September 10 Apple TV rumours

maybe a new appletv with some storage and xbmc?

Yes! My fingers are crossed! I just bought my first 1080p TV a month ago (I haven't owned a TV for 15 years) and I was holding out on buying an Apple TV until the fall product announcements were made. Just a weak rumor at this moment in time, but we'll see soon! And don't worry folks...if an update is not announced, I'll simply buy the current version and start enjoying it. It is just $100 you know...

Bryan

ZeRoLiMiT said:

maybe a new appletv with some storage and xbmc?

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I don't care about storage that's gonna make it cost more , plus an apple hardrive cost more than a regular drive

USB ports would be enough , and also not have iTunes running on the pc

I'am buying my Apple TV not from an Apple store as its on sale with 10 bucks off, i will keep it in shrink wrap with the receipt and if something worthy surfaces on the 10 i will return it for a refund. Should nothing spawn from Apples den on the 10, i will keep it as my movie collection is already at 500gb so I cannot be bothered to wait anymore.

For me it would be a big deal if Apple makes their next gen box ultra hd compatible and brings back storage in flash, otherwise some minor hardware tweaks (better processor and wifi protocal ) and software tweaks (app store) will not lure me in. I am also confident if apple brings the app store to their next gen box they release a update for users who use the current gen. But this is not much of a big deal as you can use airplay to stream your apps and games.

I also cannot see myself using the app store on my Apple TV, as I primarily use my Nintendo WII U and Playstation 3 for games. Games from the app store are great on small screen, but you cannot compare Real racing to Gran Turismo or the upcoming Oceanhorn to Legend of Zelda.

One more thing an Apple TV is different in the sense we all update our Macs, iPhones and iPads for better performance, storage or better/larger screens. However with an Apple TV as long as it can stream your itunes content and connect to the net its purpose simply ends there unless you jailbreak.

I guess I don't understand the need for local storage - would just increase it's size and cost. Everything streams (in my house anyway) effortlessly to my 2 ATV's (3rd gen) without a hitch. I leave my iMac with iTunes running anyway, so it's no hassle.

Is there another angle to this that I am missing? What do people see being added to the next gen ATV that is currently missing?

Seems like it works exactly as it should right now...

My $0.02 anyway

ZeRoLiMiT said:

maybe a new appletv with some storage and xbmc?

Click to expand...

The Apple TV will NEVER have XBMC unless it is jailbroken or given an App Store.

Even if either or both of those two things occur, they will be overshadowed by whatever Apple does next with Apple TV, which is bound to include something (at least a little) revolutionary.

For me its not so much about the hardware--though updates are always nice. I'd love to have even more channels become available--as long as they aren't tied to a full on cable subscription. I'm very willing to pay for content. I know that an HBO Go app that I could subscribe to on its own is a pipe dream right now--but that would be great.

A TWC app is rumored, but will still require a cable subscription--totally useless.

Id just love it if they changed the software to have more sorting options and to actually MAKE SENSE. Going into "computers" to watch something on my local itunes server makes NO SENSE. Furthermore, the way in which you sort movies is ridiculous. This is the only thing i miss about XBMC. the ability to sort by rating, date added, year, etc. And to be able to click on an actor and see what other movies they are in. Same goes for tv shows and all its sorting. These are the only things IMO that the apple tv needs changing.

anewman143 said:

I guess I don't understand the need for local storage - would just increase it's size and cost. Everything streams (in my house anyway) effortlessly to my 2 ATV's (3rd gen) without a hitch. I leave my iMac with iTunes running anyway, so it's no hassle.

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That's why local storage is desired.
Having to leave an other computer running is simply silly.
It might not be a hassle but it is still silly.
Especially in an age of networked storage.
Provide local storage or provide NAS support.

I'd just like another nice software update with even more additional channels added (SHO Anytime please!). Hopefully we'll see one when iOS 7 is released here in a couple of weeks.

Gjwilly said:

That's why local storage is desired.
Having to leave an other computer running is simply silly.
It might not be a hassle but it is still silly.
Especially in an age of networked storage.
Provide local storage or provide NAS support.

Click to expand...

It's less silly than it used to be, in the sense that since Lion, the computer can be in a "sleep" state and still serve file requests and similar operations without powering up the monitor or other peripherals.

That said, I've love to see a solution that allows the ATV to directly access an iTunes library stored on an NAS or similar device.

There is no reason why it shouldn't be able to connect to a Time Capsule or Airport Extreme with additional storage, without iTunes running on another computer.

For that matter, I should be able to buy something on iTunes and have it download directly to my Time Capsule, instead of the computer I'm buying it from.

Also, add Safari or some other browser. Quit yankin my chain...

If it's a new device, I doubt on board storage is going to be a part of it. The trend is towards streaming media.

I wonder if they might be adding games or maybe something to do with Siri?

Just saw this somewhere else, but another interesting rumor: FaceTime + hardware camera / microphone. The mic could be built into the remote, and the camera could be integrated or wired to the AppleTV. Being able to FT from my couch, using my 60" LED TV as a replacement for my iPhone or iPad would be fantastic.

Gjwilly said:

That's why local storage is desired.
Having to leave an other computer running is simply silly.
It might not be a hassle but it is still silly.
Especially in an age of networked storage.
Provide local storage or provide NAS support.

Click to expand...

Leaving a computer on is silly, but having the ATV have it's own storage or an NAS is any less so? So what happens? All my content that I download/purchase is stored on the NAS...so my computer(s) and ATV's can access it...so either way, still streaming, whether from my iMac or NAS. 6 of one?

If all they changed was better sorting options for browsing through my library, and enabled 24p output, I would immediately order 3 of them.

As much as I like the look of the remote its not very functional. I wish they provide an app for the iPhone iPad and iPod to function as a remote. Would sure make searching much easier.

whsbuss said:

As much as I like the look of the remote its not very functional. I wish they provide an app for the iPhone iPad and iPod to function as a remote. Would sure make searching much easier.

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err... they do? it's been out since the dawn of the app store pretty much.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remote/id284417350?mt=8

If it gets updated, it'll probably be a small spec bump.

This is certainly interesting and, at least to me, out of left field. Makes me personally wonder what will be enough to make me upgrade my ATV (3rd gen). Someone mentioned FaceTime... that may be interesting. Considering Apple has been trying to integrate all of their products and features across all platforms, it would make sense for them to add FaceTime (and possibly iMessage) in the future. Maybe this potential revision?

Granted, to make using iMessage on the Apple TV more effective and not rage inducing with entering text using the remote, a person would just use the remote app from their iPhone or iPad. Which, if they did that, could just as easily use the Messages app found natively on their phone or iPad.

cxc273 said:

If it's a new device, I doubt on board storage is going to be a part of it. The trend is towards streaming media.

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They definitely need to increase the flash storage and RAM if they want to support games. Right now it is pretty limited. But, like you said, they aren't going to add user accessible storage. That is the opposite direction they are going.

I really don't see why people want storage on the Apple TV (unless they add some kind of extra functionality like an app store). Do you really want to pay an extra apple premium for an HD? The price point is already where it needs to be. Plus I think the focus is streaming media. Anyways, a USB port would be ideal and more efficient, you could hook up your external hard drive to it and forget about it (this will never happen though)! Until then I'll be sticking to my mini display port to hdmi adaptor + xbmc on my macbook pro.

m1key said:

I really don't see why people want storage on the Apple TV (unless they add some kind of extra functionality like an app store). Do you really want to pay an extra apple premium for an HD? The price point is already where it needs to be. Plus I think the focus is streaming media. Anyways, a USB port would be ideal and more efficient, you could hook up your external hard drive to it and forget about it (this will never happen though)! Until then I'll be sticking to my mini display port to hdmi adaptor + xbmc on my macbook pro.

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Flash storage would be great to store and load movies rather than streaming them.

m1key's way is THE way (IMO). Apple couldn't possibly choose the right amount of onboard flash storage. No matter what they picked, it would be too small for those hungry for local storage and a complete waste for those content with streaming: "why should I pay for storage I'll never use?".

THE way would be to normalize that USB port and allow those interested in local storage to attach however much storage they want. If they want SSD/Flash, they can choose that. If they want hard drive or RAID, they can choose that. 500GB or 5TB or more or less- whatever works for each person... without forcing the added cost of local storage on anyone.

Another way would be to turn on NAS options. Interested users could store their media on a NAS drive and TV could stream it from there. Since this would be software, no one would be paying for hardware changes they'll never use. And again, this would give each interested user the ability to have whatever amount of NAS storage they want.

I owned the 1st gen and miss the local storage. That one could be hacked to make it's USB port work with large external drives of up to at least 2GB. It was great to have that option. Some homes aren't stocked with multiple computers and laptops are increasingly becoming the "home" computer (too). When that laptop leaves the house, the TV cannot access the home's own media. That's a big reason to include a local storage option.

Big storage is cheap and getting cheaper. Apple used to offer local storage on an TV. There's already a USB port built into the current TV but it is gimped by design. There's a good segment that wants local storage (but another that thinks streaming is THE way) so normalizing that USB port could give both groups exactly what they want. Win for the crowd that thinks it's stupid. Win for the crowd that thinks it's essential. Win for Apple because it would sell more units to that latter group.

Win for the crowd that thinks it's essential. Win for Apple because it would sell more units to that latter group.

Click to expand...

You may think it is a win for Apple because it sells more units, but they may see it as a losing proposition as it might eat into their iTunes and iCloud sales/rentals/income.