NEW YORK: Apple’s next big event, the WWDC 2015, is all set to take place on June 8. The Apple TV and a brand new streaming service are the two main rumours that may come true.
Apple TV has been around since 2012 with no significant upgrades. With a $30 US price drop, the company is hinting towards a brand new version and probably a streaming service which might have been years in the making behind the scenes.
The Apple TV box is expected to be a significant overhaul to the present version. Although, 4K resolution is not expected, but the usual full high definition capability may be seen. The lack of content in the 4K arena added with the huge costs associated with 4K streaming with only a handful of households are capable of enjoying were cited as the major reasons for the omission of 4K from the Apple TV. Apple’s latest 64-bit processor A8 chip may power the box and a support for Siri and the full App Store may be seen. A new SDK for developers will be introduced to help get the apps optimised for Apple TV.
The new Apple TV will supposedly ship with a brand new touch based remote control with just one physical button.
It’s also safe to assume that the new Apple TV will offer all the capabilities of the current box. The TV does not support a variety of apps like Amazon Instant and Google Play videos but most of it can be remedied by using Apple’s excellent AirPlay feature. It lets nearly all audio apps and some video apps stream from your iPad or iPhone devices to the TV.
In terms of connectivity, the new Apple TV will support the latest dual-band 802.11 (ac) Wi-Fi but most of it will be very similar to the current version including a single HDMI output, Bluetooth and an Ethernet port.
The pricing for the new Apple TV is anybody’s guess right now. It could be $99 though to compete with the likes of Amazon Fire TV, Roku 3 and Google Nexus Player.
