Apple TV upgrade hints at future content apps

by Kenny Hemphill on March 9, 2012

Take a look at the image below. In particular, pay attention to the layout of the menu items beneath the movie images. Remind you of anything?

AppleTV Main Menu

That grid layout, those icons, the fact that content is immediately available with one click, rather than hidden in a menu. Each content element now looks and behaves like an app on iOS.

The obvious conclusion, and one that has been discussed at length on various tech websites, is that Apple TV will eventually run third-party apps, in the same way that the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad do.

I’m not convinced that’s true at all. Apple has no reason to allow third-party apps on Apple TV. In fact, it’s in its interest not to. Anyone who wants to run apps on their TV can, but only by buying Apple TV and either an iPad (2 or New) or an iPhone 4S. That’s two sales for Apple, rather than one.

The app layout on Apple TV is more likely to be a front-end for content providers. For now those providers are limited to the likes of Netflix and Major League Baseball. But there’s no technical reason why that couldn’t expand to include, say, Sky Sports, National Geographic, or Nickelodeon. It might need a subscription model to enable access, but Apple already has the infrastructure in place for that.

Much has been said about the possibility of an Apple TV set, but with Apple TV and third-party content as Apps, Apple has little reason to enter the cut-throat world of low-margin telly sales.

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  • Guest

    Apple’s usual plan is to get the simple things (the basics) working really well before they introduce half baked features for the sake of marketing just the features.

    They will want people to have a great desire for the revolutionary new way of simplifying the TV and all it’s interface connections, before adding apps. They may add Skype or FaceTime as an enabled app before they open the floodgates.

    If there was one app I’d like to see, it would be an add-muting app for TV series. When the spectrum analyser detects all channels level on maximum, then cut the volume. A few Preferences for sensitivity, exception hours, minimum space between mutes, degree of cut, length of cut, any tell-tale video clues (such as channel logo gone), etc would be needed. Apparently Canada has had this capability on TVs and VCRs for years.
    Please correct me or enhance information as necessary.

    We know something is coming, just a case of what, when and how much at once!

    View on…

  • Guest

    Apple’s usual plan is to get the simple things (the basics) working really well before they introduce half baked features for the sake of marketing just the features.

    They will want people to have a great desire for the revolutionary new way of simplifying the TV and all it’s interface connections, before adding apps. They may add Skype or FaceTime as an enabled app before they open the floodgates.

    If there was one app I’d like to see, it would be an add-muting app for TV series. When the spectrum analyser detects all channels level on maximum, then cut the volume. A few Preferences for sensitivity, exception hours, minimum space between mutes, degree of cut, length of cut, any tell-tale video clues (such as channel logo gone), etc would be needed. Apparently Canada has had this capability on TVs and VCRs for years.
    Please correct me or enhance information as necessary.

    We know something is coming, just a case of what, when and how much at once!

    View on…

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