The Apple TV has to invent

The rumor of a television hit the apple might be the rumor of the coming months / years, much like that of the iPhone during the previous decade. If the first Apple phone was launched in 2007, the first rumors from 2001. It is obvious that Apple is working on such a subject for years. This is a market too large and too strategic to the Apple brand remains away.


The problem is probably even more complex for Apple in this area than the iPhone. It must take into account the different standards and methods used in the world. That alone is a nice puzzle. More importantly, it must be able to convince the mainstream media to follow in his initiative. But they probably did not want to suffer the same fate as the majors or the mobile operators.

When they talk about the iTV, the rumor sites, analysts often lack discernment. For most of them, this is mostly a fusion of the Apple TV and an Apple (read: Apple TV: a rumor too good to be true?) To break into this market both highly competitive and complex, it may be too little for the California Company, if it is to succeed and weigh as it has for several years on the market of mobile telephony.

In another context, such a concept is reminiscent of a device other than the Apple brand was careful not to directly market. This is the ROKR E1, Motorola signed a telephone and offered an interface similar to the iPod at the time. The phone was stamped as being compatible with iTunes. What's interesting also is that at the end of his presentation, Apple has denied this product, and is almost as if it never existed. The unit has also made a nice flop and never imposed. It perfectly illustrated at the time the challenge that was offered to builders to make the phone a truly versatile device. This was the time when cohabiting in our pocket phones, MP3 players and PDAs. The bravest were already using smartphones, but they were far from perfect. At the time, the philosophy room did not believe in a single device capable of anything replaced.

Later, Apple has made no secret that this product, however, was a valuable experience to better understand the world any particular telecom. In other words, if Apple wants to launch his television, it must be competitive, that was the iPhone to other smartphones when it was released. Do not doubt it, it must redefine the uses and rely on one or two technologies "revolutionary". Revolutionary, not so much but how they are used.

With the iPhone, what made the difference is multitouch. And that is handled entirely the smartphone's finger while everyone is persisted in using a stylus on touch devices is to use a keyboard that significantly reduced the size of the screen.

For his television, many imagine that Siri will play an important role. That may be true, but it will not be alone. It is hard to imagine only controlling a TV voice. Many technical constraints make it difficult to consider this hypothesis. By cons, it is hoped that his intelligence is available to the Apple TV. An advanced search engine would allow the user easier access to the content of their choice.

The essential spliced up with Internet

As phones before the iPhone, the problem of the Internet is still unresolved. These two worlds are irreconcilable. And this is probably one of the points which is the most anticipated Apple. Like the Apple TV, it often comes down to a minimalist integration of most popular services of the moment: YouTube, Flickr, Vimeo ... There are probably subject to much better. The integration of social networks is certainly a major issue. 

Regularly on Twitter, listed in the television trends (the most talked about topics on this service). To force the marriage of these two worlds, the notion of apps is also often mentioned. Google was engulfed in this direction. The latest Apple could also be a step in this direction during the Developers Conference (WWDC) which takes place next week (read: Rumor: iPhone plans and an API around the Apple TV ). 

Death of the remote?

With Kinect, Microsoft has shown other ways to interact with their TV screen. One could imagine also simple gestures to communicate with its screen. Assemble the arm would slightly increase the volume while a rightward movement would go on the next channel. It is understood that mere hypotheses.

But they can know where exactly the sinews of war. This is the remote control, which needs to be rethought from top to bottom. The bolder say that Apple needs to ensure its elimination. Without getting wet, it is likely that all those who have managed to make something as complex as a computer, have gone astray.

To be precise, we should also say the remotes. A real hodgepodge that between the TV, the box, the burner ... Just like the iMac, Apple is expected that it offers an all-in-one that includes all key features and much more of different devices that piggyback on our screens: game console, VoD, Internet access...

When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, he presented it as a unit three-in-one: a widescreen iPod with touch controls or the promise of finally being able to watch videos with a mobile terminal, a revolutionary mobile phone, and Internet communication device. 

 Surprisingly, this is when Steve Jobs stated this last feature that the applause was the least fed. Yet it was perhaps the biggest change for the iPhone. If we take the approach of Steve Jobs to the iPhone, that would be an iTV? A TV while a (game console, integration of the Internet), an intelligent display which greatly extends the scope of use of a TV and that the closer a tool in some aspects and ease of use without such.

An object to redefine

The TV in recent years has occupied a central place in our homes. But more than ever, its dominance is threatened by the various screens that Apple and its competitors have invented in recent decades and put in the hands of users, the microcomputer to the tablet via smartphones and other handheld consoles ...

Its decline, the machine must also to a certain stagnation. The object itself has hardly changed finally, in 2012 the TV is thinner than it was twenty years ago, offers better picture quality and better sound, but they are always so stupid and actually rather unsophisticated. Imagine an Apple II in an iMac, it's just that ...

More than a TV, what Apple has to invent, it is the smart screen, this screen as often found in futuristic videos, including those of Corning. A screen on which the different people of a home can exchange information, consult the schedule of each other, remember tasks to do ... A screen to be able to communicate and conduct video conferences ... In short, be the center of a digital home ... 

 This is probably what will inspire everyday people to share their TV against a again. and if Apple or someone else manages to develop such an object, it's a safe bet that it is not confined to the living room, it might be interesting in a kitchen or bedroom. A considerable market opens to that or those who manage to find the right formula.