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53 Comments
- halleyscomet, on 10/12/2007, -3/+32So basically, this is another article consisting of wild speculation about an unreleased product...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31Uh, duh? This should've clued you in:
Topic:
News » Technology » Apple - sotjian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11How are the going to sell any of these in Canada? We don't get of the movies or TV shows via iTunes. Right now I just plug my Macbook to the TV directly if I want to play a ripped movie.
- caldroun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9I have my first gen MacMini on my TV...works great and I have Divx and Xvid support all at 720p with an 80gb drive. ;-)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12If you rely on the "hacker community" to give this device the features that you're looking for, why would you pay the premium price that Apple charges for all their products? There are about a hundred cheaper alternatives out there.
The ONLY reason you could possibly ever even contemplate buying the Apple TV is if you specifically want the "Apple experience". And since you don't, let me save you a couple of hundred dollars and just tell you that this device is most probably not meant for someone like you. - edzieba, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15I'm not paying $300 for a device that can only stream one format (given that h.264 is a fairly open format) in one container (proprietary .mov).
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12If you want to reduce the number of "boxes" connected to your PC, then wouldn't you be better off buying a device with slightly more features? Like an Xbox 360? Here's a "box" that does EVERYTHING that the Apple TV can do, and it also allows you to play next-generation video games. I mean, why not? It costs about the same, too, and you'll get a hell of a lot more bang for the buck.
- dgrgich, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Sigh.
I wish that the world was a place filled with logical people who lacked the desire to jump in and immediately curse or praise something that . . . .you know . . . hasn't even been shipped from the factory.
There are other solutions - the Dlink DSM 520 and other such devices that will be awesome for tech heads and folks who don't mind encoding their own stuff. These will forever be niche solutions as companies can't risk courting the wrath of the MPAA and other corporate prophets of the DMCA.
The Windows Media Extender solutions technically fall in this realm as well. However, because the Xbox 360 includes such a feature, I suspect that this will be used "more" than the niche solutions mentioned above.
Tivo/Amazon will be a niche as long as Tivo is a niche. There are such a small number of Tivo subscribers right now with equipment that there is no way that this can ever grow into some sort of critical mass. Check Tivo's quarterly filing - they had 1.6 million non-DirecTV subscribers (versus more than 3 million DirecTV subscribers -- who can't get this service) and of these, maybe 50-70% are Series2/Series3 subscribers.
The Apple TV, the Xbox 360 Video Marketplace, and other direct to home solutions (like Sony, when the PS3 grows up) will probably be the main video purveyors of note due to the ease of folks like my in-laws buying and renting their media. Logic seems to dictate that if rentals from the Xbox 360 VM start to really take off -- and by this I mean hundreds of thousands of rentals -- then Apple will be forced by that ever-present invisible hand to follow suit with some sort of rental. Likewise, if 1080i/p downloads turn into a major market request, they'll be falling all over themselves with the Apple TV 2.0 to upgrade its capabilities.
I bought an Apple TV because I like Apple's products. I know that it will 'just work' and work well without me having to worry about it. The spousal acceptance factor alone of the Apple TV makes it worth $50-75 more than any other solution because she too, will know it just works. I suspect that this prevailing feeling will make the Apple TV a successful competitor in this market space. Maybe they won't be the leader but they'll be a contender. - e808, on 10/12/2007, -12/+19This is one of the least impressive Apple products out there. It belongs in the $99 bin at Walmart.
- Evoguy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11"Apple TV can, in our opinion, be easily turned into a DVR with little or no hardware modification and a software upgrade," he wrote. "We think Apple's brand, established distribution, marketing power, over 100 million total iPod unit shipments, and 22 million active Mac users would create more than enough energy to propel an AppleTV TiVo-like service to a higher subscription base than TiVo's current 4.4 million users."
Pffff... haha what? Not even one tuner, let alone 2? 40GB hard drive? No programming guide? Hahahaha. - miniboss, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Its odd that it costs the same as a basic Xbox360 which does the same thing but with less restrictions and $100 more than the upcoming Slingcatcher that plays ANY formats and does video mirroring.
- tracydanger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Can't you get that function with airport express (i.e. listening to computer through remote stereo)?
- desiredapathy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6You can buy a third party remote for Airport Expresses. The receiver looks like a thumb drive and plugs into the usb port.
- yikiad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5FTA: No new features not already discussed in numerous articles...
- uranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5mac mini is probably a better option... use any codec you want, view shared content from other macs. The only apple TV feature I am interested in is the ability to stream from ANY laptop.. so if you have guests who bring their laptop, you can stream stuff from their iTunes (but ofcourse the vids have to be in mpeg4, H.264.... no Xvid, DivX, WMV).
- MJ420, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8I just pray for iTunes Radio to be working on the darn thing =/
- iceeblue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Is is non-normal to want a $300 box complete with hard drive sitting next to your TV to be able to record TV.
If so then I am "non normal" I don't want 5 boxes next to my TV to enjoy this brave new media centric world world I want one. - Chewie67, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4What are you using to do the recording?
What's your exact software setup? - superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4You wouldn't add the tuner to the AppleTV. You'd add it to your computer, and use something like EyeTV to do the DVR stuff having it automatically transcoded to iTunes so the iTV could see it.
Peopla are missing what the EyeTV is, it's a gateway device to a full media PC, it lets "normal" people have a video extender they can use easily but that also caches content and integrates well with the computer.
For those that have more complex needs, there is already the Mac mini which I have been using for a year or so with OTA HD reception. It gives a lot more flexiiblity (like any HTPC) but is also more complex to setup and use. - BobMysterioso, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I have a D-Link DSM 520. It plays xvid @ 1080i w/ dolby digital sound (if encoded as such) great. 802.11g, no issues.
It doesn't do some things, but for what I need it for, its the best $200 I ever spent. It. just. works. Subtitle support sucks though. I use virtualdub and convert standard srt subs to ssa - then parse through and change an italic or bold to those reflect in the ssa file, and re-encode at an absurdly high xvid bitrate to minimize loss in quality. Even on my old rusty p4, its 2x faster than realtime, so no big delay. Intelligent line wrapping and sentence detection is really nice. - huberc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"And your digital photos from iPhoto on a Mac or Adobe Photoshop Elements or Adobe Album on a Windows PC appear in high definition, so you can put on a stunning big-screen slideshow."
- spookybathtub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yes, the Airport Express will play any audio iTunes plays, but you have no way of controlling it unless you are sitting at your computer.
- ChoadNamath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This seems more like a first-spin Microsoft product. It seems like they rushed it to market when it isn't really ready yet. There isn't any HD content available, and the people who will be willing to plop down $300 on a product like this will very likely have an HDTV. There's no recording capability, which is really crippling.
But I guess if running a couple of cables across a room is too complicated for you, go for it. - bwilly79, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3New features? Shouldn't ALL the features be new since it hasn't been released yet?
- uranium, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Anyone know how you would stream photos from a Windows comp since it does not have iPhoto? Apple website says you can view photos with apple TV but how would that be possible without iPhoto.
- totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It doesn't require a widescreen TV actually, just 480p minimum. Before widescreen TVs became more commonplace, there were a batch of 4:3 EDTVs from Sony, etc. that have component in and support 480p, which should work fine with AppleTV.
- schoate09, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2***** the RIAA
- ibeetle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Why didn't they just write the headline:
"Apple shipping the sucky, stupid, doomed to fail AppleTV"
1 The Apple TV requires a computer, no direct link to the iTunes Store for purchasing content.
So? So does Amazon Unbox, Netflix, Vongo, and Cinema Now.
2 It's $299 for a set-top box that doesn't even include a DVD player.
One does not get a DVD player with the $299 Tivo, $249 Wii, or a Satellite TV box, and some of those models cost more than $299.
3 As of today, the iTunes Store has around 400 movies and 200 TV shows, compared with some 75,000 titles on NetFlix
Netlfix has been around for over 5 years and ships physical DVD's. iTunes Movies have been around for 5 months Why not compare apples to apples (no pun) How many movies do the other movie download services have? Including Netflix Now (Currently in Beta).
4 While HD may be in the works for the iTunes Store, content currently compares unfavorably to DVDs.
This drawback is only for the iTunes Movie Store? When did Vongo, Unbox or Cinema Now start downloading 1080i High Definition in there services?
5 Much of the non-movie content from the iTunes Store, TV shows and music videos, is not in widescreen format, even though the Apple TV requires a widescreen TV.
AppleTV does not require a widescreen TV?. Why would it. How would AppleTV even know what size, or screen ratio your monitor is? And how is it Apples fault that the film maker did not shoot a music video or television program in a widescreen? What does this guy do? Only rent/buy widescreen media? Lost in Space? Star Trek? Gone With The Wind? Never seen'em. They are not widescreen. Sorry I only rent, or buy widescreen.
The only point he gets right is the one about no rentals. While there are some movies worth buying. There are far, far more DVD's that are only worth watching once, or every so often enough that if you do want to see them again you can always re-rent them. - chijim70, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah WTH is with anyone buying this thing? Why would you pay 300 or even 200 later when they are "cheaper" for the ability you already have with a mac (or any platform/OS for that matter) except... OMFG you have to plug in a cable! 20 dollar adapter and I have one of these and 50 times more... Can anyone tell me what I am missing?
- nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@desiredapathy:
That's cool... does it work with an apple remote? - adamkmccarthy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i eagerly await homebrew firmware for the apple tv that will let me put whatever content i like in whatever format i like onto it and play it on my tv. i do realise there are such products around already that do this - i just like the look of this one.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Chewie67:
You're blaming other companies because Apple's iTunes is a restrictive DRM-infested swamp hole?
Congratulations. You've officially locked yourself into a brand not because of any consumer choice, but because they forced you to. Maybe you should complain to THEM about it. - miniboss, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3"are you serious? What other device is that powerful / small that I can buy for less than $300?"
Slingcatcher. Available next quarter for $200 and supports ALL media formats including files purchased from iTunes. - diggAddict, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What about the mediagate MG-35 unit - much better and there is a good hacker community working on extending the original firmware. Okay the GUI is not as nice but thats the thing the hacker community have already addressed.
- Jaxim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here's an article about it on wired:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/03/so_apple_tv_is_.html - twitchster, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Spousal approval factor is very high for the apple TV.
My wife can't wait until our Apple TV arrives so the Mac Mini can begin it's new life in our kitchen.
The other deal I had to agree with, was to buy her an iPhone when it comes out.
That's the only problem with introducing your non-geek spouse to technolust - you have to share the new shiny gadget, and sometimes she commandeers the new shiny gadget. - johnpaul191, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2there is no DRM wrapper on the device. the files will have DRM if they come with DRM. if that's an issue, then just get media from nicer sources. i'm as anti-DRM as anyone, but this is like blaming the iPod for DRM when lots of iPods are free of DRM'd music.
obviously AppleTV will not be as flexible as some other media servers or streaming boxes. in general, flexibility means complications. if you have the time and smarts to work it out, then you would be crazy to buy one of these (unless you can hack it?). - yikiad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@gweedo767 - Key words "Coming Soon" they've also been saying "hundreds of HD channels available - Coming Soon"
still nothing - gweedo767, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Just do what sane people will. Get a Dish Network 622. It is free (with 18 month agreement), loves HD content, plays all sorts of music via Sirius and has on demand video stream coming soon.
- daveseibert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@uranium
I have a mac mini hooked up to my TV. You can download perian, which lets front row play anything, AND front row can also connect to 'shared videos' on your local network, i.e. any one's open itunes.
appleTV is sexy and all, but until I get an HDTV it's useless. Also, playing straight from a mini with a huge external HD is still faster than wireless N. - Eccles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have an iMac and an EyeTV hybrid. The EyeTV will capture broadcast HD, and with a mini-DVI->DVI->HDMI cable sequence, it feeds the HD (or Handbrake rips, DVDs, etc.) onto my 1080p-capable LCD TV.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0As with all things Apple, the AppleTV will start out basic and get better with each revision and model. Each new model will be sold as a "new improved" product as we have seen with the iPod and is basic Marketing 101 procedure. It will get better. I for one am waiting until Leopard to see the whole picture before buying anything as I think Apple's true course will be exposed then.
- ipodsweatshop, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2After seeing the Linux MCE video earlier, this is dead before it started. Now THAT is a media center. This is worse than Windows MCE and basically just another attempt to push DRM. Avoid this.
- daveseibert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@chewie67
I haven't tried it, but I know a lot of people are using elgato eyeTV. They have a lot of options on their site. - alansky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0The doubters out there will be laughing out of the other side of their face when Apple sells their first gazillion of these babies. It's the same song that the unenlightened were singing when the iPod first came out. But you know what? Apple will rule the living room within two years whether some people like it or not.
Steve Jobs has said many times that he never asks people what they want because, by the time you build it, they want something else. - anonym41414, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0It does require a widescreen TV. Says so right on the Web page: "Enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TVs capable of 1080i 60/50Hz, 720p 60/50Hz, 576p 50Hz (PAL format), or 480p 60Hz." The 480p format is a widescreen format, 720x480 with anamorphic samples.
- stealthrocket, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Until there is an easy DVR option for the ATV my wallet will stay shut. Yes you can buy shows from iTunes but that requires a manual process to go buy the shows you want. This is nowhere near as simple as a season pass on Tivo. I know you can buy a season pass from iTunes but I think the ala carte model is flawed. Its not a viable replacement for cable or satellite because without those services how are you going to easily discover new shows that you would then buy a season pass from iTunes for? Following that logic, if you have cable or satellite and a DVR why would you buy a season pass from iTunes?
While there are solutions like an EyeTV from Elgato I don't use their products because its still too much work compared to using Tivo. Especially if you want to integrate it with an Apple TV. Even with the option to send shows straight to iTunes. I hope Apple either updates the Apple TV with a DVR option or even better, allows third parties, like Elgato, to connect devices to the USB port and integrate into the Apple TV interface. If they do that my credit card will fly out of my wallet. - fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7are you serious? What other device is that powerful / small that I can buy for less than $300?
It has 802.11n, 40gb harddrive, ethernet, hdmi, component... even my mac mini doesn't have all that..
Don't tell me this isnt a amazing device to hack!
If I can get a linux distro with mythfrontend on it, Ill be extremely happy.... - RogerStrong, on 10/12/2007, -23/+20So it's like one of those Windows Media Center Extenders that have been around for a couple years. Add better wide-screen support, but cripple it with DRM. No word on whether you can stream live video from your PC's TV or radio tuner, like you can with Windows.
- easy4lif, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I agree that 40Gb in this day and age won't cut it for most people. thats why I'm pinning my hopes on the mod community to figure out how to crack open the device and swap out the 40 for a larger hard drive. personally, I'm gonna install a 120 to 160 when the "How to's" start coming out.
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