In addition to launching the new iPhone 6S and the iPad Pro, Apple also announced the much awaited refresh to their Apple TV. It was long due an update for the small yet mighty powerful device that has been silently gaining momentum in our living rooms.
The new Apple TV is slightly taller than its predecessor, however, it is far more powerful. Here are the specs:
- 64 bit A8 chip
- Siri Remote with touch interface, accelerometer and gyroscope
- HDMI 1.4 with CEC
- Bluetooth 4.0
- tvOS
- Available in 32GB and 64GB
The new tvOS and the Siri remote are the two instrumental changes in the new Apple TV. Together, they offer a new way to control your TV. In addition to a touch based control, the remote has dual microphones and a Siri button. You can ask Siri to do stuff and search for titles. During playback, Siri can also answer your questions about the content being played or anything else going around the world. You can also ask Siri to turn subtitles on or off and asking “what did he say?” will rewind the playback 30 seconds back. The remote can also control your TV/AVR via HMDI CEC.
Probably one of the best new features is Siri’s ability to search for titles across the installed apps. Let’s say you ask Siri to search for The Imitation Game and its available on Netflix, Amazon and iTunes. Siri will display all the options to you to choose from. Some other set top boxes have been doing that, but then again, they do not have AirPlay or the iTunes Store.
The updated processing power also lets you play high end games on the new Apple TV. You can use the Siri remote as a Wii type controller or but 3rd party dedicated game controllers (like the Nimbus Steelseries Controller).
Apple is also encouraging developers to build general purpose apps for the Apple TV. So expect to see apps from GILT, AirBnB and others. Not sure how successful these will be, but supporting all the platform using a single app package is a dream come true for developers.
