Vizio SmartCast TVs to Gain Support for AirPlay 2 and HomeKit Later This Year

[jdclifford]

What's the big deal about this? Unless your data plan is your only access (i.e. you don't have broadband/cable).
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I like the fact that Vizio keeps updating their TVs. I'm currently using a Harmony Hub for my entertainment system.

I walk into my office and say "Alexa, turn on TV" and my TV, Receiver and Cable Box come to life. I can then say "Alexa, turn on Apple TV" and it switches input and wakes my Apple TV. Best of all, I can use its remote instead of the horrible Apple remote.

It seems like over time that good vendors like Vizio, help to simplify the process. It would be nice to have all that functionality handled by the equipment itself via Alexa.

Ever tried pushing the "on" button on your TV/Cable remote? Works for me every time.

 

[nt5672]

...as long as it doesn't have Apple's horrid remote control. Easily the worst thing about my Apple TV 4k. I don't know where they got the UX guy from that designed that piece of ****. While the original remotes (1st-3rd gen ATV) were a bit small, at least you could tell which side was "up". I pick up the new one and start "selecting" and nothing happens - because I'm holding it upside down. I have stopped counting how often something happened on-screen - because the remote slipped under my a$$ and I started clicking with my rectum :-( And someone answer me why turning off the TV/ATV should be a 3 step operation (go to main screen, hold a button for a few seconds, select "sleep")??? Utterly terrible design.

Welcome to the new Apple. Sacrifice any and all functionality to make it an "Ive" device.

Look at the Apple Magic Mouse with the charging connector on the bottom. The mouse goes dead, I stop working. Must be great to work at Apple and just stop working while your mouse charges.

Oh, and why can we NOT navigate the log in screen of any modern Mac without a mouse? Used to be you could use the keyboard to do it all.

And the list just goes on and on.

 

[69Mustang]

thanx... That's certainly flexible. But I still think I'd rather have a dedicated ATV sourcing material with its unified interface, and, not needing to tie up/mess with another device.

I get liking a unified interface. Not important to me, but I definitely get it. I don't get the tie up/mess with thing though. To interact with the ATV you're literally messing with another device. I might be able to see my way to understanding that position if the person only has 1 device, but someone with multiple devices can simply stream from one and do other stuff on another.

ATV users are probably going to want to continue using their ATV's, which is cool. It's just nice that going forward, people have the choice of not having to buy one and still be able to enjoy their Apple generated content.

 

[Rogifan]

Probably for the same reason Apple got out of the commodity WiFi/router and laser printer markets. There's a ton of excellent and very capable TVs out there at extremely low prices.

Couldn’t the same argument be made about HomePod then? How many people buying smart speakers really care about audio quality? And HomePod probably isnt good enough for audiophiles. Services don’t generate the excitement and lust that hardware does. And Apple wouldn’t have to be in the low end TV market.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The change in business model is "fine" I suppose, but honestly what I've always loved about Apple is it's hardware, not its software and certainly not its services.

This makes me wonder if I'm going to be an Apple customer at all in a few years.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I do not know why people keep saying this? It is not like the average consumer updates their TV on a regular basis. The ATV is still way cheaper than buying a new set.

Plus, isn't compared to a SmartTV and their puny processor they include, isn't the ATV4K way more powerful or do we expect TV manufacturers to start including something like a Bionic A12X in each of the TV's?

I've put ATV's or FireTV 4K boxes on all my SmartTV's because the TV interface is slow, and underperforms. And, isn't always up-to-date, relying the some "store" to get apps from.

 

[citysnaps]

Couldn’t the same argument be made about HomePod then? How many people buying smart speakers really care about audio quality? And HomePod probably isnt good enough for audiophiles. Services don’t generate the excitement and lust that hardware does. And Apple wouldn’t have to be in the low end TV market.

Maybe...

HomePod may not be good enough for true Audiophiles, but is outstanding for people who still care about music more than the average person.

HomePod's secret sauce, and the value added by Apple, is the beamforming and signal processing that is pretty much unique in how it's implemented; for both its speakers and microphones, which gives HomePod its outstanding performance playing music and listening for commands in loud environments.

What I like about HomePod is it's always on, drawing little power, ready for an Apple Music command. No other device is needed.

If you're not interested in Apple Music, or are looking for a true "smart digital assistant" and don't mind having an open mic into google or Amazon, then for sure there are other choices to consider.

Also...I can see Apple leveraging the above beamforming/signal processing technology into other products.

Regarding TVs... Pretty tough for Apple to compete against Samsung, LG, and Visio. What value could Apple add that's not addressed today? And at what price. Smart TVs at Costco are astonishingly inexpensive. I suspect that's why Apple left the computer display market.

 

[npmacuser5]

Delayed buying a new TV for lack of befefits per costs over my existing one. Someone finally decided the TV needed more intigration into the current technology echo systems. Well done! I have timed my next TV purchasing well.

 

[bbednarz]

I don’t normally agree with Nilay Patel, but I do agree here. Have a TV that runs tvOS, supports FaceTime, AirPlay, HomeKit. And if Apple didn’t want to go low end they could do a higher end OLED TV \. Apple is very good with displays. I’m sure they could make a killer TV.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/6/1...ons-about-apple-putting-itunes-on-samsung-tvs

I'm sure they could make a fantastic TV set and they would probably sell about 10 of them. The current Apple TV makes way more sense. People typically replace their TVs when their current TV dies.

The sales of an Apple TV set would make sales for the HomePod look like iPhones sale.

 

[theboss19]

Maybe this is why the HomePod was heavily discount on Black Friday? Glad I picked one up for $250 at Costco. Was contemplating getting the 4k AppleTV but I have a Vizio M60 with SmartCast from 2 years ago so hopefully I'll be able to use AirPlay2.

 

[KPandian1]

According to Vizio, all their SmartCast TVs that they sell right now are able to use Airplay with a software update.

This includes all sets already sold by them from this lineup.

Anyone know what happened to the Vizio R-Series TVs? No news about them @Vizio. Marvelous specs.

 

[bbednarz]

I like the fact that Vizio keeps updating their TVs. I'm currently using a Harmony Hub for my entertainment system.

I walk into my office and say "Alexa, turn on TV" and my TV, Receiver and Cable Box come to life. I can then say "Alexa, turn on Apple TV" and it switches input and wakes my Apple TV. Best of all, I can use its remote instead of the horrible Apple remote.

It seems like over time that good vendors like Vizio, help to simplify the process. It would be nice to have all that functionality handled by the equipment itself via Alexa.

All the big name TV brands look to be updating their TVs to support this. I think Harmony is the one more or less in your scenario that deserves the praise as it is what is interfacing with Alexa to get everything turned on and switched to the correct inputs. My Harmony remote was a game changer. Gone are the days of 3-4 remotes.

 

[9052042]

I think Apple should buy Vizio, take their tech and make an Apple TV. Vizio has done some amazing work on their TV lighting technology and was able to drive their manufacturing cost down significantly and compete with the bigger guys. Apple could release an Apple TV, taking advantage of the tech and manufacturing cost reduction Vizio has done and leverage its brand to sell its TVs at a healthy margin.

 

[kasei]

We just bought a new Vizio so this will be great. I barely use my Apple TV now because it is not 4K compatible. It is an older version. I have several 4K movies on my iPhone X. It would be great to play them on my TV at full resolution.

 

[KPandian1]

I think Apple should buy Vizio, take their tech and make an Apple TV. Vizio has done some amazing work on their TV lighting technology and was able to drive their manufacturing cost down significantly and compete with the bigger guys. Apple could release an Apple TV, taking advantage of the tech and manufacturing cost reduction Vizio has done and leverage its brand to sell its TVs at a healthy margin.

They should buy Vizio - but that (Vizio) might be thinned out (job losses + actual thinness) to the point of uselessness by Apple.

Or Apple can invest all the money that flowed back into the USA and build its own factory to make TVs; here in the USA for domestic consumption, and abroad somewhere other than China for the other continents.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Will BootCamp style MacOS partitions be preinstalled next on Asus, Dell and HP? Or will we just see more reasonable prices for the hardware to increase global marketshare?

I’m of the mind that Apple’s less interested in increasing the global marketshare for macOS. They could surprise me, of course, but I would see them releasing Xcode, Final Cut Pro, and Logic for other OS’s before going through the effort of trying to make macOS work on the vast number of varying hardware platforms out there.

 

[Rogifan]

Maybe...

HomePod may not be good enough for true Audiophiles, but is outstanding for people who still care about music more than the average person.

HomePod's secret sauce, and the value added by Apple, is the beamforming and signal processing that is pretty much unique in how it's implemented; for both its speakers and microphones, which gives HomePod its outstanding performance playing music and listening for commands in loud environments.

What I like about HomePod is it's always on, drawing little power, ready for an Apple Music command. No other device is needed.

If you're not interested in Apple Music, or are looking for a true "smart digital assistant" and don't mind having an open mic into google or Amazon, then for sure there are other choices to consider.

Also...I can see Apple leveraging the above beamforming/signal processing technology into other products.

Regarding TVs... Pretty tough for Apple to compete against Samsung, LG, and Visio. What value could Apple add that's not addressed today? And at what price. Smart TVs at Costco are astonishingly inexpensive. I suspect that's why Apple left the computer display market.

And yet Apple is getting back into the display market. I’m guessing because the LG monitor was such a turd. We could say this about anything though. Why is Apple getting into original content? What are they going to offer that isn’t already being offered by Netflix/Amazon/HBO/Showtime/Disney/CBS/ABC/NBC etc? Apple as a services company is a very different company and I don’t see it having the same caché going forward. I’m also not sure how Apple can be a premium hardware maker and a ubiquitous services company at the same time. What’s driving the premium on the hardware if the services can be obtained elsewhere?

 

[Nunyabinez]

What's the big deal about this? Unless your data plan is your only access (i.e. you don't have broadband/cable).
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Ever tried pushing the "on" button on your TV/Cable remote? Works for me every time.

Apparently you didn't understand that it turns on the TV, sets it to the right input, turns on the surround receiver, sets it to the correct input, wakes up whatever device is sending the video and sets up the buttons on the remote so that they control the devices that are active in that scheme. A little more than pressing the on button.

But to address your snark, what was wrong with just hauling a bucket of water in from the well? Ever tried just walking over to the TV and pressing one of the buttons on the side? Works for me every time.

Sheshh, some people.

 

[Rogifan]

I'm sure they could make a fantastic TV set and they would probably sell about 10 of them. The current Apple TV makes way more sense. People typically replace their TVs when their current TV dies.

The sales of an Apple TV set would make sales for the HomePod look like iPhones sale.

I just bought two new TVs in the past month or so. Every time I go into Best Buy the TV section of the store is packed. My guess is the number of households with smart TVs is still small. And sure people don’t upgrade their TVs frequently. So what. People aren’t upgrading PCs, phones, tablets streaming media boxes as frequently either. IMO the frequency of upgrades shouldn’t be a deciding factor in whether Apple pursues a market or not.

 

[jdclifford]

Apparently you didn't understand that it turns on the TV, sets it to the right input, turns on the surround receiver, sets it to the correct input, wakes up whatever device is sending the video and sets up the buttons on the remote so that they control the devices that are active in that scheme. A little more than pressing the on button.

But to address your snark, what was wrong with just hauling a bucket of water in from the well? Ever tried just walking over to the TV and pressing one of the buttons on the side? Works for me every time.

Sheshh, some people.

Solutions for problems that never existed.

 

[bbednarz]

I just bought two new TVs in the past month or so. Every time I go into Best Buy the TV section of the store is packed. My guess is the number of households with smart TVs is still small. And sure people don’t upgrade their TVs frequently. So what. People aren’t upgrading PCs, phones, tablets streaming media boxes as frequently either. IMO the frequency of upgrades shouldn’t be a deciding factor in whether Apple pursues a market or not.

TVs are a market that frequently sees rather large sales, something not overly common with Apple products. How many people actually pay full retail for a $1500+ TV? Sure a bunch of people are in the TV section at Best Buy looking at the big 80" TVs and dreaming about them, how many walk out with the TV though? TVs these days are coming down in price quite a bit, lots of 55"-65" TVs in the $300-$600 range. The average consumer has no idea what HDR or OLED is. All they are worried about is size, price, and clarity (it being labeled a 4K tv).

From a business standpoint the frequency of upgrades absolutely should factor into whether or not they get into the market. TVs are an item that usually will be updated once every 5-10 years. How many phones or tablets are still being used even 5 years later?

If Apple got into this market it would absolutely be a very high end OLED panel. I imagine a starting price of $2500 for a 55". There is no way they would want to try competing in the $300 market. It would make the brand seem less "premium"

It is not a market they would do well in.
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Apparently you didn't understand that it turns on the TV, sets it to the right input, turns on the surround receiver, sets it to the correct input, wakes up whatever device is sending the video and sets up the buttons on the remote so that they control the devices that are active in that scheme. A little more than pressing the on button.

But to address your snark, what was wrong with just hauling a bucket of water in from the well? Ever tried just walking over to the TV and pressing one of the buttons on the side? Works for me every time.

Sheshh, some people.

To be fair, the TV does not need to be "smart" to do that. The Harmony remote you have is what will control that and Alexa talks to the remote hub. When you talk to Alexa and it does all these things it has nothing to do with the TV software itself.

 

[charlien]

Apple has always been a tight eco system but unfortunately they are branching out cos they are losing sales this is sad for apple

I wonder if people said the same thing when iTunes went Windows. That's when I joined the Apple family. I've purchased a ton of Apple devices since then. I'd say Apple made a very good move back then.

 

[citysnaps]

And yet Apple is getting back into the display market. I’m guessing because the LG monitor was such a turd. We could say this about anything though. Why is Apple getting into original content? What are they going to offer that isn’t already being offered by Netflix/Amazon/HBO/Showtime/Disney/CBS/ABC/NBC etc? Apple as a services company is a very different company and I don’t see it having the same caché going forward. I’m also not sure how Apple can be a premium hardware maker and a ubiquitous services company at the same time. What’s driving the premium on the hardware if the services can be obtained elsewhere?

I think Apple's services will augment and round out their overall revenue. Their goal to double their services slice of the pie is probably to guard against declining phone sales due to saturation, Chinese competition, and people not upgrading as often. Indeed, today the WSJ reported that the average American smartphone owner is now upgrading every 32 months, up from every 25 months a year ago. Thats's significant.

As to what Apple's value-add in the Netflix/AmazonPrime/Disney/etc could be. Not clear to me, other than different packaging of content. Many people will go with Apple just because. I don't see Apple dominating in this area. Maybe if there were a large acquisition down the road. Overall, I think it's a hedge from the smartphone issue, above.

 

[Beerstalker]

I just signed up for the Beta. I've got a P65-F1 that appears to be supported. I recently bought and installed one at my parents house as well, but I probably won't be installing the beta there.

I've got an AppleTV 4K hooked up to mine already, but I haven't bought one for my parents yet. Depending on how well this works I may not need to. I'm not sure how much they would end up using it anyway, I love mine though.

I've also thought about picking up the P55-F1 for my bedroom to replace an old 42" Samsung plasma, since I've been so happy with the P65-F1 in my living room.

 

[Nunyabinez]

To be fair, the TV does not need to be "smart" to do that. The Harmony remote you have is what will control that and Alexa talks to the remote hub. When you talk to Alexa and it does all these things it has nothing to do with the TV software itself.

True, but the article pointed out tha later this year Alexa would be able to directly control Vizio TVs. If all the devices in my AV setup provide direct access from Alexa, then I will not need the harmony hub which though great is still an IR blaster. I could set up scenes in Alexa to do what the hub is doing.