Apple Introduces Updated Apple TV with Netflix Integration, TV Show Rentals

[monty77]

Hmmm .. I don't like it when they change the $ to £ sign on new products, it makes it feel expensive.

£99 - VAT = ~£84
$99 + sales tax for CA (where I go to most) = $108 = £72 (@ 1.5USD to 1 GBP)

..so it's £12 pricier in the UK, or nearly 15% more expensive than US. That's quite a leap.

Anyway, I've pre-ordered as I'll have a few days to mull it over anyway. It's a massive shame that Apple approved apps haven't made it yet .. I was dreaming of a nice XBMC / Plex app running on it without the need for hacks - although to be fair XBMC works pretty nicely on my modded original TV

M

 

[mrkowalski]

$99 is compelling

I am a little disappointed that they did not add iOS app ability.
Perhaps they tried it and found the experience a little awkward.
Apple does not sell awkward.

The $99 is very compelling.
I have wanted another unit, but did not think
I would get enough use out of it to justify the cost.

For this price, I am sold.

 

[ChrisA]

Apple TV
Price: $99
Resolution: 720P

Are you kidding? I was all get to get one, but not if it is only 720.

I don't give a crap about renting or buying Hollywood movies I just want to show content I shot with my own cameras on my TV. OK can can burn bluray disks at 1080p then walk them over to the TV but is there a device like ATV that will allow display of video and photos over a network connection.

Looks like I'll just get an older PC notebook and use software on it like this
http://www.mythtv.org/detail/mythtv

 

[dmm219]

1. Google stock goes through the roof...

2. Kevin Rose is having a terrible week...his digg update has been a disaster...and he's been quoted everywhere that the new ATV will "change everything". If it can't get an ATV owner to upgrade...it ain't gonna change anything...

 

[adztaylor]

Hmmm .. I don't like it when they change the $ to £ sign on new products, it makes it feel expensive.

£99 - VAT = ~£84
$99 + sales tax for CA (where I go to most) = $108 = £72 (@ 1.5USD to 1 GBP)

..so it's £12 pricier in the UK, or nearly 15% more expensive than US. That's quite a leap.

Anyway, I've pre-ordered as I'll have a few days to mull it over anyway. It's a massive shame that Apple approved apps haven't made it yet .. I was dreaming of a nice XBMC / Plex app running on it without the need for hacks - although to be fair XBMC works pretty nicely on my modded original TV

M

Any guesses as to what UK content will cost?

 

[ArcaneDevice]

What other companies are streaming 1080p over the internet?

Should the AppleTV be made to support the distant future? At $99 what's the big deal? You can get a new one once that happens in a few years.

Hulu is not allowed on TVs. They'd have to change their deals with the studios
before they could be added to the AppleTV.

Vudu streams in 1080p and DD+ and of course Hulu is allowed on TV. Hulu+ is appearing on many devices already. From the PS3 to all new Samsung internet-enabled devices.

This is why AppleTV is just more of the same. Roku have been delivering the same content for years with more partners, DLNA boxes and devices have been streaming PC content for years, Netflix is on almost every AV consumer device on the market now (I have four and I don't even have a Netflix sub!) and all manufacturers are shipping their new televisions and media and optical players with Web-app functionality.

My Blu-ray player is already streaming Netflix, Vudu, Hulu+, Blockbuster, Roxio and many other VOD services. AppleTV is aimed directly at the technologically ignorant because if that audience took a look around they would see everything AppleTV is providing being literally thrown in as freebies on other devices.

 

[DavidLeblond]

Well Hulu Plus just showed up on my Sony Blue Ray player this week, so it is allowed on TVs. Hulu Plus is $10/month. Although the menu item has been added, it will be a few weeks before Sony turns it on.

What model Bluray player? I'm looking for something to stream my Hulu Plus. Samsung only has one $250 player that'll do it.

 

[gri]

Simple. It competes by actually working.

I looked a while ago into all these boxes for streaming Netflix content. I didn't find anyone where people did not report problems to connect to an airport system (maybe 6-12 months ago). Now this thing for me is easy it seems - I plug it in and connect and off we go. Thats all I need. I don't care about iOS on my TV I just want to watch a movie if I don't have any DVD available and feel like watching something (or have the time for it, ha ha ha...). All those guys complaining about hulu here, only 720 there: Don't buy it period and you will be fine.

 

[edoates]

Most TVs? Most means Greater than 50%. I guarantee you MOST TVs are not 1080p.

I didn't say "most TV's", I said "Most HD TVs." Big difference.
It's hard to even find a 720p HD TV anymore.

 

[fiatlux]

Apple TV is still only 720p...not 1080p like Blu-Ray.

Even on a 32¨ 720p TV, I can clearly see the quality difference between a Blu-ray and the same content encoded for AppleTV (much much lower bitrate), not to mention DTS-HD vs Dolby Digital passthrough only. I'm not saying the AppleTV sucks, but BluRay still has the edge in image and sound quality.

 

[Xtremehkr]

Apple TV is still only 720p...not 1080p like Blu-Ray.

Most people don't care. Most people prefer ease and convenience. Before a product like this is released lots and lots of market research is done to determine if it is something that people are going to purchase or not. What the research shows is that most people are not going to miss a little bit of extra resolution. What is also shown is that people are going to love the convenience that comes with media integration and instant access to new movies the day they come out without having to drive to the store or risk not getting an available copy.

It's only a matter of time now before Blu Ray has nothing more to offer than AppleTV.

It's inevitable, the VHS cassette, DVD, Blu Ray model is dying. It's wasteful, it's unnecessary, it's costly. There is just no need to separate digital content, place it on a stand alone disc, ship it all over the world, and store it outside of a media center.

 

[Gaijin de Moscu]

At the moment, I like my old ATV + ATVFlash setup more than the new ATV. I store GIGs upon GIGs of kids flicks and collectible movies on a 2 TB USD drive, without the need to synch, stream, or use my iMac in any other way.

Why would I buy a simple streaming add-on as an 'upgrade'? So I have to re-rent "Up!" every time one of my 3 kids wants to watch it? Or so I have to wake up my iMac all the way back in the study every time I or someone in the family want to watch a stored movie? I don't understand the logic. I'm obviously not one of those savvy consumers Steve mentioned.

The new ATV is a step aside for my needs. Good thing the old one works!

I'm quite sure this new thing will be broken into to enable external storage within weeks.

 

[ksgant]

Hulu is not allowed on TVs. They'd have to change their deals with the studios before they could be added to the AppleTV.

So my old PC sitting here running Hulu on my TV is illegal?

 

[lilo777]

Apple TV - dead end

Most of ATV functionality already exists in modern TV sets (Netflix, DLNA etc.). What's left? TV rentals? I am sure this will be added to TV sets soon. So why do we need extra little box that offers no added functionality?

 

[notabadname]

Too little (res), too late

I'll take an all-in-one, thank you. Too many boxes under the stereo cabinet for me to put this "master of nothing" in my rack. LG has a beautiful new blu-ray player that streams Netflix, Roxio CinemaNow, Pandora music and the largest 1080p movie library from Vudu, plus Vudu's 720p library. And, you can download them earlier and save them for later viewing on the built-in 250GB hard drive. Anyone who thinks the AppleTV won't occasionally have buffering issues is kidding themselves. If I invite friends over for dinner and a movie, I want to load the movie while they are driving over. Nothing more distracting in a film than stutter from streaming/buffering issues, like I had while watching the Keynote today. It is a fact of current digital streaming with the massive files that comprise movies.

So ironic that Steve said today (to effect), "the HD war is over and HD won". Yet still no blu-ray support from Apple and only 720p support. And if you say there is no difference in 1080p and 720p, you simply do not know what you are talking about or do not have a screen larger than 45 inches. That is why Vudu requires twice the download speed for streaming "HDX" over "HD". Twice the data, twice the picture information. That is like saying a 3 megapixel camera doesn't provide a better image than a 1.5 megapixel camera.

From Vudu's site:

HD (720p) requires 2.25 Mbps
HDX (1080p) requires 4.5 Mbps

 

[steve-p]

I'll be keeping my old Apple TV. In fact I may quickly buy a second one before they all disappear from stock. Totally underwhelmed by the new one.

 

[braintumor]

I hope it has an integrated DLNA client or something so I can also play/stream my MKV, Xvid and avi files without hacking it...

Without that, I will just buy a LED TV from Samsung with integrated Netflix and DLNA client...

The apple tv is just a desperate attempt to make a extra buck with their rental service...

 

[Small White Car]

So my old PC sitting here running Hulu on my TV is illegal?

Not at all, feel free.

It'd be illegal for you to start a business and sell it as a "Hulu Box," though. They'd come after you then.
(We're talking about the non-plus version of Hulu here.)

 

[nkawtg72]

with AppleTV, i would like to see "AirPlay" integration added to MacOS X system wide, rather than just in iTunes.

would be nice to be able to sling content from Keynote, Apple DVD Player, iMovie, iDVD, etc.

 

[gdvglobal]

Any Visualizer Options?

Any chance the latest iteration of Apple TV will have a visualizer option?

One thing I didn't like about my early gen Apple TV was the lack of a music visualizer. I now have to connect my macbook pro to the TV and listen via itunes to use any visualizer. Looking for a simpler option...

 

[paradox00]

Air Play and Third Party Apps?

Title says it all. Will Apple allow third party apps to output video through Air Play? If they did, it would be huge.

No Hulu plus on Apple TV? No problem, stream it from your iPhone.
No Apps on Apple TV? No problem, send the video feed to Apple TV and keep everything else on your nice multitouch iOS device.

My gut says third party apps will not be supported, but they really should be. So much potential there.

 

[azentropy]

Most of ATV functionality already exists in modern TV sets (Netflix, DLNA etc.). What's left? TV rentals? I am sure this will be added to TV sets soon. So why do we need extra little box that offers no added functionality?

So those TV's integrate with an iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone?

 

[jaysonmc]

Music?

WHERE IS MY MUSIC?

The reason I purchased the old Apple TV was it gave me a way to play my music collection in my living room without having to have a computer on; sure the syncing bit was horrendous but once it was there it was there. Now I have to have to turn on my computer just to listen to music, this seems backwards.


I am seriously hoping they enable some kind of iTunes in the cloud structure. I don't mind buying into the iTunes platform, but I should be able to listen to all my music wherever I want without being tied to another device being turned on. If the can stream my iTunes purchased music from the cloud, I would be on board; or maybe a direct way to stream music from Mobile Me directly to Apple TV.

 

[ksgant]

Not at all, feel free.

It'd be illegal for you to start a business and sell it as a "Hulu Box," though. They'd come after you then.
(We're talking about the non-plus version of Hulu here.)

Oh, i see what you're saying.

 

[err404]

lol what? - 4,99 $ for a rental movie / 15 $ for a new released Blu-Ray with special features etc and u OWN it

There are VERY few movies that I like enough to watch more then once. I'll happily pay $5 to rent most movies and maybe buy a select few BD to collect.