\u201cApple has been sitting on this serious update to the Apple TV for quite a while,\u201d said Creative Strategies President Tim Bajarin. I\u2019ve known Bajarin, a longtime Apple watcher, for years. He\u2019s smart and usually accurate.<\/p>\n We talked a bit about the late Steve Jobs quote, from Jobs’ biographer Walter Isaacson, that he had \u201csolved TV.\u201d Bajarin said the statement was likely about how people interact with their TVs and the content that plays on them.<\/p>\n There could be a new Apple TV box \u2014 and even a new Apple TV remote that offers voice interactivity (not an earth shattering idea: Amazon\u2019s Fire TV already offers voice search). The reality, though, is Apple doesn’t need new hardware to reinvent Apple TV, which means \u2014 as has been reported \u2014 we might not get a new box, but instead…<\/p>\n … a new Apple TV interface, whose current UI is long past its sell-by date. The new UI could feature a new Apple-based live-streaming, subscription-based TV service (some say the TV service is not<\/em> on Monday\u2019s menu). \u201cContent is going to be important,\u201d noted Bajarin and said he hopes the new Apple TV platform includes a live component. Last week at Re\/code\u2019s<\/em> Code Conference, CBS CEO Les Moonves revealed the company was in negotiations with Apple to join this as-of-yet unannounced service.<\/p>\n “If Apple is going to play a significant role in the future [of TV], they need to move quick<\/p>\n If Apple is going to play a significant role in the future [of TV], they need to move quick<\/span>,\u201d said Bajarin.<\/p>\n The updated platform, however, could play an even larger role in the Apple ecosystem.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of the story of Apple TV will be its function as a smart home hub,\u201d predicted Forrester Research Analyst Frank Gillett. This would make a lot of sense, since Apple\u2019s HomeKit smart home development platform is sort of a stateless system without a central app hub for controlling all the disparate devices that can speak HomeKit’s language. Imagine being able to sit on your couch and control the lights and room temperature through Apple TV. You might also be able to access Apple TV from outside your home to monitor HomeKit-enabled devices.<\/p>\n To a certain extent, this syncs up with what we learned in January: Apple TV acting as a kind of intermediary between Siri on a iPhone or iPad and home-network connected smart devices in the home. Though it does seem likely that Apple TV may end up playing a more active role and let you control connected devices directly.<\/p>\n Speaking of HomeKit, it is altogether possible that Apple might bring some third-party HomeKit hardware to the WWDC stage.<\/p>\n Music<\/strong><\/p>\n The other big news on Monday will have to be Apple Music or iMusic. Notice I didn\u2019t call it Beats Music.<\/p>\n Yes, Apple bought Beats almost one year ago for $3 billion and, as of now, has nothing to show for it except an embarrassing product recall. That all changes Monday when Apple finally unveils its long-awaited subscription-based music streaming service. Industry insiders told me a few things about the new services.<\/p>\n It will include both a paid and a free option. Most believe the free option will be a rebranded iTunes Radio. It will let you stream genre-based music and probably, as you can now, listen to curated streams from DJs. When Apple launched iTunes Radio, it has people like Katy Perry acting as DJ. The new service might have Drake.<\/p>\n Sources told me that Apple will not call the service Beats Music; there\u2019s simply no value in that name on the streaming side. Beats streaming service was around for a scant four months before Apple bought the business.<\/p>\n The subscription service, which will target Spotify and \u2014 to a lesser extent \u2014 Pandora\u2019s paid tier, should cost around $10 a month. It will be an on-demand system that will let you stream an unlimited number of songs of your choice. My sources told me Apple wanted to charge less for the service than, say, Google Play Music, which costs $9.99 for all-access to their music library, but the music labels wouldn\u2019t go for it.<\/p>\n As a result, Apple’s music streaming service will have to compete on the size of its song library<\/p>\n Apple’s music streaming service will have to compete on the size of its song library<\/span> (which is roughly equivalent to Google\u2019s) and access to artists. Can Apple convince Taylor Swift to join iMusic or Apple Music or Apple Play?<\/p>\n Most expect the service to be mobile-only (all iOS devices) at start. It\u2019s also likely that, from the moment this service is announced, Apple will launch an aggressive marketing campaign the likes of which we haven\u2019t seen since the first iPod and iTunes. Industry insiders say this is because consumers still don\u2019t understand subscription music services. Most are happy to use free streaming services where they have little-to-no control over the content.<\/p>\n I also think there\u2019s a tiny chance Apple will introduce a new pair (or two) of Beats-branded ear buds and headphones that you can use to enjoy the new music service. They may also choose to hold these until the next iPhone.<\/p>\n Platforms<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the last couple of years, Apple has pushed its mobile and desktop platforms \u2013 iOS and Mac OS X \u2013 closer and closer together. Yosemite was the most iOS OS X of all. Yet, don\u2019t expect Apple to go much further in this direction.<\/p>\n \u201cThey won\u2019t converge the two into one,\u201d said Forrester\u2019s Gillett.<\/p>\n People I spoke to see this as a foundation-building year. iOS 9 and OS X 10.11 (with some California location code name) will come, but word is we\u2019ll see more performance enhancements and bug fixes than major new features.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [WWDC] has a lot more to do with advancing the foundations of their existing products and giving us a glimpse of the future features and functions we can expect going into the end of the year,\u201d said Bajarin.<\/p>\n Naturally, whatever new features Apple demonstrates on iOS 9 will be read as tea leaves about the next set of iPhone handsets (probably iPhone 6S and 6S Plus).<\/p>\n Apple’s comfort level with testing these platforms out in public has grown in recent years. Which means we could see public betas for iOS 9 and OS X 11 as soon as Monday.<\/p>\n There will be HomeKit, HealthKit and ResearchKit updates, along with the formal introduction of other \u201cKits\u201d like PhotoKit and StoreKit.<\/p>\n Developments outside of Apple could mean that we get at least one or two minor hardware update announcements. Gillett, for instance, pointed to the recent Intel Thunderbolt 3introduction. The new connector supports USB-C and offers twice the bandwidth of the previous connector technology.<\/p>\n The current 5K iMac Retina (introduced last year) needs two Thunderbolt 2 connectors to work with current systems. Apple could tease a new display that can pump the same number of pixels through one Thunderbolt 3 port.<\/p>\n Bajarin told me it\u2019s also possible that Apple could unveil some minor CPU updates for its systems \u2014 those would naturally be driven by Intel CPU updates.<\/p>\n As noted above, Apple will demonstrate all the things developers can do when they gain access to a native Apple Watch SDK, which should include much faster and more versatile third-party apps.<\/p>\n Apple Pay will get a relatively minor update that brings loyalty and gift cards into the fold \u2013 likely accomplished through the \u201cShopKit\u201d platform.<\/p>\n One more thing…<\/strong><\/p>\n Over the years, WWDC has had its share of surprises (think the Mac Pro), but most don\u2019t expect one this year. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything that would qualify for \u2018One more thing,\u2019\u201d said Bajarin.<\/p>\n Don’t look for the long-rumored, 12-inch iPad Pro to make an appearance and certainly do no expect a new category. This is, after all, a conference for developers and really not a consumer showcase.<\/p>\n Whatever happens on Monday, I, along with Christina Warren, will be on the ground giving you the play-by-play. Mark your calendars and don\u2019t miss it.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: Mashable.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Apple\u2019s 2015 Worldwide Developer Conference comes on the heels of what could arguably be called an enormous year for Apple: Its latest iPhones sold in monstrous numbers, its new MacBook is ushering in a laptop era of solitary ports and gold finishes, and, of course, the company entered a brand new product category with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":115050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[18],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Apple](\"http:\/\/rack.0.mshcdn.com\/media\/ZgkyMDE1LzA2LzA0LzliL0FwcGxlVFYyMDE0LjIxMDNmLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4\/efba3388\/bbe\/Apple-TV-2014-Select-Edits-5.jpg\" "\\"Apple")
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