Starting next year, the latest version of Apple TV will make your living room into a voice-controlled jukebox, according to a new report from Buzzfeed. That’s when Apple will add Siri integration to the Apple Music app on its TV-based hardware, giving users the ability to play, search, and stream their favorite music to their home theater, all without typing a letter.
Apple TV’s latest iteration hits stores tomorrow, and costs $150 for 32gb of storage, $200 for 64 gb.
Apart from a fancy touch-sensitive remote, the new Apple TV’s Siri-enabled universal search feature is already one of the primary features that the company hopes will drive consumers to purchase the device over its cheaper competitors. The system gives users the ability to use their voice to scour multiple video platforms for a particular TV show or film, and while streamers from Amazon, Roku (and even Google’s new Chromecast) sport the feature as well, Siri’s quick wit could give Apple an edge.
That’s an edge the company may need — especially considering the fact that the new Apple TV doesn’t support 4K UHD content like the new Roku 4, and Amazon’s new Fire TV.
Though it might seem to some like a small added bonus, being able to ask your set-top box to, “Play the latest Radiohead album,” or “Play Ryan Adam’s version of 1989,” could prove to be just enough to push some consumers over the buyers’ edge. The new voice-controlled features will make Apple TV owners much more likely to use their device as an all-in-one media center, instead of simply for video, which is how the tech giant is positioning its new device. And with Apple TV’s growing role as a smart home hub, consumers could potentially use the device as an intuitive way to control everything from their music and video needs, to lights, blinds, and even the refrigerator.
Adding Siri integration to Apple Music will also create a new incentive for Apple TV users to pony up for a subscription to the new music service, which may not be a hard ask for those ready and willing to dole out $150-200 for Apple’s shiny new box.
Apple Music hasn’t been a smashing success, but the company’s Spotify competitor is getting somewhere. It has 6.5 million paid subscribers to Spotify’s 20 million, but continued integration with various Apple products will only help the service grow.
Siri search control for Apple Music on Apple’s new streamer is expected to land sometime early next year.
