Next Generation AppleTV References Found in iOS 5, But When?

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I'm sure the TV industry knows that if something like AppleTV ended up everywhere, there's a huge chance that Apple will start flexing for a la carte programming, and then the major cable operators would be in serious trouble. They probably have a set of deals in place just to prevent this, and Apple will swoop down when the contracts start to break, which would be a great use of that huge horde of money they have but aren't spending.

But that's the thing. No matter what conspiracies we can dream up about those who control the content, how the content gets from them to us, etc, none of that can keep Apple from releasing whatever hardware they want. If there are these conspiracies in place, should Apple roll out a 1080p TV, the Studios just won't share 1080p content in the iTunes store. The latter is not an obstacle to the former anymore than Apple building quad cores into Macs ahead of waiting for lots of software being available that could take advantage of them.

If the Studios, etc don't want Apple to have 1080p, then Apple won't get 1080p content. But if Apple can get enough 1080p-capable TVs into home, somebody is going to be tempted to test whether 1080p software can be profitable on it. And if so, more content will follow that test into the store. And then the rest.

In the meantime, everyone could still rent/buy the 720p and SD versions from the store (and they'll play to their maximum on better hardware) and those interested in some real 1080p content can turn all that 1080p video they can capture on consumer camcorders, cameras, (now the) iPhone, etc into 1080p video in iTunes (iMovie & iTunes can already handle it- for years now). I'm sure some of the podcasters/vodcasters will offer 1080p if enough hardware was in place. Netflix might step up. Youtube would step up. Apple could add Vudu.com as another option. Movie Trailers. People could rip their BD's. Etc. Eventually, some Studio- even in a conspiracy- would break ranks and test their 1080p content. More simply, it would pit their perceived "greed" in a clash with their fear of Apple gaining dominance over them. I bet they'll take the money.

If Apple believes the content must be available in the store when they tout 1080p, then they could roll out a 1080p capable upgrade and not tout that feature. Focus on Siri, A5, other features, maybe other sources of content, app store, and so on. At least then, the devices go into homes and the clock starts ticking on when some Studio will be tempted to test 1080p content. As is now, there is absolutely no way to test the profitability of 1080p content for TVs when they are all currently capped at 720p. A studio not allied with the others can't even find out if there is a profitable market for 1080p content for the TV

 

[taeclee99]

I wonder if that's something Apple wants to do. It's something extra they have to work to get right if promised ann reality almost every time a "codec support" is mentioned, it's for the ripped MKVs and AVIs floating on the internet, and Apple hasn't shown much interest in their devices to support that market.

I agree. I do not think apple will add native avi and mkv playback to the apple tv.
At the very least, apple should allow apps. This way streaming apps such as air video and stream2me can be installed.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I wonder if that's something Apple wants to do. It's something extra they have to work to get right if promised ann reality almost every time a "codec support" is mentioned, it's for the ripped MKVs and AVIs floating on the internet, and Apple hasn't shown much interest in their devices to support that market.

TV playback is basically built upon the Quicktime player. If it can play in Quicktime, it should be able to play on TV. It would not be a lot of special work to support this feature since the work is already done to support the same in Quicktime anyway. It's essentially just allowing those extra codecs to be utilized on this device.

Personally, I don't care about this particular issue myself. But those who do care about it are simply asking it to handle the formats that Quicktime can already handle on other Apple devices. More (software) utility is rarely a bad thing. It makes hardware more useful, more desirable and sells more units.

 

[hissyfit]

...

I want my
I want my
I want my
TV...

 

[dgalvan123]

I got tired of waiting for the revolution of the TV industry. So here's what I did:

1. Bought an HD Homerun tuner, which takes a cable or OTA antenna signal and sends it over your local network to your mac.
2. Bought ElGato's EyeTV for my mac, which receives the tuner's signal and records shows, then transcodes them to iTunes.
3. Bought 2 ATV2s (one for my living room, one in our bedroom) to serve those recorded shows from my mac to each of our TVs.

I have great OTA reception where I live, so I CAN just use the antenna for the signal to the tuner, but I also pay for high-speed internet from Time Warner, and they fortunately don't seem to filter the signal on their co-ax. Meaning that, even though I'm not paying them for cable TV channels, they are still sending them to me, so I just use that as my TV source. With the ATV2's and EyeTV, I have a wonderful DVR with huge flexibility, and zero monthly fees. Plus this is easily expandable (want to add another TV? Just grab another ATV2 for <$100)

Finally:
4. I jailbroke my ATV2s using Firecore's Seasonpass utility, installed NitoTV, installed XBMC, installed Bluecop Repository, and now am able to watch Hulu (regular Hulu, not just HuluPlus) on my ATV2s with NO COMMERCIALS. While my OTA antenna and cable get me local channels and networks in HD, they don't get me the Daily Show. Hulu does.

At this point I don't really care if the TV industry and content distribution gets revolutionized. I'm getting DVR functionality and HD programming, legally, for free.

Thanks, Apple TV!

(BTW you can get a refurbished ATV2 from apple.com for $85 + shipping. Used this to get a 2nd apple tv, which arrived today. )

 

[Portal83]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Maybe they should try fixing the current AppleTV first! It almost never wakes on network access and often can't access my library unless I restart iTunes. What's the point of wireless streaming when I have to go to my MBP, wake it, and restart iTunes almost everytime I want to use it?

 

[Emmanuelc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Macrumors is boring today

 

[Peace]

I got tired of waiting for the revolution of the TV industry. So here's what I did:

1. Bought an HD Homerun tuner, which takes a cable or OTA antenna signal and sends it over your local network to your mac.
2. Bought ElGato's EyeTV for my mac, which receives the tuner's signal and records shows, then transcodes them to iTunes.
3. Bought 2 ATV2s (one for my living room, one in our bedroom) to serve those recorded shows from my mac to each of our TVs.

I have great OTA reception where I live, so I CAN just use the antenna for the signal to the tuner, but I also pay for high-speed internet from Time Warner, and they fortunately don't seem to filter the signal on their co-ax. Meaning that, even though I'm not paying them for cable TV channels, they are still sending them to me, so I just use that as my TV source. With the ATV2's and EyeTV, I have a wonderful DVR with huge flexibility, and zero monthly fees. Plus this is easily expandable (want to add another TV? Just grab another ATV2 for <$100)

Finally:
4. I jailbroke my ATV2s using Firecore's Seasonpass utility, installed NitoTV, installed XBMC, installed Bluecop Repository, and now am able to watch Hulu (regular Hulu, not just HuluPlus) on my ATV2s with NO COMMERCIALS. While my OTA antenna and cable get me local channels and networks in HD, they don't get me the Daily Show. Hulu does.

At this point I don't really care if the TV industry and content distribution gets revolutionized. I'm getting DVR functionality and HD programming, legally, for free.

Thanks, Apple TV!

(BTW you can get a refurbished ATV2 from apple.com for $85 + shipping. Used this to get a 2nd apple tv, which arrived today. )

Wow.
wouldn't it be easier just to be able to plug in an AppleTV 3 ?

 

[akira2501]

yup

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Now that Steve's gone, who is going to pursuade the networks to lower their prices for Apple's TV subscription efforts?

great point

 

[whiteyanderson]

The appleTV as is, is ALREADY a fantastic device that you can do so much with. Eve JB'ing it takes a mere few minutes. It's a powerful little device that for $100 can save you SO much money over cable/satellite and rentals.

Funny thing is, most of you who gripe about 1080p wouldn't know the difference between it and 720p if it hit you over the head. Aside from the fact that your TV input is probably telling you the resolution. And I'm speaking as someone who is OCD about video and audio quality and have a set up to prove it.

My only wish is that it would output true lossless audio codecs. But hopefully that will come in time.

 

[mousouchop]

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If they update, I sure hope it's before Christmas. I am asking for one then. Haha

 

[Piggie]

It's going to be interesting to see if Apple offer free downloads of 1080p movies to those who have bought the 720p version.

Seeing that you can often buy the superior quality actual physical bluray disc for the same price, or sometimes less than the 720p iTunes version of the same film, I can't see how Apple could even contemplate charging someone again to upgrade to the 1080p version of the film they have already paid for.

 

[Carniphage]

The Studios are often cast (here) as the (too) "greedy" (enemy). If they are so greedy, the easy solution 100% within Apple's control is to try to penetrate tons of households with a real 1080p alternative to BD players. Then pit their own greed against their fear of getting under Apple's thumb. When it comes to making money now or potentially being squeezed later, the greedy players always take the bird in hand.

My point was that no matter what hardware Apple puts out there .. even if it's 4K holographic device with a 500 inch screen, if there's no content, then there's no buyers. And no buyers means no content. And so on.

And there will not be any content unless the commercial agenda of the studios becomes aligned with Apple's business model. That requires a giant change in attitudes. Technology alone cannot change that.

I don't see this happening until.

1) The studios see cable and disk revenues collapsing due to widespread internet piracy - and then they might, as happened with iTunes, see Apple as the least worst option.

2) Apple secures content by acquiring key content owners. And then goes it alone.

The second, I don't see happening. It's not Apple's style.

The first is happening, but not quickly. The water is heating up slowly and I am not sure the frog is ever going to jump out.

In the mean time, not sure what Apple can do.

One thing would be to sell the AppleTV at $0.00. Give it away providing the buyer takes out a $15 pm subscription package. That would boost uptake of the device and encourage usage. But personally, I'd be reluctant to take out a subscription if there were no HBO content on the AppleTV.

C.

 

[jowie]

To update the Apple Tv, or make a TV apple computer, that is the question? But for 100 bucks, I say just buy it. No reason to really wait around, because I don't see them updating it until next year.

If it were the same as $100 in the UK then I would, but unfortunately it's £100 which is closer to $200. I know it's still good value for what it is, but since I'm on a budget and I really want 1080p (you can SO tell the difference, I've tried an Apple TV on a 1080p TV and it looks blurry)... I'm going to hold out for the A5 version when it comes

 

[justperry]

Cat?

That is really annoying, my cat spilled a glass of water on our TV remote and it stopped working form any distance farther than 6 inches.

Yeah blame the cat

A little advice.
When a "CAT" spills liquid on your device instantly remove the battery.
Sadly with most if not all ios devices you can't.
Then open the remote control,that is if its not glued and after this just get some alcohol - NO,not beer - and a cottonbud, then clean all the components on the board.
Believe Me, there are only a few components on the board, most likely 1 or 2 I.R. Leds which send the signal, a resonator and maybe a small controller.
You should clean the board in between the legs of the components, leave it dry for a few minutes (more then enough if you use pure alcohol) and close it, get the batteries in and there is a big change it will work again.
This is almost always the case even with mobile phones when battery is removed instantly.
Most people throw an R.C. away when it doesn't work anymore but almost always it has been dropped and the fiddly feet of the resonator (or led) is/are broken, just apply a bit of solder and it will work again.

Sorry to be of topic but just try to help the one with the cat.

An A5 processor is probably still too expensive to add to the Appletv and as another poster said they are still needed for the iPhone and iPad.
Another one suggested to use an iPhone as a controller, well not everyone can afford one.
And I too would like an Appstore for Appletv but it ain't going to happen until there is more memory inside to install the Apps or the possibility to add an external disk to put them there.

 

[Formul]

Holy Steve! Apple TV with Siri will kick the Google TV in the balls! No lame keyboards, nothing. You can just ask her for anything.

 

[Aeolius]

I do NOT want an AppleTV with Siri built in. I have 7 kids. Imagine the following conversation continuing on for several hours:

"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"

 

[Dcuellar]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

I do NOT want an AppleTV with Siri built in. I have 7 kids. Imagine the following conversation continuing on for several hours:

"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"

I'm sure, like the xbox kinect, Siri should be able to recognize voices. I have no doubt Apple has already thought of the kids.

 

[Rafterman]

If it were the same as $100 in the UK then I would, but unfortunately it's £100 which is closer to $200. I know it's still good value for what it is, but since I'm on a budget and I really want 1080p (you can SO tell the difference, I've tried an Apple TV on a 1080p TV and it looks blurry)... I'm going to hold out for the A5 version when it comes

Yeah, I never understood some company's like Apple and their 1 for 1 policy, e.g., $100 = £100. Someone needs to buy Apple a currency converter. There's an app for that

 

[ncc1701d]

I'm surprised with how many people are advocating the ATV2. I had the original one and liked it a lot. In fact, had no issues with it, I could sync and content was very quick to load (wired). I was then convinced to get a mac mini and just run "front row" - sold the ATV1. Now look where that's gone - no front row with lion. I then went out to buy the ATV2 (about a week ago) and I'm very disappointed with how long it take to load from my mac mini itunes. I've done a few searches and some people are getting the same issues without any solutions. 10 minutes to access "Mac Mini", another few to go into the tv shows and another 10 to start the tv show. I have no problems with other wifi connections (all through a time capsule), so I don't know what the issue is. I'm sure if I could wire it to my mac mini it would be fine - but I don't even have the option

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

My point was that no matter what hardware Apple puts out there .. even if it's 4K holographic device with a 500 inch screen, if there's no content, then there's no buyers. And no buyers means no content. And so on.

Generally agree with much of the rest of what you said, but the above continues the assumption that TV without iTunes store content is nothing. And that's not true. Way back when iPods were first released, there was no iTunes store. I bought an iPod anyway and then loaded it up with my own content (CD rips). The store came sometime later (and, for me anyway, continues to be almost inconsequential to why I buy iDevices from Apple).

When the first TV launched, there was an iTunes store with content for it. But again, I bought not for the store but for my own content: music collection (almost entirely CD rips), photo collection (none of which came from iTunes), video collection (almost entirely DVD rips & home movies), etc. I think in the 4-5+ years since, my family & I may have rented a total of 5 movies from iTunes (maybe). If I could never rent or buy another, I would still see huge utility out of it and would immediately buy another should these I own die.

That's not because there is an iTunes store, iTunes rentable/buyable content, etc. It's because it's a lot more than just a link to an iTunes store.

When I was a kid and distant relatives came over (or we visited them), sooner or later the home movies would come out. Someone would have to get those little reels out of storage. Someone would have to locate and set up the projector & screen. Hassle. But then lots of (local) joy seeing loved ones ham it up. Now we have 1080 camcorders/cameras/iphone 4s, iMovie, iTunes, TV, HDTV, and wireless or wired transport to completely mitigate the hunt for reels, projectors, & screens so that we have ready and hassle-free access to all of those (old & new) family movies. Just this alone makes even the $200+ cost of the original TV worth it to our family (and several of our relatives who have also bought one for this). No iTunes store content required.

That makes me & mine some of those "no buyers" who bought units. And I would bet that if we could look at all TV owners everywhere, we would probably find many others who mostly use it for content NOT sourced to the iTunes store: CD music, Photos, DVD rips, iMovie-made movies, Youtube, etc.

All that said, would a next-gen sell even better if it was accompanied by 1080p content availability in the store? Of course! But there isn't a dependency on 1080p content launching in the store. Lots of units sell now with 720p and SD content in the store. Apple could quietly update the hardware to 1080p-capable and entrench hardware with powers beyond the current (Store) software demands... just like they do with everything else they roll out as new hardware. In time, somebody is going to be tempted to test the profitability of 1080p content because of the number of 1080p-capable TVs entrenched. To me, that seems to be a much more favorable way to get the Studios to share their content than begging & pleading with them so that it is there at launch. In the former, every unit that goes anew into a home adds to Apple's leverage to persuade the Studios; in the latter there is very little leverage and it's fighting against fears of Apple gaining a hold over them and their creations similar to what has occurred with the music industry.

Nutshell: if the Studios don't want to play ball up front, pit their own greed against them by doing what is fully within Apples control, then allowing the growth in 1080-capable units flowing into homes to become an ever-growing temptation to "greedy" studios to offer their content in 1080p. Once one takes the bait and makes money, they'll all quickly follow.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I do NOT want an AppleTV with Siri built in. I have 7 kids. Imagine the following conversation continuing on for several hours:

"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"
"Change Channel to Disney!"
"Change Channel to Cartoon Network!"

That's funny and unfortunately something I can actually picture. Maybe:

You/Me: "AppleTV: Parental Override. Jack & Jill can't change the channel more than once each hour"

...and maybe...

You/Me: "AppleTV: When Jack & Jill have watched 1 hour of television in a day, turn off the TV and tell them to go outside and play."

I guess in your case that's Jacks & Jills (or maybe Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marcia, Jan, Cindy & Alice) but you get the idea.

 

[Yvan256]

My only wish is that it would output true lossless audio codecs. But hopefully that will come in time.

The TV supports Apple Lossless, just like the iPods and iPhones. It also supports AIFF and WAV if you like bigger files for no reason.

 

[ozaz]

Using Apple TV in a shared house

Having never used Apple TV, I've always wondered about the logistics of using it in a house shared with others (with friends rather than with family). Is it possible for each person to use their own iTunes account when they want to download content or does the device need to be locked to a single account?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Having never used Apple TV, I've always wondered about the logistics of using it in a house shared with others (with friends rather than with family). Is it possible for each person to use their own iTunes account when they want to download content or does the device need to be locked to a single account?

Yes. You set it up so that it doesn't store anyone's AppleID & Password. Then, when someone wants to buy or rent something, they'll have to enter their own.

For content already stored on various computers, it's pretty good about making it accessible when those various computers are turned on, iTunes running on them, and hooked to the network (wired or wifi).