Overhauled $149 Apple TV features App Store, Siri remote and cross-service content search

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  • Reply 121 of 330
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    Hogwash. The iPhone disrupted the cellphone space the moment is was introduced. The iPad likewise the notebook space (killed off netbooks). Apple TV has disrupted NOTHING.

    No, it was the second gen that took off
  • Reply 122 of 330
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hentaiboy View Post





    Hogwash. The iPhone disrupted the cellphone space the moment is was introduced. The iPad likewise the notebook space (killed off netbooks). Apple TV has disrupted NOTHING.



    Probably second or third iPhone...however, given your comparative criteria, the Apple Watch is certainly disruptive since Apple said it has sold better than the first iPhone or first iPad...

  • Reply 123 of 330
    thrang wrote: »

    Just watched that segment again - no 4k mention, she says shot in HD...

    OK. Thanks for that. I guess I was pre-programmed to hear it. Been hitting these threads too often of late...

    Thanks alot [@]sog35[/@]!

    ^^^BTW: I agree with just about everything you're going to battle here about... especially the importance of tvOS version one, and this AppleTV being v1 of a whole 'nother device and ballgame.

    Note: what's to stop tvOS apps from say Comcast that link to Apple TV and allow their boxes to be controlled by Siri/remote. Eddy stated it could control the TV to an extent, could their be other device makers like HDMI receivers that will develop apps rather than their own software and controllers? Changing "Made for Apple iPod" to "Made for AppleTV"?

    HDMI 2.0 supposedly allows 2-way communications and with AppleTV/tvOS I don't see why it couldn't be the hub that controls them all. That was my prediction a couple of years ago anyway.
  • Reply 124 of 330
    robbyx wrote: »
    I'm of two minds. On the one hand, I agree with you. There's nothing new. But as someone who has wanted an App Store on Apple TV for years, I'm glad they finally did it.

    This update will take Apple TV from "hobby" to serious product. I'm excited about it, even though it didn't deliver anything revolutionary. I think they wanted to keep it affordable, hence the aging tech. They aren't trying to compete with Xbox and PS either. They're capitalizing on the casual gaming market. For now.

    This is a major step forward for TV.

    Plus, I'm sure that all of the available A9x are going to the phones first. For $149 it's not bad. Game controllers will come, but probably through 3rd party manufacturers. They are smart for staying away from the consoles. The price of the consoles, controllers, games and accessories and the hard drive space necessary to hold them would put the ATV 4 in the $500-$600 territory where it would not have success. Once developers get a year or two in, there will be plenty of cool games and they won't cost $60. For what it is and what it costs it's not a bad deal. The potential is there though, especially if they can negotiate decent deals for live TV and channel packages.
  • Reply 125 of 330
    nkhmnkhm Posts: 928member
    hentaiboy wrote: »
    Hogwash. The iPhone disrupted the cellphone space the moment is was introduced. The iPad likewise the notebook space (killed off netbooks). Apple TV has disrupted NOTHING.

    Lol. Very selective memory you have there, the iPhone was introduced, sites such as these were full of people stating it was an overpriced failure, rival phone manufacturers laughed, the iPad was released - 'it's just a big ipod', 'sounds like a sanitary product', 'Apple is doomed!'.

    It's the same with every product launch, every revision and new model.

    The new Apple TV is going to be under a lot of Christmas trees, with the sport game available at launch it will destroy nintendo's market. Once developers are able take advantage of more processing power, traditional controls, the games which make their way to this device will be all that the 'casual' gamer needs. Add to this a BBC iPlayer app, 4OD (in the UK), this will own the living room in the UK.

    Just one question - why no web browser?! Safari on this, paired with a bluetooth keyboard and bang! - Game changer,
  • Reply 126 of 330

    So my expectations were:-

     

    4K Support

    7.1 Audio Support

    App Store

     

    In short I wanted my Apple TV to deliver the same level of picture quality as my TV's (which deliver 4K) and the same level of audio quality of blu-ray.

     

    4K in the UK is coming of age, many TV's now deliver it, BT TV delivers it, Sky is due to release it this year. And of course 4K blu-ray (or whatever it's going to be called) is due this year.

     

    The lack of inclusion of HDMI 2.0 or HDCP 2.2 is less of an issue if the hardware is going to be capped at 1080P

     

    The combination of 4K support and flicking the iTunes 4K switch would have been a game changer..

     

    The new remote is going to be a pain. Bluetooth will make it very hard to integrate in to existing higher end setups where the ATV may be remote from the TV...Not impossible, but painful.. I hope there is an option to control it over TCP/IP rather than bluetooth

     

    So while others may be happy that the ATV has an app store, for me that really was last on my list of wants..... I wanted them to get the basic hardware platform right first.

  • Reply 127 of 330

    Great comment! I was impressed by the new Apple TV but as someone living in a rural area with a bandwidth cap of 50GB, I wonder how useful it will be to me.

  • Reply 128 of 330

    Apple has said nothing whatsoever about continuing to stream to the Apple TV from a local library.

     

    Did they remove this feature? I found this icon at 84:19 in the keynote, and I think it might be the “Computers” feature on current Apple TVs.

     

     

    Any hands-on reviews yet that mention it?

  • Reply 129 of 330
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    No optical (Tosllink) audio port. Why? Lots of high-end AVRs out there without HDMI support. 

     

    $50 more for additional 32GB storage? I can buy a 32GB USB stick for $10 at MicroCenter. Roku 3 has microSD card slot for storage expansion. 

     

    I don’t get the alleged  innovativeness of the new ATV 4. 

  • Reply 130 of 330
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

     

    Apple has said nothing whatsoever about continuing to stream to the Apple TV from a local library.

     

    Did they remove this feature? I found this icon at 84:19 in the keynote, and I think it might be the “Computers” feature on current Apple TVs.

     

     

    Any hands-on reviews yet that mention it?




    Lots of people asking the same question.

  • Reply 131 of 330
    adybadyb Posts: 205member
    nkhm wrote: »

    Add to this a BBC iPlayer app, 4OD (in the UK), this will own the living room in the UK.

    I really hope so. If BBC iPlayer (& other UK equivalents) is available, I know I'll be getting one, sooner rather than later!
  • Reply 132 of 330
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markcu View Post

     

    So my expectations were:-

     

    4K Support

    7.1 Audio Support

    App Store

     

    In short I wanted my Apple TV to deliver the same level of picture quality as my TV's (which deliver 4K) and the same level of audio quality of blu-ray.

     

    4K in the UK is coming of age, many TV's now deliver it, BT TV delivers it, Sky is due to release it this year. And of course 4K blu-ray (or whatever it's going to be called) is due this year.

     

    The lack of inclusion of HDMI 2.0 or HDCP 2.2 is less of an issue if the hardware is going to be capped at 1080P

     

    The combination of 4K support and flicking the iTunes 4K switch would have been a game changer..

     

    The new remote is going to be a pain. Bluetooth will make it very hard to integrate in to existing higher end setups where the ATV may be remote from the TV...Not impossible, but painful.. I hope there is an option to control it over TCP/IP rather than bluetooth

     

    So while others may be happy that the ATV has an app store, for me that really was last on my list of wants..... I wanted them to get the basic hardware platform right first.




    And having finally checked the specs I see the new ATV will support 7.1 Audio....so thats a good thing at least.

  • Reply 133 of 330
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post

     

    No optical (Tosllink) audio port. Why? Lots of high-end AVRs out there without HDMI support. 

     

    $50 more for additional 32GB storage? I can buy a 32GB USB stick for $10 at MicroCenter. Roku 3 has microSD card slot for storage expansion. 

     

    I don’t get the alleged  innovativeness of the new ATV 4. 




    There may be lots of AVR's that at the time were high end and didn't have HDMI that are still in service...but they have long been superseded.  Toslink is becoming less and less of  a requirement as most of the audio is thrown down HDMI. My current AVR has one optical and 2 co-axial digital inputs.  The predecessor to that had 8 (I think)  Toslink also won't support 7.1 audio so I can understand why they dropped it.

  • Reply 134 of 330
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by markcu View Post

     



    And having finally checked the specs I see the new ATV will support 7.1 Audio....so thats a good thing at least.




    But it's only Dolby Digital Plus and not Dolby HD......so well done apple, a 30.00 pound blu-ray player from my local supermarket will outclass (by some margin) you newest 'innovation' :-(

  • Reply 135 of 330
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,056member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by nkhm View Post



    The new Apple TV is going to be under a lot of Christmas trees, with the sport game available at launch it will destroy nintendo's market. Once developers are able take advantage of more processing power, traditional controls, the games which make their way to this device will be all that the 'casual' gamer needs. Add to this a BBC iPlayer app, 4OD (in the UK), this will own the living room in the UK.



    Just one question - why no web browser?! Safari on this, paired with a bluetooth keyboard and bang! - Game changer,

    They are going to sell huge numbers of these for the holiday quarter. It was smart and clever to demo a multi player game too. 

     

    There was a casual mention of the NHL app being available in "2016." Hoping that's for the 2015-2016 season. I might buy that streaming package. Maybe HNIC will have an app ready too.

     

    I'm pretty sure the New ATV will still have AirPlay functions, so an iPad will get you safari on the big screen. Not sure why you'd want to, but that seems possible.

     

    I was kind of excited by the screen saver intro. Pretty, but I'd like to have a screen saver that provides information. A smart dev will surely make one. Pretty background, clocks, weather, radar, stocks, local headline...

  • Reply 136 of 330
    sog35 wrote: »
    This is a great foundation to build the one box that rules the living room.

    It ain't perfect but a great start.

    In the next 12 months I hope to see:

    1. Dedicated game controllers
    2. Live TV package
    3. More Homekit features

    Do people really have big TVs in the living room? My living room is "ruled" by friends and family, music, and conversation. The TV is in the basement.

    How is "What Apple TV Can Be" different from "What X-Box Can Be"? Apples products are better than Microsofts, but are the two companies now becoming very similar, following similar strategies? Execution is better at Appple, but strategy is the same. No surprises.
  • Reply 137 of 330
    sog35 wrote: »
    wrong.  Those other 3 AppleTV's were hobby's.

    This is the first real generation.

    Quatsch
  • Reply 138 of 330
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    markcu wrote: »

     The predecessor to that had 8 (I think)  Toslink also won't support 7.1 audio so I can understand why they dropped it.

    I thought the issue with Toslink was it was limited to 1.5Mbps, and no one has produced a codec that will do 7.1 in that bit rate
  • Reply 139 of 330

    Mixed bag. Not the home run I was hoping for. But, tvOS shows a lot of promise and it will be interesting to see what developers do with the new tool bag.

     

    A key feature that Apple dropped is the integration with iTunes Music and Radio. It's all Apple Music, and as someone who does not subscribe to Apple Music (and does not plan to anytime soon), this is a step back in functionality. I currently use a PS3 as a music server to my home theater system, and was hoping that the new Apple TV would provide a better interface and more seamless integration with my music library, especially the uncompressed AIFF LP and SACD transfers that the PS3 cannot play without downsampling. I was holding off on adding Apple TV until I saw what the new version could (and couldn't) do.

     

    Without the ability to link to my iTunes music library, I'm now thinking about picking up one of the old Apple TVs. The main features I planned to use were the screen mirroring from our iPads and iPhones, and the iTunes music library linkage (since the old Apple TV has native support for AIFF files). If the new Apple TV carried these features over, it would have been a no brainer, since I could use it for my intended functions while waiting and seeing how the new functions play out and dabbling with some of the new services. With the music library linkage no longer available, I'm less inclined.

     

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Don't worry.  Apple is the one with the leverage.  More and more people are cancelling cable/sat as we speak.  The last 10 years have seen a shrinkage in cable subs EVERY SINGLE YEAR.  The last 3 years there has been an acceleration.  

     

    And this will only continue.  Older people are dying (loyal cable subscribers) and young people are getting $$$ but refuse to pay for traditional cable.  

     

    And once Apple has 30-50 million active AppleTV's their leverage will be even more powerful.


    Except that cable does not represent the entire pay TV universe. The cable subscription stats are always cited in cord cutter articles written by tech bloggers. But, they fail to also show the gains made by satellite, fiber, and IPTV services, and the overall growth in pay TV households. It was only two years ago that the overall pay TV household count stopped growing. Household penetration for pay TV remains above 80%, so this is not yet a long-term trend. And there are still a lot of entrenched barriers to over-the-top streaming TV services.

     

    Most notably, the sports programming contracts are iron clad and long-term, and would be prohibitively expensive as a standalone offering (right now, the carriage fees for RSNs are typically the second most expensive behind only ESPN), especially since many of them are owned by the carriers (i.e., Comcast and TimeWarner Cable). The availability of local RSNs is the moat that pay TV carriers have carved out for themselves, and it has an influence on market decisions. For example, Comcast was able to exploit a loophole in the FCC regs to keep the Comcast-owned RSN off of satellite in the Philly region for over a decade -- no Phillies, Flyers, or Sixers games on Directv or Dish. As a result, the Philadelphia market had the lowest satellite penetration rate, and among the highest penetration rates for cable.

     

    Young people don't like to pay for traditional cable. But, that has been the case for decades. Older people are dying, yes. But, young people all have this habit of getting old.

  • Reply 140 of 330
    sog35 wrote: »
    Some of you guys must be smoking weed.

    What were you expecting?  A time machine?  Cure cancer?  True Ala-carte TV?  AAA console games on the 1st day of release?  Seriously.

    This is a solid foundation for Apple to control your living room.

    I was looking for:

    1. App Store
    2. Improved remote with Touch and Siri
    3. Main stream price point = below $300
    4. Universal search
    5. Better navigation

    Apple knocked out all of those points and then some.

    The better games will come.  It takes YEARS to build AAA games.  You can't expect AAA games to show up even this year.

    The TV package is coming.  So is HomeKit.  This is just the beginning.

    So meeting the expectations of some random guy (no offence) is now good enough? Sorry, but I expect a firm like Apple to come up with stuff that I (or you) cannot think of. A guy on a forum can develop the product roadmap for Apple? Really, that's good enough for you?
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