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Apple TV Refresh Coming In March Alongside iPad 3?

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Will Apple reboot its Apple TV this March? (Image via Wikipedia)

Apple TVs are disappearing off of store shelves and they're not being restocked.

Gabe Gagliano predicts a March reboot of the Apple TV box-top set. He sees the refresh as a natural step to take alongside the new iPad with its high-definition display.

"Now, every time Apple does a product introduction, they feature partners who have developed apps to take advantage of the device’s new capabilities," Gabe writes. "It’s only logical that iTunes would be upgraded to provide higher quality video to the iPad 3. Currently, high-definition TV shows and movies from iTunes are offered in 720P and Dolby Digital surround sound. There’s some evidence that Apple has been preparing 1080P content for iTunes for a while now.

"That brings us to Apple TV," Gabe continues. "Another important part of the Apple ecosystem for consuming iTunes video. Also, the Apple TV and the iPad are complimentary devices. Currently, you can mirror your iPad screen or stream content to an Apple TV via Airplay. So, it’s hard to imagine that Apple would let that high resolution iPad screen be down res’ed to 720P on the biggest (and now maybe not the best) screen in the house."

It is hard to imagine.

Then again, Apple has made some odd video decisions in the past. I realize that Apple wants to get beyond optical drives, for instance, but not including a Blu-ray in MacBooks or iMacs strikes me as a huge wasted opportunity. Will Apple avoid this mistake with Apple TV? Will their upcoming television sets inspire Apple to take HD seriously?

Gabe thinks we'll see the Apple TV reboot close to the release of the iPad 3, but that the release will include only incremental improvements. "We’ll probably see 1080P video and the new A6 processor but not much more," he writes. "As far as Siri goes, she’s been evasive whenever I ask a question about voice-recognition coming to Apple TV."

I wonder how much energy Apple plans on putting into its box-top sets with actual Apple television sets on the not-so-distant horizon?

Siri on your television set would revolutionize the remote control and make it a lot easier to find the latest election debate or the Super Bowl, especially for those of us who can never keep track of anything on TV. Once televisions and computers collide, Siri will make browsing the internet on your TV from your couch much more convenient.

The shape of our future home entertainment ecosystem is only just emerging. Siri, Kinect, and other technologies should make the next few years really fascinating to watch, especially given how amazing television screens are getting lately.

The last Apple TV came out in September 2010.

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