There’s no escaping it: fall is just around the corner. As the leaves turn from shades of green to gorgeous ambers and reds, the thoughts of Apple users around the world are turning to the launch of iCloud and all the goodness Apple’s over-the-air content syncing service will bring with it.

If you own a Mac computer or an iOS device, there’s little doubt that you’re already familiar with what iCloud has in store and are chomping at the bit to get at it. But what about the venerable Apple TV? It’s powered by iOS -- doesn’t it deserve a bit of love as well? We like to think so, and while Apple hasn’t announced any iCloud-enabled features for their increasingly popular "hobby", we have a vision of what the company’s upcoming cloud service can do for everyone’s favorite diminutive HDMI connected darling.

Cut the Connections 

As it stands, Apple TV owners can stream their movie and television show collection from their iTunes library to their Apple TV.  While this was pretty cool back in 2006, almost six years later, it’s looking a little lame. 

 We’re certain that Apple’s got the both the technical chops and the server capacity to stream audio, video and photographic content to Apple TV users. Less than two weeks ago, Apple proved that they weren’t opposed to the notion of streaming content to iOS devices, as the ability to stream music to iPhones and iPads appeared (and then quickly vanished...then reappeared again) in a developer’s build of iOS 5.

If the company wanted to really "wow" their customers, they could easily up their game by not only offering to stream music, but also video content purchased via the iTunes Store. As with iTunes Match, Cupertino could take inventory of all of the video content associated with a given iTunes account and make it possible for the content’s owner to stream it to their Apple TV. What’s more: under such a system, Apple TV owners could effectively purchase iTunes content via their Apple branded set top box without the need for a computer. This could make Apple TV a pretty tasty option for media buffs who aren’t interested in investing in a home computer. That’d mean more Apple TV sales, and in turn, more iTunes movie, TV and music purchases. If we’ve got our math right, that means more profits for Cupertino and their content partners, making this a winning situation for all involved. 

For Apple TV owners that happen to own a Mac, Apple could make it possible to upload their iPhoto collections to iCloud for streaming to their Apple TV, thus eliminating the need to leave their computers on in order to remember the good times. Who could say no to that?

Sharing is Caring

Apple has always taken the protection of the content they dish up pretty seriously. Currently, a movie purchased from the iTunes store will only work on hardware you've authorized for use with your iTunes account. This means that if you’re planning on watching that movie over at a friend’s house, one of your devices will have to be loaded up with said film and lugged along with you. Were Apple to set up the iCloud media streaming solution we’ve suggested, we’d want to see an easier way to share our iTunes content with our friends. There’s no way that Apple’s content partners would ever allow them to scrap the DRM they use to protect the video content being dished up via the iTunes Store, but we think we’ve got a solution on the hardware side of things that could make everyone happy.

For a few years now, Apple’s been tinkering with Near Field Communications (NFC): a technology that allows for devices in close proximity with each other to exchange data without the need for a network connection. Were Apple to include NFC technology in future iterations of their iOS hardware -- Apple TV included -- sharing your iTunes library would be as easy as having your iPhone in your pocket when you sit down on your buddy’s couch. Thanks to NFC, an Apple TV could detect that an iPhone or other iOS device was in the room. A prompt would come up on the iOS device’s screen asking if the owner wanted to access their iTunes Account’s content via the Apple TV. By Clicking OK, you and your pals could peruse your whole iTunes collection and stream what ever you wanted from it to the Apple TV without having to enter your account credentials. Should you and your iOS device leave the area, the permission to stream your library would be cancelled, instantly cutting off the stream -- unless of course the Apple TV’s owner was enjoying the content so much that they wanted to purchase it from iTunes. In that case, they could pick up where they left off with the movie you were watching or the music you were chilling to, and keep the groove going all night. 

We’re pretty sure we’re on to something here. What about you guys? Any ideas on how to make iCloud rock Apple TV?

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