Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple TV Software Update Adds Streaming of Purchased TV Shows, Vimeo Support, and More

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

This lack of international support is really beginning to p*** me off. Apple should sort out making the existing TV show catalogue available on the existing product before adding yet more US-only features.
 
jameselson said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

This lack of international support is really beginning to p*** me off. Apple should sort out making the existing TV show catalogue available on the existing product before adding yet more US-only features.
Click to expand...
Apple can't force the content providers to make all of their video available in all markets. Some of this is may be purely logistical and under the control of Apple, but I suspect that most of the limits on availability are caused by licensing issues with the content owners and publishers which vary from country to country.
 
On Demand?

Love apple TV and wish apple would spend more time on it, everyone who has visited my home and used it loves it.

But....

Would love it even more if they allowed you to watch 4oD or iPlayer on it, realise this probably will never happen as it would potentialy kill off tv show episodes on itunes (if your not in the UK and actually get the feature)

Top of my wishlist.
 
CapnJackGig said:
No it isn't. People go to where they can get content for the best prices, and that isn't from iTunes. Amazon completely decimates them on the prices of movies, tv episodes, and full TV shows. Community Season 1 on iTunes = 65 dollars. Community Season 1 on Amazon = 24 dollars. People won't buy an Apple TV if these price discrepancies continue.
Click to expand...

I think you underrate the convenience factor. It's certainly true that Amazon beats iTunes store on promo (quantity) purchases. But the difference is trivial to none for the "I want to watch this one episode now" AND with Apple TV, you get instant gratification--you start streaming immediately and watching on the biggest screen in your house (and this fall on your iPad/iPhone). Compare that to the buy/download/import or watch on your PC. And now you won't have to worry about terabytes of backups for the media you own (and don't need to download at all to rent).

While price concious buyers will go to Amazon, many won't, just as Costco hasn't put supermarkets out of business. In retail, it's location, location, location. In media it's convenience, convenience, convenience.

--Mark
 
fpnc said:
Apple can't force the content providers to make all of their video available in all markets. Some of this is may be purely logistical and under the control of Apple, but I suspect that most of the limits on availability are caused by licensing issues with the content owners and publishers which vary from country to country.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's true, but bear in mind plenty of other platforms seem to be negotiating distribution rights. Here in the UK, TiVo has BBC content (both free catch-up style and to rent), as does Sony PlayStation3. If Apple can arrange for US basketball to be made available before any TV content at all in the UK, it makes be doubt their priorities are anything other than the US. If they're going to sell the product here, they really ought to give is some attention.

James
 
zin said:
Doesn't look like international customers are ever going to get TV show rentals.
Click to expand...

Pleased I looked into the Forum today,

Saw there was an update so just switched on my Apple TV and got a message that an IOS update is available , so downloading it now

I have a lot of TV shows purchased through iTunes so hope we get the TV shows update here in The UK :cool:
 
markgo2k said:
I think you underrate the convenience factor. It's certainly true that Amazon beats iTunes store on promo (quantity) purchases. But the difference is trivial to none for the "I want to watch this one episode now" AND with Apple TV, you get instant gratification--you start streaming immediately and watching on the biggest screen in your house (and this fall on your iPad/iPhone). Compare that to the buy/download/import or watch on your PC. And now you won't have to worry about terabytes of backups for the media you own (and don't need to download at all to rent).

While price concious buyers will go to Amazon, many won't, just as Costco hasn't put supermarkets out of business. In retail, it's location, location, location. In media it's convenience, convenience, convenience.

--Mark
Click to expand...

Convenience rules plain and simple. Today, I bought the first four HD seasons of 30 Rock on iTunes because it was on sale for about $6 less than what Amazon wants. Even if Amazon was lower, I would still buy in iTunes simply because I get play counts and information about each episode right there with just a click.

I have never bought a video on Amazon and have no plans to do so. If they ever come up with an app similar to iTunes, than maybe.

CapnJackGig said:
No it isn't. People go to where they can get content for the best prices, and that isn't from iTunes. Amazon completely decimates them on the prices of movies, tv episodes, and full TV shows. Community Season 1 on iTunes = 65 dollars. Community Season 1 on Amazon = 24 dollars. People won't buy an Apple TV if these price discrepancies continue.
Click to expand...

You are comparing an HD season on iTunes to the SD version on Amazon. HD version for Community season one on Amazon is $52.99 and iTunes is $65.99. If I were into that show, I would still buy it on iTunes.
 
Last edited:
jameselson said:
Yes, that's true, but bear in mind plenty of other platforms seem to be negotiating distribution rights. Here in the UK, TiVo has BBC content (both free catch-up style and to rent), as does Sony PlayStation3. If Apple can arrange for US basketball to be made available before any TV content at all in the UK, it makes be doubt their priorities are anything other than the US. If they're going to sell the product here, they really ought to give is some attention.

James
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, they put so much effort into the product in the U.S. They have netflix and the TV Shows option. The product is sold in the UK with less features. I am sure if companies like Nintendo and Sony can get access to iPlayer etc then Apple certainly could make an attempt.

Apple TV already supports Youtube, which has tv shows from most UK channels with online players yet they are not available through Apple TV?

Netflix may not be available in the UK, however there are alternatives such as lovefilm.

Just seems a bit of a waste of a product with so many possibilities
 
markgo2k said:
I think you underrate the convenience factor. It's certainly true that Amazon beats iTunes store on promo (quantity) purchases. But the difference is trivial to none for the "I want to watch this one episode now" AND with Apple TV, you get instant gratification--you start streaming immediately and watching on the biggest screen in your house (and this fall on your iPad/iPhone). Compare that to the buy/download/import or watch on your PC. And now you won't have to worry about terabytes of backups for the media you own (and don't need to download at all to rent).
While price concious buyers will go to Amazon, many won't, just as Costco hasn't put supermarkets out of business. In retail, it's location, location, location. In media it's convenience, convenience, convenience.
--Mark
Click to expand...

So, what you are saying is that you have no idea how Amazon Streaming works, which is similar to what Apple is doing now, only Amazon has been doing it for quite a long time!
With Amazon Instant Streaming Devices (Roku, Blu-Ray Players, HDTVs, etc), you don't need to download or backup anything. You buy it with your remote and you start watching it instantly, without any delay. If you have enough bandwidth, you will be streaming in HD.

Now, one can complain about the amazon interface, video quality, organization, etc, versus iTunes.
But they are doing instant streaming , and have been for quite a while!
 
markgo2k said:
I think you underrate the convenience factor. It's certainly true that Amazon beats iTunes store on promo (quantity) purchases. But the difference is trivial to none for the "I want to watch this one episode now" AND with Apple TV, you get instant gratification--you start streaming immediately and watching on the biggest screen in your house (and this fall on your iPad/iPhone). Compare that to the buy/download/import or watch on your PC. And now you won't have to worry about terabytes of backups for the media you own (and don't need to download at all to rent).

While price concious buyers will go to Amazon, many won't, just as Costco hasn't put supermarkets out of business. In retail, it's location, location, location. In media it's convenience, convenience, convenience.

--Mark
Click to expand...

Amazon has a cloud service already up and going, and their content is easily streamable to TVs. If Amazon were smart they'd make a streaming app for Android phones.
 
CapnJackGig said:
It would be great to have Amazon support simply to have a real alternative to the insanely stupid prices Apple charges. I wanted to get into the show Supernatural, so I checked yesterday and season one is on sale from Apple for 30 bucks. It's on sale at Amazon for 14.
Click to expand...
You're comparing the HD version on iTunes vs. the SD version on Amazon.
Here's the pricing that I just looked up:
Supernatural
Amazon Season 1 SD $19
Amazon Season 1 HD $53
iTunes Season 1 SD $20
iTunes Season 1 HD $30
 
DanPierce said:
You're comparing the HD version on iTunes vs. the SD version on Amazon.
Here's the pricing that I just looked up:
Supernatural
Amazon Season 1 SD $19
Amazon Season 1 HD $53
iTunes Season 1 SD $20
iTunes Season 1 HD $30
Click to expand...

He's been doing that same comparison all over the thread but with other shows as well. Today I bought four HD seasons of 30 Rock for $34 and over at Amazon, they were about $39 a season for HD.
 
iTunes has some better deals over Amazon and vice-versa.
Another streaming service worth checking is Vudu (much petter PQ and AQ than the competition so far).
Just an example:
Pretty Little Liars S1:
Amazon (720p) - $49.99
iTunes (720p) - $49.99
VUDU (1080p) - $26.99

Unfortunately, it's not very practical to have your media purchased on several services. That it, until there is a device (if ever!) that will aggregate all the content that you purchased from all of them without you having to open each app separately.
 
fpnc said:
You can now stream them directly to the 2nd generation Apple TV from iCloud without linking to a Mac or PC that has the file stored locally in iTunes.

That's a really big difference as you can now carry your Apple TV around as a kind of mobile video jukebox with a virtual copy of each of your TV purchases. That is, the Apple TV can be used completely standalone, even with your purchased TV shows whereas before you could only do that for rentals (for a limited amount of time) or if you linked to a local copy on your Mac/PC.
Click to expand...

Ah ok, makes sense now :D Thanks!
 
WOW, seems cool, I do hope they do this too, and the update that adds Streaming of Purchased TV Shows, Vimeo Support, and More, to me really great!
Then maybe I also can make the Apple TV to be a home media centre without the handbrake and ifunia converting, just streaming more and more...;)
 
hexonxonx said:
He's been doing that same comparison all over the thread but with other shows as well. Today I bought four HD seasons of 30 Rock for $34 and over at Amazon, they were about $39 a season for HD.
Click to expand...

Sometimes Amazon is cheaper and sometimes iTunes is cheaper so it is always best to compare first. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back