Betting $149 is for either 8 or 16 GB.. to get more space for App's they will likely have at least one larger, 64 GB model, and possibly a 128 GB model later at $199 and $249 price points.
If the game makers can make $$$ on the AppleTV platform they will bring out their big guns.
Look at CandyCrush. That game makes more profit than 99% of console games and was super cheap to make.
The world is changing. Many people though streaming video would never take off because physical media would always have superior video/audio quality. Same with MP3 vs CD. Its all about convience. And if people find it convient to buy and play games on an AppleTV then the game makers will follow.
Remember we are talking about casual gamers which vastly out number hardcore games.
Again, agreed. I am one of those people. I've not played a computer game for more than a few minutes in many, many years.
I have been running this for a couple years works great. Would be nice to have a native app though. Honestly I will probably use the mac mini till it dies because I like how Plex home theater looks.
The price is right for what Apple is likely to be offering in return. And $149 new probably means that in a few months refurbs will be selling for $99. That should set Amazon to worrying.
My chief objection here is my ongoing objection to what Silicon Valley in general and Apple in particular are doing. Snobbish, elitist and cut off from most of the country, they are devoting their efforts to turning us into a nation of couch potatoes who are work-shy and addicted to entertainment. Short term, that makes the Valley's billionaires still richer. Long term, it means that our economy will slide downward. We won't be able to afford their expensive gadgets any more.
Apple, which targets its products to the middle and upper-middle class, is particularly vulnerable to the woes the middle class in this country are facing. Its policy of creating a relatively few domestic jobs in but a few locations will backfire.
A better business model is GE in the 1950s when it manufactured, warehoused and serviced appliances in hundreds of locations scattered across the U.S. GE created domestic jobs for people who could then afford its products. In contrast, Apple hordes money and creates very few domestic jobs. Overseas it and the rest of Silicon Valley are responsible a steadily moving wasteland. They create factories where labor is the cheapest and then abandon them when labor costs are cheaper elsewhere.
There are few things more foolish that a narrow policy of rational efficiency that neglects human values and broader responsibilities to society in the pursuit of immediate profit. That's Apple. That's the Silicon Valley.
--Michael W. Perry, author and editor at Inkling Books
And when they do this you'll complain how much more expensive it is.
Yes. The new gaming consoles are coming with 500 GB of HDD space by default because of the sizes of games, game saves, apps, etc. On my PS4 I'm probably already using about a fifth of the space (disregarding the OS space usage) and that's not with much content. If intensive games are to be played on this device there will have to be HDD requirements to support unless they've broken ground on being able to limit the amount of data needed to stream from iCloud while still providing top notch quality.
Really curious about the audio and video specs...4k? Lossless codecs?
If the rumors are true, Apple has been encoding movies in 4k for some time...perhaps they will announce a 4k option for ITunes Store rentals or purchases....
4k is slow coming, but will get a boost with 4kUHD disc players being launched and years end, and even $400 receivers now have HDMI 2.0 inputs and outputs, and more and more flat panels are 4k
Still hoping that my very long-shot guess that Apple will also launch a smart TV comes to pass. That would clear the table of competing smart features in all other TVs that an external Apple box would otherwise have to connect to and compete with...
Nope, nope, nope. "Console level games" has nothing to do with graphics, as many here continue to think. (The A8 is woefully behind anyway, matching 2005 hardware isn't impressive on a home box). The top end AAA titles these days have budgets of $100 million or more. No one is going to spend that on an app to go in a store where people complain about paying $3 for DLC which is as large as the original game. And I'm throughly unconvinced Apple would produce a controller that's even remotely comfortable to use.
Anyone spending $100 million to produce a game should be thrown in jail for misappropriation of funds.
If you really believe it costs 100 million dollars to produce the next minor evolution of Madden 7000, or the next clone of some clone of some other FPS, you're kidding yourself.
Have you ever seen the credits for a top notch games? It's similar to the end credits of a movie. Hundreds of people work on creating those games.
Few people said upcoming AppleTV at $199 amount is bit more to pay.. I would say if it is decent streaming device with mid tier gaming console than it is under-priced set-top HUB.. If it adds internet browsing, search with Siri than it is under-under-priced. If it adds Homekit(remotely from iphone manage home security, appliances, doors, camera,etc) than it is under-under-under-priced. If it adds...... leave upto your imagination.
Many of us paid single user $250 for 4GB ipod mini and paid for several people in home and lasted for bit over year. This long lasting multiple people usage set-top HUB is worth at least $299 and I will pay without hesitation. Not that I want or need but see good value in it..
Anyone spending $100 million to produce a game should be thrown in jail for misappropriation of funds.
If you really believe it costs 100 million dollars to produce the next minor evolution of Madden 7000, or the next clone of some clone of some other FPS, you're kidding yourself.
Destiny was north of 300 million, GTA V was north of 200 million. Madden isn't an AAA game by any standard. Even smaller titles typically fit in the 40-70 million dollar range.
Roku has universal search so they're not really breaking new ground here.
dude. Its never just about the idea. Its about the execution.
We had digital music players before the iPod.
We had tablets before the iPad.
We had smartphones before the iPhone.
But its about putting it ALL TOGETHER in a nice tight package.
There is no doubt in my mind Apple will make a package that blows away the Roku
Have you ever seen it, or you're just assuming it's crappy because Apple didn't make it? I use it quite often and IMO it's pretty darn good. It's actually saved me money by showing me which service had the movie/TV show I searched for at no additional cost.
This long lasting multiple people usage set-top HUB...
That will be interesting as HomeKit is said to require the same Apple ID on both the ?TV and the iPhone in order to remotely access your appliances, etc. Will it have multiple simultaneous log ins? I guess we will have to wait to find out.
First, for those who want to DVR content on the device without an HDD but using Flash is asking for problems. Flash will wear out since more content is stored for short periods of time and erase and this is bad for flash, this is why all DVR today still mainly use an HDD. It does not make sense to have Flash storage for DVR, the flash would need to be removable or your will be replacing your unit ever couple of years
Yes universal search is good and nice way to find content on any channel, I do use this on my Directv, however, just plan old channel surfing is not easily done on streaming content. Honestly this is how I find interesting things to watch. Things I would never have searched for or known to search for. I guess if all you watch is a few different things then search is probably fine, but I suspect more people are like me and watch a bunch of different types of content and they find it buy just switching channels and seeing what is on. Or I have broader interest than most people.
Have you ever seen the credits for a top notch games? It's similar to the end credits of a movie. Hundreds of people work on creating those games.
Yes. Its gone to far.
IMO, games should be first off all fun. They are games after all. There really is no reason for a game to cost $100 million to product.
Of course I'm a casual gamer and prefer to play games from the 80's-90's than modern games. Why? Because the older games don't require you to read a 100 page manual or use 15 buttons on a controller. They were games of skill and were FUN. I want to see more games like that on the AppleTV. Those type of games don't cost $100 million to make. Thus they don't have to sell for $60 a pop for the studio to make money. I want fun quality games for $10 or less.
Hmmm...a unified search was on my wish list...but I wanted an interface that would largely obfuscate where the content was coming from and just let me play it. I also want search/filter capabilities for program length, TV vs Movie, and Genre. (Currently there is no easy way to search for 30 minute sitcoms.) I'd also like to filter for shows that have greater than 4 seasons of episodes, shows that are still on the air, etc. Searching for shows by a certain director seems very useless to me, but maybe there are some people that would use it?
I'd really like to see them add the capabilities to plug in a USB hard drive to the Apple TV and amongst other uses, be able to back up all of my iDevices to it instead of having to send my backups out over the Internet to an Apple Server - and without having to store them on a PC via iTunes.
The free cloud storage Apple provides actually penalizes people that own more than one device. They give 5GB free per iTunes account. I think a better model would be to give users 5GB free per iDevice - or even better, give 1/4 of each owned devices built-in memory... So if you only own 1 16GB phone, you'd get 4GB free cloud space. But, if you also pick up a 32GB IPad mini, you'd get an additional 8GB of free cloud storage. Add a full-sized iPad with 64GB and get 16GB more. But even if they do this, I'd like to be able to back up all of my devices every night while I sleep to local storage within my home at high speed - and then *IF* I have enough cloud storage available with Apple, trickle it up to Apples servers when the bandwidth is available. This would/should provide much faster backup/restore times and for many people allow them to keep an updated backup without having to purchase additional cloud storage space. The Apple TV seems like an ideal device to perform this function. Oh - and add Time Machine backups to it also...
Mark Gurman just posted on 9to5Mac: A8 chip, 8/16GB storage and no 4K support. Sigh.
[quote]The current Apple TV design, first released in late 2010, has 8GB of internal storage for caching media, and the fourth-generation boxes in testing surprisingly range from 8GB to 16GB of storage. We are told that Apple has considered two pricing strategies: the simultaneous release of a $149 base model with 8GB of storage alongside a $199 16GB model, or the release of the 16GB Apple TV alone at $149. In either case, Apple will offer a $149 Apple TV. [/quote]
Comments
The return of 16GBgate!
Its all about $$$.
If the game makers can make $$$ on the AppleTV platform they will bring out their big guns.
Look at CandyCrush. That game makes more profit than 99% of console games and was super cheap to make.
The world is changing. Many people though streaming video would never take off because physical media would always have superior video/audio quality. Same with MP3 vs CD. Its all about convience. And if people find it convient to buy and play games on an AppleTV then the game makers will follow.
Remember we are talking about casual gamers which vastly out number hardcore games.
Again, agreed. I am one of those people. I've not played a computer game for more than a few minutes in many, many years.
https://github.com/iBaa/PlexConnect ;
I have been running this for a couple years works great. Would be nice to have a native app though. Honestly I will probably use the mac mini till it dies because I like how Plex home theater looks.
Apple has no incentive to run Plex.
They already are on iOS.
The price is right for what Apple is likely to be offering in return. And $149 new probably means that in a few months refurbs will be selling for $99. That should set Amazon to worrying.
My chief objection here is my ongoing objection to what Silicon Valley in general and Apple in particular are doing. Snobbish, elitist and cut off from most of the country, they are devoting their efforts to turning us into a nation of couch potatoes who are work-shy and addicted to entertainment. Short term, that makes the Valley's billionaires still richer. Long term, it means that our economy will slide downward. We won't be able to afford their expensive gadgets any more.
Apple, which targets its products to the middle and upper-middle class, is particularly vulnerable to the woes the middle class in this country are facing. Its policy of creating a relatively few domestic jobs in but a few locations will backfire.
A better business model is GE in the 1950s when it manufactured, warehoused and serviced appliances in hundreds of locations scattered across the U.S. GE created domestic jobs for people who could then afford its products. In contrast, Apple hordes money and creates very few domestic jobs. Overseas it and the rest of Silicon Valley are responsible a steadily moving wasteland. They create factories where labor is the cheapest and then abandon them when labor costs are cheaper elsewhere.
There are few things more foolish that a narrow policy of rational efficiency that neglects human values and broader responsibilities to society in the pursuit of immediate profit. That's Apple. That's the Silicon Valley.
--Michael W. Perry, author and editor at Inkling Books
And when they do this you'll complain how much more expensive it is.
Roku has universal search so they're not really breaking new ground here.
No one has suggested that universal search is "treading new ground", but thanks for the enlightenment. It wasn't a new concept in those boxes either.
If the rumors are true, Apple has been encoding movies in 4k for some time...perhaps they will announce a 4k option for ITunes Store rentals or purchases....
4k is slow coming, but will get a boost with 4kUHD disc players being launched and years end, and even $400 receivers now have HDMI 2.0 inputs and outputs, and more and more flat panels are 4k
Still hoping that my very long-shot guess that Apple will also launch a smart TV comes to pass. That would clear the table of competing smart features in all other TVs that an external Apple box would otherwise have to connect to and compete with...
Buzzfeed is a joke, but this reporter has a good track record.
Yeah, I just saw Buzzfeed, and all kinds of credibility warnings started going off.
Have you ever seen the credits for a top notch games? It's similar to the end credits of a movie. Hundreds of people work on creating those games.
Many of us paid single user $250 for 4GB ipod mini and paid for several people in home and lasted for bit over year. This long lasting multiple people usage set-top HUB is worth at least $299 and I will pay without hesitation. Not that I want or need but see good value in it..
Destiny was north of 300 million, GTA V was north of 200 million. Madden isn't an AAA game by any standard. Even smaller titles typically fit in the 40-70 million dollar range.
WifI storage for idevices might work with an App on the AppleTV; that would be the standalone external storage solution that I would like.
Have you ever seen it, or you're just assuming it's crappy because Apple didn't make it? I use it quite often and IMO it's pretty darn good. It's actually saved me money by showing me which service had the movie/TV show I searched for at no additional cost.
This long lasting multiple people usage set-top HUB...
That will be interesting as HomeKit is said to require the same Apple ID on both the ?TV and the iPhone in order to remotely access your appliances, etc. Will it have multiple simultaneous log ins? I guess we will have to wait to find out.
First, for those who want to DVR content on the device without an HDD but using Flash is asking for problems. Flash will wear out since more content is stored for short periods of time and erase and this is bad for flash, this is why all DVR today still mainly use an HDD. It does not make sense to have Flash storage for DVR, the flash would need to be removable or your will be replacing your unit ever couple of years
Yes universal search is good and nice way to find content on any channel, I do use this on my Directv, however, just plan old channel surfing is not easily done on streaming content. Honestly this is how I find interesting things to watch. Things I would never have searched for or known to search for. I guess if all you watch is a few different things then search is probably fine, but I suspect more people are like me and watch a bunch of different types of content and they find it buy just switching channels and seeing what is on. Or I have broader interest than most people.
They will make a TON on the services side:
1. Sell a ton of Apps
2. Sell a ton of Games
3. Sell a ton of Cloud storage - for DVR TV shows
4. Sell a ton of Movies, TV shows, and 'cable subscriptions'
Yes, plus:
5. Jumpstart the HomeKit Hub, enabling the sales of a whole new category of IoT apps
If they're making money how has it gone too far?
I'd really like to see them add the capabilities to plug in a USB hard drive to the Apple TV and amongst other uses, be able to back up all of my iDevices to it instead of having to send my backups out over the Internet to an Apple Server - and without having to store them on a PC via iTunes.
The free cloud storage Apple provides actually penalizes people that own more than one device. They give 5GB free per iTunes account. I think a better model would be to give users 5GB free per iDevice - or even better, give 1/4 of each owned devices built-in memory... So if you only own 1 16GB phone, you'd get 4GB free cloud space. But, if you also pick up a 32GB IPad mini, you'd get an additional 8GB of free cloud storage. Add a full-sized iPad with 64GB and get 16GB more. But even if they do this, I'd like to be able to back up all of my devices every night while I sleep to local storage within my home at high speed - and then *IF* I have enough cloud storage available with Apple, trickle it up to Apples servers when the bandwidth is available. This would/should provide much faster backup/restore times and for many people allow them to keep an updated backup without having to purchase additional cloud storage space. The Apple TV seems like an ideal device to perform this function. Oh - and add Time Machine backups to it also...
[quote]The current Apple TV design, first released in late 2010, has 8GB of internal storage for caching media, and the fourth-generation boxes in testing surprisingly range from 8GB to 16GB of storage. We are told that Apple has considered two pricing strategies: the simultaneous release of a $149 base model with 8GB of storage alongside a $199 16GB model, or the release of the 16GB Apple TV alone at $149. In either case, Apple will offer a $149 Apple TV.
[/quote]