Is iOS About To Take A Leap Of Faith Onto Apple TV?
It's no big surprise that Apple is holding a music-oriented press event
in San Francisco this week. The surprise may be what's not music
related. For the past few years, Apple has religiously held a fall music
event to unveil their latest iPod touch. This usually coincides with
the end of their back-to-school deal (which bundles a free iPod touch
with Mac computer purchase) and it usually leads to a huge holiday sales
season for Jobs and Company.
But this year, there may be another surprise in store beyond the inevitable. A new iPod touch is all but guaranteed to show up, likely with a camera for video calling as well as support for email-based FaceTime. We're guessing the capacities will see a bump, a Retina Display will be added and the whole thing will be somewhat thinner. You can almost bank on it. But a new report from SF Gate suggests that Apple may take their iOS platform to entirely new level, one that goes well beyond just portable music.
For some time now, rumors have suggested that a revised Apple TV was on the way. That makes sense. Apple TV is an aged product that hasn't seen a significant software update in way, way too long -- even by Apple standards. It's sort of tough to believe it even remains in Apple's current lineup in its current state. But iOS may soon find its way onto a revamped Apple TV, which would mark the second departure for iOS from the smartphone and the first iOS departure from the handheld computing space.
What would an iOS-based Apple TV act like? Probably exactly like an iPad, but with the user interface on your television. And instead of using your hands to select icons, you'd use an Apple Remote. This move would align your movie and music purchases in iTunes with your television, and it would also allow apps to have TV-centric versions. In fact, this is the perfect device to align with a Hulu Plus app or the like.
Of course, it's all rumor and speculation for now, but it's all believable. Will iOS take a leap of faith on September 1st? We shall see.
But this year, there may be another surprise in store beyond the inevitable. A new iPod touch is all but guaranteed to show up, likely with a camera for video calling as well as support for email-based FaceTime. We're guessing the capacities will see a bump, a Retina Display will be added and the whole thing will be somewhat thinner. You can almost bank on it. But a new report from SF Gate suggests that Apple may take their iOS platform to entirely new level, one that goes well beyond just portable music.
For some time now, rumors have suggested that a revised Apple TV was on the way. That makes sense. Apple TV is an aged product that hasn't seen a significant software update in way, way too long -- even by Apple standards. It's sort of tough to believe it even remains in Apple's current lineup in its current state. But iOS may soon find its way onto a revamped Apple TV, which would mark the second departure for iOS from the smartphone and the first iOS departure from the handheld computing space.
What would an iOS-based Apple TV act like? Probably exactly like an iPad, but with the user interface on your television. And instead of using your hands to select icons, you'd use an Apple Remote. This move would align your movie and music purchases in iTunes with your television, and it would also allow apps to have TV-centric versions. In fact, this is the perfect device to align with a Hulu Plus app or the like.
Of course, it's all rumor and speculation for now, but it's all believable. Will iOS take a leap of faith on September 1st? We shall see.
