

Evidence that Apple is making a TV, and the remote will likely be your hand - slerner17
http://qz.com/104796/heres-all-the-evidence-that-apple-is-making-an-actual-tv-and-the-remote-will-likely-be-your-hand/

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jmharvey
I've read the article twice, and the only "evidence" Apple is making a TV (as
opposed to a set-top-box, which they already make), is the author's
speculation that "Selling an AppleTV-like box with a fiddly, detachable sensor
that has to be tacked onto an existing television doesn’t seem like the Apple
way".

It seems like the "Apple way" could equally well be a set-top-box that doesn't
require a "fiddly, detachable sensor that has to be tacked onto an existing
television." There's nothing inherent about gesture recognition that requires
the sensor to be in a specific position, it's just that that's the current
state of the art for consumer devices, so that's what we're used to. I'm sure
gesture recognition from an arbitrary position is a hard problem, but solving
hard problems is the "Apple way."

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swamp40
There is a _huge_ amount of room for improvement in the Kinect hand gesturing
experience.

I was so disappointed when my 5 year old couldn't control the Kinect games.
The "touchy" hand gestures just aren't friendly for younger kids. _Way_ too
much patience needed to get the controls to do what you want.

I would _love_ to see what Apple could do with it.

My one year old figured out the iPhone _on her own_. Now at two, she's an
expert on an iPad. That type of user experience is no coincidence - it's the
result of a _lot_ of intelligent design choices in iOS.

If Apple could do the same thing with hand gesturing, it would be a game
changer.

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purplelobster
I don't want to gesture at my TV. Gestures in their current incarnation kinda
suck, and if people haven't realized that yet, they soon will. Just let me use
my phone, it's the universal remote everyone already has in their pocket.

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jpdoctor
The first company that makes a device which only takes a stream from any
website, buffers it, and then plays it to a TV is going to own the market.

Right now, every hardware company is trying to insert itself into the content
chain. So you like Amazon Prime Streaming? Too bad, you don't get it on Apple
TV. Still have a slingbox for some of your cable content? Your WD TV isn't
going to play it. Want your Vizio CoStar to play out a major network? You're
SOL. How about The Daily Show? Hahahahaha, I don't even know which box
will/won't work from comedycentral.com.

The matrix of which box plays what content is fracturing this market before it
ever gets off the ground. I look forward to the commodity box that identifies
it's browser with the ID of a desktop.

~~~
Raphael
Use a general-purpose OS, like Android. Use whatever apps you prefer to watch
videos: VLC, YouTube, Chrome, Hulu, etc.

~~~
akgoel
Agreed. An Acer desktop like a AXC600-UR13 for $400 is full fledged Windows
box with an HDMI out.

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xadxad
Assuming they lean heavily on the current flavor of the Apple TV OS, they have
a lot of work ahead to improve it.

The number of channels to deal with using a bare-bones remote isn't cutting
it.

I for one hope this means I'll finally be able to edit down the 'channel' list

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gfodor
First, everyone already knows Apple is making a TV, because Steve Jobs
literally admitted it in his biography.

Second, looking at the acquisition of a gesture startup as evidence for a TV
is pretty far-fetched, because odds are whatever TV experience Apple has been
working on, the UX part has been figured out for quite a while. If anything,
this type of gesture support either has already been implemented or would be
slotted into the roadmap for 2nd or 3rd generation TVs, I'd guess.

The discussion with media companies about commercial skipping, if true, is
definitely a sign that Apple is starting to get to the "ink on paper" part of
launching a TV product, though.

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schrodingersCat
It will be interesting to see how apple manages to do this without violating
one or more of microsoft's kinect patent(s)

~~~
pavlov
Most patents for the base technology are probably owned by PrimeSense, the
company that developed the depth sensor used in Kinect.

Reportedly[1] Apple has recently offered $280 million for PrimeSense. Hmm.

[1] [http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4527558/apple-
primesense-i...](http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4527558/apple-primesense-
israeli-3d-sensor-kinect)

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chongli
The question I have is this: will they be able to get rid of all these damn
remotes I have to deal with? Every device (projector, receiver, cable box,
video switcher...) has its own damn remote!

Oh, and before anyone asks: yes I've tried those fancy universal remotes. The
problem with all of them is that power buttons for most devices act as toggles
and there's no way for the universal remote to know which devices are on and
which are off. This leads to annoying situations where some devices are
getting switched on and others off every time I hit the power button!

~~~
untog
I'm mostly just amazed at how much universal remotes cost. I cannot fathom
paying $250 for a _remote control_ :
[https://www.google.com/shopping/product/7778030267502985797](https://www.google.com/shopping/product/7778030267502985797)

In answer to your question: no, it probably won't. The HDMI standard does have
an option for passing through power signals though, so it's possible that the
next cable box, receiver and TV will all obey that signal.

~~~
mikestew
The $300 I spent on a Logitech Harmony remote was worth
every...damned...penny. Maybe _your_ spouse/SO doesn't come to you because
they can't figure out which combination of three remotes it takes to watch
Netflix or play a game. Mine used to. And frankly, there's no reason she
should have to do either one: come to me or figure out the incantation.

I can figure it out, but I don't think I should have to, either. Nor should I
have to keep four remotes lying around. I push "watch TV" and it casts the
spell to use the Apple TV. "Play Xbox", and it switches everything around
without fiddling.

Gestures? Color me really, really skeptical that this will improve upon what
I've got now.

~~~
finnh
WOW. The Harmony One has doubled in price since I bought my (two) in late 2010
for $159.99.

Now that I've moved houses I've got a spare one in the basement. I guess it's
time to craigslist that bad boy.

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pbreit
I could see motion complementing a dedicated remote but not replacing. The
Samsung demo is not that compelling and the PrimeSense one is just goofy (and
both leave out some key elements like how do you turn the thing on and off or
just go to a channel?).

Using an iPhone/Android as a remote is cute but frequently inferior to a
dedicated device.

I foresee Apple bringing out a whole new device to act as a remote that may
include touch surfaces, screen, vocal input and/or gestures (hoping they also
look at LeapMotion who's tech is way better and cheaper).

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Tomdarkness
Sounds quite a bit like Samsung's new Smart TVs:

[http://www.samsung.com/us/2013-smart-tv/#smart-
tv-2](http://www.samsung.com/us/2013-smart-tv/#smart-tv-2)

I've seen one in person and the gestures work quite well, although it seems a
bit gimmicky to me and you still need a remote.

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Zev
I still don't get why this has to be a full-sized TV. What if the AppleTV
(sized as it is) had the sensors in it to detect motion?

(Of course, I still don't see the appeal in using motion to control my TV,
after using a Kinect on-and-off since it was released. But, there's more to
the market than just me, so, who knows.)

~~~
anonymfus
If they could convince people to regularly update their whole TVs they would
make much more money.

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mtgx
Sounds exhausting.

