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Apple TV Adds Apps for Vevo, Weather Channel, Disney, and Smithsonian Channel

Agenda:

1. Update Apple TV software.
2. Hide the Disney Channel Apps.
3. Play with the Weather Channeland Smithsonian Apps to see what they're like.
4. Watch Netflix.
 
KellyC said:
Agreed. I don't needThat being said, as others have pointed out, what's to stop cable providers from simply jacking the rates for Internet? If we succeed in turning Cable into just another utility and provider of the dumb pipes that it should be, what's to stop them from charging well over $100 a month for Internet?
Click to expand...
They are doing it right now. My internet is with TWC and it is what is they consider a medium speed (15 down/2 up) - and it now cost $71 a month!!! If you live in Kansas City you get gigabit (for those who do not know, that is not 100 down, that is 1000 down!!!) from Google Fiber for that price!! Until there is real competition, we will continue to be gouged by cable providers. Google has shown they can shake things up. I wish there was more of this.
 
pacmanisback said:
Is anyone else not able to use the plex exploit anymore after this push? It stopped working for me after they showed up.
Click to expand...

Nope Plex connect is screwed at the moment. Given it's a HTML request string I imagine it will be a simple enough fix though. frekaing annoying though.

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/79086-when-apple-updates-apple-tv/page-2

I don't want to have to jailbreak again.

Just get on with it and make apps available on the ATV already!
 
prowlmedia said:
Nope Plex connect is screwed at the moment. Given it's a HTML request string I imagine it will be a simple fix though. frekaing annoying though.

I don't want to have to jailbreak again.

Just get on with it and make apps available on the ATV already -

I'd buy 3 x aTV4 if I could run the plex app on it. I even need a couple of TVs as replacements!
Click to expand...

I've been using Plex Connect all day today, despite the new apps. What difference would they make?
 
jklps said:
Finally some sense on this thread.

Every time there is an update, everyone gets mad that they can't get channels for free or directly...right now most traditional channels have no reason to switch to this way. Some estimate of ESPN would be 30 a month for people or higher - and yes a lot of cord cutters don't care if they aren't sports fans, but for those of us who like sports that is a bit ridiculous.

Not to mention that all the money for "unwanted channels" provides money to make shows on some obscure network you might enjoy....

The direct pricing game might not be as "cheap" as people think.
Click to expand...

Sports are really expensive. If you are a sports fan you can only hope and pray that the subsidy from all the other cable subscribers continues on forever. For the rest of us, though (and for those who only have a few sports they follow), direct pricing is a reality now, and it is really cheap compared to cable.

As one anecdote, my family cut the cord just about five years ago (Sept-Oct, 2008), took the $85/month we were paying DirecTV and put a budget of $50/month towards a la carte AppleTV/etc offerings. We rarely hit $25 in TV entertainment in a month. Meanwhile the DirecTV package we'd grandfathered into today costs new subscribers well over $100 a month.

Are there channels and shows that we don't watch now? Of course. But no one has complained. We're less likely to have the TV on as "background noise" than we were five years ago, but I don't see that as a loss. We don't see shows the day they air for the most part, but we also don't structure our lives around a TV schedule (we could watch just about everything the next day, but usually go for a few weeks then watch multiple episodes of a show in a night or a few nights in a row, then the next nights watch multiple episodes of a different show, etc). Our oldest kids are teenagers, and the sporadic-binge approach is how their friends watch TV today anyway.

So, frankly, the "there's nothing better than the schlock the cable company is serving up" argument rings hollow. You can be entertained and have more control and a better interface and better quality all at once, and still save perhaps 75% off your current cable bill.

That is, unless you are a sports junkie who needs to have men/women playing games on your TV all day long. But, frankly, soon you folks are going to be the only people left in the cable TV ghetto, and your sports won't continue to be subsidized on the backs of the rest of us.

----------
Lord Hamsa said:
But if you want to check the weather while you're already using your ATV, then it's right there.
Click to expand...

But I'm never "using my AppleTV". I'm watching a show. Or looking for something to watch. Or ordering something.

99.95% of the time, tapping weather on my phone is more convenient than stopping what I am doing, menuing out, finding a weather app, and clicking in, then menuing back out and back down to what I was doing before. Hell, if I wanted that kind of disruption I'd remove my seat from the couch, walk over to the door, and stick my head outside to see how hot/cold it is today.

It's like the "news" and "weather" stations on the Wii way back when that was new. Kinda okay for a demo, but no practical use, ever.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
That would be nice! I don't think, though, that Leo has tried to get on there yet. At least, that I've heard.

I just download the podcasts to iTunes on the Mac and play them through the Apple TV over the network.
Click to expand...

I agree that would be great to have twit. I do however have a Roku and can watch it live that way for now. Just wondering Sandbox why you dont just watch the podcast through the podcast app on the Atv instead?

I am happy to see more content coming to the Apple Tv though and I hope they continue the trend and get it out of the "hobby" stage. :)
 
Godzilla71 said:
Just wondering Sandbox why you dont just watch the podcast through the podcast app on the Atv instead?
Click to expand...

I dunno. I guess because that's how I've been doing it since before I had the ATV and watched them on the computer. Old habits I suppose.
 
Full iOS7

I have a feeling that Apple TV will be updated at this Media event on Sep 10 and maybe Apple will surprise us with something like: full iOS 7 on Apple TV come with 32GB standard from current 8GB. Now that is a real kick in the ass for Sony PS4 and Xbox One. Can you imagine a top box media streaming Apple TV is also a game console which uses idevices as controllers or MFI game controllers. It's a total media center which is affordable to everyone. Who wants a $500 dedicated console anymore?
All the sudden, everything makes sense for all the activities lately related to Apple TV: TV content provider negotiations, iRadio, Record labels, game controller hardware, and the only puzzle left in this is: full iOS to take advantage of iOS games and larger storage for iOS games. This is what Apple should have done for Apple TV and now is the right time for it. iOS Game Center for Apple TV is a card that Apple haven't played yet against PS4 and Xbox One online contents. If this's true, Apple once again rock the (gaming) world with its iOS ecosystem, Apple TV.
 
While I like the Smithsonian and Weather Channel apps, I don't care at all for TWO Disney apps. One would have been enough. All I'm waiting for now is a way to watch my Sunday news programs (Foxnews Sunday can be watched on Hulu) like Meet the Press (NBC), Face the Nation (CBS), This Week (ABC), State of the Union (CNN).

I also really, really wish there was a way to watch the EPL and Spanish La Liga using APPLE TV.
 
Netflix still needs update...

When are they going to add the option to tv shows automatically start the next episode when you finish the prior episode?
 
Just tried the smithsonian app and it's awesome.

Does anyone else ever feel they've watched everything on Netflix?
 
q64ceo said:
And STILL no Time Warner

Tim Cook needs to be fired

Not just for letting Roku beat them to it, but because of the big **** up that he allowed to happen today. Moron let Samsung beat them to the market with a SmartWatch.

He's got to go for his incompetence. He is killing Apple!
Click to expand...

Ummm .. what the heck are you talking about? Samsung announced that they are going have a sneak preview of a "Concept" smart watch that is not expected to hit production for over a year. Nice - I wish Samsung would join in on my poker nights!

Also, Apple's little "hobby" - Apple TV - has doubled Roku sales to date - and they aren't even trying.

Not sure where all the hate is coming from.
 
Excellent news. I currently have my ATV in my kids' room and the addition of Disney is an exciting one (at least for them).

I'm with others in hoping that the NBC sports app is coming soon. With every EPL game now airing, it would be an excellent addition.
 
Is anyone's Airplay not working ? ATV3 here in the US.... Fixed after a hard reset (unplugged all cables, plugged back in after a few minutes)

----------

Iron Men on The Weather Channel app is a pretty cool show. As a Union Tradesman, It's nice to see shows like this showcasing the hard work that goes into commercial buildings around the US. Some awesome content from this update for my son as well. Feeling grateful, thanks Apple !
 
infinitech said:
Just tried the smithsonian app and it's awesome.

Does anyone else ever feel they've watched everything on Netflix?
Click to expand...

I'm definitely getting close to it. Th Smithsonian app is pretty awesome, I have to agree.
 
Last edited:
Good to see more content for ATV! I'll continue to stay in XBMC however until cable channels realize where people now get their content from.
 
jettredmont said:
Sports are really expensive. If you are a sports fan you can only hope and pray that the subsidy from all the other cable subscribers continues on forever. For the rest of us, though (and for those who only have a few sports they follow), direct pricing is a reality now, and it is really cheap compared to cable.

As one anecdote, my family cut the cord just about five years ago (Sept-Oct, 2008), took the $85/month we were paying DirecTV and put a budget of $50/month towards a la carte AppleTV/etc offerings. We rarely hit $25 in TV entertainment in a month. Meanwhile the DirecTV package we'd grandfathered into today costs new subscribers well over $100 a month.

Are there channels and shows that we don't watch now? Of course. But no one has complained. We're less likely to have the TV on as "background noise" than we were five years ago, but I don't see that as a loss. We don't see shows the day they air for the most part, but we also don't structure our lives around a TV schedule (we could watch just about everything the next day, but usually go for a few weeks then watch multiple episodes of a show in a night or a few nights in a row, then the next nights watch multiple episodes of a different show, etc). Our oldest kids are teenagers, and the sporadic-binge approach is how their friends watch TV today anyway.

So, frankly, the "there's nothing better than the schlock the cable company is serving up" argument rings hollow. You can be entertained and have more control and a better interface and better quality all at once, and still save perhaps 75% off your current cable bill.

That is, unless you are a sports junkie who needs to have men/women playing games on your TV all day long. But, frankly, soon you folks are going to be the only people left in the cable TV ghetto, and your sports won't continue to be subsidized on the backs of the rest of us.
Click to expand...


Apart from watching all my local sports teams, I also enjoy watching premium news channels for more than just hard news, exclusive interviews and reports to supplement my newspaper. Other than that, there are tons of television channels folks love and are unwilling to give up.

I have Comcast and I pay $30 a month and get almost all the channels I want, inclusing all the sports and Xfinity on demand (iPad app included) I want. So you're paying about the same as I do for less content. A lot less.
 
How about some love outside the USA!!!

We have had a couple of extra channels turn up recently here in New Zealand but they are pretty lame. :(
 
went to update my Apple TV tonight. turned it on and figured I had two updates, but WAIT there's Disney and Smithsonian and Weather.

I have a toddler (and under-one year old) and Disney JUNIOR would have been great. the Disney Apps they have now are geared for an older kid. oh well.

Tried out the Music Video section...my son wanted to listen to the "Get Lucky" song again! (this was after we had checked out Smithsonian Channel). so we watched a few, he danced to some, Daft Punk.

Smithsonian Channel had some very short clips and some were VERY choppy. Others were better but a huge step. I DL the Smithsonian App and was planning on doing some Air Play but maybe no need now.

OVERALL, I think this was a GREAT update. I wish there is more to come next month...or over the next 3 depending on when the Apple TV news is coming, be it just a new box or TV as a whole.

**I too have hoped to have the AppleTV be the Gaming Console for iOS games on the big screen for years**
 
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