Apple Television Set: My Thoughts
If you have been reading any tech sites, you've probably seen rumors of an actual Apple Television set. Now, this may sound crazy to some, but if Apple go about it the correct way, they could have a winner on their hands. Here are my thoughts.
Design:
In classic Apple fashion, it has to be thin yet a decent build quality. I'd like to see a brushed black metal or a glossy black finish to it, along with touch sensitive buttons either on the side or the top. I'm hoping for a range in screen size, such as; 42", 48" and 52". The screen should be either LCD or LED and the consumer should be able to choose between a glossy or matte display. The bezel around the device should be as thin as possible to allow more area for screen.
Features:
I would love to see more features put into the Apple TV OS. The possibly of an app store so users can play games and share how much they "heart" various things on their favourite social networking sites. Saying this, I do hope Apple develop the Apple TV OS further so it can compete with rivals like, Google TV and Roku. Hopefully Apple do not join the 3D boat and incorporate it in the set, 3D just isn't ready for the consumer market in my opinion. Thunderbolt should most certainly be a main port in the Apple Television, being able to hook it up to a thunderbolt enabled hard drive or transfer media from a Mac computer, then again, with iCloud, wired transfer may be a thing of the past. WiFi is an obvious feature, and i'd love to see the Apple Remote use a Blue tooth connection rather than the infa-red sensor. A better processor, such as the A5 or future A6 would be an obvious upgrade, seeing it would handle video and downloads a lot better.
It would be a very sensible move for Apple to go through with this. The Apple TV never caught on, if they stopped production of it and just made the full television set, that would me a smart move. With company's like Google doing this, it would be direct competition with Apple.
Let me know your thoughts on what you want in an Apple television set.
Thomas Dickinson Aug 17, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Reader Comments (3)
"The Apple TV never caught on" That's not entirely true. It may not have reached the heights the iPad or iPhone did, but they sold 2 million Apple TV's between September 2010 and April 2011. Not bad for a product Apple still considers a 'hobby'
However, I do think you're right. I think Apple has big plans for the TV market. To a lot of people that might seem crazy but go back a few years, people never thought Apple could take on the giant Nokia with a phone and beat them. Well they have. Same with the tablet, I remember people laughing at the thought of them making a tablet and being successful. The last year tells you all you need to know about that. So it's definitely possible they will make a television set or something along those lines.
Jobs himself said "the problem with TV right now is a "go to market" issue. He stated that people do not want yet another box underneath their TV. So the question is...how do we remove the need for a box underneath the TV, how do we integrate the TV better into the networked homes of today? How do we manage the content effectively?"
I believe Apple is well poised to deliver an outstanding product in this category. The market is ripe and people are willing to pay a premium for Apple products as long as they simplify yet deliver great forward leaning features.Great post!
I would like an Apple TV that is the centre of were I get my multimedia. I.e My TV shows, Movies, Podcasts, Music etc... is were I listen or watch my favourite things. It could also be linked my work computer either in my house If I work at home, or at work. So then my friends could be like "Did you see that latest episode of Torchwood or Glee" and I can be like "No, but I will get it through iTunes" and it will sync with my iTunes and it will be available when I get in.
Also I would like the design to be good, like a Bang & Olufsen sort of deal.
I actually don't like the idea of Apple creating their own TV set as there are a lot of other brands who have had years of experience in the business. Some even hold patents to better video processing etc... But having a choice isn't so bad. In the end, I'll stick with an Apple TV box and use it on other TV set's. If they do make one, they need to implement Local Backlight dimming but that would sacrifice on it's thickness and price.