On the 9th of September, on a Wednesday, Apple will most definitely unveil their next gen Apple TV.

It will feature more powerful components and a new touchpad-friendly remote.

However, the new remote will be one of the main highlights. The touchpad input greatly improves its usability and the built-in motion sensors will make it function as a game controller.

Software-wise, the next gen Apple TV will be packed-full with features. It will have its very own App Store and, of course, Siri will be fully integrated. The beloved digital assistant will support hardcore voice control, sources add.

Reports note that the next gen Apple TV will come with a feature that old Apple TV users have been craving for years.

I’m talking about universal search.

Think of Popcorn Time, but legal. You can search for a TV series or a movie and results will displayed from various sources.

Sources close to Apple note that this will be a game-changing addition. The end-user is the one to profit out of this. We will have the possibility of choosing from a wide variety of streaming video services – why should I pay $10 for Breaking Bad when I can get it at $5?

Be sure that Apple’s iTunes Store will be displayed each and every single time.

But a search function is pretty useless without filters. The Apple TV’s universal search will allow users to search for directors and actors, among other things.

All these things can be done via Siri.

Yet, not only Siri resides at core of this new functionality. In 2013, Apple acquired a video discovery startup named Matcha.

The Proactive search feature found in iOS 9, along with Matcha, is rumoured to also be part of the stew, 9to5Mac reports.

The universal search feature is going to be a cornerstone for Apple’s TV, a device that suffered immensely from its text-based capability. This may very well transpose the next gen Apple TV as a reliable entry-level video-streaming-oriented device.

9to5Mac also reports that the price of the new Apple TV will start at $149. In the near future, Apple will sell internet TV service subs.  The faster they make this happen, the more households will be enticed to install an Apple TV.

Of course, Apple declined to comment on these rumors. Go figure.

We’ll have to wait until the 9th of September for the official announcement.

We are more than curious to see what Apple’s TV main competitors, Amazon Fire TV and Roku, have in store for us. If they don’t act fast, they might just lose the head-start they have.

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