At Apple's "Hey Siri" event in San Francisco today, the company finally unveiled its long-brewing update to the Apple TV. It's the biggest revamp the set-top box has seen since its debut in 2007, and, with a bevy of new features already built in, including deep Siri functionality, it's clear this interface is all about content more than any one channel.
App, games, and shows controlled from a slick new interface
The new Apple TV runs on TV OS, which is based on iOS but "built for the living room." The set-top box now includes an app store, where users can download new channels, apps, and now games. And with the new touch remote, users can play games and scrub over content on the fly.
However, Siri looks like the linchpin for the new interface. Users will be able to control much of the content they watch through the voice assistant. As previously rumored, the Apple TV has universal search for all kinds of content — including new shows starring Zooey Deschanel — and Siri lets you dig through everything on the device to find what you want to watch, much like what Amazon already does with the Fire TV. In that way, the focus can be on content instead of what's buried in a specific app.
