Click for a higher resolution image of Apple’s remote. Image:AppleThe new version of the Apple TV is not due to ship until the end of October. However, 9to5Mac has got hold of one and has released a video of the new product.
Analyst Comment
One of the key points of the new Apple TV is that it can support apps. However, it seems that Apple may have missed a trick by not supporting a number of features in the standard iOS APIs. For example, there is no support for Address books, HealthKit, HomeKit, Multipeer (which allows hand off to other devices), WatchKit and MessageUI as well as SafariServices and WebKit. That means that the box really is only for game play and streaming. On the one hand, it may be that Apple has decided that more complex apps need a better user interface than the elegant (but limited) remote on the Apple TV, but on the other, the functionality of the box is a long way behind other gaming devices in the home, such as consoles and the much more powerful nVidia Shield.
It was interesting to see the new remote control for the Apple TV. It is simple, but has a touch surface now. It looks very like a design from our favourite remote control maker, Ruwido, and the use of Siri for searching also reflects the belief of Ruwido’s Ferdinand Maier, that voice is the best way to find what you want, when you know what want, as a kind of “random access”(BR)
