Apple TV

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Siri Remote for the new Apple TV will be available in just eight countries

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

One of the best features of the new Apple TV, in my personal opinion, is its redesigned remote with Bluetooth 4.0 and built-in dual microphones for Siri functionality. Too bad not all buyers will be allowed to enjoy the new Siri Remote, as Apple is calling it.

According to the company's official documentation for developers, the new Siri Remote is available in just eight key markets like the United States, United Kingdom and Germany, to name a few. Apple TVs in all other countries will be packaged with the standard remote.

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Confirmed: the new Apple TV has 2GB of RAM

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

You'd be hard-pressed to find that piece of information on Apple's Tech Specs webpage for the new Apple TV, but newly posted documents related to third-party tvOS software development provide some interesting tidbits related to the device's underlying hardware.

In addition to the 64-bit A8 chip, the new box has two gigabytes of RAM, up from just one gigabyte of RAM inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, both of which also use the A8 chip. The new Apple TV isn't exactly focused on multitasking so Apple most likely doubled the RAM to enable finer detail in games.

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Maximum size of an Apple TV app limited to 200MB, apps must store all data in iCloud

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

It's interesting that we haven't seen any major triple-A games shown off as part of today's on-stage demos of third-party applications for the new Apple TV.

Now it's clear why: the existing multi-gigabyte iPhone and iPad games such as the Infinity Blade trilogy, Asphalt 8 and many more must be refactored to fit the inexplicable 200MB limit for an Apple TV app.

This means that assets like new levels and worlds will be retrieved on demand from the App Store, indicating Apple is positioning its new box as a casual gaming device for your living room rather than a full-on gaming console.

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Watch Apple’s sleek promotional videos for everything it announced today

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

In addition to refreshing product webpages on its website with detailed information about the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, the iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil, the new Apple TV and more, a batch of promotional clips providing an even closer look at the new products have surfaced on Apple's YouTube channel.

We've embedded all of them for your pleasure so give these videos a watch and join us for the discussion in the comment section.

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Apps and games make their way to Apple TV

Cody Lee ∙ September 9, 2015

Apple on Wednesday announced a new version of the Apple TV, and it is awesome. It has a redesigned remote control, a refreshed interface, and support for voice commands via Siri. But what really pushes the device over the top is its support for native apps and games.

As expected, the next-generation set-top box features an App Store, and Apple invited some developers up on stage today to give us an idea of its potential. The game you see above is a Wii Sports-like motion game, called Beats Sports, from Rock Band developer Harmonix.

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Here is the new Apple TV…

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

“TV plays a huge role in our lives and occupies an important place in our homes where we gather,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook at today's media event in San Francisco as he unveiled a fourth-generation Apple TV set-top box. “We believe the future of television is apps,” Cook said.

Over sixty percent of pay TV content is consumed through Apple devices, in apps, he added. The fourth-generation Apple TV, as you might have suspected, has a powerful hardware and runs a modern operating system which delivers a brand new user experience. And of course, it has an App Store of its own and Apple readily provides an official software development kit for its developers to create apps for it.

Welcome to the future of television.

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Apple TV’s Events channel updated in time for today’s event

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 10, 2017

The Apple Events channel on your Apple TV box has been refreshed with matching teaser graphics and description ahead of today's 'Hey Siri' media event. “Tune in at 7:00 PM (Local Time) on September 9 to watch this event live,” reads the description on the screen. The splash page displays personalized livestream times depending on your whereabouts.

The media presentation is set to kick off in San Francisco's massive Bill Graham Civic Auditorium at 10am Pacific Time. Earlier this morning, the Apple Online Store went offline ahead of the event.

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Apple appears to have trademarked ‘tvOS,’ the next Apple TV’s likely software platform name

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 9, 2015

With just a few hours until Apple's keynote, a series of trademark filings for the name 'tvOS' have been discovered by MacRumors, indicating that the Apple TV's new operating system will indeed be referred to as 'tvOS', which would be in line with the naming convention for iOS and watchOS platforms.

Apple appears to have protected the trademark via a shell corporation, as is its usual modus operandi when it wants to hide trademark filings from general public.

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Apple Online Store goes offline ahead of today’s iPhone 6s, iPad Pro and Apple TV 4 event

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

If you're thinking about buying some gadgets in the Apple Online Store, you will have to wait until Apple's 'Hey Siri' media event has wrapped up as the company's webstore has just gone offline ahead of the press conference, which kicks off in San Francisco at 10am Pacific.

In a long standing tradition, Apple takes its online stores down around the world ahead of major media events to both raise anticipation and prepare refreshed product pages.

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Join iDB for tomorrow’s Apple event

Cody Lee ∙ September 8, 2015

Apple’s 'Hey Siri' event is now less than a day away, and anticipation couldn’t be higher. We're expecting a jam-packed keynote tomorrow with new iPhones, the first Apple TV update in more than 3 years, new Apple Watch bands, and possibly even the long-rumored iPad Pro.

Apple has said that it will be streaming the festivities to its website and various iOS devices, but for those who won’t be able to watch the keynote live, iDB has you covered. We will be here all day, providing coverage of all announcements made before, during and after the event.

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A Periscope app is being developed for the new Apple TV

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 8, 2015

I think that there's enough smoke to state with confidence that a new Apple TV will be launched tomorrow, and it'll bring with it an SDK, which in turn means third-party apps on your TV screen.

As expected, we've yet to hear any developers go on record to state that they are in the process of making an app for Apple's soon-to-be-released set top box. But TechCrunch's Josh Constine has it on good authority that Twitter-owned Periscope, a live streaming app that allows users to broadcast from anywhere using their phone, is secretly building an app for the Apple TV.

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