UK user wanting Apple TV update

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
I'm a UK user. When Apple TV came out, in spite of being an Apple fan, I saw little to no incentive to my buying one. Since the last refresh and the movie store I can see more reason but still not enough. I don't have Sky and never will have. I don't want Sky Sports or Movies and I don't want to put any money into the Murdoch empire. Instead I have BT Vision, which means I get the ability to record and rewind TV for free (I don't have a TV package with it, so I got the box and there's no further cost). However, this does tie me into a broadband package with BT, which is expensive. I'm also a member of Lovefilm. iTunes already offers all the big name films, past and present, to download that BT Vision does. However, I like foreign films, art house films, indie cinema and therefore have to subscribe to Lovefilm to get these posted. If Apple TV provided a simple solution to record TV then I could dump BT Vision and BT altogether. If the iTunes movie store took up all the independent studios, as they have done with so many independent record labels, I could also drop Lovefilm. That would be a product I'd happily buy. Plus I could watch all these films on my iMac as well as my TV. I'd assume these would be fairly straightforward enhancements and wonder why they haven't happened yet? I also remember discussions alluding to an upcoming Apple TV refresh. What's the news on that and what are we expecting?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    They'd maybe have to put in a mechanism to stop you recording rentals but I agree that those changes would help make the Apple TV a worthwhile purchase.



    You'd still need a broadband contract and Apple's movie selection would have to get much better - you're talking 65,000 titles for Lovefilm vs 5,000 or so on itunes. Plus they still don't have subscriptions and you can't rent every film. Apple say it's just a hobby product but it'll stay that way until they step up and offer competitive features.



    I think they will do a hardware update to Ion, possibly with a custom ARM chip. This way they can offer games for it and it will be a more efficient product.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    They'd maybe have to put in a mechanism to stop you recording rentals but I agree that those changes would help make the Apple TV a worthwhile purchase.



    You'd still need a broadband contract and Apple's movie selection would have to get much better - you're talking 65,000 titles for Lovefilm vs 5,000 or so on itunes. Plus they still don't have subscriptions and you can't rent every film. Apple say it's just a hobby product but it'll stay that way until they step up and offer competitive features.



    I think they will do a hardware update to Ion, possibly with a custom ARM chip. This way they can offer games for it and it will be a more efficient product.



    I guess the problem is that this revised device should really include a TV tuner as well. I bought a Sony PVR which was really useless, very hard to use, very slow, not intuitive. The BT Vision box is a joy - because the TV tuner is part of the system. Would Apple be prepared to make something compatible for each territory? I guess not.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    I'm in the UK and have an Apple TV. It doesn't get used much. The problem is lack of content, - the UK iTunes store simply doesn't offer enough choice. Worse still, many films are to buy only (and in SD only too), newly released rentals become buy only after a short period. TV episodes are ridiculously over priced, and there's almost nothing to offer fans of non mainstream cinema.



    It's a better prospect in the US, as most things are in HD and new content actually appears when it's still new, not months (or even years) later.



    I also think it's inexcusable for Apple to make Apple TV such a closed platform. As they have zero interest in developing it, the least they could do is release an app or plug-in SDK. That way we could get support for iPlayer, 4OD, Last.FM, Spotify, and many other services.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kotatsu View Post


    I'm in the UK and have an Apple TV. It doesn't get used much. The problem is lack of content, - the UK iTunes store simply doesn't offer enough choice. Worse still, many films are to buy only (and in SD only too), newly released rentals become buy only after a short period. TV episodes are ridiculously over priced, and there's almost nothing to offer fans of non mainstream cinema.



    It's a better prospect in the US, as most things are in HD and new content actually appears when it's still new, not months (or even years) later.



    I also think it's inexcusable for Apple to make Apple TV such a closed platform. As they have zero interest in developing it, the least they could do is release an app or plug-in SDK. That way we could get support for iPlayer, 4OD, Last.FM, Spotify, and many other services.



    That's a very good point. They could get around lack of PVR by including the ability to connect to iPlayer or 4OD. That they don't is yet another reason for me not to buy. Am disappointed too that the further software update does not offer any of these features. I'd so like to buy one, but not until I can safely dispose of my BT Vision box.
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