Apple on Monday at its WWDC 2016 keynote made several announcements including re-branding OS X to macOS, iOS 10, new watchOS 3, and Siri's expansion. The Cupertino giant also revealed deeper integration of Siri to the operating system powering the Apple TV, tvOS, alongside the new single sign-on option.
Announcing the new capabilities of Siri on Apple TV, Apple's Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, stressed that the "future of TV is apps." "Siri on Apple TV has changed the way we interact with our television and these expanded features will continue to deliver viewers what they want to watch even faster" he added. Cue revealed that there are over 6,000 apps on Apple TV while there are over 1,300 video channels.
With new Siri capabilities, Apple TV users can search across more apps such as YouTube search, topic search or even tuning right into live channels. The new single sign-on option will allow Apple TV customers to authenticate all the video channels from their pay-TV providers by simply signing in once to watch all of their network-TV apps. Cue added that since the launch of Apple TV, Siri has gained more capabilities and can now search over 650,000 TV episodes and movies.
Some of the new Siri features and functionalities include topic search for movies; users will be able to ask Siri to search YouTube starting later this month; ask Siri to go directly to a live channel inside a supported app; Siri will be also able to answer queries for a movie by topic or theme, and manage HomeKit accessories.
The new single sign-on for Pay-TV apps will be available to customers in the US starting this fall. Apple confirms that the single sign-on option will be available on both Apple TV and iOS.
Some of the additional Apple TV features and updates include Universal apps will now automatically download on Apple TV and iOS users will be able to download the new Apple TV Remote app with touch navigation, Siri, and game play support with gesture tracking.
The updated tvOS developer preview will be available immediately for Developer Program members via developer.apple.com. Apple has confirmed that the new tvOS will be available this fall as a free software update for Apple TV. The company also revealed that Siri will be available for Apple TV users in 12 countries.
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