Apple TV - page 121

Hey, lookie hear: in the new iOS 6 Beta, you can rearrange the interface app icons on an Apple TV. A small but nice little customability update, but is there more to this than meets the eye: say, some groundwork being laid for an Apple TV app store coming to iOS 6 later this year? After all, why worry about rearranging apps unless you’re going to suddenly need to manage more than one screen’s worth of them.

Rumor had it that Apple was going to announce an official Apple TV SDK at WWDC 2012, but that didn’t pan out. Could we see a similar announcement at the September event instead?

Via: MagMagazine

Following the launch of the iTunes Store in an additional twelve Asian countries earlier today, Apple has also begun selling the Apple TV in a number of these territories, too. The set-top box is now available in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam.

Seems like everyone’s playing catch up lately, right? First Microsoft’s Surface tablet is announced, and now Google TV looks like it’s getting an update that’s sure to put a little heat on Apple’s own hobby initiative.

Apple refrained from mentioning its TV product during the World Wide Developer Conference last week. According to Fox News, an announcement about an update to Google TV is coming at Google’s own developer conference this week, Google I/O. What will it include, we wonder?

Here at Cult of Mac, we’ve been playing around with our new Retina MacBook Pro — look for our review tomorrow — and we decided to install Mountain Lion on our shiny new ultra high-res notebook and take Apple’s latest operating system for a spin.

It runs a peach, of course, but one thing we noticed when we were playing around in the Displays preferences in Mountain Lion was that there is an option to set your display resolution as for “Best for AirPlay,” along with the other two regular options which appear in OS X Lion: Best for Retina display, and Scaled.

When Game Center was announced for iOS 5, some folks were skeptical. They didn’t really see the value in Apple taking on the leader board scene with already established players like OpenFeint, Plus+, Crystal, Gameloft Live, and others.

Those very same people would surely have to eat their words when they heard today at the WWDC in San Francisco that Game Center has over 130 million people using it and those folks submit 5 billion scores every week.

And now? Game Center is coming to the Mac.

With just a few hours to go before Apple kicks off WWDC, some analysts are rushing to make predictions right up till the last few moments. London-based research firm Ovum, for example, delivered a list of three things that its Chief Telecoms Analyst Jan Dawson feels are essential announcements that Apple needs to make during the WWDC keynote later today.

Dawson’s assessment breaks ranks with many other analysts who have insisted that Apple must unveil its own HDTV at the event or sometime later this year but does think Apple needs to bring apps to the TV experience. The remainder of his comments focus on iOS and changes that a wide swath of iPhone and iPad owners, developers, and tech journalists have suggested since Apple released iOS 5 last fall.

Following earlier reports hinting that Apple would allow devs to start making software for the existing Apple TV as a way of paving the way for a true Apple HDTV early next year, BGR is now officially sticking their neck out, saying an Apple TV SDK is coming at WWDC, allowing devs to build Apple TV-compatible apps. This is in addition to a new control API that will allow other entertainment devices in the living room to use the same remote as the Apple Tv, and even connect through it.

BGR’s the only place claiming such a thing, so we’ll have to see, but it makes sense: if Apple wants to release a proper HDTV, they’ll need to have apps to run on it. This paves the way without tipping their hand too much.

Source: BGR

An Apple HDTV won’t be the first Internet-enabled television on the market. The market for so-called smart televisions has actually gotten pretty crowded over the past couple of years with products based around the Smart TV concepts of Samsung and LG as well as companies that offer televisions with GoogleTV.

Apple’s edge over the existing smart and connected television options is the company’s focus on creating a seamless and intuitive user experience. Based on a recent study, if Apple can deliver an interface half as good as expected, the company will make a killing in the HDTV market.

Apple today released a very minor update for the second and third-gen Apple TV. iOS 5.0.2 is available now, and the release follows version 5.0.1 released for the Apple TV on May 10th.

No new changes have been provided for 5.0.2 other than, “Addresses an issue which caused content restrictions to be incorrectly applied for the iTunes Store in Australia.” You can download the update now on your Apple TV set-top box.

It’s been rumored that Apple will unveil a totally new Apple TV OS to developers at WWDC. We’ll have to wait and see what Apple announces at Moscone next week.

The entertainment industry may be bracing for further disruption by Apple when the company finally unveils its HDTV and related television plans, but at least one major player in the field is refusing to show any sign of fear.

In a move sure to be followed by other industry executives, DirecTV chairman Michael White downplayed the potential for an Apple television during a conference attended by other cable and satellite company leaders late last week. While other executives were fairly noncommittal about an Apple HDTV and what it could mean for the entertainment industry, White was emphatic in deriding the idea that Apple could deliver a better user experience to viewers.

Speaking at the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions conference, White specifically called out two of the most anticipated features of an Apple television – a superior user interface and a better selection of content – and described them as unrealistic and unimportant to his company’s customers.

Last week’s release of the much anticipated Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak didn’t just benefit iPhone and iPad owners: it also gives a new lease on life to the second-gen Apple TV. Now Firecore has released a major update to their aTV Flash software, and the new goes far to supercharge your set-top box with great new functionality the stock firmware doesn’t offer.

The flaws and future of Siri, his thoughts on Steve Jobs, the long rumored Apple television – Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at the 10th annual All Things D conference, and boy, did he have a lot to say.

Join us in our brand new CultCast episode as we pick apart Tim’s D10 interview and tell you why he possibly confirmed the existence of Apple’s long-rumored, top-secret television.

And is the Mac Pro about to get the axe? We’ll tell you what we think.

All that and our answers to your questions on our brand new CultCast. Subscribe now in iTunes and read on through for our show notes.

Face it. Your Apple TV is boring. It looks just like every other Apple TV, everywhere in the world. Sure, you might say it doesn’t matter, that the whole point of the little puck is to get out of the way and let you watch TV shows and movies, but that shows a lack of imagination. What you need, my friend, is a set of decals. And not just any old decals. You need decals that make your Apple TV look like a NES console.

Apple isn’t going to debut their new rumored HDTV set at WWDC 2012, but according to a new report, they will unveil the version of iOS that it will run on, and which will be coming to the Apple TV set-top box later this year. Even more interesting? Your Apple TV might soon become the hub through which the rest of your living room connects.

During his interview at the D10 conference today, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked point blank by Kara Swisher about how Apple plans to change television.

He replied by praising the current set-top box Apple sells for $100. The Apple TV sold 2.8 million units last year and 2.7 million this year. “It’s an area of intense interest for us,” said Cook, “It’s not a fifth leg of the stool. It’s not the same size as the phone or Mac or tablet business.”

Walt Mossberg, co-interviewer, asked directly if Apple could just make a box and continue leaving the panel to others. Cook replied, “Can we control the key technology? Can we make a significant contribution far beyond what others have done in this area?” That’s the question Apple asks, and Cook seemed to be very interested in what the future may hold for his company’s future contributions.

It could soon be a whole lot easier for Apple to compete with pay TV providers as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers a change to the definition of “multichannel video programming distributor.” To date, the term has been applied only to cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner Cable, or DirecTV. But as similar services continue to grow online, the FCC is questioning whether it should also apply to the likes of Hulu, Netflix, and in the future, Apple.

A change would mean that Apple would be free to offer up a number of TV channels just like any cable provider, without having to negotiate with those cable providers over expensive programming deals.

Following the Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak for all iOS devices on 5.1.1, a new jailbreak has been released for the second-generation Apple TV running iOS 5.0.1. Firecore has released a big update to Seas0nPass, the tool used to jailbreak the Apple TV, with the latest unther. You can grab the updated tool for free to jailbreak your Apple TV.

TSA is the latest U.S. federal agency to make a significant investment in Apple technologies in what may be a move away from RIM’s BlackBerry and Windows PCs. The agency is set to start a pilot program that will run over the next three years and will involve heavy investment in Macs, iPhones, iPads, and even Apple TVs.

According to federal documents (PDF link), the security agency plans to spend $3 million on Apple products and has an amazingly wide range of uses for them in mind. The plans go well beyond the scope of Apple investments made by other U.S. government agencies like the EPA and FAA, which focus primarily on iPhones and/or iPads.

There’s no shortage to information out there about Apple’s HDTV plans, but most of it focuses on specs, designs, and user interface (including coverage from our source who has seen one). With the device being a near certainly, other questions are being raised. Will it be an instant hit? How different will the experience be compared to the existing Apple TV set-top box? How much revenue could it net for Apple?

According to calculations by Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, an Apple HDTV would be a huge windfall for Apple. She sees it as likely to double the money that U.S. households spend annually on Apple products within three years.

Apple is bringing its iTunes Festival to London again this September, and it’s inviting more than 60 artists to perform for 30 consecutive nights of incredible music. The event, which will run from September 1 to September 30, will feature performances from Usher, Jack White, Norah Jones, Emeli Sandé, One Direction, and more.

We’ve figured out how to get the best prices on every piece of Apple gear you buy, and on the latest CultCast, we’ll tell you how, too.

Plus: our source within Apple has seen their secret new HDTV – we tell he told us.

And don’t miss our our reactions to what this insane Apple fan installed on his person.

Subscribe to the CultCast now on iTunes, and read on for our show notes!

An official ESPN app could eventually make its way to the Apple TV set-top box, according to a new report today. Bloomberg says that Disney, parent company of ESPN, is open to offering Apple digital access to its sports network for Apple TV users. While a deal is by no means confirmed, it appears that the companies could be in talks to add an ESPN Apple TV app in the future.

While there’s been a lot of speculation about Apple’s plans to enter the HDTV market, most of the discussion – including information from our source who has seen the device – has focused on the device itself. The form factor, pricing, manufacturing options, interface, input and remote control mechanisms, which iOS and OS X technologies could be leveraged in a TV – all these are key elements to the story of an iTV or Apple HDTV or whatever the device might be called.

These areas of speculation, however, don’t ask the most critical question: Will people buy an Apple HDTV?

According to tech research firm Strategy Analytics, the answer is yes – and it’s a pretty emphatic yes for iPhone owners.

You probably hate cable just as much as I hate cable, right? There’s like five shows on this planet that I want to watch, but I have to wait around for them to air or record them to my DVR, and I can’t take them with me unless I want to be naughty and download them illegally. Getting video wherever, whenever you want it should be a staple of the 21st century but cable companies aren’t making that easy because they refuse to embrace new technologies like Apple’s AirPlay service.

In a telling interview, Time Warner Cable’s CEO, Glenn Britt, admitted he doesn’t know what the heck AirPlay is, and thinks it’s too hard to get video from your computer to play on your TV.

DigiTimes reports that Apple’s manufacturing partners in Taiwan are said to be bending over backwards to secure orders for the company’s latest devices by constructing specialized plants that will be dedicated to producing parts and components for the iPad mini and the next-generation iPhone.