I thought it would use a 1.8" hard drive. A 40GB 2.5GB hard drive is a bit of a let down, albeit cheap. Why not offer a $349 option with an 80GB hard drive, or $399 with 120GB?
I don't have a clue, but I'd expect one of the first things someone would try is to replace the stock HD with a higher capacity HD. I'll bet one of the techy websites tries this after a teardown. Yes, you would void the warranty, but if it is known that this will work, some people will risk it.
I'm assuming that the stock drive doesn't have any "special sauce" and that it's a standard stock mac partition.
If you hook the drive up to a computer along with another larger drive and clone it, why wouldn't it work? Unless they only allow the thing to address 40 GB of space...
I don't see why people keep bringing up non-widescreen TV's with component that are 480p. I have FOUR TV's in my house all of which are 4:3, have component inputs, but are only 480i. I KNOW that these types of TV's are out there (mainly because I own several). What about these TV's? Will they not be supported either?
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
I can't get over how much people are complaining about the AppleTV and the iPhone!
The AppleTV does exactly what it set out to do- provide an easy way for people to get their media from their macs to their TV's. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's a simple device that let's people do this and it does it well. Apple still wants people to use their computers as digital hubs, but this allows you to step away from your mac and view all of your iTunes media on a larger screen in your home theater.
They're aiming to provide an end to end solution for movies, photos, and music. You use your mac to purchase and organize your media and you have other devices (AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone) that can easily share and playback this media.
Simple- no complicated configuration, special codec support, etc. Simple Simple Simple.
A remote via WiFi? You have got to be kidding me. The battery life would be disastrous.
I'm not kidding. 802.11b is older tech uses very little power. Especially when you reduce the signal strength to only function within the size of a large room as there is no need for the signal to travel through several walls. It's quite feasible.
I can't get over how much people are complaining about the AppleTV and the iPhone!
They're aiming to provide an end to end solution for movies, photos, and music. You use your mac to purchase and organize your media and you have other devices (AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone) that can easily share and playback this media.
Simple- no complicated configuration, special codec support, etc. Simple Simple Simple.
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
I thought it did do that, hence the pairing to only one machine (i.e.: one iTunes account). Maybe that was for only viewing movie trailers.
I thought it did do that, hence the pairing to only one machine (i.e.: one iTunes account). Maybe that was for only viewing movie trailers.
Nope, there is currently no direct access to the iTunes store from Apple TV.. All iTunes content must be purchased from the host computer. A glaring oversight on Apples part in my opinion. I mean the device has an internet connection, a hard drive and it can stream, why on earth would they not allow you to purchase content directly from your couch?
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
But you still have to get up, go to the Mac Mini and buy the content if you want to watch it. You haven't saved any time, plus, I don't want my HDTV being my computer monitor.
I think there's a lot of confusion as to the identity of this device. I think the 40GB drive was only intended as buffer space. If you're streaming the content over WiFi, why do want it on the device itself? I think Steve confused a lot of people in the Keynote by saying that you can sync ?tv and put iTS content on it. That made a lot of people think this thing was intended to be an alternative storage area. In that case a larger HDD would be warranted, but right now, if you're gonna watch 40GB of TV Shows or Movies before you sit down at your computer again, there may be a few issues for you to work out.
Where Apple will sell this to people is in their retail stores. Let the geeks fight about the specs on it, but if all the customer knows is that you have access to all of your digital media from your TV and sees one in action, they'll be sold I'm willing to bet Aunt Betty doesn't rip DVDs to DivX either, so the H.264 and MPEG-4 codecs (the iPod codecs) would be all it really has to support ... for right now...
But you still have to get up, go to the Mac Mini and buy the content if you want to watch it. You haven't saved any time, plus, I don't want my HDTV being my computer monitor.
No you don't still have to get up. The Mac mini has bluetooth and Wifi.. If you put a wireless keyboard on your coffee table, you can purchase directly from iTunes, and then immediately access it via front row all from your couch.
No you don't still have to get up. The Mac mini has bluetooth and Wifi.. If you put a wireless keyboard on your coffee table, you can purchase directly from iTunes, and then immediately access it via front row all from your couch.
IF you have a wireless keyboard. Not everyone DOES. And, if you can see the small type all the way from your couch, more power too you. I also don't want my keyboard hanging out at my coch where I can spill beer all over it
IF you have a wireless keyboard. Not everyone DOES. And, if you can see the small type all the way from your couch, more power too you. I also don't want my keyboard hanging out at my coch where I can spill beer all over it
Well yes, you would have to BUY a wireless keyboard... And reading text on a 40" widescreen tv is not a problem at all... As far as spilling beer is concerned, well, that's a problem you'll have to solve on your own..
For me, the Mac mini makes much more sense as living room solution than Apple tv, at least with a mini, I can access, purchase and watch content without leaving the couch. I also get a bigger hard drive, a better processor, a dvd drive and iTunes/web access..
Nope, there is currently no direct access to the iTunes store from Apple TV.. All iTunes content must be purchased from the host computer. A glaring oversight on Apples part in my opinion. I mean the device has an internet connection, a hard drive and it can stream, why on earth would they not allow you to purchase content directly from your couch?
That does bite. I figured that was the reason it paired with one--and only one-- iTunes account. I'm being optimistic and saying this feature will be available in the future as an iTunes on Demand feature.
It's not a computer people. Not in the sense that it will need to provide you a word processor, complete MacOSX desktop, etc. It's just there for one job: providing a Front Row variant that streams and caches content. It should do that one job very good, nothing more.
Only, yes, I am a bit worried about the 40gb harddrive, but my guess is that it's mainly for caching stuff only.
Is it possible to record TV to the harddrive and burn it with a computer?
Someone said that within one year most Monitor will be 1080P or FullHD.....
Well it is already the case today. All new TV are either "FullHD" or "1080P" "capable" already. Or so the say.
But how many of them actually have the resolution of 1920x1080? i.e the 1080P / FullHD resolution? Very very little.
So instead of pointing the finger to apple / jobs. i think those TV manufacture should be the one to blame for fooling the market.
On a side-note 720P and 1080P aren't so much different on screen smaller then 42".
So i suppose itunes will soon sell 720P video then?
And the possibility of 1080P support? May be they will have to work with Nvida on hardware video acceleration. Since i dont think this spec is not capable of decoding 1080P.
wouldn't they want to use something from the ViiV platform?
I really thought the final product would have been some sort of Mac mini boosted with ViiV capabilities (remember the so-clalled Kaleidoscope project more than a year ago?).
Intel ViiV seems a very good solution. It is codec-independant. Moreover the software which does the trick is pretty OS-independant: it is a bit like a firmware on a chip (Intel calls it the Integrated Media Server software).
It takes any movie, and transcode it to a native DLNA-compliant codec (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 H.264 for video; and LPCM, MP3 or AAC for audio) then sends it to the TV, so the user doesn't have to mess with codec installation.
Microsoft uses it in Windows MCE. Why didn't Apple use it too, with a sexier Front Row interface? It would have be so cool.
So what can Apple TV do compared to ViiV? Stream iTunes content only. Video files supported: .mov/.mp4/.m4v (MPEG-4 and H.264)
iTunes is based upon QuickTime. QuickTime can play .avi files with DivX/XVID codec -if the codecs are installed- but iTunes cannot! (try it)
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
I think any 4:3 TV will work on the following conditions:
1. (There is a component input OR you have a component-to-composite adapter) AND
2. Your TV is able to "detect" OR you can set your TV to "know" that it is a 16:9 signal,
.....ie. Your TV will letterbox 16:9 signals if it autodetects or you force it to letterbox.
That's my take on things. ...What's with the AppleTV bashing on this thread? 50 HOURS peoples... That's enough for mainstream use. Talking about a MEGA-NetworkAreaStorage is a bit tangential. Not what the AppleTV is designed for.
Yes, Apple is a profit whore, I agree. Their profit margins on this are sweet. Most importantly though, it is needed to drive growth of TV shows and movies and Macs and iPods.
Comments
I thought it would use a 1.8" hard drive. A 40GB 2.5GB hard drive is a bit of a let down, albeit cheap. Why not offer a $349 option with an 80GB hard drive, or $399 with 120GB?
I don't have a clue, but I'd expect one of the first things someone would try is to replace the stock HD with a higher capacity HD. I'll bet one of the techy websites tries this after a teardown. Yes, you would void the warranty, but if it is known that this will work, some people will risk it.
I'm assuming that the stock drive doesn't have any "special sauce" and that it's a standard stock mac partition.
I don't see why people keep bringing up non-widescreen TV's with component that are 480p. I have FOUR TV's in my house all of which are 4:3, have component inputs, but are only 480i. I KNOW that these types of TV's are out there (mainly because I own several). What about these TV's? Will they not be supported either?
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
Mac mini and Front Row will do it.
The AppleTV does exactly what it set out to do- provide an easy way for people to get their media from their macs to their TV's. Nothing more, nothing less.
It's a simple device that let's people do this and it does it well. Apple still wants people to use their computers as digital hubs, but this allows you to step away from your mac and view all of your iTunes media on a larger screen in your home theater.
They're aiming to provide an end to end solution for movies, photos, and music. You use your mac to purchase and organize your media and you have other devices (AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone) that can easily share and playback this media.
Simple- no complicated configuration, special codec support, etc. Simple Simple Simple.
A remote via WiFi? You have got to be kidding me. The battery life would be disastrous.
I'm not kidding. 802.11b is older tech uses very little power. Especially when you reduce the signal strength to only function within the size of a large room as there is no need for the signal to travel through several walls. It's quite feasible.
I can't get over how much people are complaining about the AppleTV and the iPhone!
They're aiming to provide an end to end solution for movies, photos, and music. You use your mac to purchase and organize your media and you have other devices (AppleTV, iPod, and iPhone) that can easily share and playback this media.
Simple- no complicated configuration, special codec support, etc. Simple Simple Simple.
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
I thought it did do that, hence the pairing to only one machine (i.e.: one iTunes account). Maybe that was for only viewing movie trailers.
I thought it did do that, hence the pairing to only one machine (i.e.: one iTunes account). Maybe that was for only viewing movie trailers.
Nope, there is currently no direct access to the iTunes store from Apple TV.. All iTunes content must be purchased from the host computer. A glaring oversight on Apples part in my opinion. I mean the device has an internet connection, a hard drive and it can stream, why on earth would they not allow you to purchase content directly from your couch?
But currently, ?tv is not really an end to end solution for media in the living room if you have to get up and go to your den to purchase a tv show, then go back in the living room to watch it.. ?tv needs to allow direct access to the iTunes store from your living room so you can sit on your couch, purchase a movie or tv show and begin watching immediately.. Until it does this, I think the Mac mini is a much better end to end media device.
But you still have to get up, go to the Mac Mini and buy the content if you want to watch it. You haven't saved any time, plus, I don't want my HDTV being my computer monitor.
I think there's a lot of confusion as to the identity of this device. I think the 40GB drive was only intended as buffer space. If you're streaming the content over WiFi, why do want it on the device itself? I think Steve confused a lot of people in the Keynote by saying that you can sync ?tv and put iTS content on it. That made a lot of people think this thing was intended to be an alternative storage area. In that case a larger HDD would be warranted, but right now, if you're gonna watch 40GB of TV Shows or Movies before you sit down at your computer again, there may be a few issues for you to work out.
Where Apple will sell this to people is in their retail stores. Let the geeks fight about the specs on it, but if all the customer knows is that you have access to all of your digital media from your TV and sees one in action, they'll be sold I'm willing to bet Aunt Betty doesn't rip DVDs to DivX either, so the H.264 and MPEG-4 codecs (the iPod codecs) would be all it really has to support ... for right now...
But you still have to get up, go to the Mac Mini and buy the content if you want to watch it. You haven't saved any time, plus, I don't want my HDTV being my computer monitor.
No you don't still have to get up. The Mac mini has bluetooth and Wifi.. If you put a wireless keyboard on your coffee table, you can purchase directly from iTunes, and then immediately access it via front row all from your couch.
No you don't still have to get up. The Mac mini has bluetooth and Wifi.. If you put a wireless keyboard on your coffee table, you can purchase directly from iTunes, and then immediately access it via front row all from your couch.
IF you have a wireless keyboard. Not everyone DOES. And, if you can see the small type all the way from your couch, more power too you. I also don't want my keyboard hanging out at my coch where I can spill beer all over it
IF you have a wireless keyboard. Not everyone DOES. And, if you can see the small type all the way from your couch, more power too you. I also don't want my keyboard hanging out at my coch where I can spill beer all over it
Well yes, you would have to BUY a wireless keyboard... And reading text on a 40" widescreen tv is not a problem at all... As far as spilling beer is concerned, well, that's a problem you'll have to solve on your own..
For me, the Mac mini makes much more sense as living room solution than Apple tv, at least with a mini, I can access, purchase and watch content without leaving the couch. I also get a bigger hard drive, a better processor, a dvd drive and iTunes/web access..
Nope, there is currently no direct access to the iTunes store from Apple TV.. All iTunes content must be purchased from the host computer. A glaring oversight on Apples part in my opinion. I mean the device has an internet connection, a hard drive and it can stream, why on earth would they not allow you to purchase content directly from your couch?
That does bite. I figured that was the reason it paired with one--and only one-- iTunes account. I'm being optimistic and saying this feature will be available in the future as an iTunes on Demand feature.
Only, yes, I am a bit worried about the 40gb harddrive, but my guess is that it's mainly for caching stuff only.
Is it possible to record TV to the harddrive and burn it with a computer?
Well it is already the case today. All new TV are either "FullHD" or "1080P" "capable" already. Or so the say.
But how many of them actually have the resolution of 1920x1080? i.e the 1080P / FullHD resolution? Very very little.
So instead of pointing the finger to apple / jobs. i think those TV manufacture should be the one to blame for fooling the market.
On a side-note 720P and 1080P aren't so much different on screen smaller then 42".
So i suppose itunes will soon sell 720P video then?
And the possibility of 1080P support? May be they will have to work with Nvida on hardware video acceleration. Since i dont think this spec is not capable of decoding 1080P.
I have a feeling this thing will go the same way as the iPod HiFi, destined to languish on the shelf.
wouldn't they want to use something from the ViiV platform?
I really thought the final product would have been some sort of Mac mini boosted with ViiV capabilities (remember the so-clalled Kaleidoscope project more than a year ago?).
Intel ViiV seems a very good solution. It is codec-independant. Moreover the software which does the trick is pretty OS-independant: it is a bit like a firmware on a chip (Intel calls it the Integrated Media Server software).
It takes any movie, and transcode it to a native DLNA-compliant codec (MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 H.264 for video; and LPCM, MP3 or AAC for audio) then sends it to the TV, so the user doesn't have to mess with codec installation.
Microsoft uses it in Windows MCE. Why didn't Apple use it too, with a sexier Front Row interface? It would have be so cool.
So what can Apple TV do compared to ViiV? Stream iTunes content only. Video files supported: .mov/.mp4/.m4v (MPEG-4 and H.264)
iTunes is based upon QuickTime. QuickTime can play .avi files with DivX/XVID codec -if the codecs are installed- but iTunes cannot! (try it)
To me, Apple TV seems castrated from start.
Microsoft uses it in Windows MCE.
Microsoft uses what in MCE? Viiv? Viiv didn't even exist when the latest MCE was released.
According to the Apple posted specs, no, your 480i capable sets are not compatible with the AppleTV. Maybe it's an oversight on the spec sheet and the AppleTV will output 480i, but that's not what it currently says/does.
Since I'm using old 480i technology at home, the AppleTV is no good for me either
I think any 4:3 TV will work on the following conditions:
1. (There is a component input OR you have a component-to-composite adapter) AND
2. Your TV is able to "detect" OR you can set your TV to "know" that it is a 16:9 signal,
.....ie. Your TV will letterbox 16:9 signals if it autodetects or you force it to letterbox.
That's my take on things.
Yes, Apple is a profit whore, I agree. Their profit margins on this are sweet. Most importantly though, it is needed to drive growth of TV shows and movies and Macs and iPods.