digg

Join DiggAbout

Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular Elections 2008 content on Digg.

Apple TV 2.0....iPhone & iPod Touch as Remote?!!

blogs.zdnet.com — Apple is rumored to be close to announcing movie rentals and Apple TV is perfect platform. Add a 1TB HDD and BitTorrent downloading technology and you have the beginnings of a great living room experience. Enable the iPhone and iPod touch as a remote control for Apple TV 2.0 to replace the bogus “gum stick” remote and and they’ll surely have a hit

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • Bukowsky, on 12/11/2007, -1/+16now that would be freakin' sweet~!
    • Trax91, on 12/11/2007, -1/+4Nice use of tilde(~)!
    • EvilWalksWithMe, on 12/11/2007, -1/+3It's a shame that in most parts of the world we are still bound by high Internet connection costs and ridiculous data caps to make this of any use to us :(
    • jrbrewin, on 12/11/2007, -2/+2oh man, i've so missed the pointless, illogical, and downright stupid mac rumours. Next up, apple providing addons for ipod earbuds which turn them in to iNunchucks!
    • sleze, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1I wonder if this guy has heard about the whole "digital tv" thing that is being pushed by the FCC. Without getting QAM support, any new Apple TV will become the Apple media player come 2009.
    • bkemper, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2I think it is going to have a beer tap built in to it, so you can always have a cold iBrewskie when you're watching the game. And a popcorn popper that shoots popcorn directly into your mouth in between dramatic moments of movies.
  • aaronmcdonald, on 12/11/2007, -2/+8I think Apple TV needs a DVD drive, blu-ray or not and I would buy one just for having an Apple DVD and Podcast player alone. The TV shows on iTunes in UK are so bad at the moment and are too expensive, I buy some shows but don't see the point when I could buy it on DVD for so much cheaper!
    • kriminalintent, on 12/11/2007, -1/+5or pirate it for even cheaper then that!
    • node3, on 12/11/2007, -0/+5I know this is a common sentiment, but adding a DVD drive to the Apple TV makes absolutely no sense. It would add cost and size, and it would be redundant for a vast majority of people.

      What makes more sense (and it's stated in the article) is an external drive which one can connect to the Apple TV. Then you can choose a DVD drive, or Blu-Ray, or HD-DVD, etc. After all, the Apple TV still has that mysterious and unused USB port.
      • markwilcox, on 12/11/2007, -7/+2You mean like... the Xbox 360 and it's HD DVD drive? That would be... innovative... copying from Microsoft..
      • Tippis, on 12/11/2007, -2/+2Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are unlikely, since that would require a rather large re-write of OS X to make it HDCP compliant.
      • machole, on 12/11/2007, -1/+0"I know this is a common sentiment, but adding a DVD drive to the Apple TV makes absolutely no sense. It would add cost and size, and it would be redundant for a vast majority of people."

        -Cost of DVD player parts is less than $10 and considering this has a $300-400 pricetag then apple could afford to put one in
        -Redundancy in USEFUL parts isnt redundant. HDMI is scarce on some TV's so an HDMI DVD player would be a godsend to some
        -Ask Mac Mini media center users if they think their Mac Mini DVD player is useless.
        • MacParrot, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1An excellent point. One thing I never understood about the Apple TV was that it seemed determined to add yet another box to a home audio/video system. Apple should include a replacable optical drive (slide mount like the old Pismos), a cable card slot, a full size hard drive (faster and cheaper). Yes it would be bigger than it is now, but since you would be replacing the %^&$% cable box and DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player with just one box, it would make things simpler instead of more complex.
    • ThankTheCheese, on 12/11/2007, -1/+2the fact that 640x480 video with no extras or packaging is actually *more* expensive than a DVD is ridiculous. dare I say it? ***** the MPAA.
  • rdhaag, on 12/11/2007, -3/+18I don't understand why everyone is so hard on AppleTV. It does everything it promised and is very useful for those who carry a large library in iTunes. I agree that it needs some improvement, but all Apple products improve over time. I don't think you'll see a DVD or anything like that as it goes against what it stands for. Movie rentals and the ability to purchase from iTunes Store would be awesome and work just like iPhone/iPod Touch now. I look forward to seeing where this product goes in the future.
    • machole, on 12/11/2007, -0/+6People are mad because it is capable of doing so much yet it is hobbled due to Apple's incessant need to control things they should just leave alone.

      I scored one for dirt cheap on clearance and even though I absolutely love it, I still rely on plugging the Macbook directly to the TV to get access to divx/dvd's/vobs and everything else the Apple TV "should" handle.
      • Yoshi39, on 12/11/2007, -1/+1There are easy hacks availibale to make the apple tv cappabale of playing divx
        http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/10/how-to-play-div ...
      • machole, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Thats part of my frustration. The hacks are easy when they work but I've tried for weeks with no success. It doesn't make sense because I hacked one for a friend a few months ago with no problems but my new one seems to be unhackable. I wonder if they changed something.

        Anyway, the point is that the consumer shouldn't have to hack a product in order to do something it is fully capable of doing. Especially at this price.
      • enzyte, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Just transcode everything to h.264. Its no worse than ripping audio CD's once you have a system down. I transcoded my whole DVD collection over the summer with poster art and movie descriptions and added them to my iTunes library. Handbrake and Lostify FTW! The only downfall is the lack of Dolby Digitial audio. But for me matrixed audio is still better than having to keep my library in the living room. If you don't want to put any time into it just get a TakeTV.
    • Murdats, on 12/11/2007, -1/+1because you can get a modded xbox for a fraction of the cost and with magnitudes more features.
      • Tippis, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1...or, if you go in the other direction, you can just get a Mac Mini, and do everything the AppleTV does and far more, without any of the drawbacks.
      • Focher, on 12/11/2007, -0/+6Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I am singling you out for a general message that gets repeated quite often - namely that products which win on price and features are inherently better or even win in the marketplace. In the case of the Apple TV, it is admittedly a rather niche product and optimum use is for those who have gone down the Apple iLife integrated suite of tools (iTunes, iPhoto ...). To suggest, however, that the uptake on the Apple TV is affected by hacked Xboxes is patently ridiculous. You could probably count on one hand the number of people that use a hacked Xbox instead of an Apple TV.

        I have both a 360 and an Apple TV. The usability for the media streaming is considerably better on the Apple TV (the standard I apply is not whether I can use it, but whether my wife can). The problem with the Apple TV really is one of potential, where Apple has not shown any attention to it since releasing it to the market. It's a niche product in a niche market.
    • michaelb1, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Just give it DVR function that make me want to give up my Tivo and I will buy 4 of them.
  • happyseamonster, on 12/11/2007, -1/+5I like the idea of using a Mac Mini and turning it into a PVR and add eyeTV to it!
  • acmethunder, on 12/11/2007, -3/+30I love the gum stick remote...it's simple. Period.
    • jadus, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Except when you try to use youTube. You might as well shout what you're looking for at the TV.
  • CaptainAO, on 12/11/2007, -1/+28Novel concepts, but a 1TB hard drive in a set-top box is a good 3-4 years away at least. And good luck getting Apple to support a download model based on BitTorrent. Although being able to use an iPhone/iPod touch as a remote is something that should definitely be put into the next Apple TV model.

    I know the Apple TV is aimed at a specific market, buy devices like the Xbox 360 not only offer streaming capabilities of almost all formats, but a top-notch gaming experience at a price not much higher then the ATV. Apple needs to invest in getting HDTV content in iTunes along with the ability to subscribe to a specific channel's content at an affordable monthly rate.

    The ATV is far from a failure, but it's potential is still largely untapped.
    • MacParrot, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1"And good luck getting Apple to support a download model based on BitTorrent."
      Good luck getting ANY manf to support bit torrent for media devices out of the box. None of them want the potential lawsuits. Add in that Apple also sells content through iTunes (as does MS with the XBox and Zune) and it's a lock that they won't ever offer it.
  • bradspry, on 12/11/2007, -2/+4Two words: video playlist. AppleTV does not support this most logical of features. Neither does the new iPod Touch. This one new feature would be a good enough upgrade for me. The rest is just gravy.
    • alanpgh, on 01/02/2008, -0/+0This feature is needed on both the Apple TV and iPod Touch. I have both and really like them. But, this is a crucial missing features.

      I understand the 3rd. Gen Nano has the Video Playlist Feature. Can anyone confirm this?

      Thanks,
      Alan
  • Felix57, on 12/11/2007, -2/+5remember guys lets hack the ***** out of it harder and faster then the first
  • cheeseron, on 12/11/2007, -1/+7one tb is pushing it for the average consumer. at most, there would be a 120 gb drive. that, and the bit torrent thing will never happen.
    • pennyfan87, on 12/11/2007, -0/+3You can already get it with 160GB for $400.
      • cheeseron, on 12/11/2007, -0/+8well i guess it would do me good to research what I say before I say it.
  • chordprojection, on 12/11/2007, -1/+1Have you checked out AT&T's setup for digital television and web streaming TV (PC only) yet? First their deal with them for the iPhone...hmmm TV too? I always said if Apple and DirecTV got together...WATCH OUT!
  • upfrontfanatic, on 12/11/2007, -12/+3So Apple is trying to the make the new AppleTV even -more- useless than its predecessor by adding the remote as a $600 accessory. And this is good?

    You can obviously never underestimate the Steve Jobs RDF.
    • obeythefist, on 12/11/2007, -1/+3This is a blog entry about what the author wishes would come to the apple tv. There is zero substance.
  • sockpuppets, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2It seems natural to me that a touch would connect and control itunes through wifi. It would make a kick ass system similar to sonos for less money, just add airport expresses and you're good to go.
    • markwilcox, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1There's already third party apps that can control iTunes through WiFi from the touch, so why not the AppleTv?
  • punterfpc, on 12/11/2007, -3/+1I'm surprised I haven't seen this comment yet: What if the AppleTV (or, hell... just Leopard for this matter...) could stream TV and your iTunes library over the internet TO your iPhone (like a Slingbox or something similar...) or iPod touch (over WiFi only for the touch, though...)? I think that would be an extremely worthy concept... mostly for the streaming TV, though. Of course, that would require that the AppleTV became more of a DVR which I know Apple probably doesn't want...

    Hmmm... nevermind me... Just ranting...
  • MREVOX, on 12/11/2007, -6/+3iPhone / iPod touch as remote - dumb idea. Apple using BitTorrent to push out content - wont happen.
    • Tippis, on 12/11/2007, -1/+1Quite a few phones offer remote control capabilities over BlueTooth and such, so they'd just be doing what everyone else does, but with a bit more flair...
  • chesterton, on 12/11/2007, -0/+4Only a few more weeks until Macworld, and the rumor mill can be put back on the shelf, again.
    • ChrisWalkr, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2You are joking. Then it's the build up to WWDC.
  • EvilDude, on 12/11/2007, -5/+3XBMC will be better than whatever they bring out. I wish there was a commercial solution to xbmc, it's just so awesome.
    • dyranios2, on 12/11/2007, -1/+3There is...the xbox 360?
    • EvilDude, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Have you even used XBMC? The 360 doesn't come anywhere near the quality of XBMC. Almost every single video codec is supported, the library features, the automatic scrapers, the python plugins. Everything blows the 360 out of the water. If you think the 360 can replace XBMC, you obviously have never used it.
  • happyseamonster, on 12/11/2007, -9/+1That is ***** stupid. Period. "Great idea"? ***** idiots.
  • WiseWeasel, on 12/11/2007, -0/+6A music visualizer would be nice...
  • chubbybubba, on 12/11/2007, -1/+5Who wants a remote you have to plug in every few hours? The double aa's in my remote have lasted over a year.
  • peestandingup, on 12/11/2007, -1/+2They better do something damn quick with this thing or else its going to the same place the HiFi went. Or better yet, didn't go. Like in your living room.

    I'll be here all night folks.
  • TheIinLive, on 12/11/2007, -1/+3apple TV will never have bittorrent downloading. That is more of a pirates dream. Using the iPhone as a remote is a cool idea, but it's also a simple and small one (i.e. nothing worth buying an Apple TV over). Also, 1TB HDD? What is this, the year 2000? Who needs that much space right now, besides uber-pirates?
  • drunkenoaf, on 12/11/2007, -1/+4So some journalist at ZDnet has an idea of what Apple should do. He pulls the specifications out of his ass. Everyone goes "sweet". God bless journalism!
  • piwy, on 12/11/2007, -0/+10You lost me at gum stick remote. That remote is genious.
  • ThankTheCheese, on 12/11/2007, -0/+4I'll be pretty pissed off if the AppleTV 2 comes out and they don't release an update to the current AppleTV giving it some or all of the new features.
    • Mindflux, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Hi 2 u. Ever think that 2.0 might be the next software rev. Hence, 1.0 -> 1.1 -> 2.0?
      • ThankTheCheese, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1I hope you're right, but then you could have said the same thing about the search feature that appeared in 5.5G iPods, yet they didn't include it in an update to the original 5G. Or the artificial crippling of the iPod Touch software compared with iPhone.

        they haven't earned the benefit of the doubt based on past behaviour just yet.
  • hotstyle765, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2For those who missed it. Thanks to this guy I already have my iPod Touch as a remote.
    http://www.legatissimo.info/node/355
    • kyle900, on 12/14/2007, -0/+0Hey! That's me. I'm glad you like it.
  • pgillan, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1I don't understand why everyone is so gung-ho about a larger drive in the AppleTV. If you've got a 1TB library, then you obviously have a dedicated desktop/server, so there's no reason not to stream your data... and the AppleTV is useless as a backup solution, since, like an iPod, you can't actually get any data off of it (without hacking something or other).
    • alanpgh, on 01/02/2008, -0/+0I've had an Apple TV since its launch. It is absolutely fantastic! It is HD-ready. I use it for video podcasts in HD, trailers in (almost) HD, home movies, photos, youtube. Movie rentals will be a great plus, if they become available. Love my Apple TV!
  • McoreD, on 12/11/2007, -3/+2TV Tuner inside or it's not cool.
  • paulrus, on 12/11/2007, -3/+2AppleTV has been perfected.... it's called Vudu and it's rolling out HD content as we speak. From what I hear, they'll be adding media extender capabilities in the near future. But for the same price as an AppleTV you get over 5000 movies and 250 gigs of storage - plus a working USB port to expand the box. I've been using one for about 2 weeks now and it's friggin sweet.

    http://www.vudu.com
    • peestandingup, on 12/11/2007, -2/+1Yeah, box costs $400. Rentals cost $4.00. What a deal.
    • Mindflux, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2HAH. You paid 400 dollars for a box that does nothing more than rent movies. How is that perfected?
  • tyrione, on 12/11/2007, -2/+1Hate to piss in their Wheaties, but the system needs an optical drive for installation of the Operating System. The BTO option for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray makes sense as an internal SuperDrive BD upgrade.

    Why the hell would anyone pay for an expensive DVR just to install their Operating System?

    DOA.
    • BingeBoy, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1There are many ways around this.
    • yabos, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1Yeah that idea makes no sense at all. You can't sell something without an optical drive unless they have a secret partition you can boot from to reinstall. And even then, once 10.6 comes out how are you going to install it? No one would want to have to buy an external device just to install 10.6. The only possible solution is they sell it as a download and the download has a program that creates a temporary partition to install from.
  • JoeyDeacon, on 12/11/2007, -0/+5The perfect Apple TV has always been the Mini in my opinion. You have a full media computer, DVD drive, multiple codecs, bigger harddrive as well as the Front Row TV GUI. You can use it as a TV and stream as well as play all widely avaialable video formats.

    The iPod woudl never had succeeded if it had not supported the mp3 format and the TV will never succeed wihtout multi codec support.


    Apple should bin the TV and sell and market the mini as the perfect solution.
    • graemee, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1You get what you pay for. The mini is twice the machine the ATV is. And twice the price too. But it's not much more than a PS3 or 360 Elite.
  • BingeBoy, on 12/11/2007, -1/+2iPhone remote would be sweet!
  • dualityone, on 12/11/2007, -1/+2All are fantastic ideas. IMHO as an Apple TV owner, this platform has so much potential!
  • z01inks, on 12/11/2007, -3/+1whats next, the apple Wii?
  • Wander2000, on 12/11/2007, -0/+2I see most of you guys have never heard of NitoTV and all the other great free add ons to the Apple TV. I've replaced two of the old Xbox1s running XBMC with Apple TVs, and don't miss them a bit. XBMC can't go forward very much due to the old hardware on the original Xbox.

    And BitTorrent on the Apple TV - that's old news, it's been done. All you really need is a Torx screwdriver and the ability to follow some simple rules; or you can go the easy way and spend about $60 on a USB key on eBay that will automatically do all the hacks for you without even opening it up.

    I love those who say the Apple TV is a failure, that just makes their price go down so I can buy more for my house. I love watching 720p movies and spending just $150 shipped for the last one I got!
    • Mindflux, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1You don't even need a torx screwdriver. I did all this without opening my AppleTV.
  • bjs3171, on 12/11/2007, -1/+1i have a palm from 5 or so years ago. all you do is select the brand, and type of device and it will work as a basic remote on pretty much any piece of hardware. i really wished i had it in high school. i did get to use it for the television that was about 8 feet in the air at the park i worked at.
  • machole, on 12/11/2007, -1/+0Here's one thing about the AppleTV that I just don't understand. Why isn't there volume control? I love the simplicity of the tiny remote but what good is it if I have to still reach for the gigantor remote just to adjust the volume? The remote controls volume when using frontrow so why not here?
  • jydesign, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1OK, so a 160GB iPod Classic is $50 less than a $160GB Apple TV. Combine, wifi, video-out, and remote support with an iPod Classic and you'd have a portable Apple TV ;-P and what's up with Airport Express?
  • MacHarborGuy, on 12/11/2007, -0/+1bah, i just recycled one of my older Macs, got an app called Remote Buddy, and am using Front Row with my Nintendo Wiimote. Works fine for me, and I saved money since I already had everything I needed.
  • dalesmatrix, on 12/12/2007, -0/+1All I think the AppleTV needs is DivX support, So I can use downloaded .avi videos off the 'net without having to transcode them (a process which usually takes an hour or so per file). Perian can do it nicely, would it really be so hard for Apple to include it? (or develop their own). I just hope if they release new hardware they take a leaf out of the Zune book and still release an update for us AppleTV 1.0 folk.
  • LaweranceOak, on 12/12/2007, -0/+2Check list for Apple.
    1.Add support for external hard drives to connect to it.
    2.Open the gate on all video supported formats, divx, xvic, avi, mpeg all of it.
    3.Can be upgradeable.
    4.FTMFW nothing but 720P connect and higher from the itunes store. If this is going to be be HD bring down the HD Pimp Hammer.
  • Codee, on 12/13/2007, -0/+1Apple TV is friggin dead.
  • CruzDude, on 12/28/2007, -0/+0Apple TV and Mac Mini are very much the same but at the same time very much different. We use Mac Mini's as video controllers for security and surveillance and hope they stay around for long time. Apple TV needs to integrate TIVO so as to record the new Universal movies that shortly can be downloaded. Wouldn't we all rather watch them on our 40' or 52" HD TV's??? using Apple TV rather than plugging and unplugging our MacBooks?
  • dlocc, on 07/14/2008, -0/+0Digg sucks... who the hell want to type in a CAPTCHA verification EVERYTIME they want to POST?


    Get the point Digg, no one cares for this and it is OLD Technology
  • smart55, on 07/14/2008, -0/+0Buy Cheap Apple Ipod touch 2.0
    http://astore.amazon.com/apple.ipod.cheap.discount ...
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.