So the big Apple event held on Sept 9 2015 is come and gone, most of you must have been wondering..."why didn't we cover something about this???", well, we are not mobile tech bloggers but more about concepts...design and tech concepts mostly. Frankly, we didn't see anything blowing our heads over for (...not entirely true, thus this post). Something did however catch our attention and we are bringing it to you now.
With the Apple Event came a number of unveiling such as the iPhone 6S and 6S+, a couple of new iPad, software improvements for the iWatch and the soon to be released IOS 9 (...if you really want to know all the juicy details about all these, well, you're online). Among all the unveiling, there it was...the Apple TV 2015 (...Apple TV 2nd edition too if you like).
It's Apple TV, not much fuss eh...you'd say, but lets look a bit into its details. lets outline some of the key-points of the new Apple TV 2015 shall we;
- it connects to your home TV via HDMI (...every TV these days has that port so check).
- connects via ethernet port to the internet to provide content like an iPad.
- it is small and discrete, minimalistic design will blend with your living room or wherever you put it.
- it has a UI and UX very much like a blown out Apple App Store, soothing and easy to navigate (...user interface and user experience, two different things so read up on them).
- the remote control has direct link to use Siri (...Apples Virtual Assistant) for searches, control certain media playback and quite much more. It also has a touch area for easy scrolling, swiping and general navigation.
- it provides rich content streaming services, like YouTube, CNN, Disney, ESPN...and so much more.
- you can rent and watch your favorite movies and TV show (...Avengers 2, Game of Thrones etc)
- not just movies and shows but your music is there with a sort of if not exactly iTunes service.
- now you can also get dedicated games on the Apple TV like you would your iPad and play with your wide screen TV (...ding! ding!! ding!!! we are sold).
- there are thousands of Apps that will be available to install and use, from media streaming, games, educational, sports, creativity, reading and so much more.
- it is not expensive (...knowing how Apple products and the word expensive are usually synonymous, this is good news).
All said and so not done, we think having this device in our homes will bring so much more entertainment and productivity to the table, not just home but also in your office (...private office or staff lounge). We could take online courses through certain apps on a much wider view, watch all our favorite shows without cable TV and certainly not on your laptop or tablet anymore (...those can be saved for more on-the-go work), play all your top-end games like Asphalt, Injustice, Modern Combat, FIFA, Infinity Blade and so on.
The remote bundled with the Apple TV 2015 deserves its own paragraph entirely (...we will only be brief however) as it brings a whole new level of interaction with the Apple TV. Allowing for touch navigation and game controls, it will certainly be improved over time to do things like pinch to zoom and pan (...possibly the next model will include force touch as seen in the new iPhone 6+...at least you should have learnt that much about the new iPhones).
Our thoughts:
We love the updates brought to the new Apple TV, it is quite refreshing and we cannot wait to get one to fully experience it. Yes, it relies a lot on online content and depending on where you are in the world, it could be a bit of a hassle but that too is changing as internet services are getting more affordable and reaching even more areas around the world.
There's the competition, Nexus Player from Google (...yes, Google has theirs, stop living in your cave) which offers very similar content but it appears to lack behind that of Apple right now. A refreshed model though of the Nexus Player should bring some serious competition but for now, the Apple TV 2015 is it. At $150 for the 32GB version and $200 for the 64GB, we say TV could not get any better right now.
well done Apple, and all the best.
P.S- try and read a book every now and then. If books are not your thing, then read intelligent articles/post online at least everyday.
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