It has been nearly two years since Apple has released a major update to its set-top box. And now a fourth-gen Apple TV could be announced as soon as March. Today a pair of reports from iLounge and 9to5Mac claim that a new Apple TV will be unveiled within the next couple months.
While the hardware probably won’t be that exciting, Apple is rumored to finally give the product’s software the overhaul it so desperately needs. Some kind of dedicated gaming experience may even be in the cards.
More than two million videos from the web are being saved to Pocket each week now. To make the viewing experience more seamless, Pocket has integrated AirPlay into its iOS app for sharing with the Apple TV. The update went live today in the App Store.
Thanks to the slickness of AirPlay, users can exit the Pocket app when a video is streaming. There’s a new AirPlay button embedded in the app’s video player.
“This is just the beginning of how Pocket plans on truly becoming the DVR for the Web, and we think it’s going to be a great addition to our users’ experience in general,” said Pocket.
Source: App Store
If you’re anything like me, as much as you love your Apple TV, the fact that it is so small actually causes some problems in your entertainment center, as it can actually be nudged around and fall behind things. That’s a big pain, especially since the accompanying Apple remote isn’t just equally tiny (and even easier to use), but depends on line-of-sight to work properly.
The Apple TV holder by Tinsel & Timber is a wonderful solution to this problem. A beautifully carved block of walnut with indentations for your Apple TV and remote, not only will it keep your entertainment center organized and the remote where you can find it, but it also looks great.
Tinsel & Tinder’s Apple TV holder is also available in maple, and no matter which one you buy, you can choose between three different felt colors to line it. It’s not actually that expensive, either: each one costs just $49.99.
Looking for a slightly cheaper alternative? Consider the similar product Bloc, which we previously wrote about here.
Source: Tinsel & Timber
The AppleTV is one of the most underappreciated pieces of technology around, but it can be limiting. If you’re anything like me, you want to get more out of the tech you love. So if you want to get the most out of your AppleTV then aTV Flash from Firecore is the way to go.
And the great news is that Cult of Mac Deals has it for just $19.99 during this limited time offer.
1Keyboard looks like a great way to avoid having to spend $100 on Logitech’s K811 Easy Switch keyboard. It’s an app that takes the input from your Mac’s keyboard and sends it to the iDevice of you choice, and it costs exactly $0.
It was widely reported in January that Apple was in talks to buy Waze, an Israeli startup with a hugely popular maps app. Waze was rumored to be asking Apple for $750 million. The same outlet that broke the acquisition rumor quickly backpedaled and said no such deal was taking place. Google ended up buying Waze in June for $1 billion.
And so goes the buyout game in Silicon Valley, a power play where tech giants like Apple and Google court hot startups with the hopes of adding them to their war chests.
Apple had its biggest year ever for acquisitions in 2013, with a record 15 smaller companies joining the fold. A dozen of them have now been publicly disclosed.
For an entity as secretive as Apple, examining the companies it buys is one of the only ways to peek into its future plans. When AuthenTec, a company that specialized in fingerprint readers and identification software, was purchased in July 2012, speculation immediately followed. What did Apple want with fingerprint sensors? The answer ended up being obvious, and the technology debuted in Touch ID in September 2013.
Often the outcome of an Apple acquisition isn’t so immediately apparent.
Historically, Apple acquires far fewer companies than its competitors. But the line is starting to blur. Google publicly bought three times as many companies as Apple in 2012 and not even twice as many in 2013. Apple bought more companies than Microsoft in 2013.
So what does all of this say about Apple’s future?
Apple TV owners across the pond have received an early Christmas gift, a dedicated channel for Sky Sports through Now TV. Live sports can be viewed without an existing cable subscription, and Sky Sports is offering day passes that offer unlimited access to six sports channels. Pocket-lint explains:
Andrew Ambrosino, the same concept designer who showed us what the next version of OS X could look like, also has an interesting take on the Apple TV’s interface. His concept design is inspired by Jony Ive’s iOS 7.
“I know, it’s a Samsung TV so it can’t be a “real” Apple TV / iTV concept,” notes Ambrosino, “but unfortunately I just lack the skill for hardware.”
Throughout 2013 Apple has turned Apple TV into more than just a hobby by beefing up its lineup of channel offerings, but it looks like the company isn’t quite done yet with its new additions for the year.
Apple added four new channels to the the Apple TV this morning including Bloomberg TV which includes free access to a live stream of the company’s coverage as well as access to shows like Bloomberg West, Charlie Rose and many more.
It’s the third most asked question next to “did I make the right choice of next generation iPad?” and “why is it so cold at the moment?” (I’m writing this post from England) — but what exactly does Apple plan to do with PrimeSense?
Having acquired the Israel-based 3D-motion tracking company behind the original Xbox Kinect for an estimated $360 million, most people assumed that Apple would use the technology to incorporate motion tech into its long-awaited television-based hardware.
According to Washington Post tech journalist Jessica Lessin, however, that’s not right at all.
I love my Apple TV. I hate the Apple TV remote. Oh, sure, it looks slick, but it might as well be a contact lens for all of the instantaneous ease with which it is lost.
I’ve taken to just velcro-ing my Apple TV remote to the back of my bigger, bulkier TV remote, but if you’d like a slightly less duct-tape solution, why not consider these fluorescent skins for the Apple TV remote that glow-in-the-dark?
Like most glowing items, these charge by absorbing ambient light and releasing it later. They come in multiple colors, and just peel on and off.
You have to admit, this would help you more easily spot your Apple TV remote. If you want one, you can get it now for just $9.95.
Source: Slickwraps
Apple has added another two new channels to the Apple TV today in the form of Yahoo Screen and PBS. The former provides access to the Yahoo video portal, which delivers popular clips from shows such as Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show; while the latter allows users to enjoy their favorite PBS shows like Frontline.
There’s no Downton Abbey, though, unfortunately.
Want to make your Apple TV look like an SNES, Gamecube, NES, or even a big waffle? These decals have you covered.
Target has today revealed its Black Friday deals for November 28 to November 30, which include some incredible savings on the latest Apple devices. Consumers will be able to pick up a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad Air — usually priced at $499 — for $479 with a free $100 Target gift card.
The 16GB iPad mini (original model) can also be had for $299 with a free $75 gift card.
We didn’t get a glimpse of the new Apple TV at this week’s event, or even a major UI update, but Apple did release a small update for Apple TV this afternoon bumping it up to version 6.0.1.
Apple still hasn’t said what kind of new goodies version 6.0.1 Build 11B511d contains, but we’ll let you know if we discover anything worth noting in the meantime.Users can download the update to your Apple TV by going to Settings >> General >> Software Update
Here are the direct download links:
The Apple online store has gone down ahead of this morning’s special event event. When it comes back up, you can expect to see new iPads, updated MacBook Pros with Haswell processors, and possibly even a new Apple TV.
The next best thing to actually being at an Apple press event is being able to watch the whole thing live from the comfort of your own living room. Unfortunately, the Cupertino company doesn’t live stream every event to the public, but you’ll be pleased to know it will be showing today’s iPad event.
“We still have a lot to cover,” is Apple’s promise this time around. On October 15th, the company sent out press invitations for a media event that will be held at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco this coming Tuesday, October 22nd.
Last month we saw the unveiling of the iPhone 5s and 5c, and this second event is expected to center around new iPads. But that’s not all; the future of OS X, iOS 7, and the Mac are also rumored to be waiting in the wings.
Here’s what to expect from Apple’s October 22nd event:
While the highlight of Apple’s press event on Tuesday will undoubtedly be its new iPads, we were also expecting the Cupertino company to announce a new Apple TV. But a new report suggests the fourth-generation set-top box has been “delayed a bit,” and that it won’t be ready for tomorrow’s event after all.
Updates on the French and German versions of Amazon.com suggest a new, replacement Apple TV coming the day after this week’s Apple announcement — just in time for Christmas.
The prospect of a shiny new Apple TV product makes everyone think of a radical new Apple TV box with crazy new user interface options, or an actual Apple TV set, both of which people have been predicting for years.
And then that Scrooge MG Siegler comes along to say he’s hearing that the Big Apple TV Update has been delayed, and that maybe there will be a minor update to the existing product.
Whether something grander has been delayed or not, I think TV will be the most interesting product at the Tuesday announcement — not because of hardware, but because of a new software interface and new deals I think Apple will announce.
It’s been well over a year since the Apple TV received a significant refresh, so we’ve long been wondering whether Apple was planning to unveil a new model at its iPad event this fall. Amazon listings in France and Germany seem to suggest that’s the case, with the $99 set-top box now out of stock until October 23 — a day after Apple’s event.
Amazon is gearing up to launch a new set-top box that hopes to compete with the Apple TV and other video streaming devices this holiday, The Wall Street Journal reports. It’s understood the device is small and resembles a Roku, and it will run apps and provide content from a variety of sources, including Amazon’s own Prime service.
Cable industry veteran and former CableLabs executive Jean-François Mulé became an engineering director at Apple last month, and he’s hard at work on “something big.” His appointment comes just weeks before Apple is expected to unveil its latest Apple TV, and at a time when the Cupertino company has been working hard to improve the $99 set-top box.
But is Mulé part of something a little more exciting?
FaceTime just keeps getting better. The recent addition of audio calls in iOS 7 is great news, right? Well, sort of.
There are plenty of apps in the App Store that let you make calls over your data connection rather than through the carrier’s phone network.
FaceTime audio calls are great — something that Google+ Hangouts have had for a long time. (Hangouts actually lets you add a voice call to a group video Hangout.) They enable free international calls, for starters. The protocols underlying FaceTime enable high-quality audio calls.
More importantly, they give users one more reason to get into the FaceTime habit.
Unfortunately, FaceTime has a fatal flaw. It’s still — inexplicably — an exclusive phone system for Apple customers to call each other. What kind of phone system is that?
Apple updated its Apple TV offering this morning to include new channels for Major League Soccer and Disney Junior. The new channels aren’t bound to raise much excitement from average consumers, but sports fans and parents of young kids are sure to enjoy the new additions.
MLS allows soccer fans to hookup to their MLS Live subscription to watch live games across the country, while also keep tabs on scores and standings. There are a number of soccer-themed videos that can be enjoyed for free, and you can watch highlights of your favorite team via the Club Channels.
The new Disney Junior app provides live access to Disney Junior with a cable subscription, as well as access to Disney Junior TV shows on demand, so you can load up an episode of Jake and the Never Land Pirates for your rugrat while you rush around getting ready.