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 TVÂ here.
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