Phew: Siri on Apple TV Will Support Canada as Part of Limited Launch

The new Apple TV will launch in 80 countries this fall and support 100 by the end of the year, touted Apple executive Eddy Cue, during yesterday’s special event. However, Siri, one of the major features of the device will only be supported at launch in 8 countries, with Canada luckily being one of them.

Apple developer documentation for tvOS reveals two different remotes will ship at launch—one with Siri and one with ‘Apple TV Remote’ (via AppleInsider):

The Apple TV Remote comes in two flavors—one with Siri built in and the other with onscreen search capabilities. The Siri Remote is available in the following countries:

• Australia
• Canada
• France
• Germany
• Japan
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

Yesterday it was also noted Apple will include the option to purchase a Remote Loop accessory, which helps secure the device to your wrist during aggressive gaming, essentially akin to the Nintendo Wii’s remote loop.

As for Apple TV apps, developer documentation notes the maximum size is “limited to 200MB”, as apps for the new device must be made to store data in iCloud and be easily retrieved by customers. App Thinning in iOS 9 is a key API which allows developers to have apps only download what is needed in real-time, such as levels or other resources to reduce file sizes for specific Apple devices.

The new Apple TV will launch in late October starting at $149 USD; no Canadian pricing or availability has been revealed yet, but expect ours to start at $199 given current exchange rates.