Apple Won't Introduce New Apple TV Box Next Week, Will Upgrade Software

There are very, very good odds you're going to hear about new iPhones at Apple's event next Tuesday.

But if you're looking for a new Apple TV, you're going to be disappointed.

Despite speculation about new Apple TV hardware on the way, Apple won't be unveiling any new boxes next week, according to people familiar with the company's plans.

That said, the company will be tweaking the software inside its Web TV box. Apple has already said that it will be bringing its new iTunes Radio service to Apple TV. And it has been adding new content partners, including Disney and HBO, throughout the summer.

Expect to hear about more changes next week.

Sources said that one new feature in the works will let people who've bought content from Apple play that stuff on other users' Apple TVs, via Apple's Airplay system and Apple's server. So if you bought a TV show or movie from Apple's iTunes store, you could watch it at a friend's house by calling it up on your iPhone and telling your friend's Apple TV to start streaming it. (The files wouldn't need to be stored on your iPhone or iPad)

You could have previously accomplished this by getting your friend to log out of their Apple TV box and then logging in with your own credentials. But that's awfully cumbersome - particularly with Apple's minimalist Apple TV remote. And you can already do a variation on this, though not as elegantly, with some Apple TV apps like HBO Go.

But if this makes it that much easier to watch "Pain and Gain" with your pals, then that's a good thing. And if that makes you less inclined to buy a $35 Google Chromecast and treat that as your Web TV device, then that's good for Apple.

No comment from Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr.

Tech Names Dominate List of World's Most Valued Brands as Apple and Google Top the List

Valuing brands isn't necessarily an exact science, but each year the folks at Interbrand do their level best to engage in this sort of alchemy.

The big news this year is that Apple has surpassed Coke as the firm's most valuable brand, with Interbrand valuing Apple's market appeal at $98.3 billion. Google also moved ahead of Coca-Cola, with a $93.3 billion brand, ahead of Coke's $79.2 billion.

But there were lots of other tech names high up on the Interbrand rankings. IBM was No. 4, at $78.8 billion; followed by Microsoft, at $59.5 billion. Samsung landed at No. 8 on the list, Intel was No. 9, Cisco was No. 13, Disney No. 14, and Hewlett-Packard at No. 15. Oracle was No. 18 (though presumably the rankings were compiled before the improbable America's Cup comeback).

Amazon, meanwhile, was No. 19, with a brand valued at $23.6 billion, up 27 percent from a year ago. Facebook is still a ways down in the rankings at No. 52, but saw its brand up 43 percent, at $7.7 billion.

Not all tech names were ascendent, though. Nokia saw its brand-value fall by nearly two-thirds, to $7.44 billion. No. 46 Sony fell eight percent, to $8.4 billion. Yahoo, which was No. 66 on the list a few years back, didn't make the Top 100 this year.

That’s not what I had in mind when I thought about joining two Disney princesses.

Would have rather had this than Jar Jar…

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