Well, yesterday’s WWDC keynote turned out to be a disappointment for Apple TV fans. After years of rumours and speculations, we thought we would be finally seeing the Apple TV 4 launch, but it din’t happen (like NYT reported). The only Apple TV-related news was the Apple Music.

If you haven’t heard already, Apple announced their own music streaming service yesterday, called the Apple Music. It is tagged “All the ways you love music. All in one place.” and is exactly that.

In the present scenario, music fans have to use multiple services to follow what they love – iTunes to purchase music, Pandora-like internet radio services, Spotify to stream music, Twitter to follow artists, Instagram for their photos and more. And each of them have their own fees and ads. Apple created Apple Music as a new Music app which will bring all these features into a single app.

The My Music tab harbours all your purchased songs and For You makes recommendations based on your tastes. You can also view the top charts and latest trending music right within the app.

Beats 1 will be a 24/7 radio station that broadcasts globally and lives right within your Music app.

Connect will let artists share videos, photos, ‘behind the scenes’, statuses and more within the app while users can comment, like and share them, adding high level of interaction between them.

Apple Music will be ad-free and cost $9.99/month, or you can subscribe to the family package of $14.99/month, which can be shared by 6 users. You can also avail a free trial of 3 months before committing to the subscription.

The service will launch on iOS, WatchOS, OS X and Windows on June 30. However, a quick glance through the subsite (and through the press release) confirms that the Apple Music will launch on Apple TV this fall.

We don’t have any more details at this point, but we believe a new Music channel will pop up on Apple TV and carry the same features. This might coincide with the Apple TV 4 launch.

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Mark Gurman is probably the most respected and trusted blogger when it comes to breaking Apple news. Today, in a new post at 9to5Mac, he sheds some light on the Apple TV 4, as his sources report major facelifts in both hardware and software domains.

The Apple TV 4 Remote

As rumored before, the next Apple TV will come with a redesigned remote control, which is “fancier” than the current one and will likely sport a touchscreen or touchpad.

The the Apple Watch will be able to not only control your Apple TV, but, according to Gurman, “Apple plans to market the current Apple Watch as a primary input device for the next-generation Apple TV.”

The Apple TV 4 Software

Again, confirming previous rumors, the Apple TV 4 will pack a new operating system, codenamed “MonarchTide”. This OS will allow third party apps, which can be built with a new “TV Kit” included in a future version of Xcode, dubbed “MuirTrail”.

The new Xcode-based OS will also bear support for Apple’s voice assistant Siri.

Media Content on Apple TV 4

Gurman’s source says that the current prototypes, called the “J34” is filled with subscription-dependent channels just like the current Apple TV versions. However, Apple’s own rumored “Live TV” subscription service is expected to get added to them soon.

Read more on Apple’s online television service.

Apple TV 4 Hardware

The new Apple TV hardware, codenamed “J34,” is twice as bulky as the Apple TV 3, but that is common with all prototypes. Sources confirm that the shipping product will be slimmer than the current Apple TV box.

It will also come with a redesigned remote, as mentioned earlier.

Apple TV 4 Release date

The Apple TV 4 will be announced in June, at the WWDC 2015, like we reported earlier. The online TV service is expected to launch at a later date.

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At the Time Warner annual investor meeting, Richard Plepler, the CEO of HBO, announced that the company will launch a standalone HBO streaming service in 2015, enabling HBO fans to finally cut the cord. And according to analysts, this might be the break the set-top box industry, especially the Apple TV, has been waiting for.

Though the details were scarce, Plepler did mention that the service will begin with “current partners” and from the looks of it, that could directly refer to Apple. HBO’s current streaming service is HBO Go, which requires you to sign in with a supported cable subscription account for access. It is already available on iOS devices and on Apple TV, making Cupertino a worthy candidate to be the above mentioned partner.

New Apple TV in 2015 rumors. HBO offering stand-alone subscription in 2015. Hmmmmmm…

— Serenity Caldwell (@settern) October 15, 2014

Also, Plepler specifically mentions that:

There are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them.

With well over 20 million Apple TVs out in the world, the Apple set-top box seems to be HBO’s best route into the cord-cutting industry.

Besides, the Apple TV 4 is expected to come out in early 2015, which is roughly the same time when HBO new streaming service will be launched.

We have long been hearing that Apple is having serious discussions with HBO (Time Warner) to bring their content to Apple TV and it seems, they have finally struck a deal.

Exact details regarding the release date, subscription rates and whether the whole HBO catalog will be available over the service, are still a mystery. However with a network like HBO coming forward to break the cable-only norm, it will surely force the competition to follow. Hence, it is likely that we will see more media giants doing the same in the coming weeks and hopefully, the Apple TV 4 will come packed with them all.

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Apple is planning to get the most out of their 3 billion Beats acquisition by making its streaming service available to as many as possible. With the 7.0 software update, they’ve added a brand new Beats Music channel to Apple TV, which corresponds to the app of the same name on iOS.

The channel begins by inviting you to a 14-day free trial, unless you already have an account. After two weeks of streaming unlimited music, you can opt to subscribe for $10 a month or $100 per year, which will be charged directly to your iTunes account.

Beats Music channel is similar to its iOS app in almost all aspects, except that the former shows up in 1080p.

My Library is pretty much self explanatory while Just for You features a playlist curated especially for you based on your song habits and interested genres. You can Browse their catalog or Search for more songs based on Artist, Albums, genres or even by Awards and Events at the Highlights tab.

Stream unlimited, ad-free music anytime you want with Beats Music. Choose from over 20 million songs from nearly every genre imaginable. Not sure what to play? The Beats in-house curators can guide you.

However, a major left out in the Apple TV channel when compared to the Beats Music app is the feature called “The Sentence”, where you can enter exactly what you are doing at a particular moment, and get a custom playlist right for the mood. That was a really cool feature and will surely be missed.

The app is a little pain to set up initially since there is a lot of typing involved. You might want to download the official Remote app, especially if you are Signing up for the first time. But once set up, the overall experience is pretty good with a minimal UI and unobtrusive streaming sessions.

So what’s the take away? Beats Music does exactly what it is supposed do and the major decision lies in whether you prefer Beats Music over countless other services and whether you’ll be comfortable streaming songs to your television.

If you already have a Beats Music subscription, it would be unwise not to setup your account on Apple TV too. Else, you might want to make use of that 14-day trial on your iOS device before jumping into a subscription on the big screen.

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Now TV is Sky’s internet broadcasting service, available exclusively in the United Kingdom. Already available in over 50 different devices, the ‘complete Now TV channel’ finally makes its way to Apple TV.

The service is unique in the sense that it enables you to completely cut the cord, by not requiring a physical cable subscription to Sky’s Dish service. Instead you can just subscribe to their channel packs directly within the Apple TV, the packs being Sky Sports, Sky Entertainment (TV) and Sky Movies.

The Sky Sports Day Pass has been available on Apple TV since December 2013 for £9.99/24 hrs. The other two packs just got added yesterday thereby completing the Now TV service. The Entertainment Month Pass is available for £4.99 and the Movies Month Pass for £9.99.

With the Entertainment Month Pass, you can dive right into a great selection of shows. Enjoy every Boardwalk Empire episode ever, discover new shows like Legends with Sean Bean (we just hope his character stays alive…) or The Leftovers, the show everyone is talking about from HBO. You can also indulge in the best boxsets with Lost, Mad Men, Hannibal and many more.

If Movies are more your thing, or want the best of both worlds, you can enjoy the likes of Gravity, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Philomena and award-winning American Hustle. Plus, you can look forward to Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Spike Lee’s Oldboy joining the line-up this Friday. And, yes, we’ll keep adding more, with up to four premieres every Friday.

The passes come with a 30-day free trial after which you are charged automatically through your iTunes account.

It is worth noting that Now TV is looking upon a 40% hike in subscription charges starting October 16th. So if you’ve been holding on for a subscription, now would be a good time to take it.

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Well your Apple TV home-screen just got a bit more congested today, as two more channels made it to the show. Though a bit late, FOX Now and CNBC are now showing on Apple TV.

CNBC brings all of their business related news and the original Prime series shows to the channel. However you’ll need to sign in with your supported cable subscription account to take full advantage of this. Though a library of videos are available even for non-subscribers, VOD and live streaming are restricted to subscribers of Comcast, AT&T, DirecTV, DISH, Verizon, and more.

FOX Now channel on the other side provides their popular shows like Glee, American Idol, The Following, Family Guy, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, 24: Live Another Day, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project and many others for on-demand streaming. If you’re a subscriber, you can stream episodes right on the day after they’re aired while others will have to wait a whole week to do so.

The FOX Now channel shouldn’t be confused with their FXNow service, about which we discussed a couple of days back. Also TV2 Sumo, the official Apple TV channel for TV2 networks is now available exculsively to Norway users.

If you find your home-screen to be too cluttered and have unused channels, you can follow our guide on How to easily hide unwanted channel icons on Apple TV.

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Well, let’s wait a bit till Apple announces their next-gen. Apple TV so that we can make a fair Apple TV 4 vs Amazon Fire TV comparison. In the meantime, if you’re craving to get your Amazon Prime Instant Video subscription or rented movies on your Apple TV, here is a way.

Amazon Prime on Apple TV

1. The wireless method – AirPlay

Prime Instant Video has a wonderful iOS app (free on the App Store), which is compatible with your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Of course, it lets you watch the rented movies or countless other subscription-included ones via this app. The best part is that it supports AirPlay and hence, can broadcast your favorite videos from Amazon Prime to your Apple TV.

How to?

Step 1: Download the free Amazon Instant Video app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

Step 2: Sign in with your Amazon Prime subscription ID.

Step 3: Search for your favorite content or browse the limitless catalog and find the perfect movie for your mood.

Step 4: Start the movie and click on the AirPlay icon (displayed in the lower right) -> choose Apple TV.

The video should be now playing on your Apple TV. Sit back and watch the movie in full-screen on your HDTV.

2. The alternative method – HDMI out cable (no Apple TV needed)

In case AirPlay is giving you trouble, you can use an HDMI-out cable (Apple Digital AV Adapter is recommended) for the same. It works exactly like AirPlay, but may even be better in case of heavy videos.

Step 0: Get a HDMI-out cable for your device if you don’t have one already (Apple Digital AV Adapter: Lightning or 30-pin).

Step 1 – Step 3 are the same as for the first method.

Step 4: Plug in your AV adapter and connect it to your TV via a HDMI cable. You can use the second slot on the adapter with your lightning or 30-pin connector to charge your device simultaneously.

Step 5: Start the movie, sit back and watch it on your HDTV

Note: both methods require iOS 6 or later. 

As already told, these methods do not provide a permanent solution nor an absolute replacement for watching Amazon Prime on Apple TV. But this can surely help you to evade the temptation put forth by the Amazon Fire TV, till the next-gen. Apple TV is announced.

Holiday Gift Guide 2015: Best Accessories for Apple TV

Also read:

• How to watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime Instant Video and other US-only services on Apple TV outside the US.
• How to get Amazon Fire TV-style voice search on Apple TV

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Looks like the rumor mill just can’t get enough of Apple TV. This time, the speculations are on a deal between Apple and Comcast to bring channels from the US largest cable TV network to the Apple TV. And as per analysts, Apple TV 4 might be the first one to feature the same.

We infer from the report on The Wall Street Journal that Apple wants to add a new Comcast hub on Apple TV, where users would be able to sign up for a subscription and stream all the live and on-demand content from them. Apple will of course keep a cut from the fee.

The other half of the speculations show that Apple has asked Comcast for a “special treatment” for the content flow to Apple TV devices – a separate set of fibers would broadcast specifically to Apple’s set-top boxes, thereby bypassing the congestion of the normal cables with overloaded bandwidths.

Under the plan Apple proposed to Comcast, Apple’s video streams would be treated as a “managed service” traveling in Internet protocol format – similar to cable video-on-demand or phone service. Those services travel on a special portion of the cable pipe that is separate from the more congested portion reserved for public Internet access.

The report suggests that the discussions are still in the most primitive stages and that means, there is a high chance that this tie-up, if any, will flow into the drain to join hundreds of others. Even if these rumors are true and Apple & Comcast figures out a deal, the Comcast zone for Apple TV would still be a long time away, thanks to the huge cable upgrades and multitude of copyright signatures involved.

Also read: Where is Apple taking the TV in 2014?

So here’s what we think. The first part of the rumor might indeed be true. Apple has been working on making Apple TV the king of living rooms for quite sometime now and adding the traditional cable channels along with what they’ve to offer, seems to be a great first step. That does sound like something Apple would do.

But the other part – on preferential streaming to Apple devices – is very unlikely. Such a provision would be in direct conflict to the net neutrality norms and Apple who likes to boast about ethics on every ad and keynote, would rather skip it. Here is an elaborate critical look into the rumor by GigaOm.

All that being said, we wouldn’t count on Apple-Comcast deal, despite what many bloggers have been saying. There’s a lot to be accomplished between a successful talk and a successful implementation and the time frame given for the Apple TV 4 launch by the most recent rumors isn’t generous enough for that.

Update: Dan Rayburn at StreamingMedia: “From sources I have spoken to, no such deal between Apple and Comcast is being considered today, the way the WSJ describes it. Apple routinely has discussions with all the major content owners but Apple is not working on any special streaming service that will be delivered via Comcast.”

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And here it is, yet another channel to clutter your home screen. As hinted earlier by a WWE spokesperson at the Vegas press meet last month, WWE Network is now available on Apple TV and iOS devices. Most of the details were already revealed then, but for those who missed that post, here is a summary to catch up.

The World Wresting Entertainment (WWE) launched a new WWE Network wing which would handle its content distribution across all major multimedia devices. Any Wi-Fi enabled device including iDevices, Androids, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast and more were on the hit-list. As scheduled, today, the 24th of February, saw it up and running as a new channel on the Apple TV and as apps on the corresponding devices. Availability in countries outside US and Canada are unconfirmed, as of now.)

WWE Network brings all their twelve Pay-per-view streams including WrestleMania and WCW, the complete home video library, selected weekly matches and some “groundbreaking” specials into a single package and are all available for unlimited 24×7 streaming. If you are to go by the PPVs, this would amount to more than $650 a year, whereas the new network broadcasts for just 10 bucks a month.

You can sign up for the service in any supported device and stream videos over different devices with the same account, obviously. However, a caveat is that you can only subscribe for 6 months bulk at a time as monthly plans are not yet available. And that means, swipe $59.99 and stream for 6 months straight. Sounds fair enough.

If you are a Wrestling fan, there is no denying that this is indeed a big deal for you. But for others, this might just be another junk icon on your screen which will find a place in that hidden channels list. However they would be excited to know that the recent rumors on the Apple TV 4 points to a completely redesigned interface and a reverse-compatible iOS based firmware, with support for third-party games and apps. If that sounds interesting, you can read more on the next Apple TV here.

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