Is Apple TV getting a Wii?
The patent watchers have been at it again. This time they have come up with an Apple patent that may presage a Wii-like device for Apple TV.
Apple TV, if you are unfamiliar with it, is an Apple digital media receiver device. It is a network device designed to play digital content originating from the iTunes store, YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe or any Mac OS X or Windows computer running iTunes onto an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen television. The reader will notice that this definition says nothing about games.
The patents filed by Apple may foreshadow events that will bring a Wii-like “wand” to Apple TV and therefore add more entertainment in the form of games to the now rather staid Apple device. The patent application, according to a PC World story, describes the following uses for the “wand” instrument: “zoom operations, a keyboard application, an image application, an illustration application, and a media application.” That’s a fairly broad definition of use.
Certainly, such a wand-like device could be used to summon icons and select one from those presented. It could be used to select controls and perform motion commands that would allow a user to manipulate photos and other graphics. Other obvious uses include using the wand as a digital pen or using it to tap keys on the Apple TV’s on-screen keyboard.
It is also clear that the “wand” could be used as more than a simple remote control. Apple already has patents in the area of device control via motion, such a those which allow a user to shake the iPhone or turn it to change the display from Portrait to landscape mode. Could more complicated motion control be far behind, including that which would allow the “wand” to become a full-fledged game controller a la Wii?
One can easily see some patent fighting around the corner. Nintendo would certainly fight to protect the concept of the Wii, just as Apple has vowed to fight to protect its patent rights over the years. It could be argues that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft are already moving in on the territory occupied by Apple TV as those companies continue to add streaming media functionality to their game controllers. Perhaps Apple feels that it is time to return the favor.
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March 15th, 2009
more likely to be an iPhone app than an another piece of hardware.
March 15th, 2009
It’d be cool if the iPhone and iPod touch games scaled to play on a TV.