arstechnica.com — So what does the Apple TV have to offer me?someone who has been slightly spoiled with the use of a seemingly more versatile device for years now? We tried to examine both how the Apple TV would fare among my family members who are intimidated by even the slightest hint of technology, but also how it would fare among fellow geeks.
Mar 27, 2007 View in Crawl 4
honemastertMar 27, 2007
I've already ran into this which means that it's no more than a 720pplayer. (even though it can output 1080i) it just wont sync anythingthat is higher resolution which is lame. That means that *any* widescreen DVD you've ripped, you have to re-rip! What a rip! :-) Oh yeah.. on the latter (low res materials?)I was able to lock it up with a crappy .mp4myself. * H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps) * MPEG-4: Up to 3 Mbps, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 720 by 432 pixels at 30 fps)As it turns out, "the Apple TV can play anything iTunes can play" is not entirely true, as some formats that are encoded properly for import into iTunes cannot be played on the Apple TV. As quoted above, the Apple TV needs to have MPEG4 and H.264 encoded video that do not exceed certain parameters. It's unclear whether or not this is an artificial limitation applied by iTunes to keep files that may play poorly on the Apple TV from degrading the overall experience, or whether the hardware on the Apple TV is simply incapable of accepting these files. We're assuming the former for the time being, although we've seen the Apple TV struggle at times with low-resolution materials.
drlhaMar 27, 2007
Yes, but your TiVo remote does have a volumne control that can be programmed to control either your TV or your Amp. The Apple TV remote can't control any volume.
etandribMar 27, 2007
That is a good point wageslaven. The 120 GB hard drive will be nice. I really would like to see what their IPTV offering is going to be like too.The best part of the Apple TV is that IPTV networks like Revision3 can start offering 720p content now and 1up all the traditional networks. Hopefully MS will support Revision3 as well. Let the underground IPTV revolution begin!
flag564Mar 27, 2007
Ars wanted to give it a lower score but found a way of upping the final score by judging it on some bizarre method of what the device "could" do.Could do?My old VCR "could" do a lot of things too, but if it doesn't do it out of the box can I give it a higher score anyway?Ars, feeling bad that they cant give an Apple device a perfect 1000000000000, fudges and makes excuses to try to save it from humiliation.Does anyone here think that they will be this kind to any other brands device?
flag564Mar 27, 2007
"i mean really digg, can someone please admit that this thing is seriously function-constrained and over priced? this fracking website does have above-average technical knowledge, but trying looking at *EVERYTHING* apple and pretending it to be a fracking revolution (at a great price! really!) is sad."At this point few people do not see that the constant pushing of this thing is anything less than a shill job.All of these sites, like Ars, Gizmodo, Engadget, know that this device did not live up to the free publicity that they gave it, so they have to resort to pitiful "Oh you just wait in 6 months it will have (fill in the blank) and (fill in company's name) will be out of business". It's not as if Apple has just a constant string of blockbusters. Other than the iPod, it's single digit market share all the way.
fuzzmelloMar 27, 2007
"Apple doesn't exactly make it simple to watch content that's not purchased from iTunes, and the Apple TV was clearly meant to be an iTunes portal for the living room. "'nuf said.
docnoMar 27, 2007
I have lots of content in Itunes. The current Xbox 360 interface for music is a joke. The Apple TV plugs that "hole" perfectly - I'm enjoying mine.When the IPTV stuff for the 360 comes out, I'll look at it. If it looks good, I'll buy it (if they have an upgrade path that isn't too outrageous). Same way I make most of my purchases - form and my wants dictate my purchases, not who makes the product, what color it's in or how trendy it is :p
silentspyderMar 27, 2007
I'm an Apple fan but I'd probably wait for 3.0. I think by then Apple would of gotten the picture.
danny951Mar 28, 2007
"It feels rushed and incomplete"I take it you have at least played around with one in-store, no?