Apple TV

Life is a race against the clock, and Michael B. Jordan (actor in Creed and Chronicle) won’t let Kobe Bryant forget that in the new Apple TV ad, “Father Time.” The ad features Siri on Apple TV as Jordan brings up a clip of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to show Bryant the intense prosthetics he’ll have to undergo to play the aging Kobe Bryant. Especially for sports fans who have followed Bryant’s career, the Apple TV ad is refreshingly hilarious.

We all sat around the table as Tim Cook made his closing remarks saying, “this can’t be the end. It’s only been an hour. Is that it?” Beginning at 10 a.m Pacific Time, the Apple Spring Event was exactly what the rumors predicted with a couple unexpected features. Tim Cook began by addressing the ongoing controversy between Apple and the FBI stating, “we did not expect to be in this position, at odds with our government,” but, “We will not shrink from this responsibility.”

I cut the cord years ago, and with my Apple TV there was one thing I missed: the couch-potato mode of sitting and flipping through the channels. Opening and closing apps just wasn't the same. Then Pluto TV arrived for the fourth-generation Apple TV, offering all the ambience of a cable TV service, including surfing the channels. Also uniquely entertaining is the Littlstar app, which offers 360-degree videos. You swipe the touchpad of the Apple TV remote to view every direction.

In a previous post I wrote about the five best apps for March Madness (aka the NCAA national basketball tournament), including options for live-streaming the games to your iPhone or iPad via the March Madness app (free). However, only the games broadcast by CBS are free. That will include a total of 21 games, not including the semi-finals and championship, as I explain toward the end of this post. For the rest of the games, which will be broadcast by TBS, TNT, and TruTV, the app requires you to log in with your cable or satellite credentials. However, I should have mentioned that you have another option: Sling TV.

On March 21, Apple will host another event to "loop" us in on new products. This will be the first such event conducted after the newest app-enabled Apple TV set-top boxes were available, so naturally, there's an app for that. Before, with the previous Apple TV model, viewers could tune in to the Apple Events "channel," but now there is a specific Apple Events app to download. You might have to search for Apple Events or find it under the News section of the tvOS App Store. Apple fans will want to download the app starting today to be ready to stream the event in real-time.

Have you ever had three or four or people more gathered around you as you show off pictures from your iPhone? Ever wish you had a bigger screen to display those photos? Well, if you (or someone you know) has an Apple TV, you can use your iPhone’s AirPlay feature to wirelessly stream those photos to the TV’s screen. AirPlay, or screen mirroring, is also a great way to stream music, other audio, and videos from your iPhone. If you are a Spotify (or other non Apple music) subscriber who wants a HomePod, AirPlay is the only way you can listen to your tunes from your Smart Speaker Let's get started learning how to use AirPlay on your iPhone now so that you can take advantage of all your Apple TV and HomePod have to offer.