Although it seems hard to believe now, those from New York Times I understand that Apple is already testing prototypes of a television that works with the help of the Siri personal assistant. The new device would already exist in Apple's laboratories where company employees are testing it and the classic remote control seems to have been replaced by Siri that coordinates everything that happens on the product's screen. Apple has been working on this TV for more than a year, that is, since it started implementing Siri in iOS 5, so we might see a product that would have an interface similar to that of the Apple TV 2G.
The television project has been in the works for some time. I first heard about Apple's television plans over a year ago. At the time, an individual who has knowledge of Apple's prototype supply chains overseas told me they had seen some "large parts floating around" that belonged to Apple. This person believed that it "looked like the parts could be part of a large Apple television." I immediately started snooping around, asking Apple employees and people close to the company if a full-fledged Apple Television was in the works. Several people, all speaking on condition of anonymity for obvious reasons, told me that nothing was actively being built, but — and this was a big but — I was told repeatedly that Apple would eventually make a television. "Absolutely, it is a guaranteed product for Apple," I was told by one individual. "Steve thinks the industry is totally broken."
Steve Jobs declared in the authorized biography written by Walter Isaacson that he discovered the secret of building a television and Siri could be the basis of this new product. It seems that Apple would have tested a TV that would have had a keyboard, magic mouse or iDevices as a remote control, but Siri seems to be the most natural way to give "orders" to a TV. Users could tell the product to play a certain movie, open a TV station or record a certain transmission, all without using a classic remote control.
Alternative remote ideas floated by Apple included a wireless keyboard and mouse, or using an iPod, iPhone or iPad as a remote. None of these concepts worked. But there was one "I finally cracked it" moment, when Apple realized you could just talk to your television. It's the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: "Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl." "Play the local news headlines." "Play some Coldplay music videos." Siri does the rest.
Of course this experience goes beyond just playing TV shows or the local news. As the line between television programming and Web content continues to erode, a Siri-powered television would become more necessary. You aren't going to want to flip through file folders or baskets of content, checking off what you want. Telling Siri to "play videos of cute cats falling asleep" would return an endless YouTube stream of adorable napping fur balls.
With a Siri as a remote control, Apple would change a lot, but unfortunately the concept would be extremely limited due to the personal assistant that is currently not prepared for such things. On the iPhone 4S, Siri was not received with so much warmth and Apple knows this, so I for one do not expect a TV controlled only by Siri, but I expect a product that has Siri as the second control method.
