Apple Reportedly Set to Open Up Apple TV to Third-Party Developers at WWDC

[iSee]

I won't. Not until it supports mkv

The problem is, MKV is a container format.

So supporting MVK, in a general sense, means implementing many, many codecs or at least allowing 3rd parties to implement these codecs.

It ALSO means providing the hardware to run these codecs effectively for common video sources.

That's where this idea breaks down. ATV is probably going to need to be expensive (not to mention bigger) to contain the hardware to run the codecs people might want to use with their mkvs and will either have to write (or port) and support a lot of codecs or open the system to let 3rd parties supply those codecs. I can't see Apple doing either of these.

Edit: more likely, is that various 3rd-party apps will provide partial mkv support, based on codecs already included with ATV.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I would replace my PS3 in a heartbeat but there is one piece of the puzzle that AppleTV cannot fix. What about all those Blu-rays and DVDs I have. I would love if Apple sold an add on Blu-Ray/DVD unit (similar to the external DVD drive for the Macbook Air). Combine Apple TV apps with an iPhone 5 and AirPlay mirroring (especially game play) and we have a sweet solution and a sweet gaming console.

I don't see Apple building an add-on BD player but if they would normalize that USB port so that this SDK rumor could support software + hardware combinations, I'm confident some third party(s) would jump on that one. I suspect the pool of people who would like a "2 birds with one stone" option like this is big enough to motivate a third party to build it.

There is another pool wanting TV to become a DVR too. I don't see Apple building that in either (I think Apple really wants all the media consumption to be iTunes store-based), but it's easy to imagine Elgato jumping on this one with an Elgato app plus a DVR turner option attached to that normalized USB.

My guess: we'll get the long-awaited app store but have to "upgrade" again to another new model down the road for a USB port or two (normalized) and thus hardware add-on options for apps.

 

[WannaGoMac]

Problem is for people who watch a lot of high quality tv cutting the cord is not possible. That is a solution for casual tv viewers not people who watch a lot of varied programming. You can not even watch some of the greatest shows on tv now with a cut cord unless you pirate them. The alternative mish mash of free and pay outlets will waste way more time then necessary.

If you just watch a few shows cord cutting is possible but for the most serious tv viewers it is not an option unless you want to steal shows or go without.

Cord cutting is not going to be viable for average to serious viewers for a while. You can not watch Game of Thrones which is the best show on all of television, unless you steal it. Nobody wants ala cart and untethered programming more than me. However the whole cord cutting concept has morphed into some kind of hipster pseudo reality.

Agree. You also don't save much money. I pay about $35/month for DVR HDTV service, when I add up all the services I need to buy without cable I really don't save anything (hulu, netflix streaming, etc)

 

[Rogifan]

Apple is the only company I know in the tech space that is innovating. They have a clear goal of what they want to do, and focus on it. There is no profit motive, which is ironically, why they are so profitable.

Every other company in the tech space throws a bunch of things at the wall to see what sticks, and only keeps what makes money.

An Apple fan is one who can imagine. You're bullying people who are thinking of new possibilities. That's the exact opposite of a person who dreams big. When Apple does release a product, give a critique then, but to say that DirecTV is the epiphany of television in our lifetimes? Come on!

I'm not bullying; I'm just not into hyperbole and people getting their hopes up bases on rumors only to be let down and then hating on Apple for not realizing their fantasies.

As far as innovation I guess it's how you define it. I'm sure there are othe tech companies that would not agree that Applr is the leader in innovation in the tech space.

 

[bbeagle]

However the whole cord cutting concept has morphed into some kind of hipster pseudo reality.

So we should just give up and bully people who try, or should we support companies with our vision and see if they can give it a go?

 

[50548]

If true, this is WAY bigger news than retina macs. Every network, HBO, movie streaming service, and hulu are going to drop apps immediately.

Absolutely. This might be what SJ meant for "cracking" the TV secret...this news is WAY more important and exciting than ML or iOS6.

 

[kralnor]

They're already on iOS big time.

Now - I'd say this - I don't expect them to change their subscription model yet. That is, to access content, you'll still need to be a subscriber from cable or sat.

I cant wait for these channels to break away and allow people to subscribe independently. Id gladly pay for channels exclusively that i could stream anywhere if i didnt have to also pay for 150 other channels i would never watch.

 

[baleensavage]

It will be interesting to see what Apple does with this. Right now, people use their TVs for two primary things: video (TV or movies) and gaming. With the current AppleTV they could handle various video based apps without much problem. If Apple opens the AppleTV up to gaming, then they are moving into the console gaming system realm and they have some pretty stiff competition there and they would need to up the specs of the box drastically if they want to offer more than just Angry Birds.

There is room for some stuff like internet browsing and social media, but then you run into the input aspect of things. Most TV based Web browsers have been total flops. You either need to have bluetooth capabilities for a full keyboard or some type of touch-screen controller like an iPod or something, which just seems like overkill. The only other option would be if they are going to go the Kinect route and have some type of Siri/camera option, but then they'd need a device with a mic and camera to go on the top of the TV.

 

[KDNYC]

Fantastic! I just got an AT3 so I could easily send content from my computer to my HDTV and turn on English "soft" subtitles in Netflix, which other players cannot do. I find streaming Netflix easier with the AT3 than through my Panasonic's built-in app.

Would love to see a better option for handling and navigating media content, such as Plex. But will Apple even allow this? I want to divorce iTunes.

 

[smithrh]

It's not just the usual apps that we're all anticipating - it's all of the cool stuff no one has even thought of yet.

The number of good iOS developers out there is high. I expect some unexpectedly cool stuff within 6-8 months.

Yes, that parses but I had to think about it for a second!

 

[Yvan256]

Anyone else disappointed that we haven't heard any good rumors about innovation on the printer front?

There's LOTS of innovations on the printer front!

Start by going to http://www.reprap.org and you'll find dozens of new printer models.

 

[chirpie]

You guys were confusing the crap out of me. I lost count of how many people said 8GB of RAM.

Uh, no. 512megs.

I was like, "Why is everyone bagging on 8 gigs of RAM not being enou... ohhhhh."

So yeah, for the sake of my poor little brain, please stop that.

 

[7709876]

I just want to try it out, and opening up my computer to unplug my HDD is a pain. So is it safe to do this on my PC then?

Are you running on a HTPC? I would recommend unplugging your HDD before installing otherwise it may wipe your HDD. (It might not but there is a risk)

If you really don't want to do that you could just run an installation of XBMCbuntu from a persistent live stick. You can install that from your PC and then have a bootable stick you can use with your HTPC.

The reason I went with OpenELEC is it boots in about 10second. It also just boots straight into XBMC without anything else. For something that I want to use as essentially a consumer electronics device I think it is great.

 

[bbeagle]

Problem is for people who watch a lot of high quality tv cutting the cord is not possible. That is a solution for casual tv viewers not people who watch a lot of varied programming. You can not even watch some of the greatest shows on tv now with a cut cord unless you pirate them.

Agreed.

This is similar to the world of music in the 90s with Napster. There was no really easy way back then to obtain many songs without pirating them.

Say, you wanted an old 1970s song, you'd have to scour the record stores to find someone with the CD with the song on it, pay $10-$15 for that CD, bring it home to burn on your computer.

Apple solved this issue. Now, I don't even THINK of pirating a song, when it's so simple and easy to buy it in iTunes.

Apple needs to work on this. If they don't, then Apple TV will still be a niche market.

When I cut the cord, live sports is tough. I can watch the NFL over the air (5 games per week is good enough for me). But for NHL, I have to pirate streams of the games. Apple has this half-solved. I can watch live NHL games by paying for a subscription to NHL Centre Ice, but only out-of-market teams, not my home team.

Apple still needs to solve the live sports issue.

 

[bilbo--baggins]

Biggest news of the decade!

If this turns out to be true this is going to make more difference to me than anything since the iPhone came out.

 

[rmwebs]

About damn time! Jailbreaking has been the only option to make the ATV useful (outside the US its a pretty limited device).

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

It's not just the usual apps that we're all anticipating - it's all of the cool stuff no one has even thought of yet. The number of good iOS developers out there is high. I expect some unexpectedly cool stuff within 6-8 months.

And consider, when the iPhone SDK rolled out, it wasn't that long after the iPhone launched. So there was this relatively small window of time and smallish number of developers to think about what they would build as apps if Apple ever opened it up.

With TV, there's been 5+ years for developers to think about the kinds of apps they would develop. And there are tons of iDevice developers relative to the small pool back then. Put those two together and- like you- I would expect some very impressive stuff to roll out via an TV app store.

 

[rva1]

Yay!!!

you know what this means right? Some developers have already had access to the apple tv sdk and will be present to demo some apps!

 

[ouimetnick]

You guys were confusing the crap out of me. I lost count of how many people said 8GB of RAM.

Uh, no. 512megs.

I was like, "Why is everyone bagging on 8 gigs of RAM not being enou... ohhhhh."

So yeah, for the sake of my poor little brain, please stop that.

I believe it is 256MB.. Although maybe the 3rd gen tv has 512MB?

 

[ufwa]

The problem is, MKV is a container format.

So supporting MVK, in a general sense, means implementing many, many codecs or at least allowing 3rd parties to implement these codecs.

It ALSO means providing the hardware to run these codecs effectively for common video sources.

That's where this idea breaks down. ATV is probably going to need to be expensive (not to mention bigger) to contain the hardware to run the codecs people might want to use with their mkvs and will either have to write (or port) and support a lot of codecs or open the system to let 3rd parties supply those codecs. I can't see Apple doing either of these.

Edit: more likely, is that various 3rd-party apps will provide partial mkv support, based on codecs already included with ATV.

Umm no.

the WDTV Live Streaming goes for only 100 bucks and is able to play a nearly everything thrown at it. I doubt western digital is selling these at a lost.

its size is virtually the same size. 0.3 in taller and only an inch wider. But provides more than what the apple tv does. 2 functional usb ports to play/view off local sources and little a/v jack for those without a tv with hdmi.

Apple can do it, they simply choose not to.

 

[SmileyBlast!]

I wouldn't get your hopes up for that one.

They don't want to pass up the In App Purchases this will permit.
Apple get's 30%. But they all get revenue as well for their content with No Ads to sell.

In fact maybe they could have a free version with no skip ads inserted and then they can get paid from the Ad friendly and Ad averse viewers.

 

[faroZ06]

The coax input days are long gone. Everything is digital now and digitally encrypted. There was an effort called "cable card" aimed at making all cable system video accessible via third party boxes by plugging in a "key" card. However, the industry worked well to insure that THAT solution was painful... at best.

To go where you suggest might be something possible by building in an HDMI IN jack so that a cable box could do the decrypting and then pass the signal out of that box and into the TV. However, there's also a bunch of hoops to jump there too (but it would be the more likely way toward accomplishing what you are suggesting). Basically, the key is that you would need the signal decryption done BEFORE it gets to the TV. Else you would need Apple making deals with all of the cable companies to try to build cable box decrypting INSIDE the box and why would the cable companies want to help Apple replace their cable boxes (usually rented) with one box (to rule them all)?

Digital information IS carried over coax. Antenna TV and cable are both digital. It's annoying to have to switch to another box just to watch TV because your Apple TV can't watch TV, and the other boxes are far below Apple quality.

 

[jzuena]

If we can get some XMBC and Plex action like this on the 1080p Apple TV and not worry about jailbreaking I'll buy 3.

I'm right there as well!

You'll never get XBMC while they still rely on FFmpeg for player, as its open source and will not be allowed as such into Apples ecosystem. You will most likely get Plex though, which is better anyways.

Does Plex understand the myth:// protocol like XBMC does? Because my first gen AppleTV makes a great MythTV front end (for standard definition MPEG2-encoded Myth content) once its patchsticked and XBMC is added.

Plex is a fork of XBMC. Just an FYI.

They don't need to bring out a full XBMC version (or Plex). As long as it can ping a file server, they could have the Mac/PC do the encoding itself.

w00master

A full version would be much preferred in order to allow the aTV to simply stream non-H.264 video from a NAS (or MythTV box), rather than require a computer to transcode it and then re-stream it to the aTV. Even the version 1 box has enough horsepower to at least play standard definition media that isn't in Apple's H.264 format.

not sure if its as good as news as some hope, i dont expect them to start allowing "jailbroken" type channels, look how fast VLC player was pulled from the app store for iOS devices, so i dont expect Plex or XBMC type apps coming to appletv.

I expect things like Weather Channels, Sports Apps(ie ESPN, ScoreMobile) Stocks, Facebook, Twitter,

VLC was pulled at the developers request, not Apple's. One of the developers would not agree to place his portion of the code in a non-GPL license format for the iOS version to allow it to coexist with Apple's license requirements.

Plex is already an iOS App and has been for quite some time. It would fit in PERFECTLY on the Apple TV and the developers of Plex have already stated that they would officially support development of an AppleTV Plex App if they have an SDK from Apple. (The current Plex app for jailbroken Apple TV is a project independent of the Plex guys)

That is just a Plex display client for iOS. All of the heavy work must be done using Plex on a Mac or PC, then the results are streamed to the iOS device.

 

[Dubthedankest]

Question (I apologize if this has been asked already or covered in BGR's article, not much time to read up on previous posts and I try to avoid BGR):

How are they gonna allow apps for an HDTV on a device with only ~8GB of onboard storage?

Will it be streamed?

 

[Illusion986]

But will it blend?