What is Missing from the New Apple TV?
Biting into Apple: The New Apple TV
Drawbacks of Apple TV
The new Apple (AAPL) TV is a significant change from its earlier versions with a revamped tvOS, a remote with Siri, and a focus on casual games. Besides streaming TV shows and movies, Apple TV will also allow users to engage in online shopping through websites like Gilt, house hunting through apps, and music streaming through Apple’s iTunes store. However, the new Apple TV still has room for improvement.
The new remote of the Apple TV comes with Apple’s voice assistant Siri, which understands the context of a question asked by the user, but cannot give suggestions. For example, when a user asks Siri to show drama shows, Siri lists the drama shows available across different streaming service libraries. However, if a user asks Siri to suggest the TV shows to watch, Siri is unable to offer any suggestions. Apple has not equipped Siri to suggest TV shows based on user preferences that can be gauged from a user’s purchases from the iTunes Store or video rentals.
Another issue with the new Apple TV is that Apple has specified that games that come with a separate gaming controller should also be compatible with the new Apple TV remote. This could be a problem for developers creating games for Apple TV. The remote has a touch sensor and can be used for gaming when horizontally tilted, but it has limited capabilities for motion-intensive or complex games.
Apple TV lacks content
The new Apple TV has the same content apps as the previous versions including Netflix (NFLX), HBO Now (TWX), and Showtime (CBS). The new Apple TV lacks new content including Amazon’s (AMZN) original programming or Dish Network’s (DISH) Sling TV. It remains to be seen how the new Apple TV performs in the market when it goes on sale in October this year.
You can get a diversified exposure to Apple by investing in the iShares S&P 500 Index ETF (IVV), which holds 3.7% of the stock.
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