14 DAY TRIAL // Early rumors of Apple’s forthcoming Apple TV refresh put the company on track to release an iPhone-shaped set-top-box selling for $99 and running iOS. One person, however, believes this device is actually the controller of Apple’s iTV, and made a rendering of what it may look like.
“We’re about a week away from Apple announcing a new product,” Dan Wineman writes at his Venomous Porridge blog.
“People are pretty sure it’s going to be an iOS-based Apple TV, that its name will be simply iTV, and that it will sooner or later have its own App Store. It’s all very exciting,” he says.
“But this calm period — this strange time when we know everything and yet nothing — is the fun part, because we get to take our best shots at guessing what our new toys will look like Here’s mine,” he continues, and shows off the concept pictured above (click to enlarge).
“What if that simple, inexpensive controller is something like an iPhone without the screen?”, Wineman shares.
He believes such an input device would do wonders with games.
Just hours ago, Softpedia picked up on a story by SF Gate (of The San Francisco Chronicle) reviving rumors of Apple unveiling a revamped Apple TV with iOS as the centerpiece of the product.
The Chronicle noted that such a move will further strengthen the presence of iOS in the technology industry, including in the video games market.
In short, Apple’s rumored iTV may be used as a gaming console.
“I’ve crudely Photoshopped this concept together,” Wineman continues.
“It’s the love child of an iPod touch and a Magic Trackpad,” he explains.
“It has the same inertial and gyroscopic motion sensors as the iPhone 4, and the same multitouch surface we’re familiar with. A home button. Bluetooth. No screen.”
Wineman believes his concept could well work as the only remote for an iTV - “…everything is gesture-based. Tap to pause, swipe left to rewind, swipe right to fast-forward. Slide up or down to adjust volume.”
Just like with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, the Home button on Wineman’s concept iTV remote would be used to exit menus, “which you navigate by flicking and tapping”, he outlines.
The blogger is eager to see whether Apple has something similar in mind, and believes that this combination between an iPhone and trackpad would do wonders for many playback functions, one being seeking around in videos.
Renowned Apple pundit John Gruber (of Daring Fireball) calls Wineman’s concept “an interesting idea” but adds that “The magic in the iPhone/iPad UI isn’t about putting your fingers on a flat surface and tapping/sliding/dragging. It’s in the direct manipulation.”
Therefore, users would need to follow a cursor as it moves on screen. Apple is not likely to add complexity in this area.
Gruber appropriately points out: “That’s why the Magic Trackpad does not make your Mac feel like an iOS device.”