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TECHNOLOGY A23
Friday 30 October 2015
Review: Apple TV brings iPhone-like apps to the big screen
ANICK JESDANUN quickly. As long as I enun-
AP Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — It turns ciated clearly, results were
out that Apple’s stream-
ing-TV box — aptly named mostly satisfactory. Apple
Apple TV — isn’t just for
streaming anymore. Its lat- TV’s version of Siri, howev-
est incarnation, which ships
this week, offers on the big er, won’t handle general
screen just about anything
you could previously only Web searches.
do on an iPhone or iPad.
Whether that’s good may Apple TV catches up with
depend on whether you
really want to buy shoes, rivals in enabling games.
browse home listings or
read comic books on your The remote has sensors that
TV. The new Apple TV looks
to be a capable device for let you navigate space-
those purposes, although
it’s not flawless. Its stream- ships and swing baseball
ing-TV features also trump
those of its predecessor. bats by moving it around.
The new Apple TV will set
you back $149, or $199 for But a bigger potential lies
a version with extra stor-
age. Apple will still sell the in bringing other apps to
old version for $69. Neither
requires an iPhone or iPad, the big screen.
although either iDevice
can simplify the Apple TV You can browse home to
setup process.
___ buy through Zillow and
THE BASICS
Apple TV has been a de- places to stay on vacation
pendable streamer, but
until now its repertoire was through Airbnb. Images on
limited to a few dozen ser-
vices. Sure, these included the big TV gave me a bet-
Netflix, Hulu and HBO. But
Apple didn’t let you add In this Sept. 9, 2015 file photo, Michelle Peluso with Gilt, discusses how apps like hers will be made ter sense of these proper-
other channels — say, available on the Apple TV during an event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
competitive videogame ties than phone browsing
play from Twitch.tv — on Associated Press
your own. would. You can also shop
That’s all changed. The
new Apple TV features an through Gilt and QVC.
iPhone-like app store that
lets you choose your own should be plenty for most vices, including Google’s back by asking Siri to re- ___
streaming services. And people. Video enthusi- YouTube, are expected on wind 45 seconds or jump
it’s no longer pushy about asts may complain that it the Apple TV. ahead five minutes, though ROOM TO GROW
steering you to iTunes and doesn’t support a higher- ___ some services won’t let you
other Apple services. You quality video standard INNOVATIONS forward past commercials. Apple still needs to per-
can easily customize the called ultra-high defini- The new Apple TV enables Saying “What did she say?”
home screen with your fa- tion or 4K, as several other voice searches using the will rewind video 15 sec- suade developers to make
vorites. streaming boxes do. But Siri virtual assistant. Request onds and briefly turn on
Video quality on the new there aren’t many 4K TVs “Seinfeld” or Jennifer Law- closed captioning, when more apps that really ex-
Apple TV maxes out at or much programming for rence, and Apple TV will available. It works fully with
full high definition, known them available yet. look through catalogs for iTunes for now, but the ploit the larger, and often
technically as 1080p. That The Apple TV remote iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, HBO closed-captioning part
doesn’t have a head- and Showtime, with more doesn’t work with all third- shared, TV screen. Many
phone jack, which other to come. You can even ask party services yet.
streaming devices like the for “good documentaries — You can ask Siri for a spe- of the apps now available
Roku 3 and 4 and the Nvid- to watch.” cific episode, such as the
ia Shield offer to spare your Although similar capabili- “How I Met Your Mother” are limited to one user pro-
family and roommates late ties are available on other episode with Katie Holmes.
at night. It can be tricky do- devices, Apple TV goes fur- Guest stars tend to trip up file or account, making
ing chores with a remote ther in a few ways: rival devices.
dangling from your head- — The remote replaces tra- ___BEYOND STREAMING them difficult for others to
phone cords. What Apple ditional rewind and forward Siri offers weather, stocks
TV offers instead is support buttons with a laptop-style and sports information. use.It would also be nice
for Bluetooth wireless head- trackpad. By sliding left It was great for tracking
phones — sold separately, and right, you control play- Tuesday’s World Series for Apple TV to work better
of course, by Apple and back and navigate the opener without watching
others. on-screen keyboard more the game. This feature isn’t with payment services. You
It’s not yet clear whether quickly. Sliding down gets unique to Apple TV, but un-
you’ll be able to stream you settings and show de- like the competition, Apple can easily buy videos and
video from Amazon and tails, when available. The TV feeds you info without
Google Play. Both com- remote also lets you control interrupting your video by games with your iTunes
panies have competing the TV’s power and volume sliding up results from the
video stores, and one stick- directly, something I’ve bottom of the screen. account, but non-digital
ing point could be the cut seen only with TiVo video I had to rephrase or repeat
Apple takes on in-app digi- players. my questions a few times, products are another story.
tal sales. Other major ser- — You can control play- especially if I was speaking
Airbnb, for instance, will
let you “favorite” places
to stay, but you’ll need
a phone or computer to
book a room. It’s not ex-
actly the relaxed, couch-
potato experience you ex-
pect from TV.
Generally speaking,
though, the new Apple TV
has taken an important
first step into a broader
world. Plenty of devices
do video and games well.
With a new range of non-
streaming apps, Apple
has an opportunity to do
much more than that.q
