AirPlay and use of iOS mobile and tablet devices are NOT a solution for the ills faced Apple TV. As an option it's fine, but they should not be necessary to open up the fullest potential of the device.
The BIG problem with Apple TV is that Apple doesn't really treat it as a standalone device, which is what they have to do to appeal to a wider audience, including those who don't own nor are interested in iPad/Phone/touch but who are interested in a home digital media hub (yes, there are people who don't own the tablet or mobile iOS devices and don't want to, my fellow Apple users).
Let's recap: Apple cut the tether between the 1st gen Apple TV and Mac/PCs by allowing direct streams and downloads to ATV
without using Mac/PC. Apple TV immediately was better.
And now people, including apparently the folks at Apple, think AirPlay is a solution when all it does is once
again tether ATV to other devices.
WTF?
ATV has to be a
standalone unit. And that means it needs to be opened up to apps
WITHOUT the use of iPad/Phone/touch and it needs its own section of the App Store.
Opening it up to the App Store would resolve a lot of issues. Hulu+ is available on the App Store. If Apple TV gets access to the App Store, it too will have access to the Hulu+ app and other such apps currently available. It will begin to reach its fullest potential without having use of iPad/Phone/touch be necessary to do so. And that will sell it to a wider audience than it sells to currently.
It also needs a new remote. And, no, iRemote does NOT solve this issue either. Again, it needs to be a standalone device. It needs it's own remote, with use of the iRemote app being optional.
A modification of the Apple patent for a motion sensing remote control (similar to the Wii remote) with the addition on the remote itself of a multitouch surface ala Magic Trackpad would be great. Even better if they take a note from Boxee's remote design and have a recessed keyboard on the other side like so:
That remote, with motion sensing, multitouch surface, and recessed keyboard, would effectively mimic the use of the iRemote app, but not make it necessary to get the most out of the new ATV with connection to the App Store and it's own apps. It would also make controlling current apps easier.
As far as internal changes, the biggest I'd like to see are NOT using iPad processors, but instead using new processors that will later be used in iPad. So instead of introducing the new processors on iPad first, they'd be introduced for ATV first, with their use in iPad 2 or so years down the road.
ATV should use an A6 processor, not A5. This A6 would be quad core CPU (ARM Cortex A9MP) and quad core GPU (SGX 543MP) on a single chip (SoC). It would then be cut down in clockspeed and number of GPU cores for use in the tablet and mobile iOS devices down the road.
This would give it more graphical power than the mobile and tablets, and make ATV even more of a standalone device with its own special apps. And key among those apps, and key among the growth for this future ATV would be games.
Now, it won't compete with WiiU or PS4 or 720 or whathaveyou. It would be something different. And at $99-149, it would sell a lot more than the current ATV.
Add in the Cloud...and, eventually, not only will it have streaming music, video, and app store apps, but it might also be able to stream truly next gen games ala the OnLive streaming game service (check it out if you haven't already).
...in fact...I really think Apple should buy OnLive.
