I can’t wait. [WSJ]
The business are aware of this but for the others.
You are not going to be able to cut the cord and just run off the internet. At least the majority of people. The band width is just not there.
Any TV solution presented will first have to revolve around the interface. Change channels normally using buttons, search on a tablet or phone using an app then just push it to the TV were it will tune in or access the web to play the selection. Then if need be or in isolation feed a stream back to the tablet or phone.
I agree, the most important thing is to get all networks on this, and end region oriented style. Charge if you must, do commercials if necessary (sky does it already) add on demand to lots of content. Then it will truly be the viewing experience of the future with a user friendly interface.
There are only three companies at the moment that can pull this trick, Apple, Google and Microsoft.
Sony, Sammy and other hardware companies have already proven that they are crap at building software.
Sam I loved “I’m Not a Real Celebrity, Please Let Me Stay”, very funny and more realistic than the real title for the show.
He he, yeah — I can’t stand that show. Full of people who want to rejuvenate their failing celebrity status/career.
‘Apple TV: For all the programmes you didn’t know you wanted to watch and without a lot of the ones you thought you did…’
Again, Apple has the potential to successfully make something very slick, integrating a PVR of what’s on air with programme/film renting/buying from itunes and Apple Tv…I’m just wary that their ‘best fit’ policy for what they reckon will be the best solution to our wants might be a bit restrictive, if I turn out not to be a correct format of apple demographic.
It would be great if it became a bit of kit that played happily with all your other equipment, or it could end up meaning that you have to watch all your TV recording through itunes or something…but I’d be really curious to see what their actual intentions/plans are with this…
Will Siri judge you if you shout “show me boobies”?
Voice recognition seems pretty stupid on a tv to me, will just look and feel silly, be interesting to see what apple does with it
Well, you’d be surprised how well Kinect voice control of the Xbox works. I loathe multiple remotes, and while a Harmony remote partially solves it, I’d love to just do away with the remote. Whether shouting at the TV is the answer, I’m not sure.
Don’t get me wrong, Siri is awesome, on the iPhone 4s it totally makes sense as it’s a more personal interaction between user and device. I just find it hard to believe that the amount of effort Apple puts into user experience would end up with us shouting at the TV, just doesn’t seem very apple like to me, but then what the hell do I know?!