Apple, Apple TV, News/Rumors

Apple’s 4K Ultra HD TV for either this year or early next

According to Digitimes, Apple is developing a TV with a display of 4K UHD resolution. 4K is a video with extremely high resolution, when UHD TV is an ultra-definition television (Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV), that includes 4K UHDTV (2160p) and 8K UHDTV (4320p), two digital formats . Such innovation is expected to debut either later this year or in early 2014. A new product is going to be called “iTV,” and will require a 3840 x 2160 panel in the TV with display of 3,840-by-2,160 pixel. It’ll be connective with Internet, controlled by voice and will respond to motion.

Consumers have already seen 4K panels from TV manufacturers like LG and Samsung, though the prices were inaccessible for ordinary customer.

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The first high-resolution displays from Apple are expected to release in 2013, as the publication mentioned. Besides, it’ll be a perfect chance to meet demand from Chinese manufactures.
Apple and its partner Foxconn are on their way to the mass production of UHDTVs.  Apple has its own display suppliers, who are mainly worked with components for the iPad, iPhone and other devices, nevertheless the company in Cupertino received instruction to find a safe supplier.

Apple TV, News/Rumors

Apple TV in Aloft Hotel

The trendy Aloft Hotel in Cupertino, which is only two blocks from Apple headquarters, set Apple TV in each of the 123 rooms. Hotel guests can get access to TV shows and movies using the Apple TV, as well as to Netflix and Hulu. Apple TV set-top boxes at Aloft allow access to the front desk and receive important information.

Aloft Cupertino – the first hotel with an Apple TV in all rooms. Guests can choose from thousands of movies and TV shows in iTunes, connect to Netflix for movies, Hulu for TV shows, MLB.com, sports, and more. Apple TV-enabled Airplay, also allows guests to play videos, view photos and listen to music from any iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch – directly to your 42-inch LCD television set in the room.
In the lobby, guests can access the «Cool Concierge” service, by which they can obtain information about hotel services, including room service, spa brochures, restaurant menus, shopping catalogs, maps and city guides, phone numbers.
Beginning in March, the hotel also offers a “smart race,” which allows guests to bypass the front desk and go straight to their rooms using radiofrequency ID (RFID).

Aloft-Room

Apple TV console can be customized with Itunes accounts from anywhere in the country and removed after each use to allow guests to access their accounts Itunes.

While Apple TV, often referred to as Apple’s “hobby” project due to lack of popularity, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that more than two million units were sold in the 1st quarter of 2013, that’s an increase of 60%. Cook also confirmed that the Apple TV is an area of ​​intense interest to Apple, saying:

“I am inclined to believe that there is much we can assist in this area, and we continue to pull the string and see where it leads us.”

Apple TV recently received slight update, added a smaller A5 chip in the device, but Apple rumored to be working on a more significant update, which can range from improved content and inclusion of third-party applications.

Apple TV, News/Rumors

Tweaked Apple TV uses Die-Shrunk A5 and not A5X

Back in late January, an update to the Apple TV software revealed a new “AppleTV3,2″, with FCC documents for the device showing up the following day. By digging into the software files for this new device, it was discovered that the device appeared to be using an A5X chip rather than the single-core A5 chip found in the third-generation Apple TV.
This conclusion was based on the chip carrying an identifier of S5L8947 compared to the S5L8945 seen on the original A5X. A similar move was made when Apple rolled out a die shrink of the A5 in the third-generation Apple TV last year, shifting from the original S5L8940 to the smaller S5L8942.

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According to Apple, this latest Apple TV update was designed to be invisible to users, offering no changes in features. Apple’s tweaked third-generation Apple TV, which carries a part number of A1469 compared to an A1427 part number for the original version, has now begun making its way into Apple’s retail store stocks, and we have purchased one and cracked it open to examine its internals.
Most notably, the tweaked third-generation Apple TV does not contain an A5X chip. Instead, it contains an A5 chip like its predecessor, although the new chip is considerably smaller than the previous one. The original A5 chip introduced in 2011 for the iPad 2 was built on a 45-nanometer process, measuring 10.09 mm by 12.15 mm, while the first die-shrunk A5 introduced in 2012 for the third-generation Apple TV and the tweaked iPad 2 measured 41% smaller at 8.19 mm by 8.68 mm.
This new A5 found in the tweaked third-generation Apple TV is considerably smaller still, with our measurements putting the chip at just 6 mm by 6 mm. We do not know for sure what Apple is using to produce this even smaller A5, but it is very possible that the company is piloting a 28-nanometer process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for this new chip. Such a move would be a major development, making this A5 the first iOS device processor to be manufactured by a company other than Samsung. Samsung is also moving to a 28-nanometer process for its fab in Austin, Texas where it produces chips for Apple, but the facility will reportedly not be ready for mass production at that scale until late this year. TSMC has been rumored to be coming on board for A6X chip production for the current iPad, as well as for future chips using even smaller processes.

Apple TV, News/Rumors

Apple TV a threat to Mobile Carriers?

Apple is likely to gain access to China Mobile’s network later this year with their iPhone 6. In 2011 China Mobile stated that “We discussed this issue with Apple. We hope Apple will produce a new iPhone with TD-LTE. We have already got a positive answer from Apple.” In January we reported that China Mobile admitted to having a confidentiality agreement with Apple and reiterated that Apple had been secretly working with China Mobile for some time. The good news is that Apple’s iPhone 6 will likely debut on China Mobile’s network. The bad news is that China Mobile made it clear at a keynote at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress event, that Apple TV the set top box, is a threat to carriers piping.

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The following is a rough translation of a Tencent report that was posted today in China. Although it’s a rough translation, you’re still able to get the gist of what China Mobile’s Chairman Xi Guohua is stating:
“The current operators are also facing two levels of competition. On the one hand, further intense the homogeneous competition between operators around the stock market increasingly fierce competition. Mobile Internet era Google and Apple content providers to grow rapidly as the representative of the OTT (commonly known as the Internet TV set-top box) as a strong opponent of the operators and its serious impact on traditional business operators to gobble up a lot of traffic and profits of the operators and carriers “pipping”. The crisis increasing; the communications industry is heading for the OTT era.”
Yet China Mobile also has a motive to wanting to fight Apple in respect to Apple TV and more importantly iTunes. The Tencent report also revealed that China Mobile had recently “launched mobile application store (Mobile Market), has become the world’s largest Chinese software application store, the total amount of all kinds of applications on the platform more than 1.57 million, the total download volume of 1.92 billion.” More than likely this was and is one of the key points that China Mobile is ironing out with Apple and unfortunately we’ll never know the full answer to that due to iron clad confidentiality agreements that are in place.

Apple, Apple TV

Apple TV launched in India

One year since the inception of the Apple TV in the United States, the company has finally introduced the same product in the Indian market. While doing this, the company announced its search for ideal partners who will broadcast material through the gadget straight to the television devices.

Reports indicate that the TV had been introduced to the company’s Indian online store. Through the reports attributed to its local representative, the company pointed out that they are in an advanced search for a partner who can stream Indian content to allow the local customers an easy access to their services through the small set-top box. The services are similar to those offered by Hulu Plus and Netflix.

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The new streaming box is to compete with other some other notable HD media player such as WD Live HD and Asus O! Play Mini among others that are already in existence within the Indian market. Retailing at $146, the new gadget is expected to make major inroads especially taking into account that the media player segment has not established a major following in the Indian market.

Apple has been making tremendous progress in India with sales rising tremendously by more than 400pc. This can be attributed to the company’s aggressiveness in advertising and marketing strategies.

 

 

Apple, Apple TV, News/Rumors

Apple looking for An Engineering Manager

Recently there have been a lot of rumors that Apple wants to perfect the Apple TV and possibly add more apps and a developer SDK.
Thus, this time a notable job posted by Apple relates to the future of Apple TV: the company is looking for a new engineering manager to help oversee the next-generation Apple TV.The listing appeared on Apple’s website on Thursday, and is looking for someone who can help work on cross functional teams, representing Apple TV across Apple. If Apple’s letting this person work with multiple teams, it’s probably an important position for a big update.

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The creator of the Xbox even thinks Apple can squash Microsoft’s console if it wants to.
“The Apple TV team is looking for an experienced engineering manager to help deliver the next generation features for Apple TV. Bring your creative energy and engineering discipline, and help us bring the Apple experience to the Living Room.”

Even Tim Cook expressed the idea that Apple is extremely interested in the TV space. Let’s hope that we’ll see a big update to the Apple TV at some point this year, but with job postings like this showing that Apple is still working on it, we doubt anything will come out in March or April.

Apple, Apple TV, News/Rumors

Gabe Newell:”Apple is biggest threat in future of living room gaming”

In a talk at the University of Texas covered by Polygon, Newell, Valve cofounder and software engineer,  said that the Apple TV remains somewhat of a dark horse in comparison to Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, but Newell said the market is about to change, trending toward cheaper hardware that can integrate with a user’s PC.

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Nowadays Gabe Newell is is working on creating a new era of open-source gaming with the Steam Box project, sees the proliferation of the Apple TV as more of a threat than console giants Sony and Microsoft.
“The biggest challenge, I don’t think is from the consoles,” Newell said. “I think the biggest challenge is that Apple moves on the living room before the PC industry sort of gets its act together.”
It’s supposed that Apple will release a refreshed version of the set-top streamer soon with a Broadcom wireless chip that supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Unfortunatly currentl Apple TV does not officially support gaming apps and lacks the hardware necessary to run such software effectively.

Apple, Apple TV, News/Rumors

The Future of Apple TV

In fact Apple TV has taken on more importance for CEO Tim Cook who in his speach on Wensdey Q1 earnings call was dancing around this question.

The company said in October that it sold 5.3 million Apple TV set-top boxes in 2012. The device connects Web videos and other media to the traditional television, but it isn’t a full blown substitute for TV.

“We sold more last quarter than we did ever before,” Cook said .

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Shipments for the Apple TV video-streaming box totaled 2 million units during the first quarter of 2013, growing by more than 60 percent year over year.

Cook has expressed dismay with the current TV watching experience. In an interview with NBC News last year, he said that when he turns on the TV, he feels like he has “gone backwards in time by 20 to 30 years.”

During the earnings call, a financial analyst asked Cook about the importance of Apple TV to the company, and whether a TV set was under development. Everything that Cook could answer was: “What was once a product for a niche audience now has a “much larger number that love it.The TV area is of a lot of interest to Apple”.

“I tend to believe that there is a lot we can contribute to this space,” Cook said. “I don’t want to be more specific.”

Apple TV, News/Rumors

The New Apple TV

Apple’s official site describes it as being a tiny entertainment powerhouse that embeds data from iTunes, Netflix, YouTube and your favorite sports leagues on your widescreen TV.

With Apple TV one can experience endless access at entertainment with HD movies and TV shows with 1080P video. What captured our attention was the fact that there is access to content in the cloud, having the possibility of downloading and watching movies that have been already purchased.

The new device does not lack features like AirPlay that allows the user to watch whatever he has on his iPhone, iPod touch or iPad straight on the widescreen TV via Apple TV. The screen of the iPad or iPhone 4S can be displayed on the HDTV thanks to AirPlay Mirroring. Also experience everything that is happening on the iPad to your widescreen, even things like tapping, swipping, pinching and playing games.

The new Apple TV has kept its price at $99 and it’s not available yet but those that wish to possess one can pre-order it on Apple.com.

 

Apple TV, iPad 3, News/Rumors

Last steps till the expected launch of the iPad 3 at Yerba Buena

The most expected event that would take place on 7 March is Apple’s shot in introducing the latest generation of the iPad. We talked about its release in a previous article and also statements of a cheaper 8 GB iPad 2 and a new Apple TV.

Preparations on the last minute include the huge banners on the building walls as to highlight Apple’s launch of gadgets at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. So get set for an outstanding event that is expected to take place on 7 March at 10 a.m. PDT.