Apple TV Updates With Voice-Activated Content Search

9 Sep, 2015 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Apple TV’s probable transition into a branded subscription streaming service may be on hold, but searching for digital movies to buy and stream got a lot easier.

Apple Sept. 9 announced an updated remote featuring its artificial intelligence assistance software Siri, which allows searching via voice command for TV shows and movies across multiple content providers simultaneously.

The new Apple TV will be available at the end of October starting at $149 for a 32GB model and $199 for a 64GB model.

With Siri, users can search TV shows and movies by title, genre, cast, crew, rating or popularity simply by saying things like “Show me 'New Girl,'” “Find the best funny movies from the ‘80s,” “Find movies with Jason Bateman” and “Find popular TV shows for kids.” Apple TV will search iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now and Showtime, displaying all the ways the resulting TV shows and movies can be consumed — much of it requiring separate subscriptions.

Siri also offers playback control and on-screen navigation, as well as quick access to sports, stock and weather information.

In addition, Apple’s streaming media device now features the new tvOS operating system, based on Apple’s iOS, enabling iOS developers to create apps and games specifically for Apple TV and deliver them directly to users through the new Apple TV App Store.

“Apps make the TV experience even more compelling for viewers and we think apps represent the future of TV,” Eddy Cue, SVP of Internet software and services at Apple, said in a statement.

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