Someone bought me an Apple TV for my birthday and I was a bit peeved because you shouldn't really buy me technology and I knew the rumours. I also returned the item but I felt bad for my friend who thought it was a great present.
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Apple Not Yet Ready to Show Major Revamp of Apple TV Hardware
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Someone bought me an Apple TV for my birthday and I was a bit peeved because you shouldn't really buy me technology and I knew the rumours. I also returned the item but I felt bad for my friend who thought it was a great present.
I often wondered why they don't have the App Store yet....
Maybe they aren't going to do an App Store on the ATV until they figure out how to not lose money on their desktop computer products? The App Store would have to limit apps IMHO in order for Apple to not lose income. IMHO, If the ATV had apps, it would immediately become one of the cheapest "desktops" on the market.
I know many people who would be completely happy with an Apple TV, 32 inch HDTV, and a wireless keyboard along with apps like iLife & iWork, DropBox, etc. I know many who'd choose this over a Mac Mini. Plus, you'd have a ton of games!
I think the absence of the App Store supports this theory....
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That is the joy of my rooted ATV2. I use XBMC to play movies off my Network attached storage drive. The system works well. I have an eyeTV to record the movies I want to watch later, convert them to .m4v files and copy them to the NAS for viewing later. I hardly ever want to see a movie more than once so buying for me seems silly. Basically it is a cable DVR system without the $20/month cable company charge.
Another neat benefit is the YouTube plugin for XBMC is very handy in that is saves searches so you can come back to the search and watch videos in searches you haven't seen (watched episodes are denoted with check marks).
My hope for the next ATV is that they include a version of the A7 processor and it is capable of playing 4K video. Yes I know there isn't a lot of 4K available but I do see such video coming online relatively soon and 4K screen prices should also rapidly drop.
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Where do you get that idea from that 'Apple makes it very difficult'? They don't at all. Rip, drag and play. With music, just put the CD into the drive while iTunes is up, and iTunes WILL ASK YOU if you want to rip those into iTunes. Click a button, and wait a few minutes. How is this exactly 'making it difficult'?
You can sync up your iPad/iPod Touch/iPhone to your computer and all those non-iTunes media are right on your device without any fuss.
Boy, I am so glad I don't have friends like you. You are a killjoy. He would have set up the Apple TV, had fun with it, and would have cared very little that a marginally better version came out a few weeks later. Now you have convinced him it is not good enough to have 99%; he should not be satisfied without that absolutely latest speed bump. Thanks to you, "he had to" make multiple trips to the Apple store, for very little if any benefit. You have added sour to the sweet. You imagine you are being thoughtful, but you lack true empathy. Your friends will be happier people if you learn when not to open your mouth and "help" them.
I always tell my friends to be patient if they want to have a newer model. I'd think they might be mad at ME if I didn't advise them to wait and they found out their brand new purchase was already outdated.
It all depends on your perspective.
It's just TV. It's not the end of the world to wait for a new product.
But there are tons of 'Android-on-a-stick' pcs already. Or a raspberry pi that actually runs a desktop os instead of mobile.
The current AppleTV is almost a commodity purchase at that price point. Lots are given as gifts from tech savvy friends. Bring luddites into the digital age.
The lack of central story is why it is a "hobby" for Apple which tend to focus on "high concept" products like "a better PC", "a better phone", "a better pad". Apple TV is roughly on par with Roku and the other also-rans. It has some brand specific features and integration, but for the majority of content consumption the alternative choices and generic choices is "vast".
I would think this would make it a Christmas season release. The quiet update should be out by 20 November.
Rocketman
The lack of central story is why it is a "hobby" for Apple which tend to focus on "high concept" products like "a better PC", "a better phone", "a better pad". Apple TV is roughly on par with Roku and the other also-rans. It has some brand specific features and integration, but for the majority of content consumption the alternative choices and generic choices is "vast".
I would think this would make it a Christmas season release. The quiet update should be out by 20 November.
Rocketman
You are going to be waiting a very long time for that ATV 3 to burn out. At this stage I'm pretty sure they have this hardware worked out. I've got four, including the first one which isn't hooked up to anything. I've never had any trouble with any of them. If a new one comes out and it provides a new feature or better quality (and still costs $100) I will probably buy it and sell the oldest one.
I don't think you can mirror your laptop or mobile device with Chromecast. Really useful to mirror my MacBook Pro. Chromecast is cool though, especially at such a low price point. It's not quite a direct competitor to the AppleTV, but it does what it does well.
ATV could replace a portion the desktop need if it had an App Store.
Who's making them? Evidently, they aren't popular for some reason as no one is running out to replace their PCs with them.
Raspberry Pi isn't an average consumer product. It's more for the "tech-type" person who is deeply into computing. I have one and it's not a very stable system or supported system as compared to Apple.
It's not a big leap to see the ATV becoming very popular with an App Store as suddenly, everything that is available on your iPhone, iPad, etc, would suddenly be available as a desktop. I'd toss our PCs out the window if this happened.
Who's making them? Evidently, they aren't popular for some reason as no one is running out to replace their PCs with them.
Raspberry Pi isn't an average consumer product. It's more for the "tech-type" person who is deeply into computing. I have one and it's not a very stable system or supported system as compared to Apple.
It's not a big leap to see the ATV becoming very popular with an App Store as suddenly, everything that is available on your iPhone, iPad, etc, would suddenly be available as a desktop. I'd toss our PCs out the window if this happened.
I'm not real sure what they could possibly add to Apple TV other than Siri support.
The App Store thing would be a nicety but I just don't see Apple going that direction. For example, if Amazon wanted their Amazon Prime Instant Watch App on the Apple TV they would just enable AirPlay on their iOS app and be done with it.
Lots of video apps from content providers don't want their content on the Apple TV for whatever reason, and Apple adding an App Store to the Apple TV isn't going to change that.
The App Store thing would be a nicety but I just don't see Apple going that direction. For example, if Amazon wanted their Amazon Prime Instant Watch App on the Apple TV they would just enable AirPlay on their iOS app and be done with it.
Lots of video apps from content providers don't want their content on the Apple TV for whatever reason, and Apple adding an App Store to the Apple TV isn't going to change that.
yup the Xbox and PS3 are way better media wise then the Apple TV. The issue is they are so much more expensive. The Xbox 360 you need xbox live to get netflix or ESPN or HBOGO. So $60 a year on top of the fees to use those services is not as good as $99 bucks for the ATV + fees for those services.
The PS3 is a better option as well and now you can get a used one for $150 at gamestop. If you don't want to play games then not so much. No yearly fee to use online capabilities but no where near what Xbox has
Roku and the chromecast are cheaper options that do the same thing as the ATV. Issue is how important is itunes to you. Itunes upsets me as they charge way too much for content. All movies are $20 bucks on HD, music is 10-18 bucks basically the same price as best buy. Amazon has HD movies 5-10 bucks and music sometimes as low as $4-7 bucks. I thought going digital was suppose to make things cheaper.
As soon as I heard the announcement for the original AppleTV and how it would be integrated with iTunes, I preordered one precisely for this reason. My entire video collection has been digital for years, discs being secured in boxes in the basement if I ever need to re-encode them. This beats Netflix, etc, imho.
iTunes is simply the storage locker for the Apple TV. You don't have to buy anything from iTunes at all to watch movies on Apple TV. Buy the movie wherever you want, Amazon, WalMart, whatever. Rip them or convert them to an mp4 (very easy), drag them into iTunes. Done.
The only advantage to purchasing movies through iTunes, is that you now have your movies 'in the cloud' (and also a local copy if you want it).
Adding to my earlier post. By having a NAS, the same m4v video files I play on my rooted Apple TV, I can play on my iPad using the program "Remote Files". It is nice to have my media files on a common storage unit that doesn't Ned to be a full blown computer running day in and day out. Granted that a NAS unit is a rudimentary computer, it serves it's purpose well and simply.
question: I know one can set up a remote shared itunes library. Can Apple TV and ios devices access that shred library if it is stored on a NAS and all the sharing Macs and PCs are turned off.
question: I know one can set up a remote shared itunes library. Can Apple TV and ios devices access that shred library if it is stored on a NAS and all the sharing Macs and PCs are turned off.
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There are lots of things to add. Siri, Apple Store, use of the touch pad, a camera for FaceTime in the living room would rock.
If the content providers felt they were going to make money being on AppleTV they would get on AppleTV. For some reason they are reluctant to make the move. I think they are maybe waiting to see how the whole AppleTV pans out. I'm betting the App Store comes with the Apple TV we are all waiting for. It's probably not the right time yet.
I hope for an App Store! C'mon Apple give it to us!
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Kinect-like controls are dumb
I tried using the Samsung Smart TV motion controls and voice controls for a few weeks. It got so annoying that I just had to turn it all off. A remote control is way easier and has less of the creepy factor that using a camera inside your living room brings.
Please Apple, don't tell me this is what all the AppleTV hype is leading to.
I tried using the Samsung Smart TV motion controls and voice controls for a few weeks. It got so annoying that I just had to turn it all off. A remote control is way easier and has less of the creepy factor that using a camera inside your living room brings.
Please Apple, don't tell me this is what all the AppleTV hype is leading to.