All Articles Tagged apple tv

Stalwart Apple analyst Gene Munster is back, this time predicting the iPhone will hit multiple US carriers within an year — specifically Verizon — as well as expanded video offerings from iTunes — including a subscription service akin to satellite or cable, and an updated Apple TV to go with it.

Oh, and flying unicorns.

We joke. Slightly. Of course we want all these things too — and more — but we have a feeling that that’s all there is to some of these analyst reports — a bit of logical deduction and some surveys combined with what any of us would want:

“For various reasons the company moved from an exclusive relationship with French wireless carrier Orange to a multi-carrier model,” Munster said. “In France, the company now enjoys dramatically higher market share (in the 40 percent range vs. about 15 percent in ROW) than in countries with exclusive carrier agreements (such as AT&T in the U.S. where the iPhone has market share in the mid-teens). We believe Apple is seeing the increased unit sell-through more than offset the slightly (~10 percent) deteriorated economics per unit involved in non-exclusive agreements.”

So, expect it only when you see it.

[via AppleInsider]

Went into the App Store and what did I see, why an updated Remote app for iTunes and Apple TV! One of the first apps in the App Store at launch, the latest update for Remote [free - iTunes link] turbo charges the cool factor with support for gesture-based Apple TV control. Very slick:

• Hold down “Menu” to bring up main menu. Swipe to move around.
• Tap to play or pause music or video.
• Drag left or right and hold to rewind or fast-forward music.
• Flick left or right for previous or next music track.
• Flick left or right or drag and hold to rewind or fast-forward video.
• Flick down to show chapter markers, then flick left or right to skip through video.
• Drag two fingers left for 10 second reply.
• Tap “Exit” or “Options” for those actions.

If you hit exit, you get similar functions, art display, etc. to the previous version of the Remote app. Hitting Options brings up a new overlay menu on the Apple TV. Speaking of which…

The new Apple Remote app’s gesture features require iPhone 3.0 and the latest Apple TV software update, also released today (which seems to have gotten a UI over haul as well). Get that, or you won’t get the nifty new interface.

I’m trying it. I’m liking it. How about you?

More screen shots after the break!

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TiPb predicted an iPhone HD way back on October 10, and while not everyone — even here — agrees that we’ll see it, rumors continue to point that maybe, just maybe we will.

The latest comes via PhoneNews which reports that the Apple AV Cables, component and composite versions of which were launched last year alongside the iPhone 3G, are being cleared to make room for a consolidated cable. What’s more, this new cables, alongside an “iPhone HD” would support 720p or 1080i out (for your TV, not on the device itself).

A wilder bit of rumor postulates on an HD-out iPhone or iPod touch replacing the Apple TV. I’m not sure I see that happening. I use the current AV cables all the time when visiting friends and family, but tying my phone to my own TV wouldn’t be anywhere nearly as convenient. Buying a second, iPod touch class device wouldn’t really be cost effective compared to an Apple TV either, though would multitask better if you ever needed a second traveling device, I suppose.

If the iPhone itself gets a higher screen resolution as well, 480p (800×480) similar to last year’s HTC Touch HD would be the max we’d like see (or need) on device. HD aside, web browsing with that many more pixels would be very welcome.

(Thanks to IndyJonez on our forums for the tip!)

Hot on the heels of the premium “App Store Plus” (TM Erica Sadun) $19.99 rumor we helped propogate yesterday, in his (its?) weekly column, the Macalope pulls a follow-up rumor out of his rear port (actually makes it up on the spot) for a concept that’s actually pretty darn intriguing:

You know how Apple’s still trying to figure out the Apple TV? Sure, you do. You’re smart and sexy and you keep on top of these things. Well, last summer the brown and furry one’s old sparring partner Adrian Kingsley-Hughes actually hit on a great idea: making the Apple TV into a gaming platform and selling games from the App Store. The only thing Adrian thought was missing was a controller. [... The controller is] your iPhone or your iPod touch with a brand new game-controller app. Remember how Apple likes to make its products interdependent so you have to buy all of them to unlock Super Steve God Mode? And, really, who has an Apple TV and doesn’t also have an iPhone or iPod touch?

Personally, I’ve got an Apple TV and an iPhone, and I love the Apple Remote App for watching video, so this idea appeals to me quite a bit. Casual gaming, Wii-style, on the big screen, with an amazing multi-touch controller? Yes please.

Anyone else want this like now?

I typically choose to keep 10 episodes of any video podcast I subscribe to in iTunes. Back with version 1.0 of the Apple Remote App for the iPhone, when I would choose to play the latest episode of a show, the Apple TV would stubbornly start playing the oldest episode (sometimes oldest unwatched, sometimes just oldest) instead. “New” status seemed to have no effect.

This didn’t happen if I did the same thing via the iTunes library on my computer, only when I used the Apple TV, which streams from that iTunes library. I could work around this, however, by waiting for the oldest episode to start, then tapping my iPhone screen to flip the artwork around and reveal the episode list, then tapping the newest episode again. If I jumped through that hoop, the Apple TV would begrudgingly give me the actual episode I wanted.

With Apple Remote App version 1.1? No dice. I get the oldest episode no matter what. Most perplexingly, the iPhone will initially display the proper episode name in the title bar, then visibly switch to, and begin playing, the wrong one.

(Now, as punishment for testing it and writing this, the little fella has crashed, but offered to let me restart, run diagnostics, or restore… I chose the middle option for now).

Needless to say, this has changed the App from a useful tool to non-starter, and brought the tiny little white Apple TV back out of retirement.

Anyone else experiencing this problem? Anyone have a fix?

Epic YES! Since the moment the original iPhone came out with its WiFi goodness, I’ve been begging asking for a way to use the iPhone to control the similarly connected iTunes, Front Row, and Apple TV. And now Apple has answered! (Er… except for Front Row, see below). And not only for the iPhone. While I’ll use that term exclusively below, everything here also applies to the iPod Touch.

Remote is FREE, and available either via iTunes (picture above) or right from your iPhone 3G via the App Store. It’s not hard to find, currently dominating the Top Free Apps charts. If you’re not sure how to use App Store yet, check out Brian’s excellent overview to get you started.

I chose to download directly from the iPhone so I could test out the 3G experience. It was fast. (However, when I later synced back with iTunes — my first time post App download — I was asked to re-authenticate my MacBook with the iTunes Store before it would sync the App for backup).

How did it work? Read on!

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Saw this one coming, didn’t you? Apple’s new App Store Remote app (FREE!) lets you control iTunes or Apple TV, and .Mac Galleries are now MobileMe Galleries, so that means Apple TV needs an update to.

Could Apple’s servers get any busier today? (And how ’bout ours! Yowzers!) Just fire up your Apple TV, go to Settings, General, Software Updates, and let it rip!

My Apple TV updated this morning, and Chad’s already thrown his old cable box out the window. Are you updating yet?

iPhone 2.0 and its App Store are almost upon us, and while deep-delving every new SDK/firmware beta has revealed many a gem before, this time it’s the Read Me file from the new, developer-only, iTunes 7.7 beta that’s giving up the goodness:

Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.

YES!

This feature — and hopefully parallel Front Row and Apple TV remote control — has been near the top of my wish list since the iPhone was announced, and while this type of functionality (and much more!) has been hinted at before, it looks like we might finally see it.

Now how about hurrying up with 2.0 already, Apple, you teases!

Read

One of the features I most want for the iPhone is the ability to use it as a Wi-Fi remote for iTunes (and related services like Front Row or the Apple TV). Sitting back, multi-touch flicking through lists of content, finding something interesting, tapping, and — boom — having it “just work” on my TV or Mac would be Jobsian perfection.

Well, if TUAW’s latest rumor pans out, Apple may be about to deliver, well… not exactly that, but something just as cool:

Apple is working on a new iPhone application called iControl. Like Apple TV and other remote controllers, it would allow the iPhone to connect wirelessly to local iTunes libraries and browse through and play media from those sources. TUAW is told that a media navigator will allow you to view videos, play podcasts, listen to music and even support shuffle playback.

As is increasingly the case, the rumor comes via deep delving into the latest firmware and discovering all sorts of interesting localization strings. Whether this means we’ll just be able to play iTunes content on the iPhone as though it were a mobile Apple TV, or if I’ll be getting my dream iTunes/Front Row/Apple TV remote control via the iPhone as well, we’ll have to wait and see.

And I really am finding it harder and harder to wait. How about you?