Rumor Confirmed: Apple TV Set Including Siri in the Works

We’ve all heard the rumors, and now The New York Times says they’re true: According to a Times article, Apple is more than definitely working on a brand new TV. And it’s more than just an AppleTV unit shoved inside a glossy aluminum and glass TV set. Apparently, the Apple TV set will be more than a consumer product, it’ll be an experience. Here’s what that means …

How many people can say they love their TV remotes? I can’t say I do. I purchased an expensive universal remote to do away with the multiple remotes, but for the most part it’s still cumbersome and annoying to use. What if we could do away with the remote altogether? According to the Times, that was Apple’s and Jobs’ plan with the Apple TV set. Because it will have Siri built in.

The mythical TV has been predicted to launch in 2013, and at that point in time, Siri is likely to be way more advanced that what we’ve already seen on the iPhone 4S. Advanced enough that you can sit down on your couch and ask Siri to put on “This Is Spinal Tap,” and not only will it start playing, it will also turn the volume to 11. And, according to the Times, Siri will be sophisticated enough that you can ask it to play a playlist of any band or style of songs, or a bunch of cute animal videos on YouTube, or virtually anything else the TV is connected to. The idea will be that the TV works for you, not the other way around. You want to watch the most recent episode of “The Simpsons”? Just say so.

But what the Times doesn’t report is how this TV could change the way we consume living room media, much the way iTunes and the iPod changed the way we consume music. If this new Apple TV set is hooked into a new iTunes media service that has nearly everything you’ve ever wanted on demand (think Netflix, iTunes and Vudu combined) you could essentially do away with your cable box and DVR altogether. Expect the typical outcry from the cable companies, should this day come. But like it or not, many cable providers are also ISPs, which are slowly but surely becoming dumb pipes for Internet media. Could the Apple TV set be the first product that really turns that idea mainstream? It’s highly probable.

What’s the trend beyond this one? Natural voice recognition, obviously. How soon after the Apple TV set launches will voice recognition hit the mainstream? How soon before you ask your car to simply start up, or ask your shower to set the optimal temperature? Personally, I think it’s only about five years away.