Television

Patents hint that broadcast TV and presence detection features may be coming to Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 28, 2015

Apple is researching a pair of interesting new features to give its fourth-generation Apple TV some new smarts and make the box more TV-like. Titled “User detection by a computing device” and “Input device & user interface interactions”, these inventions outline a fresh new user interface for changing channels on an iOS device and a presence-aware remote to keep playing content as long as someone is in the room.

Tim Cook says Apple tax avoidance talk is ‘total political crap’

Cody Lee ∙ December 18, 2015

60 Minutes on Friday shared a one minute clip from its upcoming interview with Apple CEO Tim Cook. In the preview, Charlie Rose asks for Cook's thoughts regarding Apple's congressional tax hearing, which found the company to be engaged in a "sophisticated scheme" to avoid taxes on its $74 billion held overseas.

"That is total political crap," Cook says. "There is no truth behind it. Apple pays every tax dollar we owe." He explains that Apple does a lot of business overseas, which is why a lot of its revenues are overseas, and although the company would like to bring that cash back to the United States, it would cost 40% to do so.

Charlie Rose offering inside look at Jony Ive’s design lab, new store design on Sunday

Cody Lee ∙ December 17, 2015

Noted journalist and television talk show host Charlie Rose will be offering an inside look at Jony Ive's design lab and new store design on Sunday. CBS' TV series 60 Minutes announced Rose's upcoming segment via Twitter late Thursday evening.

According to the tweets, 60 Minutes will be showing footage from inside Jonathan Ive’s secret design studio at Apple's headquarters—an area few outsiders have traveled. In one of the tweets, a photo shows Ive explaining a design process to Rose.

Tim Cook says Apple has more health features in mind, talks iPad Pro and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ November 10, 2015

Yesterday, Tim Cook sat with The Telegraph's Allister Heath to talk a range of topics, including the Apple TV and the future of television, the forthcoming arrival of the iPad Pro and plans for the Apple Watch.

According to Cook, the company is considering additional health features. He also revealed why Apple doesn't want to put the Apple Watch through the certification process by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and more.

Apple TV gains CBS All Access, NBC and M2M

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 20, 2015

Ahead of next week's launch of a much-improved fourth-generation Apple TV, a trio of new content sources were added to the existing third-generation set-top boxes on Tuesday: CBS All Access, NBC and Made To Measure (M2M).

As first reported by MacRumors, the inclusion of CBS All Access marks the first time the network has provided a channel on the Apple TV aside from the dedicated NBC Sports and NBC News channels.

Cook on how new Apple TV will fix a ‘terrible, broken’ process of watching television

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 20, 2015

Apple's fourth-generation set-top box, the $149 Apple TV, is launching next week and it won't be just a hardware upgrade. For the first time since the Apple TV's 2007 debut Apple is providing a software platform to enable third-party experiences on your big screen TV.

Discussing the sad state of the television industry and talking about how Apple can improve a “terrible, broken” process of watching television during the Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.D Live conference in Laguna Beach, California last night, Cook said that Apple's new tvOS platform represents a “foundation” for the kinds of experiences his company aims to deliver to consumers.

Apple’s subscription television service reaffirmed to remain on hold ahead of September 9 event

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 28, 2015

A next-generation Apple TV hardware with Siri voice control, a revamped remote and a dedicated App Store is expected to launch alongside new iPhones and iPads at the September 9 media event at San Francisco's gigantic Bill Graham Civic Auditorium.

But don't expect a rumored subscription television service to go live anytime soon.

A report Friday by Jessica Lessin of The Information contends that content makers are not down with a monthly subscription fee Apple reportedly wants to charge consumers for streaming live television and premium channels to their devices.

Redesigned NFL Game Pass service coming to Apple TV with on-demand broadcasting

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 17, 2016

For the first time ever, the National Football League (NFL) will offer its Game Pass service to U.S. users on the Apple TV with on-demand broadcasting of games, according to an update on the Game Pass micro-site Monday.

Regular season, playoff and Super Bowl game broadcasts won't be available as live streams but rather after they air on television. In addition, the organization will retire its existing Game Rewind service on July 31. Available to iOS, Android and Windows users in the United States, Game Rewind provides access to on-demand games after they air on television.

NatGeo TV now available on Apple TV

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 2, 2015

Apple's $69 set-top box has just gained a new channel from National Geographic, as first noted by MacRumors. The new 'NatGeo TV' channel, now available on the device's Home screen, includes streaming content from National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild, as well as current show episodes available for streaming the day after they air on television.

In addition to these shows, the new channel gives you on-demand access to past episodes of popular National Geographic shows. Some content is free, but on-demand streaming requires authentication with a cable TV provider.

Apple’s rumored TV service to include local stations, likely won’t launch by early fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 22, 2015

Apple's rumored television services hinges on the company's ability to sign complex agreements that would permit it to include live programming from local stations, Re/code reported Friday.

Persuading broadcasters to back Apple's $30-40 per month service with local news and sports content has proven a much tougher nut to crack than originally thought, mostly due to complicated local broadcasting market structure, meaning the service is likely to be delayed.

“Industry executives familiar with Apple’s plans say the company wants to provide customers in cities around the U.S. with programming from their local broadcast stations,” author Peter Kafka wrote.

Gene Munster gives up on Apple television dream

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 19, 2015

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has become something of a joke in the broader analyst community. Arguably the most vocal proponent of a fully-fledged Apple television set, he's been predicting the imminent arrival of a 50+ inch TV with the shiny Apple logo on it for years now.

He wasn't alone in his predictions. Most recently, noted activist investor Carl Icahn put much faith in the mythical Apple Ultra HD TV set in a yet another letter to Tim Cook yesterday.

But as a new report by The Wall Street Journal alleged that Apple has indeed axed the project after researching it for nearly a decade, Munster was quick to admit that he's been wrong all along.

WSJ: Apple shelved plans to make a 4K TV set last year

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple quietly shelved plans to make an ultra-HD TV set with video calling and other features last year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The report follows an open letter to Tim Cook from activist investor Carl Ichan, published earlier today, which pointed to Apple releasing a 4K TV set in 2016.

Apparently, Apple was working on a full-blown television, and had been researching the project for nearly a decade. But Apple executives didn’t feel like the product or its feature set was compelling enough to enter the cutthroat market, which offers small margins to even the largest competitors.