Overhauled Apple TV software with enhanced AirPlay coming Sept. 18

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Along with releasing iOS 7 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Apple next week will update its set-top box, the Apple TV, with new software that will offer enhanced AirPlay capabilities.

Apple TV


Details on the incoming update were revealed on Wednesday by AllThingsD, citing people familiar with Apple's plans. The software update is reportedly set to arrive on Wednesday, Sept. 18.

While Apple apparently isn't planning on updating the Apple TV hardware, the company is set to launch an "internal overhaul" that will "tweak" the current AirPlay feature, which allows users to stream content from their iOS device or Mac to the set-top box.

After the update, users will reportedly be able to stream purchased content from the iTunes Store to another person's Apple TV, even if it isn't set up with their Apple ID and password. That media will reportedly be streamed directly from the cloud, rather than requiring a local device.

The tweak gives the Apple TV an ability offered by Google's new Chromecast, a $35 media streaming dongle the search giant launched this summer.

Details on Apple's alleged software updates headed for the Apple TV were first revealed last week, suggesting that the latest version will gain additional channels, content and functionality. Apple has been gradually adding new channels to the device in recent months, with the latest push supplying content from Vevo, Disney, the Weather Channel, and the Smithsonian Channel. Prior to that, in June, Apple added HBO Go, WatchESPN, Sky News, CrunchyRoll, and Qello.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 75
    Ios7 is a continuous surprise... So many new features that weren't mentioned in that hasty keynote.... ???
  • Reply 2 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by racingbull View Post



    Ios7 is a continuous surprise... So many new features that weren't mentioned in that hasty keynote.... ???

     

    It was already fully demo'ed 3 months back at WWDC. Did you missed that?

  • Reply 3 of 75
    This feature is nice of course. Why is it taking them so long to put the apps on this device? It would be great to buy 1 game 1 time and play it across all devices. Even though they do not do this with the Mac yet for the most part it would be great to buy a game and play it anywhere without having to think about it.
  • Reply 4 of 75
    If they're serious about getting iPads in the classroom, they need to enable a web based logon screen for wifi hotspots, and support enterprise security.
  • Reply 5 of 75
    This feature is nice of course. Why is it taking them so long to put the apps on this device? It would be great to buy 1 game 1 time and play it across all devices. Even though they do not do this with the Mac yet for the most part it would be great to buy a game and play it anywhere without having to think about it.

    The difference in user isn't face comes to mind. If devs can create it 'once' for all iOS devices, this would require way more work to have the same application work on the AppleTV or OSX, no?
  • Reply 6 of 75
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    philboogie wrote: »
    The difference in user isn't face comes to mind.

    iOS spell-check? ;)
  • Reply 7 of 75
    gatorguy wrote: »
    philboogie wrote: »
    The difference in user isn't face comes to mind.

    iOS spell-check? ;)

    700
  • Reply 8 of 75
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    philboogie wrote: »
    700

    :snort::
    Note to self: Clean spewed coffee from keyboard
  • Reply 9 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post





    The difference in user isn't face comes to mind. If devs can create it 'once' for all iOS devices, this would require way more work to have the same application work on the AppleTV or OSX, no?

     

    ;-)   (damn autocorrect)

     

    But to your point, Until Apple has controllers for appleTV,  There is only one interface.  The iPhone/iPad.  You then airplay the display to the Apple TV.  That's probably 10 lines of code to every Game App out there (I'm sure more... but it's boilerplate).  

     

    The bigger issue is moving to multiplayer view mode...  That's new code for all the devices... so back to your point, it would be development work... but on all platforms anyway (I could see 2 people with iphones/ipodTs and playing against an iPad as the common display...

  • Reply 10 of 75
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member

    Until they put an app store on it they can shovel it up there A$$

  • Reply 11 of 75

    ;-)   (damn autocorrect)

    But to your point, Until Apple has controllers for appleTV,  There is only one interface.  The iPhone/iPad.  You then airplay the display to the Apple TV.  That's probably 10 lines of code to every Game App out there (I'm sure more... but it's boilerplate).

    Good point!

    OSX would need a serious rewrite though, I presume?

    The bigger issue is moving to multiplayer view mode...  That's new code for all the devices... so back to your point, it would be development work... but on all platforms anyway (I could see 2 people with iphones/ipodTs and playing against an iPad as the common display...

    Well yes, the more complex the games become the more work. But I'm not a dev, so can only think of what makes sense, to me. Maybe multi-user wouldn't take that much more work, fighting games having the same arsenal at each players' disposal, a tennis game should merely swap the POV and keep separate scores. ....putting it very simple here...
  • Reply 12 of 75

    Pretty much given up hope for my ATV3 after this long with nothing happening,  but fingers crossed for a speedy jailbreak and seas0npass update for the ATV2 when this is released...

     

    Until apple open the ATV up to apps where I can legitimately install a UPNP client I'm not giving up XBMC.

  • Reply 13 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Strawberry View Post



    If they're serious about getting iPads in the classroom, they need to enable a web based logon screen for wifi hotspots, and support enterprise security.

    They are.   

     

    Those  'wifi hotspot' (HTTP[s]) web based login pages  are grossly insecure, which is counter to your 'enterprise security' bit (WPA2 Personal minimally, and if personal passwords... then WPA2 Enterprise against your AD/Radius/LDAP services).  You can't have both.

     

    If your school is using a weblogin page for WiFi Login, it's not 'enterprise security').   It's the old 'let's get some grad student to slap up some cheap WiFi' design mode.    My nephew has used an iPad in  Jnr High school for 2 years, and they built out a new infrastructure for the classrooms (new school... built for wireless... very nice), and his only problem was accessing the internet from the college in town (mom worked there), again, a slapped up custom HTTP web login page built on open source routers to federate logins, until they upgraded to WPA2 Enterprise.

     

    If you look at schools as an 'enterprise,'   Look for iOS7 to help there... Lots of provisioning management and 'dual use' (personal/corporate) capabilities.  And in a couple years, the std iPad will have TouchID, and that will effectively make for better overall security in schools and universities.... and enterprises. 

     

     

     

    ToG (Enterprise Security guy by day).

  • Reply 14 of 75
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by herbapou View Post

     

    Until they put an app store on it they can shovel it up there A$$


     

    AirPlay.   If you don't agree with their personal centric model of the iOS ecosystem,  opt out. 

  • Reply 15 of 75
    gatorguy wrote: »
    :snort::
    Note to self: Clean spewed coffee from keyboard

    And get a sippy cup. :lol:
  • Reply 16 of 75
    habihabi Posts: 317member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by herbapou View Post

     

    Until they put an app store on it they can shovel it up there A$$


    My sentiments exactly. It looks like Apple isnt going to make anything out of this "hobby". What a shame...

  • Reply 17 of 75
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TheOtherGeoff View Post

     

     

    AirPlay.   If you don't agree with their personal centric model of the iOS ecosystem,  opt out.


     

     

    Airplay lags and glitches too much for games. It also requires an iOS device or Mac.  If for example a $200 box could do everything natively, its would be better on the performance side and on the cost side.

  • Reply 18 of 75
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post

     
     

    Good point!



    OSX would need a serious rewrite though, I presume?


    Why  Airplay is in there for all apps... and iOS7 (assume that core iOS is in this Sept18 release for aTV) appears to be a pretty big rewrite (64/32bit;-) )?

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PhilBoogie View Post

     
     

    Well yes, the more complex the games become the more work. But I'm not a dev, so can only think of what makes sense, to me. Maybe multi-user wouldn't take that much more work, fighting games having the same arsenal at each players' disposal, a tennis game should merely swap the POV and keep separate scores. ....putting it very simple here...

    Again, it's the shared view.  The big issue is writing the app is creating a 'shared' view.  If it's multi-user over the net now... you are getting updates on your opponents state... Now you just need to generate a shared view that both can display locally

     

    In a local environment... that means using bonjour [or just raw multicast UDP] instead of the cloud for improving performance of the datasharing. 

     

    The way cool airplay rewrite [not a airplay developer.... it may be there] is to have 2 visual views on your local device, personal [PoV 'gunsight'], and global [global spatial], and be able to AirPlay the global one, and have the local screen display PoV, and airplay the other out to the common Display.

     

    That will take some horsepower.... Oh Wait, an A7chip? offloaded motion to an M7 chip.  a 64GB iPad Mini Rd may be a serious player for this.   

     

    NOTE TO ALL THOSE WHO THINK THAT 64BIT ON A MOBILE DEVICE IS A WASTE:  

    64 bit doubles the speed of moving data on the SoC and main buses, and improves your non GPU math accuracy.  And all that 'multi-player' mode... well that really requires multi-processing, and well, 64bit  is a lot faster in supporting those context switches for big data apps

     

  • Reply 19 of 75
    Fully expecting something big coming for Holiday release. Why else would they have released those controller APIs?
  • Reply 20 of 75
    More blah.
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