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Apple TV Potential

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dkersten

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2010
589
2
Anyone else look at the Apple TV and think that its pretty much a waste of a great opportunity? Apple could do so much with it and it seems that they are making no attempt with it. Here are my ideas of what Apple could and/or should do.

1) Very basically- allow 1080p content. In a few years 720p isn't going to cut it (they would have to add 1080p content in iTunes of course)
2) Reintroduce a HDD. There should be the option to stream and download to the device)
3) Gaming/App device- I don't think they should approach it like the Google TV does. Any app that is on iOS devices should not be allowed to be in the ATV app store. It should be optimized for a larger screen and different screen resolution. I think that they could even make a gaming controller similar to the XBox 360 and PS3 controller. Developers such as EA, Activision, etc. could then sell games over the internet (games would be stored on the HDD). Not only a physical controller could be used but any iOS device or simplistic remote for less intensive apps and functions
4) Siri should be a feature to navigate but would not be mandatory to navigate, a remote could be used
5) Apple should at least try to use a "a la carte" distribution model. Wouldn't it be awesome to only subscribe to a select few channels such as just ESPN, TBS, CNN, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc? "I think just this feature would get millions of people to adopt the ATV)
6) Sync your media to all your Apple devices. For example if you have to leave as you are part way through a movie, you can pick up at that part of the movie on your iPhone/iPad/Mac.
7) Keep the ATV a set top box. There is no need for an LCD screen or anthing. A display should be just that, a display. No one is going to upgrade their HDTV every year or every few years for a few new features. However people would be willing to upgrade a $99/$199/or even $399 (if it had a la carte media distribution and a few other features)

I think Apple could really shake up the TV and media distribution market with something like this. And you know Apple would have the developer support for a ATV App Store.
What do you guys think about these features and feel free to add any other features that could be on the ATV
 
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snowwhite007

macrumors 6502
Nov 4, 2011
297
0
Scotland
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Well as for ios games two developers have managed to get this working and a release isnt far away. Other than that having a hdd would be great as the amount of add ons in xbmc is limited on the atv 2 at the min.
I agree they should remain as set top as an actual tv will no doubt have a crazy price.
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Couldn't Agree More

dkersten said:
Anyone else look at the Apple TV and think that its pretty much a waste of a great opportunity? Apple could do so much with it and it seems that they are making no attempt with it. Here are my ideas of what Apple could and/or should do.

1) Very basically- allow 1080p content. In a few years 720p isn't going to cut it (they would have to add 1080p content in iTunes of course)
2) Reintroduce a HDD. There should be the option to stream and download to the device)
3) Gaming/App device- I don't think they should approach it like the Google TV does. Any app that is on iOS devices should not be allowed to be in the ATV app store. It should be optimized for a larger screen and different screen resolution. I think that they could even make a gaming controller similar to the XBox 360 and PS3 controller. Developers such as EA, Activision, etc. could then sell games over the internet (games would be stored on the HDD). Not only a physical controller could be used but any iOS device or simplistic remote for less intensive apps and functions
4) Siri should be a feature to navigate but would not be mandatory to navigate, a remote could be used
5) Apple should at least try to use a "a la carte" distribution model. Wouldn't it be awesome to only subscribe to a select few channels such as just ESPN, TBS, CNN, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc? "I think just this feature would get millions of people to adopt the ATV)
6) Sync your media to all your Apple devices. For example if you have to leave as you are part way through a movie, you can pick up at that part of the movie on your iPhone/iPad/Mac.
7) Keep the ATV a set top box. There is no need for an LCD screen or anthing. A display should be just that, a display. No one is going to upgrade their HDTV every year or every few years for a few new features. However people would be willing to upgrade a $99/$199/or even $399 (if it had a la carte media distribution and a few other features)

I think Apple could really shake up the TV and media distribution market with something like this. And you know Apple would have the developer support for a ATV App Store.
What do you guys think about these features and feel free to add any other features that could be on the ATV
Click to expand...

And I talked to Apple about this at length some time ago. For a start, the device was incorrectly named, and it's full potential (as you describe) was never pushed.

It's above all a streaming device in addition to it's advertised features. Of course, detailing this would have made it step on the toes of other wifi products from Apple.

When correctly set up, it's a very powerful multimedia device indeed. In actual fact the one thing I don't use much is the TV side of things. It takes casre of all my audio streaming needs, sits happily on my network in a way I don't think Apple ever intended, but was logical to me at the time.

I have posted my setup in detail elsewhere on the forum, but the ATV2 is great value for money.
 
C

chiefpavvy

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2008
707
0
720P not going to cut it "in a few years"? Doubtful. Most people are still using DVD! My 720P encodes look FANTASTIC even on a 70" LCD - most quality panels today upscale 720P to 1080P with amazing quality. No, it isn't as sharp as Blu Ray but much more convenient. I'm still amazed how much quality can be packed in the same space as a standard DVD (4.7GB). I think as hardcore users we tend to not see what the masses are using and will be using for a long time. DVD should be dead - it's not - and won't be for a LONG, LONG time.

At $99 the ATV2 is a no-brainer. If it never does any more than what it does today that is true. If the App Store arrives etc. it will be even more true.
 
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pgdave

macrumors newbie
Jan 1, 2012
3
0
Some good ideas but I’d like to see more “TV” features. Like an ATSC off-air tuner in addition to some ala carte channels all integrated into a program guide and DVR functionality where you could record programs on your computer’s hard drive and pause live TV. This would provide a way to compete with cable and satellite. Also, since ATV has voiceover, this would be first talking program guide--a great benefit for blind users.
 
D

dkersten

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 5, 2010
589
2
chiefpavvy- I think you are right. I often forget that most people don't notice little things like that
pgdave- I agree. I was so excited about all the add ons that i forgot about the tv features on the Apple TV. I think that a DVR would be an almost essential feature that could be controlled from any device in the Apple ecosystem. As for the integration into cable and satellite services, it would be ok if the did not introduce a pay per channel (or even show) but i think they would not include this if they were trying to promote their a la carte distribution .
 
S

slothrob

macrumors 6502
Jun 12, 2007
443
0
dkersten said:
2) Reintroduce a HDD. There should be the option to stream and download to the device)
Click to expand...
With 2 gb hard drives going for about $160 these days, let alone the added or more expensive chips needed for such features as DVR, that would make the aTV3 a $250-300 device. I'm not sure that would be as successful as an updated $100 device.
 
C

cschmelz

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2007
342
107
slothrob said:
With 2 gb hard drives going for about $160 these days, let alone the added or more expensive chips needed for such features as DVR, that would make the aTV3 a $250-300 device. I'm not sure that would be as successful as an updated $100 device.
Click to expand...

I'd just like the AppleTV to be able to compete with the Roku 2 box. What is driving me to consider getting ride of my ATV2 and go Roku is 1) 1080p 2) Hulu Plus (which is huge!) 3) Amazon instant video (free since I'm prime)

Amazon I could make do without but the fact that Roku does both 1080 and Hulu is huge deal...

Come on Apple, no Hulu?!? I actually am using my PS3 for most streaming as it seems to stream Netflix better AND does Hulu pretty darn well. Why does my gaming console that is YEARS old do this so much better than the dedicated TV set top box from Apple?
 
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chiefpavvy

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2008
707
0
My opinion is that Apple TV 3 is near and it will do full 1080p. I'm talking of the $99 box, irrespective of an actual TV if Apple decides to do that as well. (I would bet on it.) As for lack of Hulu and other content, just imagine the options WHEN (not if) Apple opens the App Store to Apple TV. Everything is an app...

As for quality, like I said, 98% don't care. We're a minority. When I play a movie for friends (normal folks) I never hear any complaints about quality, whether the encode is some random XVID off the net or a 1080P Blu Ray I've transcoded down. They just don't care. There's a "good enough" point for the vast majority of folks and we are WELL beyond it. Just my opinion...
 
A

ajohansson

macrumors regular
Dec 5, 2011
141
7
cschmelz said:
I'd just like the AppleTV to be able to compete with the Roku 2 box. What is driving me to consider getting ride of my ATV2 and go Roku is 1) 1080p 2) Hulu Plus (which is huge!) 3) Amazon instant video (free since I'm prime)

Amazon I could make do without but the fact that Roku does both 1080 and Hulu is huge deal...

Come on Apple, no Hulu?!? I actually am using my PS3 for most streaming as it seems to stream Netflix better AND does Hulu pretty darn well. Why does my gaming console that is YEARS old do this so much better than the dedicated TV set top box from Apple?
Click to expand...

Jailbreak it and run Play on through XBMC on a PC or mac running Windows in a virtual machine.

I just saw the hack for running iOS apps on the ATV2. When this gets released you could run the TV network apps right from the ATV2.
 
D

darster

Suspended
Aug 25, 2011
1,703
1
I would agree with OP. 1080p is a lot better than 720p, especially if it is streamed over 5 Mbs. I have a Boxee Box and the ATV2, and there is a big difference streaming VUDU at 1080p and ATV2 streaming itunes content at 720p. Apple compresses its streaming at 720p. Now if Apple would ever increase it's bandwidth speed closer to 9 Mbs as VUDU does for 1080p material, then 720p would look better. If Apple produces a ATV3 that streams 1080p without increasing their bandwidth, then it will not be very impressive.
 
iGobbleoff

iGobbleoff

macrumors 6502
May 2, 2011
350
467
It needs to be the size of a small DVD player, so it fits in with other multimedia racks, have a set of hdd's in it (user serviceable, and setup in RAID?), and have an iTunes server built so, so not only does it serve media to the TV, it acts as the digital hub to the rest of the house.

This would also sync to iCloud, do the music match, etc etc.
 
C

Che Castro

macrumors 603
May 21, 2009
5,878
676
Your not going to get far with this question in this forum

People here love the apple tv as is, they think is perfect ,1080p doesnt exist in there world


You will get a better assessment in the xbmc forum
 
C

Che Castro

macrumors 603
May 21, 2009
5,878
676
ajohansson said:
Jailbreak it and run Play on through XBMC on a PC or mac running Windows in a virtual machine.

I just saw the hack for running iOS apps on the ATV2. When this gets released you could run the TV network apps right from the ATV2.
Click to expand...

You dont need playon for hulu or amazon , there are xbmc plugins for those available i believe
 
vitzr

vitzr

macrumors 68030
Jul 28, 2011
2,765
3
California
Apple TV's got massive potential.

Just think of all the Apple lovers that will become even more sedentary.

I enjoy the outdoors & participation sports far too much, to compromise my fun and rewarding fitness, for a silly TV.

Nope, not interested :)
 
rocknblogger

rocknblogger

macrumors 68020
Apr 2, 2011
2,346
481
New Jersey
vitzr said:
Apple TV's got massive potential.

Just think of all the Apple lovers that will become even more sedentary.

I enjoy the outdoors & participation sports far too much, to compromise my fun and rewarding fitness, for a silly TV.

Nope, not interested :)
Click to expand...

I notice that in whichever thread you comment you find a way of insulting Apple users while at the same time putting a negative spin on whatever is being discussed. You put Apple and Apple product users down at every opportunity. Sometimes it's subtle and other time directly.

I know you use Apple products but what I don't understand is why? If you dislike Apple so much why support them by buying their products?

I used to get a kick out of some of your comments but lately I just see them for what they are. Your higher than thou attitude stinks. Some folks may not realize you're insulting them but I do, each and every time.
 
8CoreWhore

8CoreWhore

macrumors 68030
Jan 17, 2008
2,653
1,191
Tejas
People need to realize that most content they watch on their HDTVs is not 1080P. TV broadcasts and Cable TV, etc are 720P or 1080i (worse than 720P).

If you watch an HBO HD movie, it's not 1080P.
 
H

hafr

macrumors 68030
Sep 21, 2011
2,743
9
dkersten said:
Anyone else look at the Apple TV and think that its pretty much a waste of a great opportunity? Apple could do so much with it and it seems that they are making no attempt with it. Here are my ideas of what Apple could and/or should do.

1) Very basically- allow 1080p content. In a few years 720p isn't going to cut it (they would have to add 1080p content in iTunes of course)
Click to expand...
I think 1080p is coming, especially considering other iDevices' capabilities. But I also think you're dead wrong in saying 720p won't cut it in a few years. People are still buying DVD-players...

2) Reintroduce a HDD. There should be the option to stream and download to the device)
Click to expand...
More and more people are buying network storage units and cloud services definitely is the future. Adding a HDD would be a step back, and also make it more expensive.

3) Gaming/App device- I don't think they should approach it like the Google TV does. Any app that is on iOS devices should not be allowed to be in the ATV app store. It should be optimized for a larger screen and different screen resolution. I think that they could even make a gaming controller similar to the XBox 360 and PS3 controller. Developers such as EA, Activision, etc. could then sell games over the internet (games would be stored on the HDD). Not only a physical controller could be used but any iOS device or simplistic remote for less intensive apps and functions
Click to expand...
I think you have a better chance hoping that Microsoft or Sony will make their consoles more like the ATV than Apple making the ATV more like a gaming console. I mean, just look at what a bad option their computers are when it comes to gaming. Why would they compete with gaming consoles?

5) Apple should at least try to use a "a la carte" distribution model. Wouldn't it be awesome to only subscribe to a select few channels such as just ESPN, TBS, CNN, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc? "I think just this feature would get millions of people to adopt the ATV)
Click to expand...
I remember reading or hearing about Apple wanting this, but for some reason it wasn't possible.

6) Sync your media to all your Apple devices. For example if you have to leave as you are part way through a movie, you can pick up at that part of the movie on your iPhone/iPad/Mac.
Click to expand...
I'm not really sure what you mean with this. Should all devices be synced with whatever the ATV is playing at the moment? Why not just have an iTunes Match service for videos?

7) Keep the ATV a set top box. There is no need for an LCD screen or anthing. A display should be just that, a display. No one is going to upgrade their HDTV every year or every few years for a few new features. However people would be willing to upgrade a $99/$199/or even $399 (if it had a la carte media distribution and a few other features)
Click to expand...
Could you describe the ATV that people would be willing to pay 400 bucks for?
 
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