Apple TV now shipping; new orders in 3-5 days
After a series of hiccups, Apple Inc. on Tuesday finally got around to shipping its much talked about Apple TV wireless streaming media hub.
The move comes just one week after the Cupertino, Calif.-based firm first ramped production over at Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn (Hon Hai).
Customers who had placed pre-orders for the $299 device began receiving their Apple Store online shipment confirmations overnight, which promise delivery by Friday, March 23.
A good portion, if not all, of Apple's backorders appear to have shipped in the United States and other regions such as Canada.
According to the company's online store, fresh orders for Apple TV will ship within 3 to 5 business days.
Apple TV shipment confirmations began arriving in the early a.m. hours..
The move comes just one week after the Cupertino, Calif.-based firm first ramped production over at Taiwanese manufacturing partner Foxconn (Hon Hai).
Customers who had placed pre-orders for the $299 device began receiving their Apple Store online shipment confirmations overnight, which promise delivery by Friday, March 23.
A good portion, if not all, of Apple's backorders appear to have shipped in the United States and other regions such as Canada.
According to the company's online store, fresh orders for Apple TV will ship within 3 to 5 business days.
Apple TV shipment confirmations began arriving in the early a.m. hours..
Comments
If not now, I hope it comes soon. (Macworld in January?)
I will sit out on getting an Apple TV until Apple has HD content available for download -- and, ideally, HD PPV movies for $4 or $5 for a 24-hour view.
What's the conventional wisdom on whether we may get an HD surprise -- iTunes HD content?
If not now, I hope it comes soon. (Macworld in January?)
I will sit out on getting an Apple TV until Apple has HD content available for download -- and, ideally, HD PPV movies for $4 or $5 for a 24-hour view.
my guess is you will sitting this on out for quite some time. at least a yearor so.....
I'm guessing 720p HD content on iTunes sooner rather than later, and I'm hoping that the rest of the world gets TV and movie downloads too.
Apple, I love ya! But I refuse to buy an Apple TV until you begin to sell HDTV content on iTunes. Also, rental movies please!!!
Apple, I love ya! But I refuse to buy an Apple TV until you begin to sell HDTV content on iTunes. Also, rental movies please!!!
I'm holding out for a rental service as well, I rarely ever watch a movie more than once.
I'm hoping we will have an announcement at NAB.
The TV compatibility says: "Enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TVs capable of 1080i 60/50Hz, 720p 60/50Hz, 576p 50Hz (PAL format), or 480p 60Hz."
The movie trailers section in iTunes has a grouping called "Featured HD," which features numerous trailers in "HD 720" and "HD 1080" formats. (BTW, one 2-minute, 16-minute trailer in 1080 weighed a whopping 152 MB. That's a little more than 1 MB per second, or about 8 GB for a 2-hour movie.)
Put all that together, and I'm thinkin' we'll probably get some higher-profile HD content soon. Given the huge file size of a 2-hour movie, I would expect maybe to see shorter content in HD first -- like maybe a handful of TV shows. Then again, maybe Apple TV can handle much more densely compressed video than the movie trailers that are on iTunes now.
As much of a fan as i am of everything apple, well - almost everything - i'm not sure i get this product. yes, i understand that our 'dear leader' has a plan, but why can't we have everything we want, just once? I'd be much more excited about this product, as would so many others, if it had DVR capabilities, would come with a TV tuner built in, etc. and i understand that Apple wants us to buy TV programs from iTunes.
Sometimes however it seems to me that the Canadian market is being deliberately ignored. We had to wait forever for the Canadian iTunes store, we DON'T have downloadable content for the Apple TV, so what does this device offer us? What am i missing?
I can see that some will buy it to watch ripped movies, but i think that iTunes doesn't make a great movie viewer. I've tried it with content from eyeTV (another device that only somewhat makes sense for Canadians, as it does'nt offer scheduling without a hack that runs as a proxy server) and i'd much rather use Quicktime player to do the job. I live at the very end of the highway, cable is slow and downloading movies just makes no sense...
Please give me a reason to spend some money! I'm due for a new toy...
some miss information been thrown around?
Is there any reason for the average person to buy this now? I can rent DVD's and return them in a fraction of the time and cost it takes to download and pay with iTunes (and send them from my computer to the TV box)...
Maybe in a year when iTunes offers movies in Europe, internet speeds are somewhat faster, etc. etc., but why buy a product that's sure to have faults in it's first release, when the rest of the picture isn't even filled out yet, and all that it provides seems more inconvenient and expensive than going to the video store/using an iPod, etc. etc...
Also - i don't think I need another white plastic box in my Apartment.....
s there any reason for the average person to buy this now? I can rent DVD's and return them in a fraction of the time and cost it takes to download and pay with iTunes (and send them from my computer to the TV box)...
Really... you can drive to a Blockbuster, rent a DVD, and return it, faster than 30 seconds?
I'm impressed, really. You, sir, are a hero, and an inspiration.
Really... you can drive to a Blockbuster, rent a DVD, and return it, faster than 30 seconds?
I'm impressed, really. You, sir, are a hero, and an inspiration.
You must have a pretty fast internet connection to be able to download an entire movie in 30 seconds... Movies from the apple store are generally at least 1 GB, no? I can't dL them because I live in Europe, but I heard they're pretty low resolution, so I assumed around 1 GB. Pretty amazing if you can dL 1 GB in 30 seconds AND transfer it from your computer to your iTV (the apple website says you can make some popcorn while it's transferring, but their time and space estimates are generally based on low quality, short content)...
For me, it takes about 5 or 6 hours to download a 1 GB film, so yes, I can walk to Blockbuster (it's about a 5 minute walk from my apartment) in that time. I can also watch the movie and return it. If it's old enough, I could also use Mac the Ripper to stick it on my hard drive....
If iTunes starts offering DVD-quality content, that will be closer to 2 or 3 GB, or more, and then you're talking about needing to start the download the day before watching the movie and leaving your computer running all night...
But, I guess your "heroic" internet connection lets you download a movie in 30 seconds, so you don't face the same problems we mere mortals do...