It feels as though every single Apple event of the last four
years has been expected to bring with it a new Apple TV.
For a while there were even crazy rumours that the next
Apple TV would be an actual TV. But now, finally, the new
Apple TV is real - and after all that wondering and
hypothesising its initial appearance is actually a little, well,
underwhelming.
Why? Well it’s just a slightly taller version of the puck-like
Apple TV we’re oh so familiar with.
But Apple knows the physical appearance of the actual box
doesn’t really matter because it’s probably going to be
tucked away out of sight anyway. What matters is what it
does and what it’s like to use. And here Apple appears to
be very much on the right track. What you’ll actually be looking at a lot of the time is Apple’s
new operating system, which is called, with typical
ambivalence to capitalisation conventions, tvOS.
This is heavily based on iOS and is unsurprisingly geared
heavily towards facilitating and featuring apps. The idea is
that the millions of app developers out there will have some
natural familiarity with the platform, which will encourage
them to produce loads of exciting new dedicated apps to
use and play on your TV.
And “play” does feature quite heavily here. Apple featured a
load of Apple TV games during its 9 September keynote,
including a new and exclusive version of Crossy Road that
adds a fantastic looking multiplayer mode, a new
Warhammer 40k shooter called Freeblade , and a Wii Sports -
like game called, wait for it, Beat Sports .
years has been expected to bring with it a new Apple TV.
For a while there were even crazy rumours that the next
Apple TV would be an actual TV. But now, finally, the new
Apple TV is real - and after all that wondering and
hypothesising its initial appearance is actually a little, well,
underwhelming.
Why? Well it’s just a slightly taller version of the puck-like
Apple TV we’re oh so familiar with.
But Apple knows the physical appearance of the actual box
doesn’t really matter because it’s probably going to be
tucked away out of sight anyway. What matters is what it
does and what it’s like to use. And here Apple appears to
be very much on the right track. What you’ll actually be looking at a lot of the time is Apple’s
new operating system, which is called, with typical
ambivalence to capitalisation conventions, tvOS.
This is heavily based on iOS and is unsurprisingly geared
heavily towards facilitating and featuring apps. The idea is
that the millions of app developers out there will have some
natural familiarity with the platform, which will encourage
them to produce loads of exciting new dedicated apps to
use and play on your TV.
And “play” does feature quite heavily here. Apple featured a
load of Apple TV games during its 9 September keynote,
including a new and exclusive version of Crossy Road that
adds a fantastic looking multiplayer mode, a new
Warhammer 40k shooter called Freeblade , and a Wii Sports -
like game called, wait for it, Beat Sports .
What wasn’t mentioned during the keynote is that Apple TV
will also support new gamepad controllers. The first to
appear will be the SteelSeries Nimbus, which looks very
much like a console controller and unlike previous iOS
controllers has Bluetooth 4.0, a Lightning connector for
charging and a menu button in place of pause.
I didn’t get a chance to play with the gamepad in the hands-
on area, but I did get to see it being used in a demo of
third-person shooter Afterpulse.
Graphically this is a pretty impressive looking game closer
to PS3 quality than PS4 but sharp and pretty detailed, even
on on the big (I’d say 50in) flatscreen of the demo room.
The animations and physics looked fairly rudimentary - Call
Of Duty has nothing to worry about - but I can see this
being quite good fun, at least briefly.
But while a gamepad will be recommended for some
games, it won’t be necessary for many. We were also
shown Rayman Adventures , which is already available for
iOS, being played using the new Apple TV’s standard
remote. This is a fairly simple-to-control 2D platformer, but
it sure looks fun, fast and pretty: all bright colours, busy
environments and sharp definition. Talking of the standard remote, this one builds quite heavily
on that of the existing Apple TV, which was already very
nicely designed and made.
This is similarly thin and long, but while its edges are silver,
the front and back panels are black. On the front there are
six buttons - menu, home, Siri, play/pause, volume up and
volume down. No direction buttons? Nope, instead there’s
a touch-sensitive surface at the top that allows you to
swipe through the OS. In action it feels smooth and
responsive, and given the potential for huge grids of apps
is a vast improvement over having to click to move one
icon at a time.
But the touch surface is still not the quickest way to move
through tvOS. That award goes to Siri.
will also support new gamepad controllers. The first to
appear will be the SteelSeries Nimbus, which looks very
much like a console controller and unlike previous iOS
controllers has Bluetooth 4.0, a Lightning connector for
charging and a menu button in place of pause.
I didn’t get a chance to play with the gamepad in the hands-
on area, but I did get to see it being used in a demo of
third-person shooter Afterpulse.
Graphically this is a pretty impressive looking game closer
to PS3 quality than PS4 but sharp and pretty detailed, even
on on the big (I’d say 50in) flatscreen of the demo room.
The animations and physics looked fairly rudimentary - Call
Of Duty has nothing to worry about - but I can see this
being quite good fun, at least briefly.
But while a gamepad will be recommended for some
games, it won’t be necessary for many. We were also
shown Rayman Adventures , which is already available for
iOS, being played using the new Apple TV’s standard
remote. This is a fairly simple-to-control 2D platformer, but
it sure looks fun, fast and pretty: all bright colours, busy
environments and sharp definition. Talking of the standard remote, this one builds quite heavily
on that of the existing Apple TV, which was already very
nicely designed and made.
This is similarly thin and long, but while its edges are silver,
the front and back panels are black. On the front there are
six buttons - menu, home, Siri, play/pause, volume up and
volume down. No direction buttons? Nope, instead there’s
a touch-sensitive surface at the top that allows you to
swipe through the OS. In action it feels smooth and
responsive, and given the potential for huge grids of apps
is a vast improvement over having to click to move one
icon at a time.
But the touch surface is still not the quickest way to move
through tvOS. That award goes to Siri.
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