Touchscreen Remote for Apple TV?

[ajones46]

Could this be the iPod Stick?

 

[distortedloop]

That's not true. I actually bought the Apple TV before I got an iPhone just to see my iTunes content on a larger screen. At the time, the best you could get via A/V out from an iPod was composite 480i video.

As did I, but you misunderstood me, or I wasn't clear. I meant the target audience for an AppleTV touchscreen controller is AppleTV owners, who most likely already have an iPhone or iPod touch. I bought my AppleTV before having either, but that's because I bought my AppleTV the day it was released, and iPhone wasn't out yet.

I'd be curious how many people that actually own an AppleTV don't own either an iPhone or iPod. I think it will be a very small minority.

Uhmm.. yeah right. And iPhone is nothing beyond "marginally useful extender of App store and phone dialing"... iMac is nothing beyond "marginally useful all-in-one extender of MacOS".. etc.

Uhmmm...yeah, it is right. Explain what wonderful features BEYOND viewing iTunes content the AppleTV provides. Your other comments, get real, apples and oranges, dude. The very fact that the iPod and the iPhone are massive hits around the world, and even iMacs and MacBooks are pretty decent sellers, while the AppleTV remains a languishing low-selling item, proves my point. There is no reason for the typical Joe on the street, or even the typical geek, to buy the darn thing in its current iteration. It's just too limited in function.

You are wrong in your thoughts regarding Joe Public. You have it completely backwards. Joe Public wants everything from one place. Apple created the iTunes Store to provide everything from one place. It's the geek who is torrenting everything, making streaming to aTV more complicated. Joe Public is not going to build an HTPC or turn a Mac Mini into one. Joe Public is gonna go to the Apple Store at the mall and say "I want to watch movies on my TV and play music through my home stereo." The employee will show him iTunes and AppleTV. He'll probably be shown how an iPhone or Touch can integrate into the experience. He'll walk out with an iMac and an Apple TV - and maybe a Touch. People who hang out in forums like this do not represent Joe Public.

Nope, I'm not wrong. If Joe Public wanted all that AND the AppleTV provided anything near it, then AppleTV would be one of Apple's hottest selling products, not a neglected hobby for all this time.

And you really think Joe Public is going to walk out with an iMac, and an iPhone, just because the AppleTV can let him play music and movies on his TV? What the heck are you smoking? Joe Public isn't going to touch an AppleTV until he doesn't have to tie it to a computer, and it can do more than play overpriced tv and movies from iTunes only.

Forget about geeks and torrents, without a DVD drive in it, the only way you can watch titles you currently own is to keep that DVD player on the shelf, or rip into iTunes, and the max quality of iTunes compressed rips just doesn't even match the quality of standard def TVs. Maybe that's my eyes (and my non-Geek friends), but the blacks are too compressed, and skin tones rarely look natural. Maybe it's improved. At any rate, that's hardly getting all your stuff in one place if you have to rip your DVDs and store them on some other computer someplace.

I certainly agree that people who hang out in these forums don't represent Joe Public, but I know enough "Joe Publics" and hear their comments about this stuff to be comfortable knowing how the typical non-forum visiting, non-tech loving respond to this kind of stuff: "oh, cool, but not for me."

Think about it, would your mother, or your next door neighbor, or the checker at the local grocery store even consider an AppleTV? I doubt it.

 

[Takuta-Nui]

Now that's unnecessary technological advancement if I've ever seen an example.

 

[spiffyone]

Assuming this rumor proves true:

Has anyone else thought that perhaps, just perhaps, the reason Apple would want to make this the new AppleTV remote is because they want to ensure that AppleTV owners can control apps should Apple get their heads out of their butts and open up an AppleTV SDK and App Store section, as they did for iPhone/touch? Remember, iPhone/touch didn't really take off as a platform until the SDK was released and the App Store opened.

Why would such a remote be needed if "most AppleTV owners have an iPhone or iPod touch"? Well...because that's a silly assumption, first off, and there's no way to really ensure it at all. For all anyone knows there could be quite a larger portion of the AppleTV userbase that own "classic" iPods and NOT the lower capacity iPhone or iPod touch.

That said, even selling this as a peripheral, an add on, doesn't ensure most AppleTV owners will get it. So...I think Apple will release a new AppleTV, a "next gen" device with this new touchscreen (and hopefully accelerometer enabled) remote bundled together. Current AppleTV owners would have to upgrade to the new gen device to use the remote and gain access to the new AppleTV App Store.

Apple would then extend the function of the AppleTV the same way they did with iPhone/touch.

For instance, Hulu is apparently working on an iPhone/touch app. With an AppleTV open SDK and App Store, theoretically Hulu can release a Hulu app for use on AppleTV. The streams would likely be limited to SD content, but as the current Hulu has a little pop up every now and then on their site to "buy it in HD on Amazon" that little pop up would be replaced with "buy it on HD on iTunes" and it would be sort of "free" advertising for iTunes tv show downloads.

Also, productivity, creative, etc. apps could be developed, further extending the usefulness of AppleTV over other media set top boxes. Sure, Vudu can show full 1080p24 and has a larger library, but can you quickly edit photos on it, or check a spreadsheet, or download and upload a youtube vid quick and easy? Oh, you can't. Well, you could on this hypothetical extended AppleTV with the new App Store and new "do just about anything" touchscreen and accelerometer remote because, well...there'll be an app for that.

And, lest we forget...GAMES. Games are the major sellers on the iPhone/touch as far as best individual app types are concerned, and so too would they further extend the userbase of this new AppleTV. Game companies were interested in Apple opening up an SDK for AppleTV, and if this new remote extended the capabilities of the current device, or were bundled in with a next gen upgrade, then devs need not worry about control interface. They'd basically spec up from iPhone/touch development.

The included accelerometer wouldn't be different from what Nintendo has with the Wiimote, or Sony and MS are planning with their eyetoy wand and Natal, respectively. Hell, Apple could even bundle in a camera system ala Natal, therefore ensuring a better userbase for such a camera controller-less control system. But even if they just have this new remote, it would be different enough from Nintendo, MS and Sony's offerings because of the multitouch screen alone. Nintendo thought that DS, with a pen would open up gaming to new consumers because everyone knows how to hold a pen. Well, Apple wouldn't be that far off because everyone knows how to swipe a surface.

It'd be like the Wii but for grown ups.

Added benefit is that it wouldn't compete directly with any of those, as it would basically be an extended media device, not simply solely dedicated to games, just as is the case with iPhone/touch.

Of course, this rumor could just be complete bunk...but it makes more sense for Apple to bundle in such a new iPhone/touch-esque remote than assume that AppleTV owners already own an iPhone/touch or that prospective owners would go out and buy the iPhone/touch to use the extended capabilities of the new AppleTV.