While we’ve heard plenty of rumours around a new Apple TV that’s, you know, actually a TV, it’s always good to hear the info straight from “people familiar with the matter” themselves, via the pages of the trusty Wall Street Journal. And today, they’re saying that the new Apple TV will not only offer voice control, Siri style, but motion control too. Apple Kinect, anyone?
The WSJ reports today that in recent weeks, top Apple executives including iTunes boss Eddy Cue, have been meeting with high-ranking executives at media companies to discuss “their vision for the future of TV”. That, say sources, is a “television that relies on wireless streaming technology to access shows, movies and other content”, that would be able to recognise users across devices, and use AirPlay to let you stop and start content across them.
Further reading
- New Apple TV: Siri will be useless without the shows to back it up
- New Apple TV: Jobs said he’d “cracked it”
- New Apple TV out in time for Olympics
- Apple TV hacks: 10 Siri services we want to see
That’s nothing we haven’t heard before, but according to at least one source, the new Apple TV “would respond to users’ voices and movements,” though Apple indicated to them that this technology might take longer to come to fruition.
We’ve looked at the possibilities Siri voice control could offer a new Apple TV, but movement control is an interesting one. You can already use Kinect to control video services on the Xbox 360 console – has Microsoft’s arch-rival come up with similar tech?
It’s worth pointing out that motion control isn’t alien to Apple. Patent applications over the years reveal it’s constantly toying with the possibilities inside an iPhone, and even an Apple TV. One application unearthed a year and a half ago points to a new Apple TV that use infra-red remote control sensors, like the Ninteno Wii’s motion remote does now.
Would you use motion control in a new Apple TV? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.
