For a long time, Apple has maintained that their foray into the television segment is just a "hobby". However, according to a recent Engadget report, Cupertino may well be on course to chart an effective reentry into the home entertainment space.
The sources have revealed that the next generation Apple TV may bring all of Apple's mobile offerings to the television; something the source claims will make the new device look like "an iPhone without a screen".
According to Engadget, the new Apple TV will be based on iPhone OS 4. This is unlike the older version that was based on the OS X-lite platform. Also, the new architecture will bring Apple's indigenously built A4 CPU chip to the new device. Apple is learned to have moved away from a local storage based solution to a cloud-based architecture. Consequently, the new Apple TV may come only with a limited 16GB flash storage, though users willing to have a local storage option may be able to do so with a Time Capsule.
Considering that the earlier iterations of Apple TV did not fare well in the market, the company is reported to be making the device extremely affordable with the new version. Engadget writes that Apple TV may retail at an extremely low price of $99. With the device sharing its operating platform with the iPhone and iPad, users may also be offered access to the App Store, though details are extremely sketchy at the moment.
There is no word as yet on when the rumored new Apple TV might launch. An official announcement about the new device is not expected during next month's WWDC. Nevertheless, the latest rumors come close on the heels of Google's announcement of their foray into the television segment. It will be interesting to see the two technology giants extend their rivalry to the home entertainment space.
Are you excited about the iPhone OS based Apple TV? Tell us in the comments.
[via Engadget]
can i jailbreak it? lol
i HIGHLY doubt it. for one thing, iPhone OS is OS X-lite plus a touchscreen interface and the necessary drivers and kernel mods for a cell phone. this kind of OS doesn't fit the bill for a home entertainment device. the apple A4 on the other hand would work beautifully. Cloud-based? are you fucking kidding me? the whole concept is limited by internet speed most houses get, and thus would degrade the experience by making all video quality lower and also at the same time saturate the internet connection. I like the Apple TV as it is, maybe a bigger hard drive, maybe the apple A4 (not necessary, but it would work better in its design), and maybe an option for a nice solid state drive (make it even quieter, cooler, and more reliable) would be nice, but iPhone OS, no.
I think by running iPhone OS they mean bringing a whole new set of apps specifically designed for Apple TV. Boxee is currently working on something like this only I think as of now, they'd be the better option because they will actually allow you to add an external hard drive, something Apple will more than likely not offer.
Wow. Couldn't have said it better.
Not bad if one can play their iPhone games when synced with their apple tv on their personal televisios and if it comes netflixs ready only then will it be competing with the mass market and out of the hobbie zone..
If it can't do any of the two folks won't care… I have an apple tv and it's a pretty white box next to the television… Then I have netflix that requires having a DVD Player..
Don't hate the Player but I think the DVD is dead…streaming is the furture and it's only a matter of time before the movie data farms merge and we'll all be streaming our films…
Big question! Will Apple do it before or after…
I think i'll get google tv instead. I've tried apple tv in the past and hated it. From what I've seen from google tv it looks amazing. even more so if you get the logitech receiver an dthe logitech iphone/android app.
if they get iPhone OS that is specifically modified for the AppleTV, and apps that are MEANT to be on tvs are the only ones available…yeah this works. but cloud storage…nope.
i hope they allow upgrading of ram