TechCrunch
Apple Turns Apple TV Into An iBeacon To Enable ‘Touch To Set Up' Via iOS 7 Devices
Apple is leveraging the Bluetooth LE technology that it has been building into every iPhone since the iPhone 4S to enable automatic setup of an Apple TV 3G. Just touch a device running iOS 7 to a newer Apple set-top box to have it automatically set up WiFi networks, region settings and Apple Store accounts.
This essentially means — as far as we can tell — that Apple has turned its third generation Apple TV into an ‘iBeacon’, a Bluetooth LE device that broadcasts a data payload to any compatible BT device in the area. This can enable complex interaction without having to be on the same WiFi network or even paired with a target device.
The ‘one touch’ setup was discovered by TUAW reader Aaron G and noted in an article earlier today. The Apple help document related to the new setup feature gives us some clues that point to BlueTooth LE being the technology driving the interaction. A technology that Apple uses in its iBeacon protocol.
To make it work, you enable Bluetooth on your iPhone 4S, iPad 3G, iPad mini or iPod touch 5G and newer. Then, you tap it to an Apple TV 3G that’s sitting on the setup screen. Your devices will enter an out-of-band pairing and you’ll be prompted to enter your Apple ID on your iOS device. You can then choose to have it remember that data for purchases on your Apple TV if you wish.
The Apple TV will then auto-configure itself, bypassing the super awkward process of entering your Apple ID and WiFi information using Apple’s stick of gum remote. The Apple TV has to be on version 6.0 or later and iOS devices on 7.0 or later.
The fact that the help doc tells you that you must turn on Bluetooth is a dead giveaway that this is based on the tech that Apple has been building into its devices for longer than it has needed it. Apple built support for iBeacons into the latest iOS software, and it appears it has built it into the latest Apple TV software as well.
We tried out the new setup method and it worked as advertised. We did discover however that physical contact was not required, as the Apple TV paired with our device up to 8 inches out. We were able to tap it and get it to work, but also simply moving it within a foot or so seemed to work. This is consistent with a part of the iBeacon process called ranging. The instruction to ‘tap’ the device to the Apple TV is likely just to ensure proximity.
As far as we can tell, this is the first implementation of iBeacons by Apple, but it probably won’t be the last. We’ve reached out to the company to confirm that this is its iBeacon technology in use, but it looks like it is.
In Search Of The Perfect Polo: Hands-On With Vastrm's Home Try-On Service
Y Combinator alum Vastrm has been pretty busy lately. In addition to locking up another $1 million in seed funding from A16z, SV Angels, Ignition Partners, and Will Smith (to name a few), the startup redesigned its website slightly modified its sense of purpose. The team has always been about giving its customers the perfect fitting polo, but now they’re working to make the process even more personal.
The process is largely unchanged from when Billy checked it out last year, but the biggest recent addition was the launch of a try-at-home option. In exchange for a $20 deposit, you’ll get a trio of shirts in sizes of your choosing so you can try to pin down your perfect polo. Vastrm toyed with the idea for a long while and tested it with a slew of early beta users (CEO Jonathan Tang said 55 percent of testers tried the feature), but the full-on launch took place fairly recently.
But how well does it really work?
I recently gave that home try-on service for a spin and so far it seems like a much-needed addition to the mix (don’t worry, I won’t subject you to photos of me wearing them). After all, for a startup that’s focused on crafting custom fitted polos for its customers, it only makes sense that they embrace a Warby Parkeresque model to ensure that ideal fit.
It’s not so much meant to help you figure out if you’re a small, medium, or large. Instead, you’re supposed to figure out, say, what kind of medium you are. Different brands have different conceptions of what “medium” means after all, so Vastrm has introduced subtypes like slim, sport, and relaxed (for the portly polo-wearers out there) to give customers a more granular grasp on what suits them best.
To my surprise, I fell in between a small sport and a medium slim. I’ve never been able to squeeze into a small before and I’m not exactly what I’d consider “slim”, so it’s unlikely I would ever even bother trying on those sorts of shirts in a store.
Those subtypes, along with any other tweaks you want to make (think sleeve length, waist width, chest changes) are folded into your so-called FitID, a persisting recipe of preferences that can be saved and applied to all your future orders. All in all, it was a dead simple experience and one that should serve Vastrm’s early customers very well… as long as they’re fine with the ultimate asking price. While some seemingly similar bespoke clothing companies like Indochino can compete on price — $449 for a fitted suit isn’t too shabby — $95 for a simple fitted polo means Vastrm’s wares aren’t going to be for everyone.
So what’s next for Vastrm? I had to ask Tang if focusing purely on bespoke polo shirts is, well, problematic. After all, isn’t there some sort of upper limit to the number of expensive polo shirts a person can feasibly own? While Tang doesn’t necessarily agree, he did concede that the Vastrm formula and the structure the team built around it could easily be rejiggered to churn out other custom garments.
“The whole backend is really solid,” he said, adding that he wanted to expand the assortment to include long sleeve polos and hoodies. The team ran a Crowdtilt campaign to test the hoodie concept — within a week they sold about $40k of hoodies, but only time will tell when they’ll officially try to disrupt other aspects of your wardrobe.
This Week On The TechCrunch Droidcast: Amazon Outs New Kindle Fires While Samsung Goes For The Gold
What would a Wednesday afternoon be without the TechCrunch Droidcast? Don’t answer that.
Sadly, I couldn’t be around to take part in this glorious meeting of the minds (I was checking out startups here, in case you were curious) but our very own Matt Burns and Anthony Ha stepped up this time around and the results were… interesting. You should probably just listen for yourself.
In any case, we’ve got a doozy for you this week. Samsung outed a golden flagship smartphone just days after its rival did the same, and the company’s Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear smartwatch are finally stepping out into the real world. Meanwhile, Amazon pulled back the curtain on some surprisingly impressive new Kindle Fire HDX tablets overnight and our trio can’t help but dig into the finer points of Microsoft’s new Surface tablets and their favorite pies.
We invite you to enjoy weekly Android podcasts every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Eastern and 2:30 p.m. Pacific, in addition to our weekly Gadgets podcast at 3 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific on Fridays. Subscribe to the TechCrunch Droidcast in iTunes, too, if that’s your fancy.
Intro music by Kris Keyser.
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