Pre-Orders For The New Apple TV Are Now Live

As promised by Apple CEO Tim Cook last week, pre-orders for the new Apple TV have begun today. The new device, which is the first to feature an App Store for third-party applications and games, as well as a new touched-based remote, and Siri integration, is available in two different storage capacities. The 32 GB Apple TV is $149, while the larger 64 GB version is $199. The first orders will begin shipping on October 30th.

This fourth-generation Apple TV is available for order in 80 countries, though Siri support will be limited to around a dozen.

Included in the box are the Apple TV and remote, as well as a lightning-to-USB cable and power cord. Apple is also selling additional Siri remotes for $79 and extra “Remote Loops” (aka wrist straps) for $12.99. AppleCare coverage for the new hardware is $29.

The remote control is one of the device’s more interesting features, as it lets you do things like fast-forward and rewind by pressing on the touch-sensitive trackpad. And you can also move it around to control games, thanks to an included accelerometer and gyroscope. For more serious gamers, the new Apple TV also supports MFi-based third-party controllers.

That addition, alongside the long-anticipated Apple TV App Store should make Apple’s streaming media player more competitive with others on the market, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Android TV, Roku and others.

On the software side, the Siri support paves the way for features like universal search by voice. That means you can search for titles using more natural language queries, like “Show me movies with [a favorite actor’s name],” e.g. the Apple TV can return results from the iTunes App Store and Apple Music Library, in addition to online services like Netflix, Hulu or HBO.

The hardware itself is also more powerful, as it includes the A8 processor – the same one that ships in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Though not the same one that comes with newer iPhones (the 6s and 6s Plus), it’s still a big upgrade over previous generations. It additionally offers support for H.264 video up to 1080p at 60 frames per second, plus 802.11ac Wi‑Fi, Ethernet and Bluetooth 4.0.With a growing number of streaming services, universal search is now a must-have feature for any streaming media / connected TV player today – and one that Apple TV competitors, as well as DVR makers like TiVo, have offered for some time.

Though the fourth-gen Apple TV is now available, Apple hasn’t yet phased out the older model. The third-generation device is still for sale, too, at $69.00.

Comments

How ad-free subscriptions could solve Facebook

At the core of Facebook’s “well-being” problem is that its business is directly coupled with total time spent on its apps. The more hours you pass on the social network, the more ads you see and click, the more money it earns. That puts its plan to make using Facebook healthier at odds with its finances, restricting how far it’s willing to go to protect us from the harms of over use. The advertising-supported model comes with some big benefits, though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that “We will always keep Facebook a free service for everyone.” Ads lets Facebook remain free for those who don’t want to pay, and more importantly, for those around the world who couldn’t afford to. Ads pay for Facebook to keep the lights on, research and develop new technologies, and profit handsomely in a way that attracts top talent and further investment. More affluent users with more buying power in markets like the US, UK, and Canada command higher ad prices, effectively...

Airbnb will open its Cuba listings to users outside the United States

Airbnb will now let travelers from outside the U.S. to book properties in Cuba after receiving authorization from the U.S. government, reports the Associated Press . Previously, only Americans were allowed to reserve the site’s Cuban listings . They will open to international users on April 2. Airbnb launched its Cuban operations in April 2014 , four months after the Obama administration revealed that it will begin to restore diplomatic relations with the Communist country . The historic policy change means that travel and trade sanctions will be lifted , which is expected to boost tourism to Cuba dramatically because Americans no longer need licenses to visit. In fact, President Obama is currently on an official visit to Cuba , the first president since Calvin Coolidge to do so. According to the AP, Cuba is currently Airbnb’s fastest-growing market, with about 4,000 homes added since it opened listings. Other travel businesses...

Here’s how to keep track of Elon Musk’s Roadster and Starman in space

Elon Musk’s Starman, the mannequin driver of the Tesla Roadster SpaceX launched aboard its Falcon Heavy rocket, is taking a trip around our solar system, in a large elliptical orbit that will bring him relatively close to Mars, the Sun and other heavenly bodies. But how to track the trip, now that the Roadster’s onboard batteries are out of juice and no longer transmitting live footage? Thanks to the work of Ben Pearson, a SpaceX fan and electrical engineer working in the aerospace industry, who created ‘Where is Roadster,’ a website that makes use of JPL Horizons data to track the progress of the Roadster and Starman through space, and to predict its path and let you know when it’ll come close to meeting up with various planets and the Sun. The website tells you the Roadster’s current position, too, as well as its speed and whether it’s moving towards or away from Earth and Mars at any given moment. It’s not officially affiliated with SpaceX or Tesla, but it is something Elon...

Engineering against all odds, or how NYC’s subway will get wireless in the tunnels

Never ask a wireless engineer working on the NYC subway system “What can go wrong?” Flooding, ice, brake dust, and power outages relentlessly attack the network components. Rats — many, many rats — can eat power and fiber optic cables and bring down the whole system. Humans are no different, as their curiosity or malice strikes a blow against wireless hardware (literally and metaphorically). Serverless software deployment to the cloud, this is not. New York City officially got wireless service in every underground subway station a little more than a year ago, and I was curious what work went into the buildout of this system as well as how it will expand in the future. That curiosity is part of a series of articles I’ve written on an observed pattern known as cost disease, the massively inflating costs of basic human services like health care, housing, infrastructure, and education. The United States spends trillions of dollars on each of these fields, massively outspending sim...

South Korea aims for startup gold

Back in 2011, when South Korea won its longshot bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, the country wasn’t widely recognized as a destination for ski and snow lovers. It wasn’t considered much of a tech startup hub either. Fast forward seven years and a lot has changed. For the next 10 days, the eyes of the world will be on the snowy slopes of PyeongChang. Meanwhile, a couple of hours away in Seoul, a burgeoning startup scene is seeing investments multiply, generating exits and even creating a unicorn or two. While South Korea doesn’t get a perfect score as a startup innovation hub, it has established itself as a serious contender. More than half a billion dollars annually has gone to seed through late-stage funding rounds for the past few years. During that time, at least two companies, e-commerce company Coupang and mobile-focused content and commerce company Yello Mobile, have established multi-billion-dollar valuations. To provide a broader picture of how South Korea stacks ...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog