Sure it probably wouldn't grab major market share, but it doesn't really need to. All Apple really need to do is skim off cream off the top of the market.
And that's without even beginning to focus on what could be possible. Think about this scenario...
You wake up late and walk into the lounge room...
"Siri, switch the news on"
Your TV switches on and changes the news channel.
"Siri, when does the game start?"
"In 17 minutes Tallest Skil" Siri replies, "Would you like me to remind you when it starts?"
"Yes please"
You grab something to eat and sit down on your lounge.
"Siri, do I have anything on for the rest of the day?"
"A teleconference at 4pm" Siri replies
"Can you cancel that please. Tell them I'm sick"
"I've canceled your meeting" Siri replies "The game is starting soon. Would you like me to change the channel?"
"Yes please. Siri, can you Facetime Bob, Jim and Ted for me please?"
A PIP group chat session opens with your friends... "Anyone want to put a bet on this game?".
The game starts, you pick up your iPad and launch the "Apple TV" app. It knows you're watching the game so it automatically shows you alternate cameras, player positions and game stats.
Eventually half-time rolls around so you start up a game on your iPad and mirror it to your TV. "Siri, can you remind me when the game starts again?"
etc etc etc
This is a great post. Really good ideas
I could eventually seeing a "Siri" standalone appliance that you could put in your house. For example, the kitchen. Small, internet connected. Perhaps no screen. To simply talk to for info and to update all your other iOS devices. Not sure here... perhaps iPhone/iPad is enough
For example, "SIRI, load season 3 of West Wing on my iPad".
Another big opportunity would be to have SIRI be command and control for car electronics. Radio, weather, directions, roadside assistance, calling, texting. Car systems could be "SIRI certified". Just plug your iPhone/iPad into an integrated port. Device goes into "car-mode"
I'm glad to hear it is Apple's largest software effort. It's obvious Apple is making a huge bet. I'll be interested to hear about fast, iterative improvements to SIRI performance and rollout to additional languages and goes. I'd like to see Apple super aggressive.
That kind of depresses me in that it looks to be breakthrough technology, but based on what the guy says, he's already sold out to Samsung or someone similar. That means Apple won't have this anytime soon but the old-school manufacturers will, (which actually makes it far less likely that Apple will compete in this market).
is that image suggesting that this TV will eliminate the need for an audio receiver?
...maybe a $149 receiver... but it's got to have magic dust if they expect me to ditch mine for some built in speakers.
The vast majority of mass market consumers care little about audio quality.
If Apple integrates one of those single-array "surround sound" systems, the mass market crowd will likely be satisfied. If they sell it as something amazing and new, they will believe it.
And they can include a simple SPDIF jack for the few who care about audio. In fact, they can eliminate the speaker array on the high-end model and charge more for it, if they include some other "exclusive" feature.
If anybody knows how to market mid-tech as high end, it is Apple.
Jobs said that the TV will have the simplest user interface you can imagine.
Well, the simplest UI I can imagine is speech. And now, with Siri, Apple are pretty much there.
I still think it a little unlikely that Apple will produce a complete TV set, but if they don't, it certainly won't be because they don't have the technology to do it well.
the last time i watched a lot of TV i was at home sick and unable to speak
... but, of course, you left out the line of my post that basically says that I believe they might be able to do it but it has to be absolutely flawless in execution.
I wouldn't be in the market for an Apple HDTV. Based upon the rumors, it'd be too costly. I am fine with my simple Samsung HDTV, Comcast box and remote. No complaints and it's not difficult at all.
Why would an iTunes TV Pass not be on the already released and very cheap $99 AppleTV? Do you think it would be a great strategy to make it exclusive to a $2000+ TV set? And again, I have to keep pointing out that no matter what grand scheming ideas Apple may have, if the TV studios do NOT want to provide Apple with the content for this device, it'll just be an overpriced HDTV. Both Dell and HP can tell you how that went.
The problem with the music player and phone market was the hardware and software itself. They both sucked. However, I think that most people would agree that HDTV manufactures make great displays. Apple isn't going to "innovate" there, they'd be buying their displays from somewhere else. As for software, why integrate it into the TV when an Apple TV does just fine? Actually getting a cable subscription to work with a non-cable box device by using CableCard is such a pain in the ass that it would have to be dismissed altogether. We all know that IPTV is the future so unless Apple wants to act like a cable operator (requiring it to acquire deals with studios) or just sell you content from the store, it's not that great a plan.
The last time Jobs tried to convince TV studios to do something was TV show rentals. Two studios signed up and after a year, the experiment failed horribly.
I still don't see it. And no article has yet to detail how such a small selection of massive TVs would make logistical sense to Apple's efficient setup.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stourque
I don't think it will be cheaper. That's not Apple's style. It will be an awesome set.
Apple's style for a very long time has been to meet or beat competitors on price points while making considerably more profit for a comparable HW class.
I wouldn't be in the market for an Apple HDTV. Based upon the rumors, it'd be too costly. I am fine with my simple Samsung HDTV, Comcast box and remote. No complaints and it's not difficult at all.
Dunno about you in particular.
But lots of folks will hear "It is magical. You can't really even understand how great it is until you use it." Then they will go to the Apple Store, get a first-class sales job, and go home with one.
Once Apple announces that they are selling like gangbusters, lots more people will want to jump on the bandwagon. Supply will be limited, increasing the desire among the early adopters. More and more people will buy them, and the rest will increasingly feel left out.
Or, at least, that is how Apple has marketed its new products lately. Maybe they will come up with an even more effective strategy next time around.
Jobs said that the TV will have the simplest user interface you can imagine.
Well, the simplest UI I can imagine is speech. And now, with Siri, Apple are pretty much there.
I still think it a little unlikely that Apple will produce a complete TV set, but if they don't, it certainly won't be because they don't have the technology to do it well.
The simplest user interface could be speech but not necessarily. Once the TV is blaring it may be difficult for Siri to pick up what you are saying. A Siri that doesn't work properly would be the very worst interface. You may be able to interact with Siri on another device, which might reduce this problem somewhat but I don't think an Apple Television would require ownership of and iPhone or similar. An Apple TV would come with a basic remote.
Technology and pricing apart - the success of an Apple branded all in one television would be dependent access to content. If they can create a device which negates the cable box as well as all the other junk yet gives the end user the same amount of choices and flexibility both for now and the future, then maybe. The ability to be future proof is a much more critical feature than for the existing AppleTV because the price for a fully integrated TV set would be so much higher.
Any Apple HDTV would have to be CHEAPER than competitors' models, and I just don't see how that'd happen and keep the usual Apple hardware flair.
And the usual Apple hardware profit margins.
It doesn't need to be cheaper, just BETTER.
Quote:
Originally Posted by akf2000
No doubt it will have an Apple Remote, which I hate. There is no way on earth they will make a full remote, you will need to use an App and who wants to find their iOS device/ launch an app to change channel.
Most people that have iDevices keep them close. I know my phone is with me 98% of the time. Why? Because it's a phone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by akf2000
oh and maybe the Apple Remote will distinguish between devices? My MBP listens to the same one as my AppleTV, is there anyway to fix that?
You go to system settings on your computer and I believe it is in the security section to unpair it. A quick Google search would provide the answer for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boeyc15
I don't see the benefit of a stand-alone set. Better hookup device to replace a cable box etc yes.
Everything built into a home theatre receiver type device makes better sense to me. M'eh, I'm not 'the crazy one' though.
I own both versions of the Apple TV and enjoy both iterations, but the common denominator for each is that I must hit input on my remote to go from "regular" TV to the Apple TV interface. A whole TV eliminates that. Add in some extra stuff and I'd be a happy camper.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
That's computers.
This is television.
Yeah, the computer and mobile phone industries aren't cutthroat at all. Not only is it full of sunshine and roses, but everyone makes a healthy profit. Look at Nokia, RIM, LG, Sony Eriksson and HP. They are just rolling in cash, profits and strippers.
Are you saying that to be competitive, an Apple TV would have to be priced similarly to other TVs on the market at a given screen size?
Because as other people have been saying, were Apple to do this I think it's a given that they would pack it with very desirable tech that other TVs lack and charge accordingly. So the real question is what folks would be willing to pay for a lot of ease of use and integration.
Say I'm looking at a $1000 Samsung LCD TV and an Apple TV of the same size that goes for somewhat more. But the Apple TV integrates DVR functionality, iTunes streaming, and iOS apps at the very least (not to mention Netflix and some of the other streaming services typically tacked on to other sets on the market). If it also features Siri voice control I would think that would be worth several hundred dollars in premium to the average consumer.
I've never been very convinced that Apple will actually do this, but if they do I hope they don't just make it look like a huge iMac. I don't think that looks scales well to TV sizes, and the aluminum bezel seem heavy and distracting compared to the average all black or very thin bezeled TVs on the market.
OTOH, my Samsung flatscreen's interface is grotesquely, extravagenlty bad, while managing to integrate poorly with a Samsung blu-ray player with a similarly (although not exactly!) bad UI. Using these products is why I think Samsung's hubris around their status as a CE innovator/leader (because they can slap Android on a lot of products that sell well), is so deeply misplaced and kind of offensive. Left to their own devices their idea of a UI is just shockingly half-assed. If Apple can come in and show them up for the hacks they are that would be all to the better, IMO.
In fact, I wonder if Apple's being pissed at Samsung for their phone look and feel hijinx might not influence their decision to enter the TV market? Cleaning Samsung's clock in one of their core businesses would probably feel pretty sweet in Cupertino, although I admit that Apple typically doesn't roll like that. Still, surely TVs are one of those messed up markets that Apple is attracted to, since there's genuine innovation to be done.
No, in your quest to be funny you missed the point that an ATV remote will also control any Macbook in the vicinity, nothing to do with pairing.
Well, if that search term didn't spring an answer, try this. I may not be hilariously funny, but at least I can work the Internet. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pair+remote+with+mac
Actually, since the Apple HDTV would know exactly what is coming through the speakers and the distortion from your room is pretty much static the noise cancellation is going to be damn near perfect.
You wouldn't be able to whisper to it or anything but you could easily speak in your normal voice even when the TV volume is blaring.
Next question?
From a TV that could be 10 or more feet away from the speaker? Speaking to my iPhone up to my ear or with headphone/mic on still has poor results with background noise. Sometimes it's some faint noise that the receiving party claims is quite loud as if I'm holding the mic up to a loudspeaker. Seems to me there is a long way to go before we can truly eliminate unwanted sounds from being processed.
But what if Steve "cracked" it by making the remote control the mic for Siri. You simply press the Siri button and speak into the remote that you hold up to your mouth like your Bob Barker. At a close range you might be able to avoid the noise issue.
I still don't see it. And no article has yet to detail how such a small selection of massive TVs would make logistical sense to Apple's efficient setup.
I am not sure I disagree with you but there are elements to this story that makes this feasible in theory:
The television broadcast industry is a mess and overly complicated. It is outdated and end users are locked into deals they do not want. There is very little choice involved in terms of programming (its more a choice between the lesser of evils)
Most televisions are not 'connected' and 'smart'
T
he additional cables and boxes are 'unsightly' in the broadest sense of the word.
The main point being that all of the above would seem to make up one irresistible target for Apple.
Comments
Ugh…
Any Apple HDTV would have to be CHEAPER than competitors' models, and I just don't see how that'd happen and keep the usual Apple hardware flair.
And the usual Apple hardware profit margins.
Why would it have to be cheaper? Since when have Apple ever had any problems with selling goods that a more or as expensive as competitors?
I'm starting to think that isn't the case.
An Apple HDTV with an Apple TV built-in and some kind of kick-ass new screen technology would sell a bunch.
Sure it probably wouldn't grab major market share, but it doesn't really need to. All Apple really need to do is skim off cream off the top of the market.
And that's without even beginning to focus on what could be possible. Think about this scenario...
You wake up late and walk into the lounge room...
"Siri, switch the news on"
Your TV switches on and changes the news channel.
"Siri, when does the game start?"
"In 17 minutes Tallest Skil" Siri replies, "Would you like me to remind you when it starts?"
"Yes please"
You grab something to eat and sit down on your lounge.
"Siri, do I have anything on for the rest of the day?"
"A teleconference at 4pm" Siri replies
"Can you cancel that please. Tell them I'm sick"
"I've canceled your meeting" Siri replies "The game is starting soon. Would you like me to change the channel?"
"Yes please. Siri, can you Facetime Bob, Jim and Ted for me please?"
A PIP group chat session opens with your friends... "Anyone want to put a bet on this game?".
The game starts, you pick up your iPad and launch the "Apple TV" app. It knows you're watching the game so it automatically shows you alternate cameras, player positions and game stats.
Eventually half-time rolls around so you start up a game on your iPad and mirror it to your TV. "Siri, can you remind me when the game starts again?"
etc etc etc
This is a great post. Really good ideas
I could eventually seeing a "Siri" standalone appliance that you could put in your house. For example, the kitchen. Small, internet connected. Perhaps no screen. To simply talk to for info and to update all your other iOS devices. Not sure here... perhaps iPhone/iPad is enough
For example, "SIRI, load season 3 of West Wing on my iPad".
Another big opportunity would be to have SIRI be command and control for car electronics. Radio, weather, directions, roadside assistance, calling, texting. Car systems could be "SIRI certified". Just plug your iPhone/iPad into an integrated port. Device goes into "car-mode"
I'm glad to hear it is Apple's largest software effort. It's obvious Apple is making a huge bet. I'll be interested to hear about fast, iterative improvements to SIRI performance and rollout to additional languages and goes. I'd like to see Apple super aggressive.
Talk about a potential competitive moat
... An Apple HDTV with an Apple TV built-in and some kind of kick-ass new screen technology would sell a bunch. ...
That kind of depresses me in that it looks to be breakthrough technology, but based on what the guy says, he's already sold out to Samsung or someone similar. That means Apple won't have this anytime soon but the old-school manufacturers will, (which actually makes it far less likely that Apple will compete in this market).
is that image suggesting that this TV will eliminate the need for an audio receiver?
...maybe a $149 receiver... but it's got to have magic dust if they expect me to ditch mine for some built in speakers.
The vast majority of mass market consumers care little about audio quality.
If Apple integrates one of those single-array "surround sound" systems, the mass market crowd will likely be satisfied. If they sell it as something amazing and new, they will believe it.
And they can include a simple SPDIF jack for the few who care about audio. In fact, they can eliminate the speaker array on the high-end model and charge more for it, if they include some other "exclusive" feature.
If anybody knows how to market mid-tech as high end, it is Apple.
You can. Let me Google that for you: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=apple+tv+pair+remote
No, in your quest to be funny you missed the point that an ATV remote will also control any Macbook in the vicinity, nothing to do with pairing.
A6 should be able to handle this.
Well, the A5 can handle 1080p content, if it's in proper format (i.e. can be hardware decoded).
Jobs said that the TV will have the simplest user interface you can imagine.
Well, the simplest UI I can imagine is speech. And now, with Siri, Apple are pretty much there.
I still think it a little unlikely that Apple will produce a complete TV set, but if they don't, it certainly won't be because they don't have the technology to do it well.
the last time i watched a lot of TV i was at home sick and unable to speak
*communicates with Apple TV through charades*
Ah well, looks like Apple has no chance then
... but, of course, you left out the line of my post that basically says that I believe they might be able to do it but it has to be absolutely flawless in execution.
The problem with the music player and phone market was the hardware and software itself. They both sucked. However, I think that most people would agree that HDTV manufactures make great displays. Apple isn't going to "innovate" there, they'd be buying their displays from somewhere else. As for software, why integrate it into the TV when an Apple TV does just fine? Actually getting a cable subscription to work with a non-cable box device by using CableCard is such a pain in the ass that it would have to be dismissed altogether. We all know that IPTV is the future so unless Apple wants to act like a cable operator (requiring it to acquire deals with studios) or just sell you content from the store, it's not that great a plan.
The last time Jobs tried to convince TV studios to do something was TV show rentals. Two studios signed up and after a year, the experiment failed horribly.
No, in your quest to be funny you missed the point that an ATV remote will also control any Macbook in the vicinity, nothing to do with pairing.
Yeah, I love changing my ATV and my kids' music with one click.
I don't think it will be cheaper. That's not Apple's style. It will be an awesome set.
Apple's style for a very long time has been to meet or beat competitors on price points while making considerably more profit for a comparable HW class.
Yeah, I love changing my ATV and my kids' music with one click.
hah I can see the ad "Control everything. Always."
I wouldn't be in the market for an Apple HDTV. Based upon the rumors, it'd be too costly. I am fine with my simple Samsung HDTV, Comcast box and remote. No complaints and it's not difficult at all.
Dunno about you in particular.
But lots of folks will hear "It is magical. You can't really even understand how great it is until you use it." Then they will go to the Apple Store, get a first-class sales job, and go home with one.
Once Apple announces that they are selling like gangbusters, lots more people will want to jump on the bandwagon. Supply will be limited, increasing the desire among the early adopters. More and more people will buy them, and the rest will increasingly feel left out.
Or, at least, that is how Apple has marketed its new products lately. Maybe they will come up with an even more effective strategy next time around.
Jobs said that the TV will have the simplest user interface you can imagine.
Well, the simplest UI I can imagine is speech. And now, with Siri, Apple are pretty much there.
I still think it a little unlikely that Apple will produce a complete TV set, but if they don't, it certainly won't be because they don't have the technology to do it well.
The simplest user interface could be speech but not necessarily. Once the TV is blaring it may be difficult for Siri to pick up what you are saying. A Siri that doesn't work properly would be the very worst interface. You may be able to interact with Siri on another device, which might reduce this problem somewhat but I don't think an Apple Television would require ownership of and iPhone or similar. An Apple TV would come with a basic remote.
Technology and pricing apart - the success of an Apple branded all in one television would be dependent access to content. If they can create a device which negates the cable box as well as all the other junk yet gives the end user the same amount of choices and flexibility both for now and the future, then maybe. The ability to be future proof is a much more critical feature than for the existing AppleTV because the price for a fully integrated TV set would be so much higher.
Ugh?
Any Apple HDTV would have to be CHEAPER than competitors' models, and I just don't see how that'd happen and keep the usual Apple hardware flair.
And the usual Apple hardware profit margins.
It doesn't need to be cheaper, just BETTER.
No doubt it will have an Apple Remote, which I hate. There is no way on earth they will make a full remote, you will need to use an App and who wants to find their iOS device/ launch an app to change channel.
Most people that have iDevices keep them close. I know my phone is with me 98% of the time. Why? Because it's a phone.
oh and maybe the Apple Remote will distinguish between devices? My MBP listens to the same one as my AppleTV, is there anyway to fix that?
You go to system settings on your computer and I believe it is in the security section to unpair it. A quick Google search would provide the answer for you.
I don't see the benefit of a stand-alone set. Better hookup device to replace a cable box etc yes.
Everything built into a home theatre receiver type device makes better sense to me. M'eh, I'm not 'the crazy one' though.
I own both versions of the Apple TV and enjoy both iterations, but the common denominator for each is that I must hit input on my remote to go from "regular" TV to the Apple TV interface. A whole TV eliminates that. Add in some extra stuff and I'd be a happy camper.
That's computers.
This is television.
Yeah, the computer and mobile phone industries aren't cutthroat at all. Not only is it full of sunshine and roses, but everyone makes a healthy profit. Look at Nokia, RIM, LG, Sony Eriksson and HP. They are just rolling in cash, profits and strippers.
That's computers.
This is television.
Are you saying that to be competitive, an Apple TV would have to be priced similarly to other TVs on the market at a given screen size?
Because as other people have been saying, were Apple to do this I think it's a given that they would pack it with very desirable tech that other TVs lack and charge accordingly. So the real question is what folks would be willing to pay for a lot of ease of use and integration.
Say I'm looking at a $1000 Samsung LCD TV and an Apple TV of the same size that goes for somewhat more. But the Apple TV integrates DVR functionality, iTunes streaming, and iOS apps at the very least (not to mention Netflix and some of the other streaming services typically tacked on to other sets on the market). If it also features Siri voice control I would think that would be worth several hundred dollars in premium to the average consumer.
I've never been very convinced that Apple will actually do this, but if they do I hope they don't just make it look like a huge iMac. I don't think that looks scales well to TV sizes, and the aluminum bezel seem heavy and distracting compared to the average all black or very thin bezeled TVs on the market.
OTOH, my Samsung flatscreen's interface is grotesquely, extravagenlty bad, while managing to integrate poorly with a Samsung blu-ray player with a similarly (although not exactly!) bad UI. Using these products is why I think Samsung's hubris around their status as a CE innovator/leader (because they can slap Android on a lot of products that sell well), is so deeply misplaced and kind of offensive. Left to their own devices their idea of a UI is just shockingly half-assed. If Apple can come in and show them up for the hacks they are that would be all to the better, IMO.
In fact, I wonder if Apple's being pissed at Samsung for their phone look and feel hijinx might not influence their decision to enter the TV market? Cleaning Samsung's clock in one of their core businesses would probably feel pretty sweet in Cupertino, although I admit that Apple typically doesn't roll like that. Still, surely TVs are one of those messed up markets that Apple is attracted to, since there's genuine innovation to be done.
No, in your quest to be funny you missed the point that an ATV remote will also control any Macbook in the vicinity, nothing to do with pairing.
Well, if that search term didn't spring an answer, try this. I may not be hilariously funny, but at least I can work the Internet. http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pair+remote+with+mac
Directional microphones and active noise control.
Actually, since the Apple HDTV would know exactly what is coming through the speakers and the distortion from your room is pretty much static the noise cancellation is going to be damn near perfect.
You wouldn't be able to whisper to it or anything but you could easily speak in your normal voice even when the TV volume is blaring.
Next question?
From a TV that could be 10 or more feet away from the speaker? Speaking to my iPhone up to my ear or with headphone/mic on still has poor results with background noise. Sometimes it's some faint noise that the receiving party claims is quite loud as if I'm holding the mic up to a loudspeaker. Seems to me there is a long way to go before we can truly eliminate unwanted sounds from being processed.
But what if Steve "cracked" it by making the remote control the mic for Siri. You simply press the Siri button and speak into the remote that you hold up to your mouth like your Bob Barker. At a close range you might be able to avoid the noise issue.
I still don't see it. And no article has yet to detail how such a small selection of massive TVs would make logistical sense to Apple's efficient setup.
I am not sure I disagree with you but there are elements to this story that makes this feasible in theory:
- The television broadcast industry is a mess and overly complicated. It is outdated and end users are locked into deals they do not want. There is very little choice involved in terms of programming (its more a choice between the lesser of evils)
- Most televisions are not 'connected' and 'smart'
- T
he additional cables and boxes are 'unsightly' in the broadest sense of the word.The main point being that all of the above would seem to make up one irresistible target for Apple.