Nick Bilton on an Apple Television Set: ‘It’s Not a Matter of if, It’s a Matter of When.’

And he says the interface will be Siri:

Alternative remote ideas floated by Apple included a wireless keyboard and mouse, or using an iPod, iPhone or iPad as a remote. None of these concepts worked. But there was one “I finally cracked it” moment, when Apple realized you could just talk to your television.

Enter Siri.

It’s the stuff of science fiction. You sit on your couch and rather than fumble with several remotes or use hand gestures, you simply talk: “Put on the last episode of Gossip Girl.” “Play the local news headlines.” “Play some Coldplay music videos.” Siri does the rest.

How would you tell Siri-on-TV to listen to your command, though, without an at least single-button remote? Without a prompt, how does Siri know when you’re talking to it?

★ Thursday, 27 October 2011