Apple recently launched the new Apple TV, fit with Universal Search, a new remote, and Siri integration. It's quite a large upgrade from the previous generation, launched in 2012.
New OS
The new OS features a UI with a white background rather than the standard black background, which makes it more visually appealing to the user. It also adds a bit more of the elements of iOS 9.
Apps
"We believe the future of television is apps," said Apple CEO Tim Cook when introducing the box. The introduction of a new App Store makes so many more things possible.
Demonstrated was a shopping app called Gilt where the user suggested she was in a room with her family shopping for clothes for a wedding in October. She made a great sell, showing the convenience of sharing that experience with many people on the big screen.
Also demonstrated were a few interactive games. One was called "Crossroads," in which the object was to get your chicken to cross the road. Each person connected and played via their iPhone or iPod Touch.
A New Remote
The box was introduced with a new remote. The new remote has a number of features, including a glass touchpad, a button for Siri voice control, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, Bluetooth capabilities, an IR blaster, and a lightning connector for charging. The remote will last three months on a single charge.
The glass touchpad is used to navigate through the apps. Simply swipe in a direction to navigate that way and push down on the trackpad to select.
Bluetooth and the IR blaster work together to make it so you can use the remote even further away than before and gain even more accuracy with control.
The remote can also be used as a gaming controller by simply turning it sideways.
Siri
Apple's Siri voice assistant makes it possible to do Universal Search, which makes it so you can search for content across multiple apps within one search. For example, search "Find me an episode of Catfish," and it will search multiple apps, such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Showtime and iTunes. This makes it much easier to find content, and more apps will add support for Universal Search soon.
Siri also makes it possible to make specific searches, such as "Show me the episode of Friends with Adam Goldberg" or "Skip ahead five minutes." At the Keynote on Wednesday, they demonstrated how the user was watching an episode of Modern Family and simply said "What did she say?" The show then jumped back 15 seconds and temporarily turned on captions.
Want to get some quick info on the weather or some sports scores? Ask Siri, and the info pops up on the bottom half. Swipe up to get more details, and notice how the show in the background stops itself while the app opens.
The Apple TV starts at $149 for the 32GB model and $199 for the 64GB model.
Follow @VAVEL_Tech on Twitter for more on what Apple unveiled on Wednesday.
Jack Griffin is an editor for the Technology and Music sections of VAVEL USA. Follow him on Twitter at @jacksonlgriffin.
