Hasta La Gadget!

On Monday, Apple TV beta software was made available, and within it are signs that the company will be restoring iTunes music purchases to its set-top media box. While present users can only buy TV shows and movies via Apple TV, with the feature found in the latest beta release, those same users will be able to browse, preview, and buy songs and albums as well.

You can see the feature for yourself from the screenshots below from the folks over at Apple Insider, who took the feature in the beta software for a run. When opening Music, users are presented with scrolling panes and a variety of albums and artists to browse through, with a song (for example) being shown with relevant information (artist, album, title, etc.), as well as the purchase price and a preview option.

Music can be browsed by category, as well, and purchased based on either song or entire album. According to the source, the feature functions and is presented much in the same way as OS X users experience iTunes, with some obviously necessary changes to accommodate the medium upon which it is being displayed. When content is attempted to be purchased, a verification request will be required, helping prevent accidental buys.

Furthermore, pulling up an album causes the featured track or hit from the album to be highlighted from the start, perhaps to make it easier for users looking for popular content to find what they want. Selecting the song then brings up the preview and purchase options. Likewise, the free weekly singles are also available through the feature.

Finally, there’s the purchasing aspect of the feature, which works as you’d expect, and ends with an option to keep the media on Apple TV, or to download it to a different device, such as an iPhone. Purchases made in recent times are then auto-updated with syncing the device to iTunes. It is expected this feature will be available with the next software release slated for later in 2013.

SOURCE: Apple Insider

Apple TV beta brings iTunes music buying functionality is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple is rumored to be working on a ad-skipping technology for a new Apple TV service.

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According to a report by former WSJ reporter Jessica Lessin, Apple’s long-rumored stand-alone TV service will supposedly allow viewers to skip over commercials.

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It would seem that Apple TV’s future could be signed off this week between Time Warner Cable and the creator of the set box itself, this according to sources close to the matter. Straight from Bloomberg comes this suggestion with a note on how the companies will not be announcing their agreement – if it does indeed go through – until later this year: “within a few months”.

This deal would allow Apple TV to work with streaming content in a way that competing hardware solutions have been racking up in recent months*. It also could have an adverse effect on companies aiming for exclusivity in content such as Netflix – they having just announced today a new deal with the show “New Girl.”

This deal would have Apple showing down Microsoft’s recent renewed play for the living room with the Xbox One – a device aimed as much at video content as it is games. According to an email from a spokewoman for Time Warner Cable also sent to the same publication, they “don’t have an agreement with [Apple] at this time.”

Meanwhile there’s another bit of a rumor flying around that Apple will be hiring Hulu’s Pete Distad this year. Distad works as senior vice president in charge of marketing and distribution for Hulu and would likely serve a similar role with Apple in a new push for Apple TV action in 2013.

*It should be noted here that Time Warner Cable is no stranger to signing deals with groups working with devices such as Apple TV, especially rather recently. Time Warner Cable has signed deals with Roku, Microsoft for Xbox, and Samsung Electronics in the past – Samsung having just signed up last month.

Apple TV deal tipped with Time Warner Cable is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There are lots of articles online speculating about how Apple can create an instant game console by increasing the integration between the Apple TV and iOS devices. It’s an interesting idea, but so far we’ve seen that Apple is slow to embrace its gaming community. iOS game developer Rolocule Games took matters into its own hands and came up with… Wii Sports. Or one of the games in Wii Sports.

Using AirPlay, the Apple TV can mirror your iOS device’s display on your TV or monitor to let you play on a bigger screen. But Rolocule Games went a step further. Aside from letting you play on a big screen, its app Motion Tennis lets you use your iOS device itself as the motion controller. You get the idea: Swing your iOS device and your avatar swings his racket. Swing your device hard and you just might end up with a costly accident.

Motion Tennis is already available on the iTunes App Store for $8 (USD). You need to have an Apple TV as well as a fairly modern iOS device to make it work, but I can wholeheartedly recommend the game… if you’re trapped in 2006.

Still, it’s a glimpse at what a powerful “mobile console” could be like. Imagine if the next PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo (or Google or Apple) game system was just that: a small device. A console, controller, secondary display, media center, digital store and game library in your pocket. And you can make calls with it too! Wouldn’t that be awesome?

I’m not sure how long it would take or if we’d ever get such a device. Then again, if you told me five years ago that I’d be able to play Final Fantasy Tactics, Baldur’s Gate, a digital version of Magic: The Gathering and a new XCOM game in one portable device I wouldn’t have believed you either.

[via TechCrunch]