Apple Adds Streaming Movie and TV Service Watchever to Apple TV in Germany

[nevermind50]

Good to see Apple adding more content. Agree with those who want more channels on the ATV, but can't understand those who want a browser. That's not something Apple will do on an essentially communal device IMO.

If someone dared to receive tweets, or "google" on the TV whilst I was watching something, it'd be the last thing they did on this earth. These things belong on a personal device. A games App Store, well, now you're talking!

[marc11]

Originally Posted by sackofnouns

why is MLB.tv on the German apple tv? NBA I can see....but american baseball? ya think theyd at least have fifa on there

People watch American sports outside of the USA you know. While it would be great to have more international sports options, you would be surprised how many of us outside of the USA watch MLB, NFL and NBA sports too. Its a big world out there.

[stewdaviesuk]

Originally Posted by sackofnouns

why is MLB.tv on the German apple tv? NBA I can see....but american baseball? ya think theyd at least have fifa on there

Its the same in the UK, Apple TV is not at all geared to Europe. In the UK our Netflix is not a patch on the USA library and we have Lovefilm and Blinkbox movies which are not supported plus not BBC iPlayer and the like that has been mentioned.

Sure you can Airplay some things, but not all! That facility is disabled on some UK movie and TV sites and Apps and in any case if I am working on my Mac then someone else cannot use it to airplay.

I like my apple TV but my SkyHD ( Has internet iPlayers etc) box is far better as are the games consoles for TV and Movies.

If Apple ever make a TV its going to need to have plenty of options to satisfy Europe where the movies services I mentioned already come with a lot of internet TV's, plus I am not sure about the USA but geographically a lot of the UK does not have access to fibre broadband and the speeds are limited.

[ToyotaGuy23]

I took my ATV3 with me to the beach. The resort's wireless was unsecured, but required you to login on their page to use it. Without a browser, I was stuck. I even tried to spoof the MAC address on my laptop, but no luck.

[Mike MA]

Originally Posted by bushido

they barely have anything worth mentioning. i'd rather see Sky Go and Spotify on it

At least they added something - which is not happening too often in our area

[princigalli]

nothing special. anyone can come out with a video download service. live tv would be better, and international too otherwise nobody needs to watch tv over internet instead of antenna

[APlotdevice]

Originally Posted by smellalot

A browser? How would you control it? With your iPad? You can airplay Safari to your Apple TV. So no need for that.

I think that's the reason there are no apps on the ATV. You need at least an iPod touch to control it. So you might as well use Airplay.

An AirPlay mirrored Safari doesn't take anywhere near full advantage of an HDTV's real estate. Maybe if they improved Safari so that it could display separate images on each screen, as some games do, then you'd have a good web browsing experience. Right now it sucks.

[Glideslope]

Originally Posted by M-O

thanks apple. now, how about that app store?

Tell Angela to make it happen. She has the power.

[needfx]

watcheeever...talk to the remote

[X5-599]

Originally Posted by Glideslope

Tell Angela to make it happen. She has the power.

First she should make sure everyone gets broadband internet connection. Seriously, what good is the best streaming service if the majority is stuck on DSL3000? Or worse DSL Light(1000)?

Trust me noone wants to start/stop watching a movie as if it were on youtube.

[rctlr]

Originally Posted by Moonjumper

Apple TV in the UK should have BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5. Most connected devices do, including the iPhone and iPad.

Agreed, it all depends on licencing etc of content in the end, and there might be conflicts, but I'm sure it will come.

Airplay from the bbc iplayer app from an ios device is possible in the meantime.

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by rmwebs

In other news the Apple TV is still a pile of junk across the rest of the world.

In the UK its essentially just a £100 'pass' to watching paid iTunes content on your TV.

or stream your own content via iTunes or iTunes Match (if you are in a different location from your iTunes music library)
or airplay content to it (e.g. iPlayer, photos, videos, screen mirroring from your Macbook Pro)

For a 'pile of junk' my Apple TV gets more use than my Sky TV or Virginmedia boxes ever used to get.

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

or stream your own content via iTunes or iTunes Match (if you are in a different location from your iTunes music library)
or airplay content to it (e.g. iPlayer, photos, videos, screen mirroring from your Macbook Pro)

For a 'pile of junk' my Apple TV gets more use than my Sky TV or Virginmedia boxes ever used to get.

A £25 RaspberryPi can perform both of those functions (and more). Makes the AppleTV a bad choice in the UK.

[ThatGuyInLa]

How about dLNA support Apple? The most common widely used protocol to stream media from people's computers? Grrrrr..

(yes I know about ATV Flash)

[flipperfeet]

Originally Posted by smellalot

A browser? How would you control it? With your iPad? You can airplay Safari to your Apple TV. So no need for that.

I think that's the reason there are no apps on the ATV. You need at least an iPod touch to control it. So you might as well use Airplay.

aTV Flash for AppleTV Gen 1 and Gen 2 has a browser that you can navigate using the standard appleTV remote just fine. Although it is a much better experience using an iPhone or iPad. Using the standard remote you enter addresses in the same fashion you enter search terms.

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by rmwebs

A £25 RaspberryPi can perform both of those functions (and more). Makes the AppleTV a bad choice in the UK.

And exactly how many punters out there who own iPads and iPhones would have a clue about the following:

a) what is a raspberry Pi?
b) where to buy one
c) how to set it up with XBMC
d) how to airplay to it from a non jailbroken device (erm, you can't)

On that basis alone Raspberry Pi is a terrible option for 99% of the public in the UK. Why don't you buy one, plus an enclosure plus a power supply and memory stick and run one yourself?

[James Craner]

Originally Posted by Moonjumper

USA gets the Apple TV for less, but has more streaming options. Hopefully this is the start of opening up local options in all regions to balance things out.

For example, Apple TV in the UK should have BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5. Most connected devices do, including the iPhone and iPad.

Yep I would buy one in a heartbeat if I could get iPlayer on it without hacking.

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by irnchriz

And exactly how many punters out there who own iPads and iPhones would have a clue about the following:

a) what is a raspberry Pi?
b) where to buy one
c) how to set it up with XBMC
d) how to airplay to it from a non jailbroken device (erm, you can't)

On that basis alone Raspberry Pi is a terrible option for 99% of the public in the UK. Why don't you buy one, plus an enclosure plus a power supply and memory stick and run one yourself?

In answer to that:

a) Given that the Pi has had a crap load of publicity, and has sold a million units, its not hard to figure that one out.
b) We have this magical tool. Its called Google.
c) Plenty of guides, and even a complete app that will do it for you
d) 100% Wrong. XBMC's Airplay works with non-jailbroken devices. Even works with mirroring on OS X.

So no. No. The Pi isn't a terrible option. Just because you dont like it, it doesn't invalidate it as an option.

Oh and I've got 4 of them. All work great. Total cost for each pi (including case and a power supply) was just under £32 delivered.

[Mr-Kerrse]

I would like to see an app store added but most tv's come with iplayer etc on them already so ATV is already way behind.

I have a browser on mine thanks to atv flash but never use it.

[M-O]

Originally Posted by Tiger8

Roku has that market. Roku's Channel store is handsdown the iTunes of TV box sets!

yea, but Roku doesn't play well with my Apple ecosystem. however, it will have to do for now.

[Tiger8]

Originally Posted by M-O

yea, but Roku doesn't play well with my Apple ecosystem. however, it will have to do for now.

They just added music and photo streaming from your iphone or iPad. Who knows? Maybe they will add something like airplay soon

[The Phazer]

Originally Posted by rmwebs

d) 100% Wrong. XBMC's Airplay works with non-jailbroken devices. Even works with mirroring on OS X.

Airplay mirroring doesn't work with non-jailbroken iOS devices to other devices though (which is exactly why mirroring is the only form supported by many apps, as it implements Fairplay).

[rmwebs]

Originally Posted by The Phazer

Airplay mirroring doesn't work with non-jailbroken iOS devices to other devices though (which is exactly why mirroring is the only form supported by many apps, as it implements Fairplay).

I never said anything about mirroring iOS devices (TBH I've never tried / needed to). The RPi does however support the following without special software or jailbreaking:

- AirPlay mirroring of your mac
- AirPlay playback of iOS content (including web streams from the likes of youtube)

I regularly do both of these on my Pi's and they always work perfectly fine.

[b1gdan]

can you get english subtitles for 'watchever' on apple tv?

i want to be able to watch in german but have english subtitles so i can watch movies with my german girlfriend

[irnchriz]

Originally Posted by rmwebs

In answer to that:

a) Given that the Pi has had a crap load of publicity, and has sold a million units, its not hard to figure that one out.
b) We have this magical tool. Its called Google.
c) Plenty of guides, and even a complete app that will do it for you
d) 100% Wrong. XBMC's Airplay works with non-jailbroken devices. Even works with mirroring on OS X.

So no. No. The Pi isn't a terrible option. Just because you dont like it, it doesn't invalidate it as an option.

Oh and I've got 4 of them. All work great. Total cost for each pi (including case and a power supply) was just under £32 delivered.

Good for you, I never said I didn't like the raspberry pi, I said that its not a solution for the non techies out there.

P.s. it shipped approximately 500,000 units in the last 6 months and MIGHT have reached a million units. Which would be impressive for a dev/home brew kit.

Anyway, ignore the Apple TV, by the time you add wifi and a remote control to your pi you are in the price bracket of Roku boxes at 50 quid, which are plug and play, again a far simpler solution for joe public.