Apple announces brand new Apple TV with Siri integration and touch remote

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Home Entertainment

During today's Hey Siri, Give Us a Hint event, Apple announced the long-awaited, completely redesigned Apple TV. In an effort to bring TV into the modern age, Apple is focusing on an app-based solution for reinventing television. On the inside, Apple has added 802.11ac Wi-Fi networking, giving the Apple TV faster networking access. The App Store is now front and center on the new Apple TV, allowing users to download television-optimized apps from developers. The user interface has been modernized, and on the inside, Apple has included the A8 processor from the iPhone 6. This is a big improvement over the A5 processor found in the previous model. Apple has updated the software to a version of iOS 9 that it's calling tvOS.

The Siri Remote control is all new, featuring motion gestures, a glass touchpad, and hardware buttons. There's also a button to invoke Siri, allowing you to speak commands and requests directly to the Apple TV through the microphone. You'll be able to drill down into search results with just your voice to find just what you want. With the new operating system in tvOS, the Apple TV even offers universal search. So, if you search for, say, Jurassic World, you will see search results from iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Showtime.

Apple didn't say anything about 4K, so it appears that the rumors were true, and that the new Apple TV will stream in 1080p.

The new Apple TV goes on sale in October, and will cost $149 for a 32GB model, and $199 for the 64GB version. You can order one now.