With the great success of the Apple App store, why not allow some of these apps to be used on your TV?  The Apple TV could serve as an iPhone/iPod Touch docking station.  The Apple TV could play any music, videos, and applications that were on the iPhone or iPod touch.  I admit that not a lot of games would transition well from an iPhone onto the TV screen, but Apple TV specific applications could be made.  Apple could make a wireless gaming remote, or even use the iPhone or iPod touch as the Apple TV’s gaming remote.  Some might argue that an Apple TV app store would not do well, because there is not a lot of Apple TV owners, but that is because it still lacks those must have features.

The main focus of an Apple TV should be the TV part.  Place a larger hard drive in the device, and give it the ability to record live TV.  I have heard the argument that Apple will never give the Apple TV DVR capabilities because it competes with Apple’s own business of buying movies and TV Shows from their iTunes store, but I disagree.  First of all, I know many people with a DVR, and they do not record movies on it, and new releases are not available on TV anyway, so that eliminates the movie argument.  TV shows are a little different though, if you are recording a current season of a show, you are obviously not going to buy the episodes on iTunes.  However, imagine watching an episode of “The Office”, that you have recorded on your Apple TV, as your watching the episode, a small but noticeable, notification pops up on the bottom of your screen recommending movies that some of “The Office” cast members have starred in.  Maybe another notification pops up towards the end of the show, recommending the complete first season of “The Office”, and both of the notifications provide you with an iTunes link to purchase both.  The Apple TV could actually help increase sales on the iTunes store.  This method can be applied to almost anything being shown on the screen.  If your watching live TV, and a commercial for “The Dark Knight” DVD plays, it can provide a link to download the movie, or how about those famous “there’s an app for that” commercials, how nice would it be to have a direct iTunes link to all of the apps shown in that commercial.  How many times have you watched a TV show or a movie, and music is playing in one of the scenes, and you wish you knew the name of the song so you could download it.  Apple TV would not only be able to tell you what song is playing, but it could provide you with an option to start downloading the song in the background, while you continue to watch the show.  This should be Apple TV’s main focus, TV!

Now Apple TV is almost becoming a must have gadget, but its still missing something.  It has the ability to store all of your downloaded music, movies, TV shows, applications, and recorded TV.  What would be even better than being able to access all of that on your home network?  How about being able to access all of your media from anywhere that you have an Internet connection.  Remote viewing is the final feature that would make Apple TV a must have product.  Imagine logging in to iTunes on your laptop from a hotel, and being able to watch that episode of your favorite show that you recorded last night.  Imagine being at an airport and being able to access your Apple TV media from your iPhone.  This technology is already available with the use of a Sling Box, and the Sling Player iPhone application, but integrating it with the Apple TV would make it amazing.

The Apple TV is a good gadget that some people might want.  Adding a few features that focus on the TV part could really make the Apple TV a great gadget that everyone will need.  DVRs are more accessible now, almost every cable company offers them for a low monthly fee, Apple should capitalize on the increasing need for this technology.  In a couple of years, almost everyone is going to have a DVR; Apple should use this to their advantage by integrating iTunes into an Apple TV DVR.  Using a notification and background downloading feature, this might actually help increase iTunes sales, not to mention the fact that you would be able to access all your media, as well as live TV from virtually anywhere, the Apple TV would become a must have gadget.

-Bill Savage

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