At this week’s Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Apple CEO Cook discussed a variety of topics, including the next gen Apple TV. He says it will go on sale Monday, Oct. 26, and ship later in the week. It will cost US$149 for a 32GB model and $199 for a 64GB version.
The new Apple TV features the Apple-designed A8 chip for even better performance. Its operating system (tvOS) supports key iOS technologies including Metal, for detailed graphics, complex visual effects and Game Center, to play and share games with friends.
The new Siri Remote lets you use a glass touch surface that handles both small, accurate movements as well as big, sweeping ones, according to Apple. Developers can take advantage of the built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, and the touch surface on the Siri Remote to create games and other app experiences that have never been seen on TV before.
With Siri, you can use your voice to search TV shows and movies by title, genre, cast, crew, rating or popularity by speaking things such as “Find the best funny movies from the ‘80s,” “Find movies with Jason Bateman” and “Find popular TV shows for kids.” Apple TV will search iTunes and popular apps from Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Showtime, displaying all the ways the resulting TV shows and movies can be played. Siri also offers playback control and on-screen navigation, as well as quick access to sports, stock and weather information.
During the Wall Street Journal Digital Live conference, Cook said he feels that consumers are done with what he called “linear TV” (cable and broadcast television). Apps or “channels” that offer content on-demand,”are the foundation of the future of TV, he added.
During the interview, Cook also noted that:
- There are now 6.5 million paying Apple Music customers, and 15 million total subscribers.
- Regarding the Apple Watch: “We shipped a lot the first quarter, then last quarter we shipped even more. I can predict this quarter we will ship even more.”
- Regarding cars: Apple is focused on its CarPlay platform, but “when I look at the automobile, what I see is that software becomes an increasingly important part of the car of the future. You see that autonomous driving becomes much more important. It seems like there will be massive change in that industry. We want people to have an iPhone experience in their car. We look at a lot of things. Our model is to reduce that list to a few. We will see what we do in the future. I do think that industry is at an inflection point for massive change, not just evolutionary change.”
- Regarding Steve Jobs and Apple’s vision: ““Steve formed Apple to change the world. This was his vision. He wanted to give technology down to everyone and empower everyone to use it. He wanted to take it out of the glass house, the corporations, the rich people that had the technology. That is still our drive.”
- Regarding the iPhone: the iPhone Upgrade Program is for folks who want to have the latest Apple smartphone model and isn’t intended to work like the typical installment plan that wireless carriers offer.
