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Guesswork about AppleTV

Posted on February 15th, 2012 at 0:51 by Desiato in category: Apple, Commentary -- Write a comment

That Samsung bravado about a possible Apple iTV got me thinking. Obviously if Apple is going to release a TV, it’s going to be much more than just a screen. It won’t be about display quality like the Samsung exec seems to think.

What would differentiate an Apple TV? I can think of a few possibilities:

1. Content access

The obvious scenario is a TV with a built-in iTunes store that lets you buy/rent TV shows and movies without having to have a cable TV subscription. This would be an extension of the current iTunes and AppleTV, maybe with better selection of content and integration with iCloud to store your media, à la Amazon’s cloud storage for media.

2. App-TV

This is #1 plus “iOS apps come to the Apple TV”. (Maybe even Siri.)

So far, both of these can be done with a cheap separate device like the current Apple TV. What makes it compelling for Apple to sell you the display as well? So far, nothing other than skipping a bit of wiring set-up.

3. New input/interaction model

The simplest way to describe this is as “Apple’s response to Kinect”. If Apple has developed a remote-control-free interaction technique that requires new hardware like the Kinect box, maybe that’s compelling enough that if it were integrated into a display, you’d be willing to buy the entire display device. But Kinect isn’t tied to a specific TV. Can Apple come up with something so much more compelling that people will be willing to toss out their existing TVs?

I’m not sure which way to bet. I’m still skeptical about Apple going into the TV-display market.

Any other guesses on what’s coming?

  1. Mudak on February 15th, 2012 at 1:27:

    Here are my thoughts:

    Something comparable to the Retina Display, like what’s in the iPhone today. Current rumors estimate that the next iPad will have something akin to a retina display, thereby giving the next iPad better resolution than a good LCD TV. This, then, will enable the placement of true HD video quality on the iTunes store.

    Many existing networks already have apps on the App Store, including premium channels like HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. I suspect a direct subscription model through Apple, not unlike what’s currently in the offing for Newsstand on other iOS devices, will likely be the order of the day for those networks. Throw in a novel advertising method and the standard networks will get on board too.

    As far as controlling the TV, I envision Siri and dedicated apps on the different iOS devices.

    The big wild card is convincing movie studios to allow for a model like what already exists for music with iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match.

  2. John Sinteur on February 15th, 2012 at 7:52:

    CEO Cook at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference this week:

    “We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society, not just sell a lot of products.”

    Since the Apple TV box already does a lot of the things mentioned above, it will be at least a new input/interaction model. Just slapping a screen to the Apple TV would be counter to Apple culture.

  3. Desiato on February 15th, 2012 at 11:04:

    MacRumors says that Cook also said:

    - Apple TV: Cook reported that Apple still considers the Apple TV to be a “hobby”, in the sense that it shouldn’t be thought of as a major pillar of Apple’s business. That said, Apple has always felt that if it kept “pulling the string”, there would be something there. Consumer satisfaction is reportedly off the charts and sales are growing quickly.

    That seems to downplay the likelyhood that something is coming soon.

  4. John Sinteur on February 15th, 2012 at 14:20:

    Or that they will soon cancel the hobby because of the release of an iTV…

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