Apple Will Debut New Apple TV In September

In March of this year, BuzzFeed News told you that Apple had a new Apple TV in the pipeline and planned to unveil it in June at its annual Word Wide Developers Conference. Two months later the company scrapped that plan, opting to instead focus its keynote-address attentions on its next generation operating systems and Apple Music streaming service.

Now, as Apple heads toward its annual fall event, the successor to its superannuated set-top box is once again top of mind and at last headed to market — and for real this time.

Sources familiar with Apple’s plans tell BuzzFeed News that the company intends to announce its next-generation Apple TV in September, at the same event at which it typically unveils its new iPhones. The device itself is pretty much as we described it to you in March, sources say, but “more polished” after some additional tweaks. Expect a refreshed and slimmer chassis and new innards; Apple’s A8 system on chip; a new remote that sources say has been “drastically improved” by a touch-pad input; an increase in on-board storage; and an improved operating system that will support Siri voice control. Crucially, the new Apple TV will debut alongside a long-awaited App Store and the software development kit developers need to populate it.

It’s a significant overhaul of the diminutive set-top box, which hasn’t seen a material refresh since 2012, and one that Apple hopes will inspire a big upgrade cycle through the annual winter holiday consumer binge, setting the stage for the subscription internet-TV service Apple’s been trying to get off the ground for years. While that service is most certainly in the offing, sources tell BuzzFeed News that Apple does not currently plan to announce it alongside the new Apple TV. “Late this year — maybe, but more likely next year,” said one, seconding a June report by Re/code.

While launching new Apple TV hardware apart from a new subscription TV service might seem counterintuitive, it does make strategic sense if Apple doesn’t yet have the deals in place to field such a service. Certainly, Apple doesn’t need to debut the two things together. By rolling out the new Apple TV and SDK ahead of the service, Apple is giving developers some lead time to develop compelling apps for the device — and taking good advantage of a holiday shopping season that will likely drive sales, further growing the Apple TV installed base to which it will someday sell streaming service subscriptions.

Apple recalling recently purchased Apple TV units due to faulty part

Apple has started recalling a select number of third-generation Apple TV models recently, according to a MacRumors writer who recently purchased an Apple TV. He then got an email from Apple informing him that his device has a faulty part.

Apple, of course, is offering affected customers the opportunity to exchange their faulty Apple TV unit for a functional one. The company is reaching out to each affected customer individually and has not updated its website to acknowledge the recall, suggesting that only a few users received Apple TVs with the faulty part.

Affected Apple TV units appear to have been purchased over the last several weeks, so if you have had your unit for an extended period of time, you are likely unaffected by the recall. In cases in which a recall is required, Apple is overnighting customers a new Apple TV immediately, without first requiring the defective unit to be sent back. When a customer does send the defective unit back, however, Apple is then providing a free iTunes gift card.

READ MORE - http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/12/apple-tv-recall/

Apple TV Service Delayed Until 2016, Apple TV Coming Next Month

Apple won’t launch its pay TV service this year: Plans to take on cable and satellite TV operators with an Internet-based TV subscription service have been delayed until some time in 2016, according to a Bloomberg report, which states that the company hasn’t been able to strike deals for the necessary content rights for the service.

At one point Apple planned to announce the service at a press event in San Francisco next month and launch it in time for the fall TV season. However, negotiations with rights holders are dragging on, with the crux apparently being the pricetag for broadcast networks like CBS and Fox. Apple is aiming for a bundle of channels priced around $40, but has had a hard time making that work with the fees broadcast and cable networks are seeking.

Earlier reports indicated that Apple was aiming to introduce the service at its WWDC developer conference in June, but then delayed the launch because of the same rights issues. One key problem for Apple is that the company is apparently looking to launch with local broadcast content from networks like ABC, CBS and Fox. That involves getting rights from thousands of affiliate stations, which can take a long time, and potentially contribute to higher licensing costs.

However, the company still plans to introduce a revamped version of its Apple TV streaming box at the press event next month. The new device is expected to come with beefed-up hardware, as well as potentially a full-blown software development kit (SDK) and app store, which would allow many more third-party developers to build their own apps for Apple TV.

FULL ARTICLE - http://variety.com/2015/digital/news...rt-1201569749/

Apple TV 4 coming in October for under $200, Apple TV 3 stays & gets new streaming service

With the official debut of the next-generation Apple TV less than two weeks away, sources have provided additional details on Apple’s pricing, availability, and product lineup plans for its set-top devices. According to sources, the fourth-generation Apple TV will be priced below $200, and is on track to become available in October. Apple executives are apparently still finalizing the price of the revamped living room device, but the latest options call for a starting price point of either $149 or $199, both higher than the third-generation Apple TV…

The new Apple TV will come at a premium price compared with the current model, which was originally priced at $99 from its launch in 2012, then was reduced to $69 this March. As the new box will be considerably more expensive than popular alternatives from Roku, Google and Amazon, Apple plans to keep the $69 third-generation device for sale as an entry level model within the Apple TV product line. The new Apple TV 4 will be very similar to the current model in appearance, but it will be thicker and slightly wider, sources say.

Apple’s next-generation Apple TV will include a number of new features to differentiate itself from the older version, including Siri support, a new remote control, an App Store with a Software Development Kit for developers, and a refreshed user interface. As soon as next year, Apple plans to release a cable-replacing streaming TV service that bundles multiple television channels for a price as low as $40 per month, but the new Apple TV will initially still require logins to cable networks to unlock content.

According to our sources, the software update that enables Apple’s cable-replacement service is currently planned to also become available for the third-generation Apple TV. However, the current model will not receive support for the upcoming App Store, nor will it be directly controllable by Siri. We will have more details on the new Apple TV’s gaming, Siri, and remote control functionality in the coming days.

FULL ARTICLE - http://9to5mac.com/2015/08/30/apple-tv-4-200-october/

The new Apple TV brings apps, Siri and a touchscreen remote for $149

The new Apple TV is here, just unveiled at today's big event. Speculation about Apple's plans for the living room have circled for years, and this represents its most powerful assault on the space so far. A hardware refresh in 2012 added 1080p support but not much else, so we're more than due for an upgrade, and exec Eddy Cue appropriately called today "a big day for the big screen." Tim Cook called it "the future of television," promising a new tvOS, App Store and showing off features including deep Siri integration with a new remote.

That remote has a touchscreen, mic and Wii-like motion controls built in, necessary for Siri to search across "multiple content options" (Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime, with more to come) on a single screen. Universal search is a feature already offered by competitors like Roku, Samsung, Amazon and Xbox that makes it easy to find a show or movie without having to know which service or app it's in first, and now it's on Apple TV too. There will be two versions of the new Apple TV: a 32GB model for $149, and 64GB model for $199, shipping in October to over 80 countries.

In the onstage demo, Apple showed off features using Siri to locate content by genre, actor or just asking "what's good for kids?" It also has a feature where asking "Siri, what did he/she say?" automatically skips back a few seconds and turns on the captions. Taking a page from Siri on iOS (as well as other helper like Amazon's Alexa and Microsoft's Cortana) Siri can pull up info on the TV screen like general facts and current sports scores. Everything during the demo looked to be voice controlled, including switching apps.

The remote is connected to the box by Bluetooth 4.0, with volume control for your TV, as well as an accelerometer and gyroscope for the motion control features. Apple says it can go three months without charging, but when you need to top it up, it connects to the same Lightning plug as current iPhones and iPads. There's support for third-party controllers via Bluetooth too, key for the gaming experiences Apple is expecting.

As for the box itself, it looks a little taller than the previous squared-off hockey puck. Inside is a 64-bit A8 chip, with connections via an IR sensor, Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac WiFi. There's no mention of external storage support, or any resolutions beyond 1080p, so we're figuring those aren't in the cards this time around.

Oh, and about those apps. Once again, the rumors are on target, with Apple unveiling its new iOS-based tvOS. Apple says everything from Netflix to games like Star Wars and Guitar Hero are coming to Apple TV now. Following Siri, the next software demo featured Crossy Road, which is coming at the launch of Apple TV with a new multiplayer mode, that could add players using iPhones as controllers. Harmonix is showing off a Beat Sports game that uses the remote's motion controls to add Nintendo Wii-style features.

READ MORE - http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/09/t...screen-remote/

Plex will bring its media streaming to Apple TV

Ask some media server users why they don't use an Apple TV, and they'll issue a common refrain: "because it doesn't officially run Plex." Well, that shouldn't be an issue with the new Apple TV. Plex tells ITWorld that it plans to bring its media streaming front end to Apple's latest set-top box through an app. The move should give you access to all of your home's compatible music, photos and videos, not just what you can see from internet streaming services or iTunes clients. That's a big deal when you previously had to jailbreak or otherwise rely on clever workarounds to make Plex work.

The project is still very early, and the Plex team wants to avoid setting expectations until it has a chance to dig into the tvOS developer tools and see exactly what's possible. You probably won't get every wish list feature -- Apple is only integrating universal search on an app-by-app basis, for instance. Even so, this could do a lot to transform the Apple TV into an all-purpose box.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/12/p...-new-apple-tv/