That's what happened to us.
But we did buy an ATV for AirPlay and Netflix, because the TV for some odd reason didn't come with netflix. How odd...ly stupid.
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Smart TV Adoption Growing Rapidly, Market Ripe for Apple iTV
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That's what happened to us.
But we did buy an ATV for AirPlay and Netflix, because the TV for some odd reason didn't come with netflix. How odd...ly stupid.
You know what's worse? Receivers that have "4K upscaling", but can't accept a 4K signal input. So they can waste time upscaling which a 4K TV would probably do just as well, but won't be able to pass through a real signal if one ever shows up.
Apple already has an Apple TV, they just need to do more with it. I won't buy a whole new TV, just because its Apple. And I am sure many others won't either. They can afford a new 200 phone every 2 years. But good luck getting them to buy a 2000 dollar TV every 2 years when you make them have to upgrade to get the latest features!!
too little too late
I'm afraid Apple's already missed their window of opportunity. Just the rumor that Apple was getting into the TV business caused all the other companies to jump on improving their own offerings.
Whether it's built-in or a set-top box like the Roku, the products out there now are already as good as, and many far better than anything Apple currently has to offer.
If Apple has any hope of disrupting the TV market now, they'll have to come out with one he11 of a revolutionary product - and 42-50" isn't going to cut mustard anymore.
I'm afraid Apple's already missed their window of opportunity. Just the rumor that Apple was getting into the TV business caused all the other companies to jump on improving their own offerings.
Whether it's built-in or a set-top box like the Roku, the products out there now are already as good as, and many far better than anything Apple currently has to offer.
If Apple has any hope of disrupting the TV market now, they'll have to come out with one he11 of a revolutionary product - and 42-50" isn't going to cut mustard anymore.
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..echoing the other comments this is poor show.
They could have added App Store to the ATV eons ago and cleaned up, even if the App selection was restrictive.
Why give the others a chance to catch up before releasing? I'm beginning to think that all this talk of them being amazing innovators is just marketing spin - they're just copying like everyone else, except they seem to be able to get it to market in a better shape generally speaking.
They could have added App Store to the ATV eons ago and cleaned up, even if the App selection was restrictive.
Why give the others a chance to catch up before releasing? I'm beginning to think that all this talk of them being amazing innovators is just marketing spin - they're just copying like everyone else, except they seem to be able to get it to market in a better shape generally speaking.
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Unless Apple manages something truly "magical" with the content providers, there is no point to this, just like the current Apple TV.
I am not optimistic, especially with the way they've been running things lately.
Unless Apple manages something truly "magical" with the content providers, there is no point to this, just like the current Apple TV.
I am not optimistic, especially with the way they've been running things lately.
There have been no credible rumours or words from Apple suggesting Apple might be making a television set. If Apple is, then it's still s good secret. All the rumours and words from Apple have been about improving the TV viewing experience (without saying for which hardware this will include). Many people think that means a television set. But it could also be a better TV with better UI and more content.
I think the latter is much more probable. I think it would be very hard for Apple to get the public to purchase enough Apple television sets to make it viable for Apple. People said the same thing about the phone and were wrong. So lets see. I personally would rather Apple make a revolutionised TV.
I think the latter is much more probable. I think it would be very hard for Apple to get the public to purchase enough Apple television sets to make it viable for Apple. People said the same thing about the phone and were wrong. So lets see. I personally would rather Apple make a revolutionised TV.
Except their is nothing they can revolutionise. Apps that interface with the programme your watching? Done, apps to stream content direct to the TV? Done, live pause and record and on demand services and 3D and HD services? Done, watch your content on the go on your iOS device? Done, 4K Video? Done. Luxury design and price? Done.
And so on, Apple could simplify things or maybe combine things into one box but it won't be revolutionary. I still think Apple are struggling to get any content deals singed as the TV industry doesn't need Jobs arrogant pushy deal making talents, and they can't really offer anything new.
But that's also why I think if they do make a TV it will be for the American market only.
The TV manufacturing industry is between a rock and a hard place. The market for LCD/LED is near saturation with people renewing their sets only every four or five years. There is now a hiatus in technology as consumers await the next generation of Ultra HD and 4k. Apple would be insane to enter the TV market. What could it possibly offer in a stand-alone set that couldn't be achieved by a refresh of its existing Apple TV box? Samsung is already there with voice and gesture control. It is a gimmick.
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I honestly believe Apple has missed the boat with smart TV. While Apple could certainly produce a more slick and usable device than LG, Sony or Samsung, these TVs are now so commoditised, I think Apple would struggle to justify the Apple markup on a TV.
Our Samsung Smart TV's software is clunky, but it works well enough and the experience with Netflix, iPlayer and so on are all fine. Apple's best bets (IMHO):
1. Buy Sony (think future Playstations, NEX cameras and TVs, all running iOS).
2. Or make Apple TV the single best way to make all existing smart TVs better.
Our Samsung Smart TV's software is clunky, but it works well enough and the experience with Netflix, iPlayer and so on are all fine. Apple's best bets (IMHO):
1. Buy Sony (think future Playstations, NEX cameras and TVs, all running iOS).
2. Or make Apple TV the single best way to make all existing smart TVs better.
It's probably been said, but people purchasing a smart tv does not equate to adoption. I purchased an lg smart tv recently, not because it was a smart tv, but because it was a 47" LCD for 499$. I'll never use the smart features of the TV itself, mostly because its a bit of a bear to use, and I have an appletv. Apple needs to add an App Store for the Apple TV. Or at least some cursory dlna functionality.
Probably.., but I am not going to write them off just yet. Remember the 'who needs a giant iPhone' [iPad] and then 'who's going to buy a mini iPad' and the iWatch is not here yet...
Anyway and back on topic. My Panasonic plasma we had in our lounge since 2001 failed on us just after Christmas and so I bought the 50" flagship Samsung LED. The smart features we really good.... for about 2 hours then I noticed the flimsy build quality, jittery UI and the excessive light leakage, so it went back.
I then bought a 50" Panasonic TX-P50VT50B Plasma, which is excellent and have no issues with it as a TV set. However the smart features are many but poor. Mainly suffering from a slow UI, limited and poorly executed App store.
If Apple can make a set as good as a Panasonic with the UI of the ATV (and then some), then I would like to say that I would buy one... But I probably will not, as Smart Tv's do not do anything that a good set-top box can do like Sky+HD and ATV, (apart from gimmicks that will bore you after 2 hours) which I have., but never use.
So maybe I will have to wait until my [free] 5 year warranty expires and hope the TV goes bad shortly after...
Apple have already had their Microsoft moment, when they worked out the money is not necessarily to be made in the hardware but the software [App Store], so I am hoping that they open up the ATV platform to compliment any TV offering as a stop gap for customer like myself and then innovate to force me over sooner than I have planned.
Because, right now Apple Television has missed a customer with me, as I was waiting (a really long time..) for the 'iTV' to replace my old non-HD Plasma which lasted 12 years....
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I just saw a Groupon for a 4K Seiki 50" LED TV. $1199 down from $1499.
So I guess 4K TVs are already shipping, and already in the bargain bin.
The great thing about the 4K resolution is that it will be so sharp, pun intended, that it will be possible to shrink the TV image slightly and show other data on the margins. With clever signal processing, image quality will still be very good, and you'd be able to see notifications, sports scores, stock tickers, weather alerts, or whatever other data you might want. Just a small matter of (Cocoa) programming.
The terrible thing about that capability is that it would cause contention among family members. Exactly like any other feature that intrudes on the viewing experience. The rest of your family would be annoyed by your buddys' fishing trip email notifications during an after-dinner screening of Wall-E. You would be annoyed by your daughter's Twitter stream during Monday Night Football ("eeew look wt mom made fr dinner! lolz"). Ad nauseam. Unless you live alone, of course.
So what could be done to avoid all those notifications and other distractions intended for other family members? How could we get notifications during a communal TV viewing session, or interact with absolutely fascinating iAds, without cluttering up the screen or stopping playback, without annoying everyone else in the room?
Easy. Notifications go to individual mobile devices. To each family member's iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. The big-screen living room TV is only for showing pure video content with no distractions. In other words, it will be exactly like any other no-frills HDTV set. Exactly the way things are now, with everyone tapping away at their own devices when they feel like it, while "watching" TV together.
Apple's TV solution just might turn every iOS and OS X device into a miniature television set. There would be no need for any DVR capability. No need to ever record anything. No need to waste energy and silicon storing local copies of content that exists on Apple's servers. Apple would cut deals with live TV providers for, yes, you guessed it, live TV. They would cut deals with content providers for recorded content (including live programming in-progress or that had just recently ended.)
Boom. There goes any argument for an Apple television set.
It would end up being just a 55" Cinema Display attached to an Apple TV box with a few more features.
Including, just maybe, gesture-controlled games from an Apple TV App Store.
But, as we've seen with Google TV, jamming internet complexity into the simple TV experience is a bad idea.
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I don't understand why *anybody* would pay a premium for a TV with some crappy interface grafted on when you can connect a separate Apple TV or Roku or any of the others. At $100/each, you can afford to keep upgrading your separate box as features are added. Heck, I have an Apple TV *and* a Roku because each offers features the other doesn't.
Just buy the best plain LCD/plasma/projector and let something else feed it the signal.
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How is there "no point" to the current Apple TV? I'm streaming on-demand content from Hulu, Netflix, Vimeo, YouTube, iTunes rentals, plus whatever I want to stream from my Mac or Airplay from my phone. Yeah, no point in that
Just buy the best plain LCD/plasma/projector and let something else feed it the signal.
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How is there "no point" to the current Apple TV? I'm streaming on-demand content from Hulu, Netflix, Vimeo, YouTube, iTunes rentals, plus whatever I want to stream from my Mac or Airplay from my phone. Yeah, no point in that
Nope. The money is to be made in TV advertisements.
Especially some kind of iAd-based next-gen advertisements.
I've always thought that iAd was targeted at TV from day 1.
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Perfectly stated.
Taken in context of my post, I stand by my comment.
I qualify it by the fact that Apple take about 30% from iPurchases, therefore I (and many others) would have given them more revenue using the App store than I paid for the iPod...
The thing with 4K, is there is no viable 4k content available and if you are going to stream it or download it to an Apple branded TV, Apple will need get into the ISP business and shake that up too.
This reminds me of all the people who went out and bought HD 720 sets [and watched SD freeview and DVD], then bought 1080 to watch HD freeview and SKY HD, which was streamed in 720, along with App store SD content until recently.
Basically any 4K set released now will probably be obsolete when you need it the most, as the hardware is evolving ahead of the content.
How is there "no point" to the current Apple TV? I'm streaming on-demand content from Hulu, Netflix, Vimeo, YouTube, iTunes rentals, plus whatever I want to stream from my Mac or Airplay from my phone. Yeah, no point in that
Would you buy a whole new TV to do the exact same thing you can do with a tiny $100 apple tv?
Apple Remote
I would rather they tackle an intelligent remote design, taking the Apple TV experience, the TV, my Directv, Netflix, Hulu, and get it to the stereo and just make it work. I use the Logitech Harmony and it helps but I think that Apple can do it better.
I would rather they tackle an intelligent remote design, taking the Apple TV experience, the TV, my Directv, Netflix, Hulu, and get it to the stereo and just make it work. I use the Logitech Harmony and it helps but I think that Apple can do it better.
I think Apple has pretty much finished the software for its muich-rumored TV set. The problem now is that Apple--who wants a cutting-edge TV not at nosebleed prices--may be looking at buying 55" to 70" 3840x2160 IGZO display panels from Sharp for its TV set, along with HDMI 2.0 connections so it could accommodate connections from 4K external devices such as the next-generation 4K Blu-ray players now in development.
Actually, my husband and I just bought a high end 60" Samsung with 1024k cell local dimming.
Our reasoning was (beyond the fact that we dropped and broke our 52" XBR) that it would be several years before 4K content was widely available - so don't wait (and don't buy something low-end for the interim).