There lies this concept's fatal flaw. While the iTunes/iPod pairing was a quantim leap over CD players, the same cannot be said for itunes movies and AppleTV. HP at least had presence in mind to embed their media extender hardware into T.V.'s.
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Apple Announces Apple TV (Formerly 'iTV')
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There lies this concept's fatal flaw. While the iTunes/iPod pairing was a quantim leap over CD players, the same cannot be said for itunes movies and AppleTV. HP at least had presence in mind to embed their media extender hardware into T.V.'s.
I am an Apple fan, but I have to agree with this poster. Apple has missed this one. For $299, they should have included at least the following abilities:
1) Ability to play surround sound. If you look at the Tech Specs, it cannot do any surround sound. Why even have optical port?
2) Ability to play VIDEO_TS. Converting DVDs to H.264 (and losing surround sound info) is not really feasible for most people since it takes a while to convert.
3) Still need a DVD player on the component rack. Why not have a slot loading DVD player in it so I can get rid of the DVD player and replace it with this box.
4) Need to play other video formats such as DiVX, MPEG2. Need to be able to play upto 1080p. All those people that went and bought 1080P TVs are going to disappointed.
5) I am not too disappointed about the HD size since I can still use my computer as the main storage area and use the 40GB as just temporary cache. This HD basically allows us to watch 720p movies using just 802.11g by syncing first instead of streaming.
With all these disadvantages, and the inability to hook up an eyeTV Hybrid for PVR functionality, I have almost decided to get a Mac Mini instead of this. While it is double the price, it gets rid of all of the above weaknesses. It will also allow for third party applications and ability to hook up external HDs.
Media Central and eyeTV software allow for true surround sound formats. Quicktime still does not!!
Why REPLACE the Mac Mini?
Frankly that's all this is, simply minus the full operating capablity. I'm all about hooking up a Mac Mini to an HDTV and making it part of my entertainment system. Wireless mouse and keyboard can be busted out as needed for websurfing and email and other apps. Now that I've read up on the Apple TV, I'm still all about it. This new thing is a disappointment. The whole keynote was a disappointment...
Frankly that's all this is, simply minus the full operating capablity. I'm all about hooking up a Mac Mini to an HDTV and making it part of my entertainment system. Wireless mouse and keyboard can be busted out as needed for websurfing and email and other apps. Now that I've read up on the Apple TV, I'm still all about it. This new thing is a disappointment. The whole keynote was a disappointment...
What is it with you people? When SJ pre-announced iTV last year, and mentioned the price, you people thought that it was an interesting product. Now that they told more about it and also told that it comes with a HD, it's suddenly "too expensive"? So, it wasn't too expensive when they pre-announced it without HD and at same price, but now it suddenly is?
I'm very interested in getting one. I need something simple and elegant for media-playback. I could just rip my DVD's to the computer, and stream them to AppleTV.
Correct me if I am wrong please but do you have to actually sync with your itunes and wait for the movie to transfer to your appletv box hard drive before you watch it, rather than stream (like you can do on the xbox360 for example) Am I reading the apple store site correctly on this point ? Doesn't seem a very ellegant solution at all to me.....
uk here by the way so whole show was a total wash out for me i'm afraid
uk here by the way so whole show was a total wash out for me i'm afraid
Not true, i have loads of movies on my iMac that i can stream to the tv and all my music......i obviously didn't buy the movies from iTunes since we don't have it
Apple today formerly 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.
[ Digg This ]
I can't believe it only does 720p. Let's hope some third party makes a competing device. And YES I do have lots of content with greater than 720 lines - my entire iPhoto library. And I'm sure my next video camera will do 1080 also. I refuse to spend $299 on something that will need to be upgraded to day it is installed
I'm sure a few people will buy this but I'll will pass until the second generation Apple TV device comes out with 1080p and a lower price.
2 great posts. At this price it is downright silly to buy it.
It needs DVR function and ability to watch any media on mac. Also a dvd super drive. So, I can get rid of my dvd player.
This and super expensive iPhone. This macworld is a mega-bummer !!
Seconded, for me it was a sad day, the end of Apple Computer and nothing concerning the Mac at all.
In a couple of years time OS X will be open on all Windows boxes and I expect to be running Linux. What a shame.
Hmmmm...the initial information seems a bit contradictory. It seems as first that only iTunes content can me played via syncing but then the MacRumours post says one of the features is it ' - can stream from up to 5 computers (or from apple.com/trailers)'
I'm just gonna wait until its reviewed before I make a final decision. I want to love it, but can't right now.
I'm just gonna wait until its reviewed before I make a final decision. I want to love it, but can't right now.
God, I hate when I'm in agreement with the Dark Lord of the Pacific Northwest. This is one failing we can squarely lay on the personal biases on Steve Jobs.
oh well i bought it the second the store came up
Yeah, me too. I think it looks like just the ticket for me, but I've got a month or more to cancel my order if I change my mind, and if not, I'll (hopefully) be one of the first to get it.
Most of my pictures are shot at 3888x2592, and here I am watching those very same pics on a screen that only does 1280x1024. Go figure.
/. is reporting that Sling is introducing Slingcatcher today which seems to be a more generic version of aTV. And at $200 is cheaper.
Still, I placed my order for my aTV. It'll find a place by one of our HDTVs...
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070108-8569.html
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I just don't get this product at all. Can someone explain these things to me.
- Can I stream the movies I have on my hard drive? or do they have to be only inside iTunes?
- Can you stream DVDs?
- It seems a bit like a mac mini but without OS X, DVD drive, Large Hard Drive but with a HDMI socket?
- Can I stream the movies I have on my hard drive? or do they have to be only inside iTunes?
- Can you stream DVDs?
- It seems a bit like a mac mini but without OS X, DVD drive, Large Hard Drive but with a HDMI socket?
Uh, let's just say that you are wrong. Do you know what "streaming" is? It can store content locally. AND it can stream content from your Mac. In other words: It can stream content that is NOT stored on the device, it's stored on the computer!
Photos will probably do 1080 lines. It is just the video that is 720p. I bet they have a very low power Intel processor in it that has trouble doing 1080p. My main pet peeve is the lack of surround sound. I would rather spend $300 more for a Mac Mini and have all these features and also the following:
1) DVD player
2) True Surround sound including DTS pass through
3) In addition to Front Row, Media Central to play other media formats, google video, youTube
4) DVR using eyeTV Hybrid and external HD.
5) Still can Bonjour share iPhoto and iTunes from main computer in office.
6) Can buy music/movies from living room instead of going to office.
7) Living room video chat using iSight or some other video camera.
Well, technically, the iTV Hard disk capacity is 40GB + all the Hard disk capacity you have in 6 of your computers.
Yes, plus a huge drive connected to the USB port of the new AirPort Extreme!
You can use all your drive space, it doesn't have to sit inside the Apple TV.
Photos will probably do 1080 lines. It is just the video that is 720p. I bet they have a very low power Intel processor in it that has trouble doing 1080p. My main pet peeve is the lack of surround sound. I would rather spend $300 more for a Mac Mini and have all these features and also the following:
1) DVD player
2) True Surround sound including DTS pass through
3) In addition to Front Row, Media Central to play other media formats, google video, youTube
4) DVR using eyeTV Hybrid and external HD.
5) Still can Bonjour share iPhoto and iTunes from main computer in office.
6) Can buy music/movies from living room instead of going to office.
7) Living room video chat using iSight or some other video camera.
I recently bought a 1080P HD-ILA JVC TV. I was waiting for the iTV. But I think I am going to wait and buy a Mac Mini as soon as they upgrade that to Core 2 Duo. Hopefully that happens soon! Hopefully they enhance the graphics too.
Oh at least I know now. All I've been saying in my posts it that it seems like you couldn't stream from your computer (what would be the point in a hard drive if you can stream from your mac?)
this is an OK product. i dont know if people want to stream content from their computer. I'd much rather have a Mac Lite DVR with all these capabilities and a Mini OS X built in. I'd pay $600 for that!
just ordered an Apple TV - and shipping date is ....... 28th feb with a delivery date of 2nd march
great got to wait
great got to wait
The iPhone is the new Mac.
The iPhone is a radical new approach to personal computing (how much more personal can you get than a computer that fits in your pocket!). I can see a whole family of computer products behind this now that OS X runs on an embedded Intel-supplied platform. I presume that aTV is one of these too, and probably runs OS X on an Xscale processor.
I'm in awe.
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