Apple TV to focus on streaming?
Rose Major ©RapidTVNews | 30-05-2010
The glaring failure of Apple Inc’s Apple TV device to capture the public imagination in the same way as Apple’s iPod, iPhone and the iPad is reportedly being addressed by the company. Reports are that Apple has been working on a new version which will run the same operating system as its popular mobile devices and offer streamed content.
Tech website Engadget claims that Apple has been working for some time prior to the recent Google TV announcement on a new incarnation of Apple TV. The next-generation version will be based on the iPhone 4 operating system (so it will have that familiar iPhone feel) with 16GB of flash storage as well as a 160GB hard drive, and will be capable of full 1080p HD, the report says. While that sounds not much different from the current specifications, the key difference will be the introduction of cloud-based storage, with a focus on streamed, rather than stored, content.
And, adds the report, it will retail for just US$99.
Currently, the Apple TV device costs US$229, hardly a king’s ransom. And it already includes the 160GB hard drive. But Apple has not been pushing the product, and certainly not in the same way as it has the iPhone or iPad. Perhaps with Google getting in on the device game, albeit in “partnership” with others, Apple is marking another territory before a competitor proves stronger.
© Rapid TV News 2010
