Slash Lane
Apple this week buoyed rumors of a more advanced version of its Apple TV product being under development with a new job listing that seeks an engineering lead to help oversee development of features destined for the much-anticipated overhaul of the platform.
The listing, which turned up on Apple's own jobs listing website Thursday, seeks a qualified engineering manager with a proven track record of technical leadership, delivering consumer products with aggressive schedules.
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.
The call put out by Apple comes on the heels of back-and-forth rumors over whether Apple will use a media event sometime in the next couple of months to, at a bare minimum, discuss plans for an overhaul of Apple TV that would materialize later in the year.
"It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine," Jobs was quoted as saying. "I finally cracked it."
While industry watchers have for years been predicting that Apple would expand its Apple TV device from a niche product into a bustling platform that would reshape the television experience, the company has thus far produced only minor updates to the device through software and processor upgrades — this despite claims made by late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs to official biographer Walter Isaacson that he had "finally cracked" the secret to the future of television.
Rumors that 2013 could finally be the year for Apple's TV revolution received a shot in the arm earlier this week when an analyst for Jefferies Equity Research said he'd heard chatter of a March media event from Apple that could lay the groundwork for a launch later in the year.
Although those rumors were quickly shot down, other analysts — including the well-respected Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray — have since gone on to advise clients that Apple is still likely to introduce an updated version of Apple TV within the next 6 months, with an updated version of its operating system that could serve to 'prime the pump' for the ultimate television.
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22 Comments
Most people agree the full app store would be a killer addition to the Apple TV. I guess Apple's dilema is what to use as a remote. The current remote would be useless for playing games for example. iOS is a touch screen operating system and since you can't touch your TV screen that presents a big hurdle. Using an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad if done in a very clever way might be an option but also presents unique problems. For many apps you need to look at the screen while controlling it but you wouldn't be able to look at your iPad and TV at the same time. Perhaps they would have to do something similar that they did with iPad designed apps. Developers could modify apps specifically to work on an Apple TV. Then have a remote app for your iOS device that is smart enough to see what app you are using on your Apple TV and configures the controls for that app in a way that you don't need to look down often to use it. Personally, I wish they could make a remote along the lines of the PS3 controllers since they are comfortable to hold, very sturdy, hold a charge a long time, and very responsive. But if they bring the whole app store to the Apple TV, figuring out the remote control will be the biggest issue and most important to it's success. They also have the option of doing something like the Microsoft Kinnect or Playstation Eye and I believe there were some patents by Apple for something like this not that long ago. Even if they do that, they will still need something for the couch potatoes as well who don't want to stand for an extended amount of time to play apps.
Two predictions for the next Apple TV hockey puck: 1. No optical drive. Apple is still working hard to stamp out (pun intended) rotating plastic discs forever. They don't want you to play them. They don't want you to burn them. The Apple TV will never have a disc slot. Because Apple wants you to store your wedding videos on your Macs or, better yet, in iCloud. DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are the new floppy. 2. No DVR function. Apple is extending the "no disc burning" beyond plastic. They're working to eliminate home recording of content entirely. And how could they eliminate time-shifting of content? By providing real-time streaming like they've done for iTunes Festival concerts and on-demand playback of recorded content. Been there, done that, and it's all way beyond the proof-of-concept stage now. Eliminating those two features will allow Apple to keep the Apple TV device simple, cheap, and small. An "iCloud receiver" in your living room. There are also several reasons why Apple doesn't actually need to ship a big-screen device (and why it still wouldn't be a "television" per se even if they did.) And there's a lot to be said about the critical role of iAd in Apple's plans for the TV industry. But those are different threads. All in good time.
I agree. There are some categories of games or apps that would initially work well regardless. Driving games for example, if you're merely using the iOS device as a steering wheel during game play and maybe one one quarter of the screen is gas, another brake, and the other two are for weapons or options. It's a bit Wii-mote in that respect. Another thought, didn't Apple file a patent for a haptic feedback through a touch screen? If so, that would be useful in creating more complex controls that could be operated via touch without looking. For apps, the iOS device acts just like a touchpad, which people are already very familiar with using while looking at the screen and adjusting hand/eye coordination and the movement on the touchpad to moving in space on the screen.
If they're just putting out a job posting for this now we won't be seeing anything anytime soon.
I guess the Apple TV will be Steve Job's last swan song since he's "cracked" the user interface.