So when are we going to hear the news about Apple TV
In the Q&A at the end of the New Imac Launch, a question was asked about the future of the Apple TV. The response was this was not the time, but there is exiciting news to come later.
So many expected including myself, to hear an announcement during the IPod launches. After all, it falls in the same catagory of product. But nothing.
The only "new" news that has come out is the UK can now buy TV programs from the Itunes Store.
Forgive me, but I'm not excited by that. It kind of just made sense. I think many of us thought, it might grow a Blu Ray drive or at least a DVD drive. Be able to surf the web with a wireless keyboard.
Maybe even just be a Mac Mini, with a 256Mb graphics card and an HDMI output (FTW)
There is nothing decent out there that fills this market. I know phillips do something, but have you seen it??? Astheticly pleasing - no. Gona give you as much satisfaction as a mac will -- no.. Gona crash and loose all your important files? ... probably!!
Come on Steve......
Excite me!!!
So many expected including myself, to hear an announcement during the IPod launches. After all, it falls in the same catagory of product. But nothing.
The only "new" news that has come out is the UK can now buy TV programs from the Itunes Store.
Forgive me, but I'm not excited by that. It kind of just made sense. I think many of us thought, it might grow a Blu Ray drive or at least a DVD drive. Be able to surf the web with a wireless keyboard.
Maybe even just be a Mac Mini, with a 256Mb graphics card and an HDMI output (FTW)
There is nothing decent out there that fills this market. I know phillips do something, but have you seen it??? Astheticly pleasing - no. Gona give you as much satisfaction as a mac will -- no.. Gona crash and loose all your important files? ... probably!!
Come on Steve......
Excite me!!!
Comments
I will doesn't have an Apple TV next year I want to see if they have new hardware coming. By next year I will be ripping my whole CD collection into Apple lossless format.
I am not sure what 2G Apple TV would bring, but I think 160 GB at $299 and 1080p output are very likely.
I don?t know if it?s just me, and the fact I read into what was said too much, but it doesn?t make me go ?OH WOW?!!
The Itunes store part, should have been on it from the start, and should have arrived way before any gimmicky ?YouTube? addition. I only really see the ?Youtube? thing as something one of Steve?s Kids wanted for a birthday gift. So he made the wish come true. It also meant that people outside the world of the US of A, had something to play on it.
In my view, the after thought came before the main product.
Rentals ? OK.. needed to be done, but why should anyone really get excited. Most people have cable. I can just rent a movie from there. The box is already connected to my TV.
Something that would make me go, right ok ? here we go ? that?s more like it. And once again they are very simple things.
Be able to play DVD on your PC or MAC, and stream that over to the apple TV. Rather than rip and stream. When I want to watch a DVD,(For instance, one I just bought, or a friends brought one over. Not one I?ve had for ages, cause I already would have ripped it and stuck it on the apple TV {before anyone pipes up}) I just wana simple sit down and watch it. Not plan ahead 7 hours, and make sure I have enough hard drive space!!
If that was the case, then I would be happy to buy one. It can go where the DVD player is. Apple are so interested in aesthetics of there products, so you?d think that they might also think that their customers are interested as well.
There?s already the TV, the cable box, the AV amp, possibly the PS3 or Xbox. Some may even have a VCR. Why have DVD player and an Apple TV.
Some may even have a recordable harddisk TV recorder, or DVD recorder. Make the apple TV take care of that. Record straight onto the harddisk of the Apple TV, which then syncs straight back to Itunes on the Mac, and sticks it in TV Shows.
I?d be interested in knowing how many people quickly thought at this point ? But Steve Job wants to sell us the TV shows to watch so why would he want that!!!! He still has a chance to kick start the apple name in a massive way..
I?ve been a Mac man for over a decade, and would love to see the brand take over. People are buying the PS3 because it is the cheapest Blu-Ray player on the scene.
Stick a Blu-Ray drive on the apple TV, make the cheaper versions Stream DVD?s from the Computer. Incorporate a Record TV function, and make sure they all support at least 5.1 audio and up to 1080P. Do this all for cheaper than a PS3, and the company goes sky high.
An IPOD goes in a pocket, and is mainly used, when out and about, on a train, plane, down the gym. The brand name isn?t in peoples faces. Stick it on there TV screens , and get the stir going, I?m sure people will buy more macs. More mac sales, better Software choice, accessory choice, better all round.
Personally, as I said at the top, just add the 256Mb graphics card from the macbook pro, to the mac mini, and the product is done. The blu-ray drive can be purchased separately, when they come down in price. But I can?t cause the 64Mb card the?ve left it with, can?t do the resolution. (anyone who wishes to step in and start a blu-ray vs HDdisk, can go read another thread and see that HDdisks? have walked around with the thumb and first finger stuck to its forehead promoting the L shape since conception. The HD disk is the betamax of the new age.)
Such a simple product when you think about it. But no-one makes it. And all this kind of electronic gizmoditry, has been around for years.
Something that would make me go, right ok ? here we go ? that?s more like it. And once again they are very simple things.
Be able to play DVD on your PC or MAC, and stream that over to the apple TV. Rather than rip and stream. When I want to watch a DVD,(For instance, one I just bought, or a friends brought one over. Not one I?ve had for ages, cause I already would have ripped it and stuck it on the apple TV {before anyone pipes up}) I just wana simple sit down and watch it. Not plan ahead 7 hours, and make sure I have enough hard drive space!!
Although I would probably never use it I think that is a good point, but there might be a problem with read time from the DVD, then bandwidth in sending the DVD signal over to the AppleTV. I would imagine that there would be a bit of a lag time on menue functions as well as skipping foreword as the system caches enough video to play smoothly.
I think some BIGGER add-ons for AppleTV would be plug-in support for more video formats and some way of "hooking" into web streams that are freely available (though possibly with commercials) on the internet. I think that it would be great to grab the news off of CNN.com, or catch up on Heroes at NBC.com, or ILBT.com whatever without Apple telling me what I can and can't watch on it. As those streams get more viewers the sites revenues will go up and they will have more incentive to put more programing up, and at a higher quality, and then a real competator to the Cable Monoploly will materialize.
I like the idea of the ATV, but haven't bought one because it won't rplace any of the crap already attached to the TV... just adds to it. (back to that aesthetics thing!)
I'm considering spending twice the $$ and using a MacMini/FrontRow instead of the ATV. slightly more complex, but WAY more functional. If the Mini had 802.11n (intead of "g") I'd have probably already gone that route. (plus, it'll work with non-HD TV's).
I'm considering spending twice the $$ and using a MacMini/FrontRow instead of the ATV. slightly more complex, but WAY more functional. If the Mini had 802.11n (intead of "g") I'd have probably already gone that route. (plus, it'll work with non-HD TV's).
Yeah, my thoughts, too. If they do upgrade the Mini to Santa Rosa, then I'll get two: one for the TV, one to replace an extra PC desktop.
Why not just put the DVD drive in the ATV??
This was my thoughts as I read earlier posts about streaming DVD from a computer to the ATV. Why would you want all the extra power draw of a computer + network when Apple could toss a DVD-ROM into the ATV for what, $20 on their end?
This was my thoughts as I read earlier posts about streaming DVD from a computer to the ATV. Why would you want all the extra power draw of a computer + network when Apple could toss a DVD-ROM into the ATV for what, $20 on their end?
The Apple TV is not a DVD player! Apple and Jobs thinks DVDs are dead. To a large extent, I agree with them. On-demand programming (from your cable company), web programming (like YouTube), and up and coming legitimate internet download services will kill the DVD format. Its no wonder that week in and week out Best Buy and Circuit City has many good DVD movies listed for anywhere from $3 to $5. Studios know DVD is dying. To include a DVD player in the Apple is not the direction Apple should take with that product...
Stream a DVD sitting inside your Mac to the Apple would be the better way to go. The Apple TV has a hard drive so the stream would be buffered. One won't be able to fast forward throughout the entire movie at once, but really how often does one do that?
Dave
http://www.vudu.com
Dave
I want the Apple TV to evolve into a Vudu killer:
http://www.vudu.com
Dave
One problem, it's not out yet so ATV does beat it currently. When it does ship in October Apple might be up to HD resolution (720p) with 5.1 surround support, 5000+ Moives for sale or rent, the largest online collection of TV shows for sale (or rent?) and an agreement to link to Hulu.com and Joos tfor ad based streaming network content directly to AppleTV. I'm not suggesting they will. I would predict that no later than Thanksgiving there will be an update to AppleTV/iTMS that will hopefully answer some of the defeciencies that the product now has in keeping it from gaining main stream appeal. I don't think that we will see anything till Leopard is released but it could happen at the same time or at a special event about a month later which would still put it out before the heavy duty shopping season of Thanksgiving through the After New Years sales.
One problem, it's not out yet so ATV does beat it currently. When it does ship in October Apple might be up to HD resolution (720p) with 5.1 surround support, 5000+ Moives for sale or rent, the largest online collection of TV shows for sale (or rent?) and an agreement to link to Hulu.com and Joos tfor ad based streaming network content directly to AppleTV. I'm not suggesting they will. I would predict that no later than Thanksgiving there will be an update to AppleTV/iTMS that will hopefully answer some of the defeciencies that the product now has in keeping it from gaining main stream appeal. I don't think that we will see anything till Leopard is released but it could happen at the same time or at a special event about a month later which would still put it out before the heavy duty shopping season of Thanksgiving through the After New Years sales.
Let's hope you are right...
As for the number of titles available, I would imagine that it will increase between now and December, but how much I don't know. Again a good guess is that they will have made deals for a lot more movies and the release of them is dependant on some change to QuickTime (and Fairplay) which is yet to come. Streams from other sources than youTube makes sense as well, Joost and Hulu are where I would look to add this "Free" source of content, but also directly from CNN, ESPN, weather.com, and other sources that might not be available on the early "iptv" type sites.
Putting a Drive into the AppleTV is the soloution. Yes the case work would have to be modified, but they could just use the same body as the mini, just put the gubbins of the appletv and a drive in.
They could even supply the better model using the mini as it is. People above mention they would wait for the chip to change. I personaly don't think the chip is the problem. It is the graphics card power. Once again as I said before. Take the 256Mb graphics card from the macbook pro, and stick it in the mini, and solution solved.
So it isn't just me.. Those that have mentioned about the DVD being dead. I'd say yes it will be, but not for a good few years. Blu rays will come in and take over. Streaming services will work well in the States very soon as bandwidth connections increase. But the rest of the world is lagging way behind. Companys would have to remember that a very large percentage of their customers won't have these hi bandwidth connections, so will need to supply them the hard copy. The DVD or Blu Ray.
Putting a Drive into the AppleTV is the soloution. Yes the case work would have to be modified, but they could just use the same body as the mini, just put the gubbins of the appletv and a drive in.
They could even supply the better model using the mini as it is. People above mention they would wait for the chip to change. I personaly don't think the chip is the problem. It is the graphics card power. Once again as I said before. Take the 256Mb graphics card from the macbook pro, and stick it in the mini, and solution solved.
A drive isn't going to happen and DVD isn't going to be replaced by Blu-ray or any HD format where the movies are $25. Consumers are used to buying movies at half that price. Apple may be able to compete with $9.99 720p downloads. We'll see. Jobs is wrong...DVD isn't going anywhere but digital downloads will merely be an adjunct format for those with fast downloads.
Apple may be able to compete with $9.99 720p downloads. We'll see.
$10 or $15 720p downloads would be a nice sweet spot inbetween DVD and HD-DVD/BR.
Those guys keep fooling around and Apple and everyone else will have the ability to do this without horrendous download times.
Apple may be able to compete with $9.99 720p downloads. We'll see. Jobs is wrong...DVD isn't going anywhere but digital downloads will merely be an adjunct format for those with fast downloads.
I think they would sell exceptionally well at that price. Like Vinea said, I think they'd do well even up to $15.