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Bloomberg: Apple Working on New Apple TV With Integrated HomePod Speaker and FaceTime Camera

Since my TV has the AppleTV App I barely erver use my AppeTV 4K. The big pitty is that I can then no longer use my 2 Homepods for surround.

I wanted to be able to use the 2 HomePods with the AppleTV app and would be completely happy (even better if airplay would allow the TV the SEND sound to the homepods vs just receiving video/sound from apple devices.)

I was looking at moving over to sonos to get a beam with 2X sonos one's for surround but want to stay with apple....

SO: if this is a soundbar that connects over e-arc and allows the homepods to function as surround, im in! If it then also does facetime calls with a camera and additional apps/buitl in appletv thats a nice extra.
 
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HomePod with camera makes sense, considering their competitors have been shipping them for years.

The Apple TV part makes zero sense.
 
Well, if they release a new Apple TV only with the integrated speaker, I will be done buying Apple TV devices.

I have exactly zero interest in smart speakers. I trust Apple more than most, but... no.
 
Aeronauts said:
Most people have a smart TV now with the Apple TV app built in. I don’t think we actually need a separate Apple TV box anymore.
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most people also may have a Playstation 3/4/5, or an XBox 360/SeriesX/Series S ... I'd rather have a separate internet connected device. Specifically if an OS update goes wrong - I can still use my TV for connecting my iPhone using AppleTV etc.

There are limitations on AppleTV App as well.

ELman said:
If you use Fitness Plus, Apple Music, Photos App and most importantly no advertisements in the user interface it's nice to have a separate Apple TV.
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Exacto! I prefer a separate internet connected component from my entire TV. I'm the last of a dying breed and unfortunately I've not found a decent 60/120hz 4K TV that is not 'smart' to purchase upgrading from my 1080p.

So for me no SeriesX or Playstation5. I'm getting the PS4 and will use that for a while.
 
Useless to 99 percent of users, so hopefully this is just some stupidly expensive piece of kit aimed at the truly loyal. Give the rest of us a much cheaper Apple TV dongle with an actual remote control this time.
 
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BaltimoreMediaBlog said:
Most companies are sticking with their streaming subscription oriented options, but free TV in America is on the rise believe it or not and ATSC 3.0 will expand that since the antenna and chips are small enough for cell phones now.
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A number of local stations livestream as well for free, making an ATSC rig unnecessary in many cases. The challenge I've seen is not getting a signal or stream, but getting people to keep changing apps to watch a show. I had Tmobile TV and people kept complaining that there was no CBS, even though we had the ad subscription version CBS app which gave them more content than YouTubeTV, and the total cost was less.

Lemon Olive said:
HomePod with camera makes sense, considering their competitors have been shipping them for years.

The Apple TV part makes zero sense.
Click to expand...

No sure Homepod does as well. Absent a screen to see what is being broadcast it seems a bit useless, at least to me.
 
jlc1978 said:
No sure Homepod does as well. Absent a screen to see what is being broadcast it seems a bit useless, at least to me.
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I assume it has to have a screen.

Unless that is what the "Apple TV" part is supposed to be about, and they expect you to plug it in to your TV. But that sounds awful.
 
Aeronauts said:
Most people have a smart TV now with the Apple TV app built in. I don’t think we actually need a separate Apple TV box anymore.
Click to expand...

Except 90% of SmartTVs are very slow and become unuasalbe after a few years. Apps are Never updated And eventually disappear. Or they are just plain slow and buggy because the TV company internal update process is so painful, developers never bother.

I have a 2017 LG Oled - no Apple TV app.

Also you know that the latest AppleTVs are very capable games consoles and you can add a PS / Xbox controller too.

And the ATV has way more TV streaming apps than any TV on it’s own.
 
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I think this is a ways off, if it ever happens.

Based on nothing but my own little hunch, I'm starting to think Apple is going to drop the ATV entirely.
 
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wanha said:
Granted I've been wrong a couple times in my life (my wife never let's me forget), but this sounds like a weird combination.

1. An Apple TV with a single speaker? Do people not want stereo sound anymore when watching TV?

2. The large HomePods weren't popular because they were considered too expensive. How does throwing in an Apple TV, a screen, and a remote make it any less expensive?

3. Does this combination provide anything unique? We can already do FaceTime calls with our phones, laptops and tablets quite easily. We already have media streamers in all our TVs built in. Many of us already have smart speakers in our homes.

In short, I hope I am wrong again, but I struggle to see the value of this "product".
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1. Could act as a Central speaker. Add more homepod Minis for stereo or full surround sound.
2. It doesn’t mention a screen - this is too be pugged into a TV
3. Huge Screen a family can sit around like the portal TV

With the camera and Mic it could have motion detention For AR like games or other apps. If it has the Depth camera you could do some incredible stuff.
 
dantracht said:
I think this is a ways off, if it ever happens.

Based on nothing but my own little hunch, I'm starting to think Apple is going to drop the ATV entirely.
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Nope it’s Going to bevome a games console / Family hub / Facetime device.

I do suspect they will bring out a cameraless simple ATV dongle for $50. Basically a ATV4K in dongle format.
 
Onelifenofear said:
Nope it’s Going to bevome a games console / Family hub / Facetime device.

I do suspect they will bring out a cameraless simple ATV dongle for $50. Basically a ATV4K in dongle format.
Click to expand...
I sincerely hope you are right, as an updated ATV of any kind is a day one purchase for me.

Having used all of the above, I still prefer ATV to them all.
 
I replaced my Apple TV with a Fire TV Cube recently and every day I consider switching back. I got the fire TV for 4K playback and with the hope that it would make it easier for my mom to switch to streaming With a simple voice command. When it works, it’s great. When it works.

I also have a couple of Roku boxes for extra rooms. Roku is pretty great compared to Fire TV. However, its still not as snappy or as nice as my old Apple TV. If Apple were to make a solid Apple TV soundbar I’d most likely buy it on day one. The inability to update the Apple TV at a faster clip (and at more competitive pricing) is a giant missed opportunity on Apple’s part. It works well, the picture is still fantastic, and it still feels snappy and intuitive. However, Apple has let their competitors catch up a bit and it is harder than ever to recommend an Apple TV over more inexpensive devices, even with all the issues. I hope Apple isn’t going to do something dumb like slap an Apple TV into a Home Pod and instead creates something much more useful for us.
 
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My Apple TV is in my AV closet -- along with the rest of my AV gear -- so something like this would not work for me. I understand that there are a lot of people out there who have their equipment all next to their TV, but I am not one of them.

For this to work, it needs to be the same form factor as a sound bar (Sony, Sonos, etc.) so that it can be placed directly in front of the TV.
 
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jamesjingyi said:
If they basically make a Sonos Beam with an Apple TV built in that uses ARC so you can use it as a soundbar then take my money! Been wanting a beam for a while but this would completely replace it
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Just get the beam. I have one and its one of my better purchases for the TV. I wouldn't wait on Apple or even lock yourself into their environment.
 
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