Speak the truth: the minimum you expect from a new Apple TV that it is compatible with content in 4K resolution, the same? Because, according to Bloomberg, exactly what happens in 2017, second new rumors.
A new Apple TV is being tested by Ma. Codenamed J105, the set-top box capable of reproducing content in 4K with more vivid colors, perhaps with the addition of HDR support, according to people inside the subject. But the question that does not want to remain silent: is "just" enough to make the product a success?
Apple TV is far from a failed device; on the other hand, it is also distant from that Cupertinian utopian dream. And that, as we discussed a lot in the last two episodes of On Air (# 216 and # 217), there is reason: the idea was to create a product that would replace set-top boxes of TV operators (here in Brazil known as NET, SKY, Vivo, etc.). One of the fourth generation Apple TV prototypes, for example, had a coaxial cable slot for the user to connect everything on the set-top box of Ma and control your TV through an interface created and thought in the smallest details by the company's designers / engineers. Apple would then charge users in some form, and part of that revenue would be shared with cable and media companies.
"Plan B" involved creating a service that would leave users free to assemble their channel packages (without paying for channels you don't watch, as it does today). The content would be the result of an agreement between Apple and the four largest content providers in the USA (this would be the catalog available in the service, in addition to films and TV on demand) and would cost between US $ 30-40 per month. The agreement, unfortunately, did not come (and each side, of course, has its excuses / reasons).
Another possibility to give a up in the product was to provide a control for games (like the reader Gustavo Salume commented in emails from the last podcast), in order to “compete directly” with Xbox, PlayStation and others consoles something that didn't happen either.
With the fourth generation Apple TV we basically won an app store and Siri support, which undoubtedly improved the experience a little. But that was it. According to a Ma employee who remained anonymous for obvious reasons, Apple TV has become an evolutionary product, not a revolutionary one (a speech that the company used both internally and externally). And let's face it: if these ideas I implemented above were really implemented, we would have a really different product on our hands.
Apple TV has long been seen by the company as a hobby. And while I don't agree with much that analyst Gene Munster (formerly Piper Jaffray; now, Loup Ventures) has already talked about the product (he, for example, predicted that Ma would actually launch a 50-55 inch TV instead of one set-top box), I have to agree with the statement he made:
Apple TV raises a question: why does Apple invest in hobbies? You either do it right or you just don't.
The company does not report the number of Apple TVs sold in a fiscal quarter, but Ma's CFO said at the last financial event that sales were expensive; and although it is not a product that has a large weight in the company's finances, strategically it is very important to compose the services which the company intends to double its revenue in a few years.
Perhaps now, with the arrival of Timothy D. Twerdhal, some of these old plans will not be rescued and put into practice. I really hope that something like this happens!
Fourth generation Apple TV
in Apple
Color: blackDimensions: 35x98x98mm (height x width x thickness)Resolution: Full HD (1080p)Connectivity: HDMI and BluetoothStorage: 32GB or 64GB
from
R $ 985.90
