http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/05/technology/apple-tv-remote-expected-to-add-touch-pad-in-redesign.html?_r=3
Apple TV Remote Expected to Add Touch Pad in Redesign
Apple has long ridiculed remote controls for being too complex. Now after eight
years of a minimalist design for its Apple TV remote, the company is revising
the device’s design.
When Apple introduces its new TV box this summer, the remote control will gain
a touch pad and also be slightly thicker than the current version, according to
an employee briefed on the product, who spoke on the condition of anonymity
because the device was confidential. The touch pad can be used for scrolling
around and there will also be two physical buttons, the person said. The
remote’s thicker size is comparable to the remote control for Amazon’s wireless
speaker, the Echo, the person added.
Tom Neumayr, an Apple spokesman, declined to comment on the product.
The current Apple TV remote has been an important case study for Apple’s
employee training program, Apple University. In one course, instructors
compared the Google TV’s remote control, which had 78 buttons, with the Apple
TV remote, a thin piece of metal that in its current version has three buttons.
The Apple remote was used to show how the company’s product designers started
out with an idea and debated until they had just what they needed for the
device to be usable and easy to understand, according to people who have taken
the course.
Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, had long emphasized simplicity in product
design, an aesthetic that had long permeated the company’s offerings. One of
his core values was making complex computer technologies feel understandable
and natural.
Adding a touch pad to the Apple TV remote would bring it in line with Apple’s
other accessories. Apple’s wireless mouse, the Magic Mouse, and Apple’s Magic
Trackpad both have touch controls.
The redesign for the new remote will be the first big change to the Apple
remote since the Apple TV’s introduction in 2007. The Apple TV is essentially a
set-top box that connects to a television, allowing people to stream content
over an Internet connection. The first Apple TV included a plastic white remote
with a few buttons. The following version was metal with minor changes to the
buttons.
The new Apple TV is expected to be introduced this June during Apple’s annual
conference for software developers, according to the employee briefed on the
remote. Apple has held talks with a number of leading television groups to
offer an Internet-based TV service this year for its Apple TV, iPhone and iPad,
according to people briefed on the company’s plans.
The service will offer a bundle of channels that is smaller and cheaper than
the broad catalog of offerings in a typical cable subscription, according to
these people.
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Craig
