Five Ways Apple's Television Will Change the World

Apple's television could, actually, change everything. It might even have the power to change the world.

The credit in the world for beating Apple to the punch

Samsung deserves all the credit in the world for beating Apple to the punch by launching a series of smart TVs that sound suspiciously like the one the Mac maker is rumored to be developing. Nevertheless Samsung's remote is, to put it nicely, somewhat hilarious.

In any case, I suspect Apple will be a bit more creative in its remote endeavors. Some believe that Apple won't release a remote for its TV and will instead force consumers to buy an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to control the set. There is no way that would ever happen. Such as Apple wants everyone to own every product it makes, the company as well realizes that any product we buy could be the first Apple device we have ever owned. The Mac maker would never discourage new clients by locking them out of a purchase, especially not one as significant as the company's first TV.

Those features alone would not be innovative. However imagine if Apple put a spin still channel-surfing concept by allowing you to quickly jump between channels by sliding your finger up and down the pad? With each slide, the channel you are currently watching would slide out and another would slide in, just like a window moving around your Mac. The window speed would be utterly based on how fast the user was moving. Along these lines, if you wanted to channel surf very quickly, you could just flick your finger across the pad and channels would slide in and out at lightning speeds.

That, but, isn't in effect a groundbreaking feature either. If, for all that, Apple combined my aforementioned remote concept with other Mac-like components, the company's first TV could wholeheartedly change the way we look at our televisions -- and raise the bar on what we expect from them.

The likes of Comcast

It is widely assumed that Apple will not be successful in its attempt to avoid working with the likes of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, which may or may not impact the company's ability to offer an a la carte cable service.

But if Apple is forced to work with the existing cable and satellite providers, there is one benefit: the company would gain access to a host of new communication options.

For example, a Comcast/Apple combo could allow users to make and receive high-resolution video calls right through their Apple-made television sets. Instead of being limited to FaceTime, Comcast -- which offers a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service -- could greatly expand this offering. Clearly, FaceTime would allow users to communicate with their iPhone- and iPad-toting friends. However the with a real phone service involved, the functionality would be greatly improved.

The FaceTime camera concept

Apple could as well take this possibility to expand on the FaceTime camera concept. Right now, it's just for one or a handful of faces. It's a very up close experience that limits users' ability to visually interact with each other.

With Apple's TV, the company could employ a new, adjustable camera that would allow users to show so so of the surrounding environment.

Part of its Apple Television experience

I can't imagine that Apple will in fact make Siri a part of its Apple Television experience. It might sound like a no-brainer -- most analysts seem to think so -- however the idea of having to shout at your TV from afar, or the thought of having to carry around a microphone seems absurd. That would completely defy the logic of Apple-made products.

The best thing about the iPhone is that it spawned an absolutely new world of application development. As a result, we can now do things with our phones that we could not even fathom 10 years ago.

The secret behind Apple's success in the TV business

That may prove to be the secret behind Apple's success in the TV business: apps. By allowing developers to run wild with a TV that's versatile and easy to use, the app community could produce things that will not only change the way we interact with our televisions, nevertheless enhance our day in day out lives.

I'd love to give you some examples, however I'm not an app developer. Yet there are hundreds of thousands of app developers worldwide. And I'm willing to bet that meanwhile a few of them have an idea that will turn Apple's TV into gold.