Apple Announces Apple TV (Formerly 'iTV')

[MacRumors]

Apple today formally introduced the Apple TV. The set-top unit, first previewed during the "It's Showtime" event in September 2006 is geared toward streaming content from your computer to a widescreen TV.

Features
- 720p high definition video
- 40 GB hard drive
- 802.11 b, g, and n compatible
- Intel processor
- Designed for widescreen TV's
- can stream from up to 5 computers (or from apple.com/trailers)

The Apple TV will ship in February, and is available for pre-order today.

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[amacgenius]

It seems interesting, but I don't like the pricetag, it just seems like a second computer.

[diadem]

Originally Posted by amacgenius

It seems interesting, but I don't like the pricetag, it just seems like a second computer.

Yes its an old idea we have been doing it for years with media center pc. Iv had my Xbox doing it and that cost me very little.

Its not going to take of at that price.

[clevin]

any more detail?
like, how to operate and control? and can it record cable TV signal? that would be interesting.
still, $300 is kinda expensive..

[Tclare]

I can't wait to buy one!

[SactoGuy18]

40 GB hard drive? Too small, in my humble opinion. It should have at least a 100 GB hard drive to be useful.

[BlueRevolution]

Colour me in the "too expensive" camp. I'd much rather bring my TV to my computer than my computer to my TV.

And anyone else think the iPhone stole a bit of its thunder?

[MhzDoesMatter]

Yeah, the price point and HD res aren't the best. It'll be the UI that ends up making the device worth it, (per usual for apple.) But hopefully its more than front row in a box. Hopefully there are other features that we didn't really notice. Like dishwashing and oil changing. And 199 might be a little two sweet of a price point. Gotta stay above the masses at first. You know Apple.

[~Shard~]

How major of a role does iTMS play in this? This is an issue for me since iTMS Canada is limited. In other words, can I only play content acquired from the iTMS? I’m assuming not, but to that end, what video formats will be accepted? Only QT, or AVI, divx, etc.? Will people who download their favorite TV shows from torrents, TiVO, etc. be able to watch them on Apple TV? Let’s hope this is the case.

Still not sold on it though - I'll have to do more research on Apple.com afterwards.

[thejadedmonkey]

I think it'd be worth $300 no problem, if it had a larger hard drive, but at this price point it's worth around $200... it's just not useful enough. My music alone takes up over 30 gigs, and this thing would be full within a year.

give it another year and I'd have to buy a 2nd one with a larger hard drive (I'd assume they will have upgraded by then)..oh, maybe that's what apple wants

[peharri]

That's about what you'd expect in a DVR (80 hours on my Dish Network unit), and it's going to be enough for all the stuff you'd send to the machine automatically. For your movie collection, well, you can store those on external machines and stream them to it.

I think the price point is fine. It's a device of the type I was hoping for, my only reservation is it does look like it needs a second computer for the full functionality to be apparent. But that could easily be a $500 Dell with iTunes. Bad, but not insurmountable.

[srobert]

Well, technically, the iTV Hard disk capacity is 40GB + all the Hard disk capacity you have in 6 of your computers.

Edit: peharri was faster.

Edit2: Too bad they couldn't achieve 1080p.

[IndyGopher]

Originally Posted by SactoGuy18

40 GB hard drive? Too small, in my humble opinion. It should have at least a 100 GB hard drive to be useful.

I give it about 12 hours after launch before detailed instructions on how to swap out the hard drive are on the web. Not a big deal... TiVO's all have hard drives that are way too small, as well.. which is why people upgrade them.

[scheming]

i think there is something missing here, features or software for the computer. what will this device actually do? i don't know from what was posted and until then, i don't think it is fair to say that it is too expensive. it's streaming from your computer, so i'm sure the 40 gb hd doesn't even matter, all files will be streamed from your computer

[balamw]

Originally Posted by srobert

Well, technically, the iTV Hard disk capacity is 40GB + all ther Hard disk you have in 6 of your computers.

Edit: peharri was faster.

Also, what's the USB port for? Didn't see any mention of it in the MRL feed.

B

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by clevin

any more detail?
like, how to operate and control? and can it record cable TV signal? that would be interesting.
still, $300 is kinda expensive..

It can't record, that's the point. You buy your shows off iTunes.

[Roy Hobbs]

Originally Posted by SactoGuy18

40 GB hard drive? Too small, in my humble opinion. It should have at least a 100 GB hard drive to be useful.

It is meant to stream media from your Mac, why would you need a hard drive larger than 40 GB

[e²Studios]

Can you stream other media to the apple tv? as in take from tivo2go, rip to mpeg standard format and stream to tv? Or are you locked to only getting your media from ITMS/iTunes?

Ed

[ccunning]

So does this mean video purchased from iTunes now going to be at 720p?

[Rocketman]

This seems to simply allow purchased content to be displayed on a screen. It does not seem to be a DVR or in any way claim to offer those functions anything beyond whatever iTunes does already.

So what is the current leading edge content capture and DVR application for the Mac? Or do you need a PC as a video server to capture your satellite, cable, broadcast and local content channels?

Rocketman

[kalisphoenix]

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...lm=MA073LL%2FA

New Airport Extreme Base Station, too.

[simontarr]

hmmm.....Am I missing the point here? Why do you need a hard drive in a device thats meant to stream content? Does this mean then it doesnt stream stuff from your mac? If that's the case, 40GB isn't going to get you very many 720p films...

PS. Heh the UK Apple store has crashed.

[Chimera]

Nice device but we need 720p downloads still, or any movie downloads outside the USA, hopefully they are working on those things too.

[mwswami]

Originally Posted by balamw

Also, what's the USB port for? Didn't see any mention of it in the MRL feed.

B

The USB port is for firmware upgrade and such. See Apple TV Tech Specs.

[D0ct0rteeth]

If I can attach a firewire hard drive, or replace it with a big ol 1TB drive then maybe we'd be talking but this is all about early adopters and our huge movie/music libraries.

if I can swap out the drive then maybe - but isnt it all about the software and its small profile... there are no laptop sized hard drives over ~150-200GB

I dont see this taking off