Apple Hires Amazon Fire TV Head to Spearhead Apple TV Business

[robotica]

They really need to reach out to tv providers In the uk to get their apps on the Apple TV.

I have a fire tv and it is a one stop shop for everything that's airs in the uk.

Where as Apple TV only has iPlayer and the BBC had to be shamed in to actually making the app in the first place.

Get out there and make some deals.....get the content on the boxes.

 

[Bacillus]

Next Apple will hire Amazon's Alexa manager to make Siri usable. Does Apple not have anyone internally anymore or all they all too busy designing Christmas exhibits, attending award ceremonies, and touring furniture manufacturers?

Sorry, question cannot be answered as Tim Cook Visits 'Kitchen Stories' Developers and Furniture Maker Dula on German Trip and Eddy is checking in at Cumbersome hotel, Hollywood

 

[Mildredop]

I fear this could just be too late.
[doublepost=1486555806][/doublepost]

why does anyone want apple to do this?

THEY DO NOT DO SOFTWARE RIGHT!

apple maps
calendar
mail
itunes
icloud
game center
ping
apple tv UI

Please apple focus on hardware.

I'm only still with Apple at all because of their software. OS X, Pages and Numbers are keeping me on a Mac.

 

[62tele]

Might be too late. Apple TV 4 has great potential and was ruined by bad Eddy decisions.

It shouldn't be Eddy's decision to make.
Apple is playing catch up in some regards because it dragged it's feet by apparently insisting on drawing lines in the sand. It became Apple's Maginot line.
Perhaps it would have been better to actually obtain some content first (at lower profits) and then dazzle everyone with a product that people couldn't resist.
As much as I support Apple I still wonder if their senior management hasn't become "fat and happy". That's what many say happened to Microsoft in the Balmer years where Apple and Google did end runs round a lethargic, entrenched MS.

 

[blackcrayon]

4K HDR support PLEASE!

(Before you reply, just because you don't own a 4K HDR TV doesn't mean others don't.)

Agreed, it's time for an Apple TV 5 with an A9 (though an A10 would make it a better mini-console!) and 4K/HDR. And then drop the price of the 4 to $79 to better compete with the others.

 

[ralphdaily]

I have an Amazon Fire TV to watch Amazon originals. It's pretty good. I have an Apple TV also but could live with just the Fire more easily than with just the ATV. Agree that Apple dropped the ball here.

 

[RickInHouston]

Why apple isn't 'killing it' when they have so many users is amazing. They have all their users locked in and still can't get this off the ground. That's just shameful. Hopefully, with the new office building they can put more people on the project to get it past the hobby stage.

 

[DaveOP]

Especially with the huge influx of 4K TV's this past holiday season. For the first time ever, it was easier to find a good deal on 4K vs 1080p. Still disappointed that the most expensive streaming box can't do 4k.

It can, it's called the Nvidia Shield ;D Bought one to have alongside my AppleTV, and LOVE it!

 

[nt5672]

But this doesn't fit in with the whole people are leaving and Apple is doomed narrative.

That only applies to the employees Apple has dumped on for the last few years, the new hires with the big salaries, big offices, and no kinship with Apple's traditional users appear to be treated like royalty.

 

[BeefCake 15]

Do you really think Alexa is better than Siri? For starters it's not even available in most languages.

Siri is way better than Alexa and Google Assistant in many use cases, and generally speaking there's no clear winner in the early AI races.

Honestly, yes Alexa is better than Siri...The issue with Alexa is that Amazon can give 2 crap about privacy unlike Apple. This is the reason why I never bought into Alexa.

 

[Tinmania]

I agree- if I want to watch anything in 4K, I have to switch away from the Apple TV over to the Samsung apps. And a roommate has a non-smart TV, so he can't watch 4K at all unless he hooks up a computer with downloaded files. Ridiculous. 4K isn't that new anymore.

4K is the main reason I didn't get an ATV 4. But I do have two Fire Sticks which are not 4K either. Since I have a data cap I use the Fire Stick when I don't feel 4K matters (for Netflix or Amazon video). I use the TVs' Samsung apps if do want 4K. So in the end I guess I would have been okay with the ATV 4 afterall.




Mike
[doublepost=1486568533][/doublepost]

If everything he touches turns to garbage quickly:

How do you explain him leading creation of the iTunes Store in 2003 which took over the entire music industry and dominated the entire worldwide music sales,,and the App Store in 2008 which now leads the world in revenue, or him moving Apple Music to number 2 in the world from scratch in a short time with billions in revenue? How about Apple Pay zooming past Android Pay and Samsung Pay to number 1 with 75% of the entire US market and exponential growth (he's signing up a million users a week), etc.?

Mrs. Cue wants you to explain them apples.

Yea that Blackberry Pearl was awesome back then too. But it's 2017 now so....



Mike

 

[iMi]

I really like the new Apple TV and have retired all Amazon TV devices. Everything about the Apple TV is better except for the 4K support, but I have developed a bit of a distaste for the digital Walmart that is Amazon and the way they treat employees and suppliers. I won't be renewing Prime and have no interest in the crappy devices they make.

I hope this mentality doesn't move over to Apple with this new hire. That would be (another) disaster.

 

[truthertech]

Mike
[doublepost=1486568533][/doublepost]
Yea that Blackberry Pearl was awesome back then too. But it's 2017 now so....



Mike[/QUOTE]


I guess you didn't read past the first sentence, so let me reprint it, and let's go over his "garbage" in the last year.

"Apple Music to number 2 in the world from scratch in a short time with billions in revenue? How about Apple Pay zooming past Android Pay and Samsung Pay to number 1 with 75% of the entire US market and exponential growth (he's signing up a million users a week), etc.?
[doublepost=1486574084][/doublepost]

What has he done since then? Greatly deserved bragging rights for his retirement party. Pretty clear he and some other top execs have peaked.

First, the claim was that EVERYTHING he touches turns to garbage, so I guess you agree that was nonsense. Then, as for what has he done lately? Well, you have to read to the end where it points out that he has two of the biggest recent successes in his portfolio--Apple Pay which is just killing it, and he got it going from scratch to blow past everyone and has now left industry giants like Samsung Pay and Android Pay in Apple's peels with exponential growth still occurring. And then there's Apple Music which started from zero and tons of competition and in just the past year has become number two in the entire world.

If Apple last year becoming the most valuable company in the world, and setting world records for profits and revenue, and this year breaking that record for most revenue ever in a quarter, and owning the markets for tablets (85% of market for +$200), nearly 100% of the entire cell phone industry profits, owning the Smart Watch market, setting an all time record for App sales, etc. is evidence as you declare "that he and some of the other top execs have peaked", I'd hate to see what you think a company has to do to be considered a success.

 

[mazz0]

They really need to reach out to tv providers In the uk to get their apps on the Apple TV.

I have a fire tv and it is a one stop shop for everything that's airs in the uk.

Where as Apple TV only has iPlayer and the BBC had to be shamed in to actually making the app in the first place.

Get out there and make some deals.....get the content on the boxes.

And even iPlayer doesn't work with Siri.

 

[Since1987]

Unless this guy is bringing Clarkson, Hammond and May with him... it's already too late. Apple's slow roll on everything ( including 4K ) will be their undoing. Amazon and Netflix are the only people creating 4K content.... meanwhile Apple is laser focused on the only thing that matters to Sir Ive... THINNESS !!!

PS. Many Smart TVs have an Amazon APP built in. You don't NEED a Fire Stick or Amazon TV to stream 4K. Just an internet connection. That ship has sailed, Apple. Right now, Apple are the Falcons at the end of the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl.

 

[MH01]

If everything he touches turns to garbage quickly:

How do you explain him leading creation of the iTunes Store in 2003 which took over the entire music industry and dominated the entire worldwide music sales,,and the App Store in 2008 which now leads the world in revenue, or him moving Apple Music to number 2 in the world from scratch in a short time with billions in revenue? How about Apple Pay zooming past Android Pay and Samsung Pay to number 1 with 75% of the entire US market and exponential growth (he's signing up a million users a week), etc.?

Mrs. Cue wants you to explain them apples.

You have never seen a deadwood "yes" man manager get credit for others peoples hard work , while being one of the lads? You make it sound like it was all cue....
[doublepost=1486579692][/doublepost]

Right now, Apple are the Falcons at the end of the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl.

Great anology.

 

[truthertech]

You have never seen a deadwood "yes" man manager get credit for others peoples hard work , while being one of the lads? You make it sound like it was all cue....
[doublepost=1486579692][/doublepost]

Well good, at least you agree that the original poster was wrong when he said "everything Eddy Cue touches turns to garbage." I'm sure he would agree with you that the tremendous success he has had is the result of a good team and he has been very modest and publicly given the team he assembled most of the credit.

 

[639051]

I bought a Roku Premier+ yesterday and while the UI is nowhere near as "pretty" it works better. The remote (on the ATV) is an utter failure, that stupid touch surface dictates the remote MUST be placed back on a table where NOTHING can touch it unless you want to be irritated during the process. Our cats and dog constantly find it (even on the table at times .. cats...) and it interrupts the video (generally pausing it). Oh and the irritating decision to make the TV button on the remote open that stupid TV app (of which I use none of) replaced an otherwise useful function. Now trying to close apps that are wonky is iffy now.

Roku was cheaper, video quality is just as good @ 1080p but this thing will do 4K while the ATV wont. More "apps" (don't game on ATV, therefore I don't care about those), faster, etc etc etc.

 

[Maury]

Here's my list of things the ATV needs to address. Most of these could have been done any time in the last five years, only two of them need anything recent.

1) 4k Support - it just needs this. its one thing for a $99 device to consider tossing it when you get a new $2500 TV. But when the device is $189 and the TV is $500, that's another thing entirely.

2) h265 support - I suspect it's fully capable of this now, and yes I know you can do this in VLC, but the box definitely needs GPU-based h265.

3) MPEG2 support - this might sound crazy, but keep in mind that television signals in north america remain based on this ancient standard (FYI, this is not the case in Europe, where many signals are h264). Adding GPU-based MPEG2 would allow software vendors to play live TV without having to use ffmpeg or VLC, as well as improve performance and power footprint. Programs like Channels (which is amazing BTW) would get smaller and faster.

4) SOME sort of way to connect to files on the computers on the network WITHOUT having to run iTunes on them. This one is really just completely baffling, playing a movie off my Mac is a horrible process.

5) If that file is on my TimeCapsule, just play it from there. Why should my Mac have to be turned on to play a file that's backed up to my TC?

Things that were on my list way too long, but finally addressed:

a) turn off the tv through the ATV
b) control volume through the ATV (although it should still have the option of CEC instead of IR)
c) apps

 

[Tinmania]

4) SOME sort of way to connect to files on the computers on the network WITHOUT having to run iTunes on them. This one is really just completely baffling, playing a movie off my Mac is a horrible process.

5) If that file is on my TimeCapsule, just play it from there. Why should my Mac have to be turned on to play a file that's backed up to my TC?

For number 4 you can always run Plex. Yea it has to be running on a dedicated machine too but I'd personally rather that than the beast iTunes has become.

For number 5 you can use Kodi. I use Kodi for files stored on a NAS or any network share. Plus, it can read my collection of DVD ISOs that are backed up to a network drive. Sure DVD format is getting a little long in the tooth but at least I have them stored in their original format--extras and all.



Mike[/QUOTE]

 

[Glassed Silver]

I just want Prime Video on my Apple TV already...

That and iTunes Match (not Apple Music, well not for me personally at least, go ahead and offer both for all I care) for Amazon's Alexa service.

Cause quite frankly, if Apple's missing the train of home voice assistants for 2 years they better integrate this stuff into established products or hint me at their solution.

Ordered an Amazon Echo Dot today, I'm done waiting for Apple here.

Something something pipeline...

[doublepost=1486586205][/doublepost]

4K HDR support PLEASE!

(Before you reply, just because you don't own a 4K HDR TV doesn't mean others don't.)

A premium device should come with premium features, especially when those premium features can be found in much cheaper competing devices and genuinely make for a better product.

Let's also not forget you have been able to produce 4K content yourself with iPhones yourself for well over a year now.

Otherwise the price increase from previous generations of the Apple TV they considered a "hobby" shouldn't have been as big as it were, especially if you consider the old one had always been on sale somewhere for around 50 bucks being on par or even beating competitors with similar hardware all until the Fire TV Stick which basically trumps the old ATV and adds quite a lot of the necessity features like app support.

And that little sucker is 30 bucks!

Eventually people will start to calculate the TCO of staying in the stalling Apple echo-system vs. Amazon's or Google's that become more capable at a noticable rate and usually are cheaper.

We can talk all about the justifications of staying with Apple and there are fair advantages, however eventually you have to realize that all these guys are competing for market share and continuous income through services, so considering that Apple is doing a piss-poor job because a LOT of folks aren't bothered by Google's or Amazon's disadvantages whether you agree with that or not, gotta keep it real here when comparing PACE. (and if you think about it, that is very important if you're looking at long-term investment of any kind. Go where the ball is headed, not where it is!)

The best Apple experience these days often seems more like mixing and matching third-party apps and services and quite frankly, that's one thing that I left Windows over.

Glassed Silver:win

 

[dan110]

I have a hunch he won't last long at Apple. I believe they hired him with a boat load of cash and promises of making a "difference". But if we look at the state of Apple's current C-Suite, he'll be bogged downed with minutia and ignored while resources are spent on making the iPhone 2 millimeters more thinner. I give him until the end of the 2017.

 

[uwdude]

You have never seen a deadwood "yes" man manager get credit for others peoples hard work , while being one of the lads? You make it sound like it was all cue....
[doublepost=1486579692][/doublepost]

Great anology.

BUT, Tim Cook is Tom Brady, so...who knows how this will end?!

 

[Tech198]

Probably just a coincidence Apple hires from great companies *every single time* I can hardy keep a straight face.

 

[Black Belt]

He and I need to have a talk about the nonexistant ATV Amazon Prime App. He's probably one of the bastards that fought against it to protect his craptastic Fire TV