Apps for ATV coming this June?

[institute]

Forbes.com has an interesting story on the upcoming Apple developers conference and the possibility of Apple opening up app development on the ATV. Makes sense to me.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthony...-worldwide-developers-conference-and-appletv/

 

[Michael CM1]

He almost seemed to know what he was talking about until claiming that Samsung was "eating Apple's lunch" in the smartphone market. If you're talking US, he's just stupid. If you're talking worldwide, OMG a bunch of cheap-ass phones sell better in markets without subsidies? Check usage stats, son!

Opening up TV would be a great move. I'm guessing a lot of apps that use AirPlay could easily be ported quickly. If game makers figure out a controlling mechanism, look out console market.

 

[waw74]

this same thing comes up before every other apple announcement, think it was WWDC last year, when everyone was 99% positive they were going to release aTV apps.

 

[dnelms]

If you really read the article, he uses GoogleTv and the proposed Amazon box as platforms the ATV is competing against. No where in his article does he mention the Roku, which IMO is the chief competitor to the ATV. At that point I figured he doesn't know a dang thing.

 

[iSee]

Well, he doesn't know a dang thing!

But I hope he's right. ATV apps seem so obvious.

Apple will want to start ATV app development off on the right foot, though.
I don't know what kind of hardware is in the current generation, but apps won't be so interesting in practice if the device is too limited. And Apple surely knows that if they blow it the first time around, they might not get another chance.

So I wonder if they release a significantly more powerful ATV that is required for running third-party apps? But... then they would raise the price... and it's hard for me to see how it could be successful at something like $329. Then again, I didn't think the mini could be successful at $329.

I guess we'll see soon enough. In the end I'm skeptical because Apple could have done this all along but didn't. So what's different that would change their minds? No one is really pointing to any reason for Apple to do this now.

 

[lunaoso]

Well, he doesn't know a dang thing!

But I hope he's right. ATV apps seem so obvious.

Apple will want to start ATV app development off on the right foot, though.
I don't know what kind of hardware is in the current generation, but apps won't be so interesting in practice if the device is too limited. And Apple surely knows that if they blow it the first time around, they might not get another chance.

So I wonder if they release a significantly more powerful ATV that is required for running third-party apps? But... then they would raise the price... and it's hard for me to see how it could be successful at something like $329. Then again, I didn't think the mini could be successful at $329.

I guess we'll see soon enough. In the end I'm skeptical because Apple could have done this all along but didn't. So what's different that would change their minds? No one is really pointing to any reason for Apple to do this now.

I think the current gen is fine for running pretty much anything that will be made. I mean I figure most apps will be along the lines of HBOGo and ESPN, not Angry Birds. You never know though.

 

[institute]

I just think his reasoning based on the two clues in the design of the developer conference logo makes sense. I also think the competition--especially the Roku 3--are getting a bit too good for apple to do nothing at all to the ATV.

 

[APlotdevice]

The more I think about it, the more I believe that it would make more sense for Apple to, instead of releasing apps for the AppleTV itself, add new APIs to iOS that would make it easier for app developers to integrate AirPlay into their iPhone/iPad apps. I mean beyond streaming simple media. For example you could have a fullscreen browser window on your TV, which you could control by swiping your finger across your iPhone screen as though it were a trackpad.

 

[waw74]

look at the aTV apps that exist now, menus with simple artwork thrown in for good measure, and video playback. not much processing involved at all. just need to able to parse a RSS stream
for apple to open this up would be very easy. and most of the work for the developers would be on their servers.

to add games would take a bit more, they would have to add a new controller of some kind. either something like the roku remote, or using your iOS device, but if you're going to do this, why not just use the existing system and airplay from the iOS device.

so in my opinion...
the system for games is already in place, using airplay and another iOS device.

for video playback, like HBO GO, plex, or even time warner. the existing hardware can handle it, just need apple to open the software end of it.

 

[pmcdunnough]

If you really read the article, he uses GoogleTv and the proposed Amazon box as platforms the ATV is competing against. No where in his article does he mention the Roku, which IMO is the chief competitor to the ATV. At that point I figured he doesn't know a dang thing.

I agree. The Roku has done very well and seems to have gotten a lot of things right. Google TV has gone nowhere even if it has some very interesting aspects ( I do have and like the Roku3, ATV3 and Sony GTV).

Few people, if anyone, know what to do with the TV. Apps would make the ATV more interesting to some though it's not clear to me why. It already streams the most popular premium sites and allows for iTunes sharing and AirPlay. Many who want apps seem to just want some way of getting a good reliable mkv player. Gaming is a different thing. The controller is just not obvious.

Philip

 

[andymodem]

I think I'd rather have h.265 support over apps. There's not much I can't do by using apps on my iPad/iPhone and Airplay. Although, having an HBO GO app would certainly be nice on the ATV itself. For me the bigger benefit would be being able to reduce storage requirements further with h.265.