Alongside support for apps and games and Siri, the Apple TV ships with a new remote that includes physical buttons, motion controls support, and a glass touch surface at the top.

But its the new remote that’s making gaming so interesting on the new device – with Wii-like motion controls and support for multiplayer gaming, players can do things like swing the remote to bat a baseball, for example.

The remote works over Bluetooth 4.0, rather than infrared — so no line of sight is required. It’ll be able to control your TV volume/power over CEC, and the rechargeable battery lasts 3 months per charge.

The promise of an App Store and gaming support has led some analysts to already predict that Apple TV would have meaningful impact on Apple’s bottom line. For instance, J.P. Morgan recently estimated that Apple could sell 24 million units of the new Apple TV in 2016.

This revamp – Apple TV’s first notable refresh since the current design was unveiled in late 2010 – could move the device further up the chart in terms of connected TV device sales, as well, where it has been lagging. A Parks Associates report from August stated that Roku led streaming media device sales in 2014, followed by Google and Amazon, then Apple TV.

From the article "Apple Unveils A More Powerful Apple TV, Shipping In October" by Sarah Perez.

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