Apple Launches Apple TV 3.0 Software and iTunes 9.0.2

[robgreene]

BEST UPDATE YET (And for an undocumented reason!)

For the first time, I'm able to stream something without the sync between iTunes and tv cancelling. Every version prior (for me anyway), streaming (or even PLAYING a previously synced movie or song) would cancel any sync taking place. Unless I'm the only one that was having that issue, this is a HUGE update that people will really appreciate!

 

[thecypher]

Thanks for sharing your setup - I may have to play around with some of the extra PC hardware I have and look into something similar. Using XBMC on the appleTVs throughout my home (some wired and some wireless) gives me access to everything on my HP MediaSmart 4TB WHS. What I am lacking though compared to your setup would be the netflix plug-in (on my xbox 360s) and blu-ray (standalone players) - but all in one box like you. Great home entertainment setup - thanks again for the ideas.

Keep in mind wired LAN is a must for Blu-ray streaming. Doesn't work over wifi. You get stuttering. I have a wired LAN so it works great. And I build my own WHS also which I use to store my disc images, videos, music etc. Although with that one I think spending a few extra hundred dollars on the HP MediaSmart is definitely worth it just for the ability to plug in drives into the racks as needed.

 

[kolax]

I'm 0/2 on updates. Downloads then reboots with the failed update message. Looks like I'm going to have to try a factory restore or manual update. Does anyone know the path to the 3.0 software at Apple's servers?

Out of interest, how would you perform a manual update..? You don't think it failing is because of the eSATA mod..?

 

[fpnc]

...Something curious to note, on that page the very last option for the "What do you use your Apple TV for?" section is

[Watch content from DVDs]

Does anyone know if there is a "supported" way to do this?

Yes, some DVDs and Blu-ray discs contain so-called Digital Copies that can be legally copied to your PC/Mac and played in iTunes and on the Apple TV.

 

[shiseiryu1]

Internet Radio Available in 3.0!

Yay! Apple finally put Internet Radio on the AppleTV! Also, the new interface looks good and better utilizes widescreen TVs. Keep making an already great product even better.

 

[ccrandall77]

I used to disagree with you, but now my blu-ray collection has grown to 150 titles and it just flat out beats iTunes HD movies in sheer quality. To have everything in one box would be absolutely heavenly.

DVD is more realistic at this point. Bluray would be nice, but I hope Apple wouldn't make too many compromises to support the DRM with Bluray.

Hopefully, downloads will replace optical media in the near future. Right now I rip all my DVDs and CDs and make 3 backups of everything (with 2 in a saftey deposit box). I'd hate to invest all that $$$ in movies and music only to find 10-20yrs down the road those disks will no longer play. Although I do have a few CDs from the mid-80's and they play just fine... perhaps they are not as prone to oxidization as DVDs?

 

[organerito]

The iTunes update for windows adds jump list support for windows 7. I hope it is not as buggy as all other previous versions.

 

[MacHiavelli]

Grid view dark:

iTunes
> Preferences
> General
> Grid View = Toggle light/dark

 

[ccrandall77]

Surely anyone who wants a decent front row is using Plex?

I'm trying Plex now since Front Row accessing a remote iTunes library is terrible (i.e. no album art, big monolithic TV show lists, etc.). However, when I went to set up my TV shows it found all but one TV show, and each show had 0 seasons and 0 episodes. So it seems a little rough around the edges... as one would expect from a 0.8.3 release.

But it definitely looks promising... much more so than Front Row which isn't even as good now as it was in the original release, IMO.

 

[thecypher]

Yes, but an option like you describe is only viable for computer geeks and hackers (no offense, those aren't derogatory terms). Plus, I guess you're not including the cost of that Vista Home Premium upgrade for each of those systems (but perhaps that came with the original Thinkcenter PCs?). That would drive the cost of your systems to about 2X what you'd pay for the Apple TV.

Frankly, for $225 the Apple TV is probably the best media center you can buy. Of course, if you already have an XBox 360 or a Sony PlayStation you can probably stay with those and save some money. But both of those products are price subsidized and you really can't expect Apple to sell a product for less than it costs to build.

Yes that is true. It requires some work. And yes they came with Vista otherwise it would cost a lot more. Price wise I guess $225 for the ATV is probably reasonable. You get the small form factor, low noise (not sure if it is fanless) and also the aesthetics. I just don't like the limitation of not being able to access Netflix and lack of Blu-ray capability which is very important to me.

 

[dynaflash]

You don't think it failing is because of the eSATA mod..?

Maybe ... but again I just did two updates on two eSata modded atv's and it went smooth like buttermilk.

 

[99John]

how does search work on ATV?

For searching for things on an Apple TV, what's the current interface? For ex, if I'm trying to find a random youtube video on ATV, how would I search for it? Please tell me you don't have to use one of those horrible A through Z squares? A better approach would be some sort of virtual keyboard (accessible thru iphone/ipod touch)? Does that exist?

 

[Cleverboy]

As much of an Apple Fanboy as I am, I don't get the Apple TV. It is just not worth $225 for very limited functionality. After much debate I bought 2 old IBM Thinkcenter PCs from ebay for about $80 a pop including shipping. These are built rock solid and came with 512MB RAM and 80GB HD. Spent a little $$ and got nice HDMI video cards, additional memory (Upgraded to 2GB), remote control with USB IR receiver, wireless keyboard/mouse. All in all for about $220 a piece I have nice HTPCs running Vista Home Premium in my living room and bedroom. I can stream blu-ray disks over my LAN to my living room and bedroom apart from all my DVDs, home videos, photos, music and most importantly I have the Media Center Netflix plug-in. Basically soup to nuts including iTunes and Amazon Video purchases. Since I have a wireless keyboard I can browse, watch HuLu content, YouTube and whatever else I want.

Vista Home Premium ($100) + PC, 80GB HD ($80) + HDMI video card ($30) + 2GB Memory ($50) + 802.11g Wireless dongle ($30) + Total Shipping ($40) = $330.

AppleTV, 160GB HD ($229) from Apple Store + Shipping ($0) = $229.

$330 (or much more) is a lot of money not to have a wireless remote. You have to simply admit that you feel you're paying more and getting more, but for someone willing to simply pay $229 (and not a penny more), the Apple TV provides an AMPLE amount of value that is virtually unmatched by any other device outside of a NetGear Entertainer, that will simply cost you more. With only a copy of iTunes running and a wireless connection, ANY Win/Mac computer can stream content to the Apple TV from anywhere in your house. Multiple systems in fact, on a virtually limitless amount of storage.

I simply rip my DVDs and Blu-ray discs in ISO format and have MyMovies plugin for Windows Media Center. As much as I hate Windows I have to admit there is no better setup than this out there today. And it has been working reliably for a few months now.

Honestly, you're a geek. There's nothing wrong with that (I am too), but the true test of utility in my book, is the possibility of everyone in the household being able to FULLY use the device without extra effort or explanation.

I carry my Apple TV between two houses (we stay at another house on the weekends), and hope to get an extra one to eliminate the travel... but its one small box and two wires (power & hdmi). ANYONE can set it up in two seconds. Low power, no noise. RIP all the Blu-Ray and DVD's you like and pop them right over to your Apple TV or stream them. If I'm missing my remote, I use my iPhone without problem (or my wife's).

If you want some complicated rig that costs nearly $350 a pop (unless you steal some software and call in some favors), I think your solution is just a pain in the ass (hard drive formatting, installations, hardware configuration, drivers... this isn't retail either and has NO support). For listening to movies, YouTube, music, podcasts, and Internet radio... there is simply nothing as economically feasible as an Apple TV at $229. Only if you're being honest with yourself however.

Is Apple TV the best solution? No. If you want sheer power and options, Windows Media Center is unmatched, especially with Netflix and its assortment of plugins available (not to mention live television recording and DVR). --But, not everyone wants all of that.

Life is short.

~ CB

 

[Cave Man]

Out of interest, how would you perform a manual update..? You don't think it failing is because of the eSATA mod..?

I've been able to update before.

The manual update is done with Disk Utility's restore abilities. Just drag the Boot partition to the destination and ATV update image to source, check initialize disk and restore. Takes about 2 minutes.

 

[FastangV6]

sorry for the noob question, but will updating to the new firmware un-do all of my boxee/xbmc/atvflash/etc. mods? Do I need to wait to update the ATV until updated versions of the mods/patchsticks are out?

 

[I'm 5 ft 8]

I think it's much easier to discuss iTunes here rather than in that vastly Apple TV dominated thread.

Agree.

 

[kolax]

sorry for the noob question, but will updating to the new firmware un-do all of my boxee/xbmc/atvflash/etc. mods? Do I need to wait to update the ATV until updated versions of the mods/patchsticks are out?

Of course.

 

[Bevz]

Well, i'll shove my first impressions into the mix...

1) New front page looks ok, but what's the crack with the settings drop down menu going OVER the ATV logo? It's just really bad UI design... Even worse the logo just crapily pops in and out when it does it... Very bad coding too

Also, am i the only one who's starting to have trouble reading the text... it started with the trailer screen... That's so damn small i have to be quite close to the TV to read it, and now the menu fonts on the front screen are about 4 times smaller.... I am prepared to accept the possibility that i'm just getting old and need to see an optician!

2) Well, there isn't a 2... Because really that's all i can see that's changed so far... Seems extremely light for a major upgrade! Although i am still to try to the new iTunes content...

Very underwhelmed... I expected more

 

[50548]

Itunes dark grids are back! Now i can upgrade from 9.0 and dont have to wait for hacks!

The dark grid is yet ANOTHER evidence of how quick and reactive Apple is in terms of providing features requested by a number of its customers...evne though I like the current white grid even more, I must say: APPLE HAS THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE.

 

[thecypher]

Vista Home Premium ($100) + PC, 80GB HD ($80) + HDMI video card ($30) + 2GB Memory ($50) + 802.11g Wireless dongle ($30) + Total Shipping ($40) = $330.

AppleTV, 160GB HD ($229) from Apple Store + Shipping ($0) = $229.

$330 (or much more) is a lot of money not to have a wireless remote. You have to simply admit that you feel you're paying more and getting more, but for someone willing to simply pay $229 (and not a penny more), the Apple TV provides an AMPLE amount of value that is virtually unmatched by any other device outside of a NetGear Entertainer, that will simply cost you more. With only a copy of iTunes running and a wireless connection, ANY Win/Mac computer can stream content to the Apple TV from anywhere in your house. Multiple systems in fact, on a virtually limitless amount of storage.

Honestly, you're a geek. There's nothing wrong with that (I am too), but the true test of utility in my book, is the possibility of everyone in the household being able to FULLY use the device without extra effort or explanation.

I carry my Apple TV between two houses (we stay at another house on the weekends), and hope to get an extra one to eliminate the travel... but its one small box and two wires (power & hdmi). ANYONE can set it up in two seconds. Low power, no noise. RIP all the Blu-Ray and DVD's you like and pop them right over to your Apple TV or stream them. If I'm missing my remote, I use my iPhone without problem (or my wife's).

If you want some complicated rig that costs nearly $350 a pop (unless you steal some software and call in some favors), I think your solution is just a pain in the ass (hard drive formatting, installations, hardware configuration, drivers... this isn't retail either and has NO support). For listening to movies, YouTube, music, podcasts, and Internet radio... there is simply nothing as economically feasible as an Apple TV at $229. Only if you're being honest with yourself however.

Is Apple TV the best solution? No. If you want sheer power and options, Windows Media Center is unmatched, especially with Netflix and its assortment of plugins available (not to mention live television recording and DVR). --But, not everyone wants all of that.

Life is short.

~ CB

The PCs came with Vista. Otherwise you are right. If I had to pay for Vista licenses separately it would cost more. I don't have wireless. The boxes came with built-in Gigabit ethernet. You need a wired LAN to stream Blu-ray. You do need to be a little bit of a geek to put it together. But now that it is hooked up even my little kids use it. I have programmed our Logitech Harmony remote to work with Media Center so it is very simple. Just one button wakes the HTPC and changes the TV to the right HDMI input. Then is is just up/down/left/right/OK/Back buttons from there on. Definitely not portable like the Apple TV. I just take my Macbook when I travel with a little Western Digital passport drive with the DVD ISOs on it. And with the little Apple Remote it makes for a great portable

 

[fpnc]

The 500 title limit is still present when browsing movies by Genre. This means, for example, that you can only browse down to titles that begin with "D" under the drama genre. Thus, you can't browse for any titles that begin with "E" through "Z" (omitting probably a few thousand titles).

Thus, the only way you can access all movies is to use the search function. This is kind of an annoyance and probably reveals some of the limitations that are being imposed by the hardware on the current Apple TV (limited memory or just lazy programming?). What they should offer is a way to browse after selecting an alphabetic range (similar to search but easier if you just want to browse without know what you are looking for).

Therefore, under the all movies section in each genre they'd have tabs for:

A - D, E - H, I - L, ...

 

[Biolizard]

The black background returns, yay!

 

[Cleverboy]

Yes that is true. It requires some work. And yes they came with Vista otherwise it would cost a lot more. Price wise I guess $225 for the ATV is probably reasonable. You get the small form factor, low noise (not sure if it is fanless) and also the aesthetics. I just don't like the limitation of not being able to access Netflix and lack of Blu-ray capability which is very important to me.

For a little over $100 you could get a Blu-Ray player that has BOTH of these features (as well as obviously playing DVDs), so as to round out your entertainment center. I know its really tempting for fellow geeks to invent scenarios where they think they're saving so much money, but I think your solution is VERY pricey and not available to average consumers at all. You started off by saying you didn't see the value for the $229, but I think its pretty clear the value is unbeatable at this point for what it does. The only question... is what it does valuable ENOUGH? Having experienced an explosion of Apple TV sales, I think Apple would have to say "yes". It's just a market category that doesn't quite make immediate sense to most people, so the tendency is to keep piling extra features into the category until it "feels right". All those extra features usually come at a price though.

With Netflix coming to PlayStation 3 slim, I'm planning to get one of those for my NetFlix/Blu-Ray needs. At $299, its a nice little addition that makes for a decent combo with Apple TV for a little over $500 cost (much less if you hit eBay like you mentioned in your original post).

~ CB

 

[theloon]

Good upgrade, hopefully paving the way for new ATV.

I like the UI, feels faster and top menu system is more inline with new iTunes layout. So overall a good intergration to the current look and feel IMO.

Does really needs hardware upgrade to support 30fps and 1080p encoded files, also 7.1 audio and 1TB hard disk.

I would also like the ATV OS to include Home Sharing to turn it into a media hub for the house.

My 10 cents

 

[saving107]

For the first time, I'm able to stream something without the sync between iTunes and tv cancelling. Every version prior (for me anyway), streaming (or even PLAYING a previously synced movie or song) would cancel any sync taking place. Unless I'm the only one that was having that issue, this is a HUGE update that people will really appreciate!

this is the first thing I noticed also, and now when you are listening to a song and then decided to navigate Movies/Tv Shows/Photos, the music continues to play until you select the movie you want to watch. previously, as soon as you switched to a different category the music stopped.