Revamped Apple TV to Offer Netflix Streaming?

[Gasu E.]

Netflix streaming pretty much sucks. Poor compression leading to lots of pixelation, unresponsive ff/rew and no Dolby Digital (or DTS) 5.1. No thanks. I'd even keep crappy iTunes rentals over that junk.

I get zero pixelation, and ff/rew is decent. I suspect your own network may be the limitation. In fact, I was initially shocked at just how good the quality is.

 

[alent1234]

Netflix streaming pretty much sucks. Poor compression leading to lots of pixelation, unresponsive ff/rew and no Dolby Digital (or DTS) 5.1. No thanks. I'd even keep crappy iTunes rentals over that junk.

not on the PS3 it doesn't

 

[Cander]

Crossing fingers for all this to be true. And then hoping to see Air Video ported to it if there is an App Store to stream the stuff it will not play out of the box.

 

[Gasu E.]

For $149 dollars I can get a HD DVD/Bluray wireless with Netflix and other apps box at Costco.

There had seriously be something better than this.

How big is the storage drive in your Costco box?

 

[diamond.g]

How big is the storage drive in your Costco box?

If it supports BD Live at least 1GB...

 

[kingtj]

Same here! (AppleTV is the best part)

Honestly, I already have an iPod classic I keep in my car all the time since it's integrated with its stereo. No need to upgrade or replace that right now. And I have an iPad I'll stick with for any mobile video watching or what-not.

So iPod related announcements don't matter much to me, personally, at the moment.

The AppleTV update could be HUGE for me though, all hinging on how functional they make it. I'm chomping at the bit to cancel my AT&T U-Verse TV subscription and just sign up for cable broadband Internet with no TV package. Between over the air television and ability to stream downloaded movie content from a computer in the house, I hardly see the point in paying for something like cable or satellite TV anymore.

The problem is, in the past, this hasn't been really practical because I've got 2 TVs in the house, plus a projector downstairs to feed content to. The antenna on my roof is only connected to one of the TVs right now, and building computers to serve as media centers for each TV was prohibitively expensive too. A $99 AppleTV box for each TV would be doable, though.

I'd just like to see such things as the ability to stream not only Netflix (though that's a BIG plus), but also to work with sites like Hulu or even Joost, as well as ability to stream content offered online by such folks as NBC or CBS. A media center PC can be set up to do all of that - but not sure if AppleTV with iOS will allow all of it too?

I think I'm more excited about the Apple TV (iTV) than any of the iPod related announcements. Unless they release a new iLife with some super cool new features.

 

[JeffLebowski41]

What happens to current apple tv owners?

left behind, I hope. I'm interested in this new device if some of these rumors pan out, but not if they need to dumb it down to pander to the lowest common denominator. the current atv is woefully underpowered.

 

[kingtj]

I don't think this is universally true ....

I'm in Charter Communications territory myself, and with their service, they do give big "bundle discounts". But if I choose to ignore those? I can get strictly a broadband Internet connection from them of 50mbits with no "usage caps" for a flat $130 per month or so.

Currently, I'm paying about $134 a month to have a "200 channel" TV package bundled with Internet running at about 18mbits with AT&T U-Verse.

So I'd save a few dollars a month to more than DOUBLE my Internet speeds if I switched and started just streaming my shows over the net. Granted, there are some more up-front costs involved too, and potentially an ongoing cost for something like a Netflix subscription ... but it still seems more and more like a net benefit to switch if I want all that Internet speed for my dollar.

Really? How? If I discontinue Comcast Cable here's what happens.

1) My bill goes down by $5 per month
2) They down grade my internet service from 12Mb to 6Mb unless I want to pay a premium which will cost me more than the $5/month I'm not really saving in 1)

Folks, you can not disconnect your cable from your internet if both services are from the same provider without some kind of penalty that makes doing this, well, not worth doing. Comcast wants to deliver Cable TV for long as it possibly can. They do not want to have you watch content over the internet. It F's with their old way of doing business.

Finally, if any Comcast customers actually have just STAND ALONE internet with no other bundled services that cost less than Internet plus Cable TV without a performance penalty, I would personally love to hear how you got that and what it is costing you and who you had to call. Thanks.

 

[bagelche]

I'm gonna wildly limb out here and say that it'll be an updated Airport Express. Essentially headless it will be hidden out of the way (not a set top box per se), controlled via any iOS device with a revamped Remote app. At $99 that's on par with the express, which hasn't been updated in a few years. Millions of people have iOS devices and a new device with a small screen will be a gateway remote for those who need one.

If I may toot my own horn, I didn't do too bad on this guess. Remote is included (duly noted). Still not an iOS device (AFAIK). but many of the features I wanted are there. Liking the new "airplay". Now I need a new TV

Update: Yep. the Remote App works with this.

 

[balamw]

Update: Yep. the Remote App works with this.

Where did you see that?

EDIT:

Shame they didn't make it overtly iOS based, though you can bet that at 6W power consumption it is more iPad like than PC like. Probably not an Atom or other x64 processor in there.

I want more info on Airplay. Will it work from all apps? Only media apps? (e.g Pandora and Hulu+ included?) or just Apple's media apps?

Seems like for other content it is still tied to iTunes. Will it have to be "paired" to iTunes like the current TV? I forget, does Home Sharing require a PIN or just the iTunes account?

B

 

[pamon]

this is too much like the Roku IMHO. a few more bells and whistles but no storage? c'mon steve