Voice controlled television is now available with the emergence of Siri-enhanced Apple TV. With the touch of the Siri button on the new remote, you will be able to voice command your virtual assistant to pull up your favorite shows, music, movies, and apps. With the new Apple TV you will also be able to conveniently execute a universal search across all the available apps rather than searching through one app at a time. At the time being, Apple TV will initially work with the apps iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime; however, Apple has affirmed that there are more to come.
As demonstrated in a demo, Siri seems to be capable of a lot more than just searching for a name of a show or movie. You can command for a specific episode of a show that includes a guest appearance from a certain actor for example and even have her skip back 15 seconds by simply asking ‘What did he say?’ You can also ask information about a movie such as “Who is that actor?” and the answer will display at the bottom of the screen.
The iOS-based operating system, tvOS, is what Apple TV will run; therefore, iOS games will be available for play on Apple TV. You will be able to sync Apple TV with other Apple devices, so games on your iPhone can be pulled up on your TV.
Hardware wise, Apple TV uses a 64-bit A8 chip and has HDMI and Ethernet ports. Pointing the remote to the television is now a thing of the past as the remote uses Bluetooth.
The Apple TV arrives to 80 Countries in October. The cost will be $149 for the 32GB and $199 for the 64GB.
