Thanks to the latest courtroom war between Apple and Samsung, a lot of private mails and documents shared between Steve Jobs and his top employees has be made public. iPhone for normal people, Samsung’s marketing strategy, and a Holy war with Google are some of the most discussed ones. But what is significant for us Apple TV lovers is this excerpt from a mail Jobs sent in 2010 regarding the Apple TV 2.

” Apple TV 2 – David Moody, Jeff Robbin
– Strategy: stay in the living room game and make a great “must have” accessory for iOS devices
– sales so far, projections for this holiday
– add content:
– NBS, CBS, Viacom, HBO, …
– TV subscription?
– where do we go from here?
– apps, browser, magic wand? “

The first two clauses are purely official and sales-related while the rest of’em sheds bright light on what Jobs wanted for Apple TV in the coming years and maybe even forms a part of what he meant when he said he’d “finally cracked the code” for the perfect television.

The next couple of suggestions has indeed been made into reality during or after Jobs’ reign. Apple has been adding channels regularly to their set top box and was said to be in talks with Time Warner for a deal too. Even speculations of a Comcast subscription-based next gen Apple TV loomed around for a bit.

The last strategy of apps and browsers is the one raising the most eyebrows now as it perfectly lines up with the latest reports on Apple TV 4. The next Apple TV is said to come with a support for games, third party apps, custom channels and even game controllers. A revamped and easy-to-use interface is also said to be in the pipeline. You can read all about the Apple TV 4 here.

Now to my favorite and the most mysterious part of the mail, the last word – the magic wand. Though we have no official confirmation on what that is, we can read it closely with some of the latest patents (pic above) registered by Apple, its acquisition of motion-detection firm PrimeSense and listen to what our gut says. The said magic wand is probably a Microsoft Kinect-like device which will enable controlling of Apple TV with a stick-remote, via simple gestures and clicks.

This sort of reminds us of one unique and interesting accessory we tried out earlier: it is called the Kymera Magic Wand Remote Control.

It pairs with your existing infrared remotes and learns the patterns for various functions, which in turn can be converted into gestures. In short, you have a magic wand which you can swish in front of your Apple TV and control it. Looking somewhat like the Elder Wand from Harry Potter, this is literally what we can make of Job’s reference. In case you’re curious, you can get the magic wand for your Apple TV here.

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

The post Steve Jobs’ vision of a next-generation Apple TV: apps, browser and a magic wand appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

The first reports came way back in July by Israeli media Calcalist and was speculated to be tagged at about 280 million. Last week, the same guys hottened the rumors with a speculated 345 million on table. Apple kept mum on the subject and PrimeSense even dared to dismiss the matter but we knew, we couldn’t trust the official words. As per one of yesterday’s news article on Globes, the deal is now closed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXKqIr4cjyo

According to various sources, including AllThingsD, Apple has responded to the news with a rather vague explanation. Apple’s spokesperson Kristin Huguet said in a telephone interview, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans“. The real confirmation came from the other side according to Reuters, when a PrimeSense representative said, “We can confirm the deal with Apple. Further than that, we cannot comment at this stage“.

So what does that mean for Apple’s future devices? PrimeSense as you might be familiar with, is a 3D sensor provider, and was behind the original Microsoft Kinect. On the other hand, Apple has also prepared their own ideas for motion detection, as evident from the above patent. We can see that this particular image shows the living room as the sensors’ detection area and a television as the source of the sensor. With the rumors of Apple’s own television set getting hotter and hotter, we can hope that an iTV with smart gesture controls is on the road map.

But unlike the initial bulky sensor, PrimeSense has come alot way to reach a highly compact and portable design. It makes us wonder, whether the iPhone and iPad will also get their own piece from this deal. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, we would love to hear what you guys think.

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

The post Confirmed: Apple buys PrimeSense appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Apple has always had this thing for acqui-hiring established companies for their future products and patents, rather than starting things from scratch. They did it with Siri and countless others till the recent taking over of flash storage maker Anobit in Israel.

Now, the same source which reported the latter news, have some info on Apple’s latest venture. According to the Israeli media Calcalist, Apple has acquired PrimeSense, the 3D sensor providers for Microsoft Kinect. You might remember one of our earlier posts where we discussed a similar rumor in July. Though the news was later declined by the representatives, official declarations in such secret deals often doesn’t carry much truth. This is proved by the more compelling reports flowing in now. As per the new reports, PrimeSense was acquired by Cupertino for about $345M as opposed to the previously speculated $280M.

Apple has already patented their own 3D sensing and imaging platform as seen in the above picture and this PrimeSense acquisition is probably aimed at boosting or hastening their plans. On the other hand, age old rumors of Apple’s own television set are getting hotter and hotter. Reading things together, we can expect/hope Apple to release the speculated iTV soon. And that too, with gesture controls and movement tracking like in Kinect or something entirely different with Apple’s own charm, one can never tell!

As expected, PrimeSense has again decided to keep us in the dark with the below reply to TheNextWeb’s query.

PrimeSense is the leading 3D technology in the market. We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and Natural Interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices. We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or re-cycled rumors.

The post 3D sensor company PrimeSense, reportedly acquired by Apple appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

Before I say anything, you need to see the above video. I swear, it’s awesome.

So that’s a promo video of the Israeli company PrimeSense. This is how they imagine future would be, thanks to the awesome 3D sensing technology they have devised. If you think this technology is years away, you’re mistaken. The first implementation of the technology was seen in the Microsoft Kinect and seemed to work very well.

And, Apple is rumored to be in acquisition talks with PrimeSense. Representatives from this 3D pioneers have been reported to be frequently visiting Cupertino. Our doubts are tightened when we remember the patents Apple filed recently on a similar front.

Seth Feigerman from PrimeSense has denied these rumors. But if past is any guide, such declarations are as good as nothing.

Apple will surely be looking to get their hands on the fresh technologies before its too late. Maybe a few years down the road, we’ll see an Apple TV doing the things in the above video.

The post Apple rumored to be in acquisition talks with 3D sensor company behind Xbox Kinect appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

A few weeks ago, in collaboration with Squirrels (maker of AirParrot and Reflector) and Beamer, we started a contest inviting you to share with us (and the rest of the world) your vision of a perfect Apple TV – the Apple TV of your dreams. The participation was amazing (thanks!), we got tons of submissions and a lot of great ideas. Here is a short résumé:

Almost all of you think of a new Apple TV as a standalone TV set that features:

• a big, 3D, ultra HD display (Retina?)
• a built-in Kinect-like camera (FaceTime/Skype calls, gaming, face recognition)
• Siri
• App Store (yes, you want apps!!!)
• social network integration
• DVR functionality

All the above features seem to be a MUST for the future Apple HDTV.

Other ideas we liked:

• NFC
• push notifications
• multiuser personalized profiles
• gesture interaction with social media
• a full TV experience available everywhere (on the go!)
• wireless charging (in the fuuuuuture)

Interestingly, a lot of you want your TV to become… a phone.

Though these are all great ideas, we think we are still missing something here, a truly revolutionary, game-changing, killer future that could reinvent a TV and it seems that we will have to leave it to Apple to figure out what it is.

Here are some of your ideas:

Sean O’Neill

• My vision for the perfect Apple TV would require one simple interface addition: voice.  A few simple words should be all it takes to communicate with your TV, across all devices and services.
  Examples:
  “Hi TV. Change channel, CNN.”
  “Hi TV. Netflix, House of Cards. Episode 2.”
  “Hi TV. Search TV, Next Daily Show, New Episodes.”A minor hardware challenge would be including a small microphone in the remote, which would transmit voice commands to the box.An alternate approach to voice control would be to simply hold the current center button for a few seconds, which would trigger a high-gain microphone on the Apple TV itself. An animated speech waveform could be displayed on the TV to entertain the user & confirm actuation.Another interesting twist on this would be to provide multi-service search results, as Roku has done with the latest version of their Roku 3 player. e.g. “Hi TV. Iron Man 2. Anywhere.” might return a list of results on screen that list comparative pricing spanning multiple services, so users can select the best offering.

• Another “killer” feature would be Push Notifications. Users can register their favorite programs (via an Apple TV app, for instance, that could resemble a supercharged Remote app) using their Apple ID. They could then be notified about various events: when a favorite show is about to be broadcast, when a podcast they’ve subscribed to has a new episode, or when a movie they’re watching becomes available on Netflix, Amazon VOD, Vudu, etc. On acknowledging the notification, users could either select the content for immediate viewing, “Add to Queue”, or Record, depending upon the source.

G J P R Verasdonck

My Apple TV should be:

• any “computer” from which I can access the content from anywhere in the world (if I am on holidays in “Timbuktu” I do not want my screen to say that I am not authorized to view my content due to geographic restrictions)
• suitable for views on the go (e.g. iPad/iPhone) or at home (e.g. large screen)
• be “low-key interactive”: if I like the holiday program on Fiji Islands, I want to be able to look at booking options or in reverse: if i consider a holiday to the Inca ruins I want to be able to look for a travel program on the region I am interested in and see booking possibilities
• my TV should also be my phone; I like to see the people I’m talking with.

Mark Villapando

• Deals with all the premium channels for their on demand content
• Access to the NFL Network, or better yet, RedZone
• Deals with more sports networks to make pay subscription apps (to combat Internet piracy through illegal streaming sites)
• Easy ability to share viewed programs through social networks
• A VNC-like app to access the screens of computers on the network (from TV)
• Make iOS hackable again to allow programs like Plex, XBMC, or Media Player to stream local media (wishful thinking)

Alejandro Timpanaro

• A laser pointer (Wii-style)
• Google Chrome browser
• Google maps
• Access to Google Drive and other cloud services
• A download manager like Jdownloader.
• Backup config of the Apple TV in iCloud

Nicholas Chan

• Every single broadcast gets relayed to the billion-dollar data center for recording. This includes news broadcasts, morning/late night talk shows, etc. Everything gets recorded. A user with an Apple TV can then jump back in time to a specific hour to watch his/her favorite program from any channel, streaming directly from the data center. User does not have to worry about local storage. Program list can be sorted and presented in many ways. Programs can stream to iPhone/iPad/Macs. Premium channels are available to those that are paying for it currently.
• The Archive: for stuff that predates the Apple TV (stuff that didn’t get recorded at the data center), becomes available for on-demand streaming. Basically – Netflix. Score some deals Mr. Cook!
• Three ways to control the TV: 1) everyone has their phones with them, make that the remote (people would buy iPod touches dedicated for this). Very similar to the current Apple TV’s iOS remote. 2) if the phone isn’t in the room, use Siri, an obvious choice. 3) if all else fails, a multitouch display directly on a TV. Tap on screen to bring up a menu. Swipe to switch channels. Third party apps can utilize this. Apps can be educational and ask children to select things on screen, etc…(classrooms desperately need this feature available).
• Killer GPU for competition against consoles
• iSight -> direct all phone/FaceTime calls to the TV rather than your phone if your identity is detected in the room

Mike Bowen

• I’d like to see the TV have full touchscreen compatibility (you can’t play Angry Birds without a touchscreen)
• PIP of course that would support watching TV while checking apps
• Built in 4g & LTE support so you can actually make and receive phone calls from the TV set itself

Adrian Büsselmann

• I dream of gesturing from my couch to control the Apple TV. No more searching for the small controller. Apple TV could get a “Kinect” plugin to realize this
• Even a virtual keyboard can be shown on the TV and the Apple TV would see my gesture and get the right input

Eric Dykstra

• A monthly iTunes subscription (be able to watch everything on iTunes for a monthly cost; the cost would be high, $150+ per month)
• Control interface for cable and satellite (run the Cable signal through Apple TV, and change channels with ATV)

Eric Olson

• The Apple TV should be able to mirror to another apple TVs and support a “party-mode” where all apple TVs on the local network display and control the same media
• Open the “remote” IP port for 3rd party display of meta-data & control. This will make it easy to integrate an Apple TV into high & mid-range entertainment systems

Rik Moedt

• The Genius function that Apple uses to show you things you might like is going to be integrated. It will offer you playlist with things you might like to watch. In the playlist live television, on demand video and internet content can all be combined.

And the winners are:

1. Maria Panagi – for the brilliant idea of using simple gestures to interact with social media:

The Apple TV of my dreams would have highly developed gesture recognition, that would be used not only for playing games (bringing all the Wii feauteres) but the whole controlling of the TV would be based on gestures.

When it comes to social media, the gesture recognition would be highly integrated with the biggest social media platforms. On the above picture there is an example of Facbook ´Like`- the gesture of thumb-up would be recognized and would make it possible to give a like only using a gesture. Other gestures would be recognized as “share” and reading the news feed would be possible with a hand swing.

On the below picture there is an example of how the gesture control system could work with Apple TV menu. I believe that the main menu should have only 6 icons, so that it can be easily navigated with gestures (it would recognize moves: left top, right top, center top, left down, right down, center down). One hand swing would  bring another screen with the next set of 6 icons.

Prize: iPad mini

2. Cristhian Flores – for an idea of a fingerprint (on the remote)/face detection to recognize users and update the TV with their personalized profiles (channels, apps, movies, music, etc.)

Other ideas of Cristhian:

• Led notification for personal mail, Skype calls, or iMessage
• A built in mic on the touch remote to allow the user to communicate with TV without making too much noise around
• NFC chip, to allow smartphones and tablets to transfer information with a tap on the TV’s stand. When tapped to a laptop will also transfer information.
• All Corning Gorilla Glass with plasma like refresh rate 600HZ
• Has built in set-top box, way to activate is to call Apple and with their deal with Direct TV/Dish will transmit signal to the television to allow channel viewing
• Special coating on the television that activates when people (in a meeting) are trying to show their products can write on the screen with a stylus. This information is saved on the flash and can be transmitted to devices via NFC.
• Quad-core processor to allow heavy intensive applications to run, the visual would match the graphics of the Playstation 3
• 4GB RAM: allows applications to run at ease, also streaming any content while also doing iWork (multitasking.) It would allow either side-by-side or Top-bottom screen to be able to run two applications.

Prize: iPad mini

Runner-up: Leo Hellberg – for a futuristic idea of The Plug (wireless power) and professionally designed Apple-style graphic (below.)

Prize: free copies of AirParrot, Reflector and Beamer.

Big thanks to all for participation! Stay tuned for more contest and giveaways!

The contest was sponsored by Squirrels (maker of AirParrot and Reflector) and Beamer.

The post “Apple TV of your dreams” contest: winners announced! appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.

It is far too easy, and fun, to begin speculating at what this could mean. We all know that Tim Cook doesn’t spend his time visiting companies like this for no reason. So what could it mean? For me, it seems like a perfect fit. Get involved with a company to that already has a digital gaming platform integrated for mac, PC and platform games alike.

According to sources to Cult of Mac:

Apple is working on a television set with an iTunes-integrated touch screen remote and Siri-like voice command technology. The TV set will be coming before the end of 2012. Furthermore, Apple’s television set will come with an Apple-branded, Kinect-like video game console. The interface will rely heavily on motion and touch controls.

Simply put, we are one, well designed, physical remote away from Apple taking over the gaming sector. There I said it! I have been a long time lover of iPad mirroring iOS games to my Apple TV 2. The limitation has always been controls. If Apple integrates either Kinect –like features or and external remote. I may be sold!

Update: Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has said that Tim Cook never visited his company, but, according to Cult of Mac sources, Apple is still working on a Kinect-like video game console:

The company’s plans are always subject to change, but gaming for the upcoming television is definitely on the table right now.

[via: Cult of Mac]

umOuch (Andrew Brasher)

You may also want to read:
Munster: Apple TV set will be the biggest thing in consumer electronics since the smartphone
FireCore: Work is underway on Apple TV 3 jailbreak and Apple TV 2 5.0 untethered jailbreak
aTV Flash (black) 1.5 for Apple TV 2 is live
How to install IceFilms on your jailbroken Apple TV

The post Rumor: Apple working on a revolutionary, Kinect-like video game console appeared first on Apple TV Hacks.