New Apple TV was so far seeing in Siri up and front. Siri will be able to search across multiple apps (though not ALL of your apps) and show all of your viewing options on one screen. Siri can search across “multiple” content apps such as iTunes, or Netflix, or Hulu, or HBO, or Showtime.
Apple TV’s wallpapers/screensavers are animated; she shows a shot of the golden gate bridge, cars subtly cruising across. That’s the homescreen. Swiping on a trackpad to control the experience makes more sense than “magic wand” style remotes that may seen from some other TV makers. They make you wave your hands around in the air, which never works.
Wondering if there is Force Touch in the remote. Siri requests can get quite specific. Show me that one Modern Family episode with Edward Norton” the episode appears. To fast forward/rewind, you just click into the touch sensitive trackpad and swipe. Siri skips back 15 seconds to the previous line or you can use voice. “Skip ahead 7 minutes”. AppleTV reacts accordingly. Or, following a line of dialogue: “What did she say?”
The weather report slides into place at the bottom, the movie still playing above. She swipes up on the controller, bringing up the full weather app and auto pausing the movie. Siri can also switch apps — say “Open Music.” All the Apple apps have been redesigned, too, but its the capability of the third-party apps that’s key. Developers will have to build for a new OS, called tvOS.
What Apple has gotten right with the new Apple TV is that for the Internet to go mainstream on TVs, we needed a much better way to interact with the screen. Siri and a touchscreen remote seem pretty slick so far and it maybe controlled the volume, which is good. The battery lasts 3 months — charges with a lightening connector.
