40 GB Apple TV Shipping Date Slips, Leads to Speculation of Updates Next Week

[talkingfuture]

All Apple Tv really needs for me is an iTunes subscription service. Pay £x per month or £0.x per show and stream what you want from the back catalogue. Then they would have a real satellite/cable TV killer.

Unfortunately as the content producers are often the same Satellite/Cable companies, iTunes may find itself struggling at contract negotiation time. Unless the producers decide to give the distribution industry to Apple and concentrate on production - which is highly unlikely.

 

[soLoredd]

My wife and I use our Apple TV a lot and its great for rentals.

However, more and more I regret not just going for a full out Mac Mini and using that. Maybe next year I'll replace the Apple TV with a Mini. I really don't see Apple doing a whole lot different with the platform. This shipping date thing means nothing if the 160GB is still 24 hours.

 

[iMat77]

Refresh is trivial

For me as an owner, and for many potential AppleTV buyers (MANY MANY) the real problem of the AppleTV isn't the hardware.

720p is still what the majority of HD TV is boradcasted and saves a lot of space.

The REAL shortcoming of the AppleTV is:
CONTENT AVAILABILITY!

Currently only a handful of countries offer video content on the iTunes store.
Apple can either:
- increase the iTunes content available or
- support more codecs and let people decide where to get content from

Increasing the available content, at the same price currently offered in the US, would make current AppleTV sell like hotcakes!

Moreover, if the fabled Tablet materializes and is built around multimedia then it will not sell unless content is available.

Come on Apple...
Also: WE NEED a home server, not just for purchased content, but also for pictures, music and video (I mean home video).
These files are filling HDDs really fast and I wish I had a central storage place for them which is integrated in Apple's ecosystem (MobileMe among other things).
Ah... Apple, while you are at it, also give me the ability to export from iMovie to AppleTV in HD!! THANK YOU

 

[Kelmon]

I've been looking to buy an Apple TV ever since they released the Movie Rentals service in the UK but I just cannot bring myself to pay the money that Apple seems to think that the Apple TV is worth. For something that is there to "aid" you in buying content from the iTunes Store I do not understand why it is so expensive. Now, of course, you can buy a PlayStation 3 Slim for the same money as the 40GB Apple TV so I have absolutely no intention of buying an Apple TV at its current specification and price point. Of course, the PlayStation 3 is absolute overkill for my requirements (for example, I have almost no interest in video games these days) but you get a lot more for your money and I am sure that it will perform much better.

Fingers crossed that Apple finally makes a serious push with the Apple TV and moves it from their "hobby" category and makes it a real player in the living room.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

Not many companies actually make 2.5" Hard Drives less than 120 GBs any more (one of the reasons why 360 and PS3 only have 120 GB flavours now). So I'd expect a 120 GB model and a 320 GB model coming.

 

[Macinposh]

The REAL shortcoming of the AppleTV is:
CONTENT AVAILABILITY!

Currently only a handful of countries offer video content on the iTunes store.
Apple can either:
- increase the iTunes content available or
- support more codecs and let people decide where to get content from

Ding ding! We have a winner!

It is almost 3 years when apple launched atv here i e-rup and most of the europe STILL dont have any content aviable for it!
Apple has managed to push in small iTunes movie stores in UK and germany but that´s it.
The smaller markets have not been economically viable to put any effort in.
But it didnt stop apple to market and sell us the products did it?
Apple,can I get my money back from my aTV?

Ok,europe is a mishmash with copyright laws and it takes a lot for resources to get all contracts done.Fine.
Not putting any or very little effort to make the movie service aviable in the rest of the europe...uuuh...understandable...not cool,but understandable,kind of.
BUT BLOCKING ACCESS AND PURCHASE FROM OTHER EUROPEAN iTUNES STORES? That´s fugged up,as by EU law,we should be able to do it? We should be able to buy,services :material or immaterial within eu without restrictions.
But nooo....

 

[mixel]

What if the tablet, or an iphone/ipod, could be used as a wireless motion controller to play iphone games on the AppleTV on your TV.. Giving the AppleTV access to the Appstore, and a lot more functionality.

That would be highly strange, and very, very unlikely, but it'd mean Apple have a games console.. One with rapidly increasing support.. And motion controllers. Hmm. It probably has more "hardcore" support than the wii already, plus a load of casual stuff..

 

[ascender]

Would a bigger HDD really make a difference? Not really. Whether its 500Gb or 1TB, if you look at the ATV threads about storage, that's still not going to be enough for many users.

So you could offer a USB/Firewire port for external HDDs which solves the problem.

Some people will still opt to stream from another Mac though as the last thing they want in their main viewing room is lots of boxes, noisy hdds etc. The existing setup with streaming is quite a neat and "elegant" solution, idiot-proof also.

The TV rumours are a strange one. Nearly everyone I know has updated their TV to a LCD or plasma, HD-compliant one over the last few years. So I'm wondering just how big the market would be for an Apple-branded set with ATV functionality built-in?

Not sure I see the point of DVR capability either as many people will already have this functionality from their cable/satellite box or Tivo. So why add it to the ATV?

Support for more video formats would be good but not exactly crucial. At the moment, people either just convert their stuff to an iTunes-friendly format or they hack their box so they can just throw anything on it.

It will be interesting to see what Apple does with the product. I think its a brilliant piece of kit, but its been plagued with reliability problems since day one. When it works, it works well, brilliantly-so in fact, with smooth streaming of all manner of files from an iTunes library, over wired or wireless connections.

Blu Ray? Can't see it for many different reasons.

Keyboard, internet access, games etc. I don't want to see that in an ATV. If I wanted that, I'd buy a Mac Mini. I just think that's complicating things for the sake of it and missing the point of what the ATV is there to do. The more complex it gets, the more likely we are to see more bugs and problems, we've got enough of those already.

I'd like to see Apple updating the UI, making the box more reliable and securing more HD content.

Unfortunately, often after an update to the software, we end up with missing devices, lost iTunes libraries, frequent reboots, sluggish menus etc. I get the feeling it has been a kind of hobby project for Apple, as they've admitted themselves, but if they do throw some more resource at it, it could finally realise its potential.

 

[qbricc]

Please let it be worth buying

I think we could see just 1 model that starts with 160GB and can be customized online up to 500GB just like the Macbook range.

Whatever happens on the 9th there is a growing number of people looking for an itunes server style ATV as people's libraries are getting larger and are often stored on 1TB plus external HDs.

Please add the function to allow USB access for these.

 

[ascender]

One thing about people storing libraries on an external disk, directly with ATV, is how do you then go about synching iPods and iPhones from that library? ]

And can other computers then connect to this ATV iTunes library to stream music?

 

[iMat77]

Ding ding! We have a winner!

It is almost 3 years when apple launched atv here i e-rup and most of the europe STILL dont have any content aviable for it!
Apple has managed to push in small iTunes movie stores in UK and germany but that´s it.
The smaller markets have not been economically viable to put any effort in.
But it didnt stop apple to market and sell us the products did it?
Apple,can I get my money back from my aTV?

Ok,europe is a mishmash with copyright laws and it takes a lot for resources to get all contracts done.Fine.
Not putting any or very little effort to make the movie service aviable in the rest of the europe...uuuh...understandable...not cool,but understandable,kind of.
BUT BLOCKING ACCESS AND PURCHASE FROM OTHER EUROPEAN iTUNES STORES? That´s fugged up,as by EU law,we should be able to do it? We should be able to buy,services :material or immaterial within eu without restrictions.
But nooo....

I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOUR ANALYSIS.

You said it wouldn't necessarily be economically viable to put the effort in it. App Store tells another story. And competition here, much as it is for the App Store is INEXISTENT. NO HULU, NO NETFLIX, nothing. Just cable companies with their policies...

So Apple should put some effort in it because:
- a) there is basically no competition and the first who enters the market can gain a strong advantage (App Store but also iTunes Music store)
- b) Apple would increase sales of hardware dramatically also having more and more people switch to the platform
- c) Apple might even make money out of content alone. As it did with music and applications
- d) Applications might also be sold for the ATV (think about games)
- e) Apple historically earns more in Europe because of premium pricing, so their margins are higher and worth the effort.

ONE BLU RAY MOVIE costs 56.00 CHF, 52 USD at a brick and mortar store. How many "HD rentals" do you think they could sell with blu ray priced as high as that???

Come on...

 

[star-fish]

Maybe they will go back to naming it the iTV?

Well they won't be doing that in the UK, since there's a TV station and various channels called ITV.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I'm pretty sure all we'll be seeing is a small increase in hard drive capacity, even if we see that.

 

[TheCheapGeek]

How's that workin' out for ya now that analog broadcasting has gone the way of the dodo? (I'm assuming you're in the U.S.!)

You realize that digital broadcasting is still received through an antenna on the roof, right?

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I'm pretty sure all we'll be seeing is a small increase in hard drive capacity, even if we see that.

That was my initial reaction too but since AppleTV is based on OS X it's more than possible Apple will update it with SL underpinnings and Open GL capable graphics. At the same time it could update the GUI which is flat for an Apple product. I've seen much better LINUX based media server GUIs from other companies.

Also the "cocktail" rumor could fit in here too. I know cocktail is presumably a music endeavor but I could see an AppleTV tie in. Many of these music companies also produce visual media too. I could also envision an AppleTV app store. Apple has seen the kind of apps the "hobby" has produced. It "made" the iPhone and Touch, so perhaps Apple realizes it could boost the prospects of AppleTV too if it offered the consumer more.

So my guess is that Apple will update AppleTV inside and out. It may not be a huge update in the scheme of things but it will be more than just updating the HD.

 

[TheCheapGeek]

First off I love both of my apple tv's, they are fantastic boxes and I have canceled cable and use them in their place. The reason apple considered this product a hobby and that it has not taken off is simple, look at this thread. Everyone has a different setup and wants different things out of their apple set top box. Some want blu ray, some want dvr functionality, some want 1080p, while others want video games. This wide variety of need is exactly why this segment hasn't exploded like the i Pod did. Music lacks options there are subscriptions services and a la carte options both of which deliver music in one of a small number of codecs. This allows one device to cater to most peoples music need. Video is so much more complicated, tons of codecs and popular delivery options. Apple needs to do only a few things in my opinion.

1. Expand on their current season pass model to offer more $$ discounts when you purchase more content.

2. Lower the price, I really think a lot more people would try the apple tv if it were at 150-200 rather than 220-300.

3. Allow for content to be streamed from a computer or network share without itunes running.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

So my guess is that Apple will update AppleTV inside and out. It may not be a huge update in the scheme of things but it will be more than just updating the HD.

I sincerely hope that you're right, it's long overdue for a bit of love .... but I remain pessimistic I'm afraid.

 

[Shake 'n' Bake]

I'd also like a web browser, but what are you going to use as input? Speech to text?

 

[kingtj]

Exactly.....

The idea of Apple marketing a TV set has been tossed around for years now, and there's really no evidence (new patents filed, etc.) to back it up. (You can be sure if Apple did such a thing, they'd do some creative stuff to it, to differentiate it from everything else in the marketplace. They wouldn't just build the existing AppleTV box into an LCD panel with tuner and call it a day.)

I'd honestly be surprised if AppleTV gets much more than a "specs bump" with a 160GB "low end" model and a "high end" model with between 250-500GB. I doubt 40GB hard drives are even going to be manufactured much longer....

I don't think Munster's claims about an Apple-branded TV Set can be accurate in any way. We all know Apple primarily makes their money off hardware sales (They have said many times that utilities such as the Music, Video and App Stores are all to promote their hardware).

Most Apple customers tend to upgrade fairly regularly, be it every year, or every two to three years. Very, VERY few people would consider upgrading a full television set that often.

That said, I think it's fairly likely that the TV will be updated at this event. Munster is right in point out that the hardware is over two years old.

 

[Mike Teezie]

Give us a 1TB and 2TB models please in the form of an iTunes server that hooks to the TV. 40GB model is just ridiculous with today's HD content and the general size of people's libraries.

Are we finally going to see Apple transition the Apple TV from a "hobby" to an actual proud product with some huge innovation?

Hell yes. I like my AppleTV's, I really do. But what you described above would just be awesome.

I wouldn't have to leave my Mac Pro on all the time to serve content to my AppleTV's anymore, and that sounds very, very nice. And if it could stream content to my mac Pro and Macbook Pro, that would be even better. I would delete all the media from my Mac Pro immediately.

I don't see it having a Blu-ray player, and that's fine with me. I would assume that anyone who forks out $230 for what is honestly a rather limited device would already have a Blu-ray player.

 

[spakle]

This is simple:

1. Make the Apple TV more like the Sonos but with video.

2. There needs to be a remote. ipod touch/iphone are great but both are expensive. Make a $59 remote that does nothing more than be a remote and maybe some apps.

3. Add storage (either internal or external). It does not make sense to have two systems running to listen to music or watch a video. That's like asking your computer to be on while watching a dvd. Also, people are confused on the idea of having both systems running - maybe a reason why people don't buy.

4. Subscription service that will lower the costs.

There, done. Everyone is happy (minus the Blu-ray people)

 

[randy98mtu]

First off I love both of my apple tv's, they are fantastic boxes and I have canceled cable and use them in their place. The reason apple considered this product a hobby and that it has not taken off is simple, look at this thread. Everyone has a different setup and wants different things out of their apple set top box. Some want blu ray, some want dvr functionality, some want 1080p, while others want video games. This wide variety of need is exactly why this segment hasn't exploded like the i Pod did. Music lacks options there are subscriptions services and a la carte options both of which deliver music in one of a small number of codecs. This allows one device to cater to most peoples music need. Video is so much more complicated, tons of codecs and popular delivery options. Apple needs to do only a few things in my opinion.

1. Expand on their current season pass model to offer more $$ discounts when you purchase more content.

2. Lower the price, I really think a lot more people would try the apple tv if it were at 150-200 rather than 220-300.

3. Allow for content to be streamed from a computer or network share without itunes running.

You make an excellent point. I think your points are spot on as well about the season pass model offering a larger discount and the cost of the unit needs to be 199 or less. I need to have my iMac running 24/7 for my wife's business anyway, so streaming doesn't bother me at all. I can see though that most people are not in this boat and many people don't even have a desktop anymore.

I think additionally that the App store will come to ATV. This will increase the popularity 10 fold and bring games and social networking apps to the living room (via Apple, I know they are already there by other means.) Lastly, I think it only makes sense to make the hardware capable of 1080p. As many people have said, HD home movies are more and more coming in 1080p, so making it possible to watch those on our fancy TV's is only logical.

 

[trip1ex]

Apple should make their iPod docks more attractive instead of pushing ATV on folks.

They'd sell a feck ton more docks if they price them (and the cables etc) more reasonably.

IN addition to lowering the price all they need to do is add a basic functions to the remote control/dock. LIke the ability to navigate the iPod menus even it was done in black and white on your TV and even if the menus were just a small subset.

I think one problem is Apple wants folks to buy a nice expensive iPod and then they want folks to turn around buy basically another expensive iPod for their TV.

Instead give folks another reason to pick up an iPod or a new Ipod. And a reason to buy docks for every computer and tv in their house.

 

[adamcz]

Give me Netflix access same as on the xbox, and apps for the major sports packages (along the lines of the MLB iphone app), and I'll buy one. For me, sports and movies are all the content I need/want to watch on my tv, and it is looking feasible that Apple could provide 100% of that to me if they sign the right contracts. A Hulu app wouldn't hurt either.

But if either thing (Netflix or sports) is missing, then it's just an extra box that doesn't replace one of the existing boxes for me, and I'll probably pass.

 

[madog]

Blu-Ray: As much as I would like one, it won't be economically feasible. Adding one would jack up Apple TV's price toward PS3's territory ($300). Apple TV needs to go down in price ($200 or less), not up.

1080p: Many people say 1080p isn't necessary or realistic (aside from trailers and home movies, not much contents available legally), but back when Apple TV first came out, there wasn't much 720p contents either. Slight refresh in CPU and/or GPU should allow 1080p at no cost.

Subscription: Netflix-style subscription is a must, either by striking agreements with content publishers or partnering with Netflix and the likes.

App Store: App Store would be fantastic, for anything from games, social networking, to additional codecs.

Safari: Particularly if it adds Flash for Vimeo, Hulu, etc.

AppleTV as a TV: Although I would jump at the chance of such product, TV is highly saturated market. It is said that Apple does have prototypes, so it is not entirely outside the realm of possibility, but I don't see it happening yet. It would be fantastic if Apple TV gets passthrough audio/video input, however. That would allow Apple TV contents (App Store apps, video, audio) to appear regardless of active video contents (simply connect it between receiver/switcher and TV).

Larger hard disk: Some users stream from another PC or Mac, which is fine. But Apple TV should get larger SATA hard disk for those that prefer faster and dedicated local access. Also, enable external hard disk via USB already (bonus point for DLNA).

Better remote: Although some like simplity of Apple Remote, I would like something that can minimally control the TV (input, power) and audio volume (TV, receiver) as well.

I always have high hopes for Apple updates, but I'd have to say "Nay" on all of those. Anything logical would make this a viable product in the market place, and Apple wouldn't go and do something silly like that. Larger HDD update...... maybe the base model to 80gb (since from Apple that would be a $100 drive) and that's it.