LoveFilm on Apple TV in UK?

[Frosticus]

For those who, like me, are keen to see Lovefilm on Apple TV in the UK.. I've been meaning to post this for a while..!

I emailed Simon Calver (Lovefilm CEO) back in December last year, asking if LoveFilm had any plans to offer their service via Apple TV in the same way Netflix is in the US. His eventual reply was vague, but nonetheless hopeful:

"..We are of course looking at all options at the moment and all connected devices. Apple TV will be on the list and hopefully we will get to it sometime, as you can see from our PS3 lauch we are planning to be very aggressive in this area.
Stay tuned we hope there will be more devices coming down the track soon."

So, not a no, at least..

 

[The Phazer]

I'm sure LoveFilm will launch on Apple TV if Apple TV allows apps at some point.

But otherwise, I'm not convinced that Apple has any interest in writing even a single line of country specific code for Apple TV for any territory outside of the US. They've never done it before for Apple TV. The entire proposition has always ignored the quite big differences in how things work between countries in telly land.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

I hear Amazon have just acquired LoveFilm so maybe not anytime soon.

 

[davwin]

Yea with Amazon aquiring the last bit of LoveFilm now they will be a direct competitor to the AppleTV and products like Netflix so I can't imagine it will ever appear on a (non-jailbroken) ATV.

 

[OllyW]

Yea with Amazon aquiring the last bit of LoveFilm now they will be a direct competitor to the AppleTV and products like Netflix so I can't imagine it will ever appear on a (non-jailbroken) ATV.

It would be a competitor to Netflix if they ever decide to enter the UK market but I don't see why it's a competitor to the Apple TV?

 

[Frosticus]

The aquisition of Lovefilm by Amazon was a defensive measure, given that Netflix have their sights set on Europe (Lovefilm operates in other European countries, not just the UK).. so one would hope that Amazon might seek to improve the online aspects of the services offered. Then this, along with the well established DVD & games by post means that Netflix would be without a USP, making entry into the UK and wider European market difficult.
Then (again, hopefully) as Simon Calver has already stated, Lovefilm would seek to widen it's footprint on other connected devices, including Apple TV. I doubt Apple would go with Netflix in Europe just becuase they have in the States. They'd want to go with the service which has the most subscribers, in this case, Lovefilm.

Just my two cents..

 

[alFR]

I hear Amazon have just acquired LoveFilm so maybe not anytime soon.

I used to have an Amazon DVD rental account, until a while ago when it became a LoveFilm one - I assumed LoveFilm had bought the business from Amazon. So, what, they've bought it back again?

 

[Frosticus]

I used to have an Amazon DVD rental account, until a while ago when it became a LoveFilm one - I assumed LoveFilm had bought the business from Amazon. So, what, they've bought it back again?

See here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12239314

 

[alflavor]

It is inevitable we will see some decent movie streaming options on ATV2 this year, and also on-demand apps from the main broadcasters.

Without them ATV2 will fail. I love mine, what it does, but it needs so much more.....

 

[iKennett]

forget lovefilm... just wish apple would add bbc iplayer, itv player & 4OD like the PS3!

and thats without jail break..

can't wait for the to work on xmbc for apple tv!

 

[Frosticus]

forget lovefilm... just wish apple would add bbc iplayer, itv player & 4OD like the PS3!

Meh - to be honest, I hardly use BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc on my PS3 because the quality sucks, even on my 32" TV. The quality of Lovefilm is far better though - would just be nice to have it on my Apple TV. PS3 for games, Apple TV & Sky+HD for everything else. Sorted.

TV show rentals would be nice too..! (for the odd occasion when something takes too long to arrive on Sky)

 

[SpaceMagic]

The Apple TV is just too locked down and TV standards differ so so much from country to country. The only way it could be done is via "Apps" which are maintained by the individual broadcasters in their individual countries.

I cannot see Apple building in services such as 4OD or ITV player when their APIs could change at any minute and cause headaches for Apple. That's just UK. Think about all the other countries and all their unique services.

LoveFilm is a different matter if they could get exclusivity. That wont happen though as Amazon just bought them. Looks like I'll be getting a Boxee Box?

 

[iStudentUK]

It would be a nice idea, LoveFilm seems to be doing well at the moment. They recently signed a deal with Sony over the PS3 right? If they added XBox, Wii and Apple TV that would be a significant number of households.

Netflix is available on Apple TV in the US right? Maybe they don't want LoveFilm on Apple TV as they are certainly eyeing up the European market.

We have a LoveFilm account, which we use for Wii games. I think it is brilliant, I pay £6/month and get one disk at a time. Much cheaper than buying games and hardly using them again. However, that wouldn't work well over the internet!

 

[OllyW]

Meh - to be honest, I hardly use BBC iPlayer, 4OD etc on my PS3 because the quality sucks, even on my 32" TV. The quality of Lovefilm is far better though - would just be nice to have it on my Apple TV. PS3 for games, Apple TV & Sky+HD for everything else. Sorted.

TV show rentals would be nice too..! (for the odd occasion when something takes too long to arrive on Sky)

I've got iPlayer working with my Apple TV 1 and the quality isn't very good. It's great quality using iPlayer on my Virgin Media Cable box though.

 

[BBC B 32k]

I have my Tv plugged into a new Sony TV for the best of both worlds. The Sony has iPlayer etc. and LoveFilm built in and connected via ethernet the quality is fine on my 32" screen. I do not even bother with the HD streams on iPlayer.
Nice and easy to have the services built into the TV set.

 

[Frosticus]

I have my Tv plugged into a new Sony TV for the best of both worlds. The Sony has iPlayer etc. and LoveFilm built in and connected via ethernet the quality is fine on my 32" screen. I do not even bother with the HD streams on iPlayer.
Nice and easy to have the services built into the TV set.

I think I'm going to go down this route with my next TV, especially if Lovefilm doesn't materialise on ATV. I already have a Sony Bravia, which I'm very happy with, and it has *some* connected features, but not the Youtube, Lovefilm etc of the current models... In fact I saw a gorgeous one in the Sony Centre the other day. Soon my pretty... soon.

 

[MAC-ero]

Pressure for apple tv to get lovefilm

Hi everyone

Just set up a Facebook group to try and get visible support for lovefilm on apple tv

Please join:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/204866352950983/

 

[peterjcat]

Lovefilm could easily enable AirPlay on their own iPad app, they don't even have to persuade Apple to put a dedicated app on the ATV.