The Apple TV is about to get a whole lot better.
BuzzFeed's John Paczkowski reported on Wednesday that the new version of its set-top box, which Apple is expected to unveil at its annual event on September 9, will come with one of the most sought-after features: universal search.
This means that when you search for the title of a movie or TV show, you'll be able to search across multiple different services, like Hulu, iTunes, Showtime, Netflix, and HBO's Now and Go.
So if you search for a movie like "Gone Girl," you may see that it's available for free to people who subscribe to HBO, and costs $14.99 if you'd like to buy it on iTunes. Paczkowski also reports that you'll be able to search for people, like directors and actors. So if you search for "Brad Pitt," you can see all the movies that he's attached to, and where you'll be able to watch them. You'll also be able to use Siri's voice controls for searches.
Other set top boxes like Roku already have universal search, and it completely changes the way you use the device. Roku's universal search works particularly well because it also searches on Amazon Prime Video, which has a vast library of movies and TV shows available to Prime members to stream for free. Amazon doesn't have an app on the current Apple TV, so we'll have to wait and see if it's included on the next version of the set top box.
Paczkowski, who has a reliable track record of reporting Apple news, also reported on Wednesday that the Apple TV will cost $149. That's a 50% price hike over the original $99 price of the upcoming box's predecessor, but the new device is expected to come with a faster processor, work with Siri, and have a completely redesigned touchpad remote.
