Apple won't be launching new Apple TV hardware at WWDC, but do expect a lot of focus on Watch, iOS, OS X and HomeKit and HealthKit
Apple’s developer conference next week is finally going to shed some light on the various HomeKit and HealthKit ecosystems for the internet of things (IoT), but don’t be expecting a new Apple TV hardware reveal.
Only Apple ever really knows what it’s going to announce because its veil of secrecy is so highly defined it could be a hardware standard in of itself.
But it appears one secret has slipped through the net in the form of news that the new Apple TV set-top box that was to be revealed at WWDC won’t be unveiled after all. Apparently the hardware and the toolkit for developers isn’t ready.
It is also understood that a planned web TV service that Apple was preparing is also being postponed, with a launch now not expected until possibly 2016.
WWDC is primarily about the software and Apple usually saves the hardware reveals for separate events. But that hasn’t stopped Apple from announcing hardware products in the past, like the Mac Pro.
Dead certainties at WWDC will be next generations of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system and the OS X desktop operating system
But because of Apple’s closed proprietary ecosystem it will be hard not to imagine just how much the Apple Watch and its emerging apps ecosystem will be the star of the show.
Not only that, but HomeKit and HealthKit and Apple’s growing partner ecosystem will be key.
But that’s why the omission of the Apple TV box will be a curious decision – many speculators believe the Apple TV will be a central hub for HomeKit, which will power a multitude of IoT devices around the home.
One Apple ecosystem to rule them all
Expect a lot of new apps to be launched to go with the Apple Watch at WWDC
According to the The New York Times, the Apple TV hardware and toolkit for developers to make apps for the entertainment hub were postponed because the product was not ready for prime.
But one product that will be ready for prime time will be Apple’s new streaming music service built atop of Beats, which Apple acquired last year for US$3bn and which will usher iTunes into the next era of digital music. Apple is understood to be charging US$10 a month for the platform, which it is understood won’t function just like any other streaming platform like Deezer, Rdio or Spotify.
Dead certainties at WWDC will be next generations of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system and the OS X desktop operating system.
With the evolution of the Apple Watch, the iPhone and the various iPad tablet devices, and of course the various IoT kits, expect Apple to build on top its Continuity technology for uniting all your devices in a cohesive, secure way.
Earlier this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook launched a blistering attack on players like Google and Facebook for gathering data on complacent consumers to sell advertising – perhaps he was preparing us for Apple’s take on security and privacy in a multi-device, IoT world.
But only Apple knows. So do ‘Watch’ this space.
Apple TV image via Shutterstock
