I guess I would agree, I've always tended no matter what device I use to support the Ecosystem that is available on the largest number of Devices, so Amazon for Books, streaming movies, Vudu for HD Movies, I don't want to be locked into one companies ecosystem
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
WWDC [2015 4th Generation] ATV Prediction Thread
- Thread starter Lord Hamsa
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I guess I would agree, I've always tended no matter what device I use to support the Ecosystem that is available on the largest number of Devices, so Amazon for Books, streaming movies, Vudu for HD Movies, I don't want to be locked into one companies ecosystem
that in lies the beauty of the apple tv and itunes in general. Once you are locked in the transition and sharing between devices "just works"
I'm inclined to believe you.
But why not combine what you 'think' will happen, with the 'best of' guesses from the OP post, and give us a complete picture??
I agree on the local storage access issue. The biggest single issue I have with ATV is that I can have a 1080p download sat on a USB hard drive (which I do as a backup just in case something disappears off the store) yet then have to stream it in a lower resolution. Not only am I getting poorer quality it seems a total waste of bandwidth.
The other option is firing up my MacBook, load up the required content from the USB drive back into iTunes and leave my laptop running.
That's hardly a 'it just works' solution.
The other thing I'd like to see is the box being opened up a bit, presumably that would be through apps. In the UK we're sadly lacking in content and its frustrating that services like iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, 5 on Demand etc aren't available.
The other option is firing up my MacBook, load up the required content from the USB drive back into iTunes and leave my laptop running.
That's hardly a 'it just works' solution.
The other thing I'd like to see is the box being opened up a bit, presumably that would be through apps. In the UK we're sadly lacking in content and its frustrating that services like iPlayer, ITV Player, 4OD, 5 on Demand etc aren't available.
Thats incorrect Chief....the whole point of the apple tv is to supplement itunes...ergo you need a computer running itunes in order for the atv to be used properly (as it stands now) ergo "it just works" when you use it properly...like i said...
To expand further. im fully committed to itunes
2 iphones
2 ipads
various ipods
mac mini with 3TB external serving it all up
3 atvs
airport extreme
airplay, viewing local tv shows/movies/pictures/music...all work as it should. do i think the software and possible remote could use a bit of an update...sure..but People are trying to justify an apple tv that stands by it self...when really its not meant to.
i could give countless examples of how it works but i feel like that would take me forever....but i can expand on one example that happened last night.
i was watching my own local SHIELD finale in living room. Wife came in and decided she didnt wanna watch it. wife and i watched latest episode of silicon valley in living room...half way through baby woke up.. we paused tv show and went to put baby back to bed. When we came back to the living room the screen saver was on showing our baby. The stream is an active feed from icloud so the new pics she took today i got to see on the big screen. Baby wakes up again with 5 mins left in show so we went to the bedroom instead and started playback from where we left off in the living room. After show was over i wanted to finish SHIELD so i used video app on my iphone to get into home sharing and watched the remaining episode - right from where i left off on my phone in bed with headphones..it just works
You could do that same thing with Plex on any kind of device. It will remember where you left off and pick up from there. It'll also remember where other people left off in a TV show or movie.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't PLEX require a bit more knowledge by the user than most regular TV watchers posses??
Compared to PLEX Apple TV is a breeze. It doesn't require ripping and tagging. Or adding resources. Fact is Apple TV can function WITHOUT a computer running iTunes.
You can just purchase and stream all the content available in the iTunes Store.
Unlike you and I, most other TV watcher just know to turn on/off their TV and search for content. Maintaining media on servers, backing up/updating etc... that is a very small portion of the population.
agreed here. while plex has come along way and will do alot of what the apple tv does now...it isnt as EASY as itunes is
SCOOP
New Beta IOS for AppleTV4 revealed, an accidental photo was posted by a financial analyst piece on Apple Share price/future....
.
.
New Beta IOS for AppleTV4 revealed, an accidental photo was posted by a financial analyst piece on Apple Share price/future....
.
.
Last edited:
LOL. You look at that crappy mockup of an Apple television and think it's a preview of the new TV? Looks like they got it from this article from 2013:
http://www.apfelpage.de/2013/08/24/konzept-laesst-apple-tv-in-ios-7-design-erstrahlen/
Last edited:
Thought the thread needed a bit of livening up that's all.... it's been a bit quiet in here.
Come on, there's got to be someone with anonymous 'inside info' that can be shared...
.
Thought the thread needed a bit of livening up that's all.... it's been a bit quiet in here.
Come on, there's got to be someone with anonymous 'inside info' that can be shared...
.
Nice try
I know, I'm tired of waiting, too. I want to cut off Comcast really badly.
Thought the thread needed a bit of livening up that's all.... it's been a bit quiet in here.
Come on, there's got to be someone with anonymous 'inside info' that can be shared...
.
Liven it up by posting your predictions. Go out on a limb. Call my prognostication ****. Predict something no one's thought of yet.
Virtual cookies to the ones with the closest guesses.
Anyone ventured an improved input to let me ball peen the joke that is the current hand controller?
Got the current one mounted on a 12" ruler so it doesn't get lost, yet again. Tired of thumb fatigue from having so few buttons apparently to keep the 'aerodynamic', Bang & Olufsen styling chic.
I'd like to ditch the HP laptop currently latched to the tv, but the mouse and keyboard control is very nice for those not so tech challenged that they have to have their choices limited to 3 buttons and a ring.
This is a bit of a mishmash of old ideas but...
The atv won't be thinner, the promo just shows the top; it will be deeper, like an AirPort Extreme, but black, and be combined with a new router. Latency is thus reduced for gaming apps between peripherals and what's on screen. It will have storage, maybe as much as a time capsule. AppStore, (games, home app, Health app etc) You will be able to check in and have continuity with certain apps such as find my family, and Homekit support. Apple won't introduce a cable style channel it will be a kind of Netflix for apple and be international. The remote will have feedback and be a stereo touchpad (left and right) for gaming and TV control. Siri will work from a mic in the atv and will be able to reduce background noise for clearer reception. All your apple kit can check in with it and produce notifications if out of range. All of your iPads and computers will have video intercom between them. You can have different accounts for each family member. There will be extra peripherals available: camera; sound bar; videocam et Al. It will be the centre of the new home network between all your devices, but remain fairly modestly powered with a focus on connection and home. Cost about $299.
Apple TV 2015 (4th Gen) Price and Launch guess
With an all but guaranteed rumor going around that Apple will announce its 4th Gen Apple TV at WWDC in a few weeks, (and there is another thread with predictions on what features it will have)... I have a major question for you guys..
What do you think the price will be/ the highest price you'd be willing to pay and when do you think it will be launched?
Im Guessing Price wise, $150-$250 range and while id love for it to launch next month, I'm more guessing in the fall (Aug-Oct)
My guess for the price figures the current model just got a price cut which means there trying to clear out stock (it was 100 bucks when it first went on sale back in 2012) and figuring the more advance remote and processors should make it atleast 50-100 bucks more then the last one.
What are your thoughts?
With an all but guaranteed rumor going around that Apple will announce its 4th Gen Apple TV at WWDC in a few weeks, (and there is another thread with predictions on what features it will have)... I have a major question for you guys..
What do you think the price will be/ the highest price you'd be willing to pay and when do you think it will be launched?
Im Guessing Price wise, $150-$250 range and while id love for it to launch next month, I'm more guessing in the fall (Aug-Oct)
My guess for the price figures the current model just got a price cut which means there trying to clear out stock (it was 100 bucks when it first went on sale back in 2012) and figuring the more advance remote and processors should make it atleast 50-100 bucks more then the last one.
What are your thoughts?
I would agree with that. Unless they bring something game changing to the table, anything over $100 will really hurt sales.
I have a 3rd gen ATV and use it for various streaming services, but except for AirPlay, all or most of these services are available on my PS3, A/V receiver, TV and/or my cable box (Netflix recently became accessible on my cable box). We use the ATV, for all the streaming services we use, because the interface is simpler. But if the thing died tomorrow, the only thing I'd really miss is the loss of AirPlay. Bottom line: the only thing that differentiates my ATV from any other streaming box is the AirPlay feature. And, for that matter, I can access all those streaming features without any of the ATV competitors, like Roku, etc. So I'm only willing to pay so much extra for AirPlay. There's even a fair chance my next A/V receiver will have AirPlay built in, so...
Therefore, any future ATV costing much more than $100, had better have something pretty darn special about it for me to buy it. And I'm sure I'm not the only one.
Are you sure about this "minority of the world thing"? I live in a small city in Canada and have access to home internet from 2 sources: Telus (phone company) and Shaw Cable. Both offer a la carte and bundled internet, phone and cable services. Internet is offered at up to 100 (which I have) and 120 Mbps respectively. I'm on Rogers for my wireless and for giggles I just ran a speed test on my iPad Air(1) over Rogers Wireless and was downloading over 66 Mbps over LTE. The city I live in has a Metro area of about 150K; it's not like I'm in Toronto or Vancouver. Nor are we near a major centre: Vancouver is almost 400 Km away through two mountain passes.
Most of the world cannot get the stuff on ATV, and from what I know from my own local geek forum, US internet is pretty poor. Here in NZ we have unbundled, thats now getting to be standard, VDSL is here at up to 75/15, and the fibre rollout is going well, I am on 200/20, we have two towns in "Gigatown" which is 1000/500
----------
Its flat, thats expected. Just need the Apps folder where it goes to the iPhone/iPad gird layout, sorted, then as its already written in iOS, my ATV4 can be the only streaming STB I will ever need
----------
Fair call. iOS is always the first to get streaming apps. So, forget the locked into one ecosystem, what if the ATV gets an app store, then you will have access to every streaming app in whatever country you are in. Thats pretty unlocked to me
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Nice try
Who will supply your broadband?
Because the phone and maybe iPad will record in 4K (and that will be touted in "new iPhone/iPad" marketing) before someone at Apple thinks about building anTV that can display what is shot on a 4K screen. Same thing happened with 1080p- the primary Apple iDevices were recording in 1080p a good while before Apple decided to roll out a 1080p
That said though, I'd love Apple to not do the same again. Make it 4K just to be ahead even if there is no 4K content in the iTunes store and iDevices can't shoot in 4K yet. Since they seem to go about 4 years between meaningful hardware updates, it would be sad to roll out 1080p and then go about 4 more years before they finally get around to a 4K
Forget iTunes store and internet bandwidth limitations. We already shoot better-than-4K photographs with our iDevices. Fairly cheap camcorders can already shoot 4K video, which can be imported and edited just fine with Apple tools like FCPX. Some vodcasts would probably go 4K as soon as Apple would allow it. Netflix & Youtube has some. Trailers would be easy to offer in 4K. Some studio would be increasingly tempted to see if they could profit on a 4K release through the iTunes store if many 4K
I don't expect it (because iDevices aren't shooting in it yet) but it would be a nice surprise. Apple could roll out hardware capable of 4K playback and just not say much about that particular benefit until later (a technological easter egg). Better hardware will still play 1080p, 720p and SD content as good as it can be played (while we wait for 4K content to show up), much like playing DVDs in BD players or old software in latest & greatest Macs.
The problem with 4K/UHD is really the lack of a standard that all parties, from content creators to hardware manufacturers, can adhere to. This despite the commonality of so-called 4K/UHD TVs on the market. The 10-bit colour gamut, High Dynamic Range (HDR), and other factors expected to come with a proper 4K/UHD standard haven't been finalized yet. As such, much of the supposedly 4K/UHD hardware on the market today may not be capable of displaying the content of tomorrow. Or if it can, not to its fullest capability. I believe all of the little UHD content available is strictly higher res. None yet has 10-bit colour, or HDR. Much of today's UHD hardware doesn't adhere to the HDCP 2.2 copy protection standard that is likely to be required, none that I know of have 10- bit colour and only a few out this year have HDR - for which, again, there is no standard.
I remember 1000 line tube televisions were available long before the HDTV standard was ready, which they were never capable of displaying. Those TVs just upscaled the NTSB non-digital, low-def signal. Most people with 4K/UHD TVs are simply upscaling their regular Hi-Def content. What good is Apple issuing a UHD ATV, if it can't stream the future's UHD content. I don't know if that sort of thing is firmware upgradable. Samsung has built some (or all) of its early UHD TVs with the place with all the connections is replaceable for such future upgrading. Of course that won't modify the ability of the pixels themselves to project the 10-bit colour or HDR.
The other problem, of course is how much better is UHD vs HD? From a pixel standpoint, any upgrade will require a much larger TV than you have now to make any difference. In fact picture whatever HDTV you have now, create an image of 4 of them in a 2 TV by 2 TV box on your wall. That's what 4K means. If you've got a 50", you go to 100", 65" becomes 130". Of course you don't HAVE to do this, but without doing it you don't get to take advantage of the higher resolution. You will, eventually get the HDR and 10-bit colour, which I think will make the bigger difference than the resolution improvements. If you don't believe me on the bigger TV thing, remember the pre-HD days: the average person had a tube TV measuring in the mid to high 20s (inches) with the biggest TVs available in 36-40". Nowadays, the average person probably has a 50" HDTV, and the former 36" guy now has a 65-90". Where people plan to stick an 8K TV, that a few companies have toyed with, is beyond me. Perhaps a 50" computer screen you sit 2 feet away from...
You're right. ATV content mostly sucks here too. If the Yanks have such lousy Internet, isn't ironic that the countries that have the decent Broadband to take advantage of the streaming also have the worst content availability. That's not just from Apple, Netflix (for example) is missing tons of shows here too. And I know that's a common problem world wide.
I hope the App Store thing works out, but I bet we still get shafted on content. It's not Apple' fault. I can't get any U.S. network TV apps or access their content via their websites, because the rights to their content are owned by local Canadian Networks. Some of the Canadian networks I can get and some not. You see all the major Broadcasters in Canada, both network and specialty are owned by a mobility carrier - or vice versa. So you can download the app, but get no content on it unless you are also their cellular customer - you have to link your account to the app.