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BitTorrent Now heads to iOS devices and Apple TV
BitTorrent hasn't quite shaken off its rep as a tool for piracy yet, but it's sure giving its best shot by making apps that serve up legal content. One of those is BitTorrent Now, which the company has just released for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. BT's streaming platform originally came out for Android in June and gives you access to tunes and videos from BT's partner musicians and filmmakers, including IHEARTCOMIX and The Onion. You might have to pay up to be able to stream some of them. But if money is tight, you can always just play the ad-supported entries in its repertoire. The images above show what the app's interface looks like, though you can download it right now from iTunes if you want to explore it yourself.
DNC, RNC streaming options include Twitch and Bing
The US' big political parties are seemingly determined to outdo each other in terms of ways to watch their conventions online. To start, the Democratic Party has unveiled livestreaming plans that will let you watch its National Convention on seemingly every modern platform under the Sun. On top of Twitter and its own site, the party will stream through Bing, YouTube and... Twitch. That's right -- you can witness an important part of the electoral process in between League of Legends and Overwatch viewing sessions. The convention will also be live on Amazon's Fire TV, the Apple TV, Roku players and your Xbox, in case you'd rather see the nominations on a big screen.
NASA's app turns your Apple TV into an ISS observation deck
According to NASA, the space agency's official app has been downloaded more than 17 million times on iOS, Android and Fire OS. Today, that same window into space exploration got even bigger with the addition of a new version for Apple TV. That means: high-definition versions of NASA TV, on-demand NASA videos, 3D satellite tracking maps, realtime views of the Earth from the International Space Station and a stellar new backdrop for your next cocktail party.
Tablo's live TV and DVR features now work on the Apple TV
During CES Tablo promised its $200 box that tunes into and records OTA TV would eventually get an Apple TV app, and now it has delivered. It already works with boxes like Roku and Fire TV, and on the Apple TV it's brought both live TV and DVR viewing, plus navigation by voice or touch with the Siri Remote. More features are coming in future updates, but if you already have a Tablo box (with the latest updates) and an active subscription you should be good to go. The only question left, is if you'd prefer Tablo's setup or Sling TV, which also launched this week on the Apple TV.
What happened at WWDC 2016?
Need a quick recap on all the news from WWDC 2016? Our own Dana Wollman and Chris Velazco were on the scene and are ready to run through all the news about macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS and any other platforms Apple may have introduced. Most of these changes won't hit your devices until the fall, but this way it will only take a few minutes to get familiar with all the new features immediately.
Sling TV debuts its new look on Apple TV
Apple's TV box is getting more internet TV friendly with the addition of Sling TV, but that's not the end of the announcements today. Apple TV will be the first platform with Sling's new "content-centric" UI. A big addition is the "My TV" section, which lets users pick favorite channels or easily resume watching a particular show, as well as other overall improvements. Sling's deal with Apple also means it will let subscribers buy a 32GB Apple TV for $89 -- if they prepay for three months of Sling's $20/month service. It's an odd way to build in what amounts to three free months of Sling, but that's what it will be when it goes live here.
Apple TV gets better for cord-cutters and cable TV subscribers
Today at its big WWDC keynote, Apple announced a few updates for the Apple TV platform. New apps arriving include Sling TV (finally), Fox Sports, the French streaming service Molotov and the Minecraft: Story Mode game. Apple is also upgrading the remote application on your iPhone. The app is a lot more like the hardware remote, with touch-based navigation, Siri voice search, plus the ability to use the keyboard for input and game control using the accelerometer. As for the hardware itself, a new feature called "Live Tune in" will let you switch instantly between livestreaming channels like Disney, ESPN and more. There's also a dark theme now, while Automatic App downloads mean that when you install a universal app on your iPhone or iPad, it will be there on your Apple TV too.
GIF whatever is on your Android screen with 'Mirror'
Recording your Android screen isn't easy, and unless you have a Chromecast device, mirroring it is also a pain. Koushik Dutta, formerly of Cyanogen and now with ClockworkMod, has updated his Mirror app to make screencasting easier and let you record your screen as a GIF. It works on any device running Android 5 or higher and can mirror out to Fire TV, Apple TV and AllCast receivers on Chrome and Android. Though the app is from ROM-maker ClockworkMod, your phone doesn't need to be rooted.
Report: Next Apple TV might be an Amazon Echo competitor
It seems Apple is finally gearing up to make Siri useful. Following a report from earlier this week about Apple developing a smart Bluetooth speaker similar to the Amazon Echo, now VentureBeat is reporting that the next Apple TV could also have the Echo in its sights. "They want Apple TV to be just the hub of everything," a source told the site. Siri was a big part of the recent Apple TV, but it also requires holding down a button on the remote. The next Apple TV will supposedly be redesigned to include a speaker and microphone of its own, so you could conceivably just shout commands without hitting any buttons.
Infuse helps you find fresh videos on Apple TV and iOS
Media portal and set-top box makers have tried any number of things to help you decide what to watch next, ranging from visual makeovers to voice recognition. However, the team at FireCore thinks it has a better way: filters. The new Infuse 4.2 for Apple TV and iOS has a redesigned library view that not only helps you find videos the old-fashioned way, but incorporates smart filters that automatically sift through your collection. You can quickly figure out which TV shows are kid-appropriate, for example, or look for just the movies that came out last year. Moreover, you can create home screen favorites that revolve around these filters -- you could always see what's new the moment you sit down for the evening.
The good and bad sides of Apple's classroom hardware initiative
In late 2014, Apple announced that it would donate iPads, Macs and Apple TVs to 114 "underserved" schools as a way of getting more technology in the hands of those who don't have as much of a chance to use it. With the program well underway, The Wall Street Journal published a report on the good and bad sides thus far. While some studies have shown that schools in which students that heavily use technology actually do worse than students who do so moderately, a big part of that problem comes from not having curriculum developed that the hardware can enhance. In the case of Apple's trial, the company is providing an employee to spend 17 days per year at each school to help build lesson plans that take advantage of the company's hardware.
ESPN Classic on-demand videos head to Roku and Apple TV
Sports fans with ESPN Classic on demand might spend the next few weeks glued to their screens. The company is giving them access to over 600 hours of archived programming. That means hundreds of hours of old basketball, football, X Games and other sports you'd usually watch on ESPN -- even "classic" ones people still talk about decades later, like Muhammad Ali's fights -- via the WatchESPN app. WatchESPN is available for a bunch of platforms, including Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Xbox One. But if you want to watch events you might have only heard from your parents, you'll have to bust out an Apple TV or a Roku.
Tribeca Shortlist brings its movie-streaming app to Apple TV
Up until today, Tribeca Shortlist has been available on iOS, Fire TV and Roku. And now the movie-streaming service, created by the company behind the Tribeca Film Festival and Lionsgate, is expanding to the new Apple TV. The application, which requires a $5 monthly subscription, will give you access to more than 150 movies on demand. While that number seems low in comparison to Netflix or Hulu Plus, Tribeca Shortlist is all about quality, not quantity, according to the company.
'Disney Infinity' drops support for its Apple TV version
Apologies if you bought Disney Infinity 3.0 for your Apple TV, but the game's development team has stopped supporting the platform. On the Disney Infinity forums a user posted about an issue where Baloo and Marvel Battlegrounds figurines weren't working in the game, but Zootopia figures were. Turns out that the reason for that is because there was already support in the game for the latter, but that an update was needed for the other characters. Except that update isn't coming any time soon.
Apple TV updated with folders, dictation and Siri for App Store
Today at Apple's "Loop You In" event the company had plenty to announce, including an update for its Apple TV. The headline features for the fourth version of the software are its App Store and new Siri Remote, and its next update will make both of those easier to use. Consistent with what we've seen in recent beta tests, Tim Cook just announced that an update arriving today will add folders, dictation, Siri voice search for the App Store, access to users' iCloud Photo Libraries, and support for Live Photos.
Sonic comes to the Apple TV
If even you still own an old Sega console, the chances are you haven't played it in years. Luckily, a number of the company's most popular games, including Sonic the Hedgehog, have been ported to modern app stores. That means you can get your gaming fix, even if it is on a mobile device. If you've already downloaded or are tempted to buy Sonic the Hedgehog 1, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 or Sonic CD on your iPhone or iPad and own the new Apple TV, we have some good news: you'll soon be able to play them all directly on the box for the very first time.
iPhone soon becoming 'full replacement' for Apple TV remote
TV remotes are all well and good, but they have a nasty habit of coming up missing at the worst possible moment -- Apple TV's new wand isn't immune to this malady. It should come as good news then that Cupertino's planning an update for the remote app on iOS with new features like voice commands with Siri. The news comes by way of an interview with Apple's Eddie Cue and Craig Federighi on tech pundit John Gruber's podcast this week.
CBS exec: no recent talks with Apple about a TV service
Since Apple itself doesn't have much to say about its long-rumored TV service, we're forced to look for signals elsewhere. In comments revealed just before CBS announced its earnings today, exec Les Moonves once again filled in the gap. Following previous comments that he believes the service is on hold, Moonves told CNN Money that "we haven't had recent conversations with them." That could mean any potential debut is even further off than we thought, although it doesn't seem to be hurting CBS any. CBS reported (PDF) its highest ever revenue for the fourth quarter, while claiming revenue from retransmission agreements is over $1 billion now, and will be at $2 billion by 2020. According to the exec, "something like 40 percent" of revenue his company is getting, didn't exist five years ago.
Vevo's Apple TV and Android apps offer a more customized experience
Ask most people what comes to mind when they think of Vevo, and the answer will probably be the massive number of Vevo-sponsored musical artist pages on YouTube. If you watch a popular music video on YouTube, it's probably through the artist's channel in partnership with Vevo. However, the company wants to be known for more than just YouTube -- it wants its own apps and website to be a place for people to discover music and, yes, watch the most popular videos. To that end, the company rebuilt its iOS app from the ground up to offer users a personalized music experience based on artists they loved and the things they played the most. Today, the company's expanding that experience to two big platforms: Android and Apple's tvOS. Both apps launch today and are available in Google Play and the Apple TV app store, respectively.
BitTorrent comes to Apple TV through a live news app
BitTorrent just came to the new Apple TV... though not in the way you might have expected. OnAir Live Developers has released OTT News, an app for Apple TV (Android and iOS too) that uses BitTorrent Live's peer-to-peer streaming to cover the US election both in real-time and through pre-recorded clips. It's not as lavishly produced as the coverage from big TV networks, but that's part of the point -- the technology lets a small outfit stream to your devices without expensive servers and bandwidth. It opens the door to live living room video from more than just the usual suspects.
