This week, my thoughts on the new Apple TV after using it for a week, why my wife and kids probably won’t see me for the next month (hint: it’s because of Fallout 4), and this week’s holiday gift guide item, the Philips Wake-Up Light.

Two thumbs up for the new Apple TV

The latest iteration of the Apple TV is a fantastic upgrade. The box itself is a bit bigger, but you won’t really notice that. The tvOS operating system is cleaner, at least until you start cluttering it up with icons for apps (more on that later),

It still does all that it used to do. Namely, play videos and music that you’ve purchased through the iTunes Store, stream video from iTunes libraries connected to the same network, and play media from mobile devices using AirPlay.

What’s different with this fourth-generation device is that Apple decided to have it operate in the same way as its smartphones and tablets. It’s opened up the operating system to third-party developers, who can create apps for the Apple TV. There’s an entire App Store for tvOS.

Which means that we’ll get better-designed and developed apps because they’ll be made by the companies who want you to use them. The home shopping apps have taken an early lead in this because they have a vested interest in getting customers.

But news organizations and media companies aren’t far behind.

And Plex, which is fantastic media management software, makes its first appearance as an app on Apple TV.

On top of all that, you can play games on your TV through this new box. Already, a bunch of notable titles are available, and if you already own the game and have been playing it on your iPad or iPhone, you may be able to download it and play it on your Apple TV.

For example, I’ve been playing Alto’s Adventure and Skylanders: SuperChargers. Every day, more titles become available.

You can use the new Apple TV remote as a game controller; it works much the same as a Wii U remote does. To enable multiplayer gaming, you can get any iOS game controller that connects through Bluetooth.

Steelseries has developed a version of its Bluetooth controller for exactly this. The Nimbus is designed to work with Apple TV. My other Steelseries controllers, the dainty Stratus and the bigger Stratus XL, while intended for use with iOS mobile devices, also connect to Apple TV and worked great.

All in all, I’m really happy with the Apple TV upgrade.

Fallout 4 has released; see you in a month

Not that I’ll be watching much TV in the next while, because Fallout 4 is in my console and will be sucking up all of my free time for the foreseeable future.

This game, an action, role-playing game, is a massive achievement for designer Todd Howard and the publisher, Bethesda Softworks.

Available for PS4, Windows, an Xbox One, the game itself is huge, and can easily take 100 hours to play if you spend any time at all developing a character. Hell, I spent two hours just creating my character.

Set in the Boston area, Fallout 4 is notable for having a fully voiced protagonist for the first time. And the thousands of lines of dialogue have been recorded by both male and female voices, because this series is one in which you can choose the gender of your protagonist.

The game is accompanied by a smartphone app that lets you access your character even when you’re not playing. It’s available for Android and iOS.

And everyone who bought the Pip-Boy Edition of the game can snap their smartphone into the wristband, and have their very own Fallout artifact.

For those of you who need a note to excuse your absence, Bethesda Softworks’ Pete Hines has you covered with this clever doctor’s note.

Holiday gift guide: Philips Wake-Up Light

This is just the best way to face the morning. The Wake-Up Light is a combination LED light and alarm clock.

About 20 minutes before you want to wake up, the light starts to glow. And, just like the sun rising above the horizon, the light gets a bit brighter as your time approaches.

When the alarm goes off, it’s not a bell, or a buzzer, or some other obnoxious sound. It’s either the sound of birds chirping or sounds from a busy forest scene.

We started using this in my home a few weeks ago, and it’s incredible the effect it’s had. Getting up at six in the morning, especially at this time of year when it’s so dark outside, is not natural. But it feels a lot more natural using the Wake-Up Light.

Vancouver video gamers win tournament

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege tournament that was happening in Richmond.

Well, last week, 5G, the team representing Vancouver at the finale in Toronto won top honours, and a cheque for $5,000.

Here’s a look at the event in Vancouver.