At last week's Worldwide Developers Conference, we half expected Apple to take the wraps off a fourth-gen Apple TV device. It would, according to reports and rumors, pack improved hardware and gaming support, but like the teased prospect of other new hardware being announced at WWDC, it did not materialize.
Apple likes to tout its iOS range as advocates of productivity as well as simply entertainment, and with new indication of the company offering peer-to-peer AirPlay with iOS 8 and Apple TV, that claim may soon hold even more legitimacy. Apparently, the new infrastructure will allow owners of iOS 8 devices to stream and broadcast to a host's Apple TV without being connected to the same network, which deals with a common issue related to complicated enterprise networks in which the host often doesn't play ball.
Given that Apple overhauled the design language of its mobile platform with iOS 7, it is reckoned that OS X, its desktop counterpart, will be treated to a similar makeover later this year. According to a new report, OS X 10.10 will be the central software announcement made at this year's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2014) in June, with Apple supposedly keen to peddle the significant alterations being made to the Mac software.
There's been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about what Apple will announce during this year's WWDC in San Francisco. Apple's annual developer meet and greet will undoubtedly feature an early iOS 8 reveal, giving us all a chance to see what the future of iOS holds.
Amazon’s Fire TV arrived with a bunch of bells and whistles, with the company proudly advertising a number of never-seen-before features for its latest gadget. One such highlight was the voice search capability, allowing a user to speak in the small mic hidden in the Fire TV’s remote control and search using natural speech instead of having to fiddle around with repetitive typing on a rather inconvenient mechanism that the TV remote’s buttons offer. However, did you know that if you own an Apple TV and an iOS device (even if it’s just an iPod touch), you can use the same level of voice search for your fruit-company gadget, too?
Apple TV, as has been demonstrated over the past year through various software updates and the introduction of multiple new streaming channels, is much more to its Cupertino-based maker than a "hobby" - a word that Tim Cook used to describe the little black box back when he was COO. But while new content partners, from Red Bull to Crackle, have been aplenty, the set-top's software hasn't really been improved for a couple of years, and one of the key features it lacks at the moment is notifications. This may be all about to change, though, and with Apple TV users having been notified of certain artists performing live shows at this week's iTunes Festival, we may just have our first glimpse of Apple TV notifications.
Amid the well-publicized release of iOS 7.1 today, Apple has also dropped a noteworthy bump to the firmware of Apple TV, bringing the version number up to iOS 6.1. The marquee feature of the update is the new-found ability to hide channels, and we've got the rest of the important details right here.
Throughout 2013 and for the first few weeks of this year, Apple has been actively updating and improving the range of content available through Apple TV. The once-forgotten set-top has, it would seem, become a priority of Tim Cook's company after years in obscurity, and, incidentally, some time after Cook himself described the little black box as a mere "hobby." Nowadays, the future couldn't look brighter for the compact entertainment device, and right now, Apple is running a promotion offering $25 of iTunes credit with each new purchase through its Retail Stores as well as online, as pointed out first by 9to5Mac.
The Apple TV roster seems to grow by the week, and if you're a music fan - specifically, a Beatles fan - then you'll be more than a bit excited by the Cupertino set-top box's latest acquisition. To mark the 50th anniversary of the iconic British group's Stateside debut, Apple has added a Beatles channel to Apple TV, and provides access to an array of content tailored to the most widely-recognized band of all time.
The fortunes of Apple TV have completely transformed during the past year or so, with the Cupertino's set-top box having been dragged from relative obscurity to now being a serious contender in the battle for supremacy in the ever-evolving TV market. Speaking of battles, it looks like Apple TV users will have plenty to look forward to, with today's news that the World Wrestling Entertainment Network Channel will be joining its roster from the 24th of this month. Details after the break.
