Hands-on with the Apple iTV prototype
By Ryan Block 
posted September 12th 2006 3:02PM
posted September 12th 2006 3:02PM
posted September 12th 2006 3:02PM
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A few thoughts about the iTV...
1.) USB would allow an iPod to be connected directly to the iTV unit; allowing media playback from the iPod and possibly also enabling encoding from the iTV to the iPod (MP4, H.264). That would be sweet! Imagine purchasing content through an iTunes/iTV web portal and then having the music automatically transferred to your iTunes Library and your iPod; while you're watching another movie, etc!
2.) USB would also potentially provide (as mentioned) access to TV tuners/recorders such as Elgato's EyeTV, etc. or perhaps a similar future Apple device. Personally, I think Apple would be crazy if they didn't buy Elgato (perfect fit for their direction). I'd at least expect there to be some sort of partnership.
3.) Ethernet and/or 802.11 allows direct access not only to any Mac or PC media on your home network, but also allows the iTV to potentially "share" with any networked uPnP device that has content. I have a "roll your own" 2TB ReadyNAS that holds all of my media (video and iTunes library). It supports uPnP and is accessible from my Elgato EyeHome connected to my central home theatre.
4.) The Mac Mini footprint is obviously no mistake since the Mini's the ideal counterpart in a fully capable Mac home theatre installation.
5.) All of the discussion about MCE/Windows alternatives are missing the most important aspect of this device - integration with iTunes. As long as Apple continues to bring "value-added" to their media experience through hardware and software innovation, consumers will continue to buy. Remember that Apple's licensing and copy-protection schemes are proprietary to their hardware, so there's little chance of people jumping ship and Apple knows this. Hardware is only half of the solution and Apple has the only software delivery mechanism (iTunes) that's solid. It just so happens that their hardware is first-rate, as well. There simply isn't anything (Microsoft) that can touch Apple's integration between hardware (computers to media devices) and software (Mac OS X to iApps), period.
HD videos... interesting idea - and way too big to download for many people.
For 640x480, Steve said 1hr was 800MB, and that requires 1.8Mbps. I assume HD would require about 4x that - that's about 6.5 Gigabytes for a 2 hour HD movie. BIG. Even SDTV is big for many people (myself included - my connection is plenty fast but I have download limits!)
Notice that iPods can upload purchased content to iTunes now though? Could you feasibly buy (or rent) a movie at an Apple store and transport it home via your iPod?
This maybe a dumb question but why wouldnt I just plunk down a the $600 and buy a macmini instead. I know its twice the price but, you get a hard drive a dvd player and web browser. I am not rich by any means but I think buying this iTV instead of a macmini is a waste of $300. Its like going to Six Flags and not getting the Flashpass.
The iTV seems more like a Windows Media Connect device rather than a Windows Media Extender. While I'm not sure that it will follow the industry standard UPnP Media Server specification , I'm pretty sure that it's *not* using something like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), which is what extenders use with Window XP Media Center Edition to serve up the entire MCE UI.
UPnP media players have been on the market for years and leverage Windows Media Connect, a UPnP media server that comes free with all versions of Windows XP. I've had a D-Link DSM-520 for the past year and the HDMI output quality is fabulous (and the CPU drain on my PC is much less than the Linksys Media Extender that I had previously). However, the user interface provided in the unit's firmware is almost unusable. I'm sure that Apple won't let the iTV suffer a similar fate, but at this point I almost expect them to shun industry standards and not play well with any other UPnP devices or standard codecs like DivX/XviD.
itv will have a fit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itv
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itv_news
Most of you are missing the point entirely. You can say "Why spend $300 on this when I can do more right now with X, Y and Z boxes?" Look at Apple's main design goal. Simple, elegant, sophisticated computing for the masses. They've never EVER been on the top rung in terms of technology standards and speed. But what they DO sell they sell very well: reliability, comfort, stunning aesthetics, minimal footprint. The people who are going to buy the iTV are not hanging around in forums like this talking about building their own PC from scratch, or wirelessly linking their XBox360, Tivo, computer and coffee maker together! They're beginner or intermediate computer users who simply want a fool-proof way to look at their photos/videos and listen to music on their TV. Oh, and the Apple die-hards. They'll buy just because... :-)
I can't wait for this if Apple does it right... for now XBMC on a softmodded xbox is king!
I have Tivo2, MCE'05, MCE extender,xbox360,DLINK and Buffalo players and my $149 XBMC Xbox destroys them all! If you think you can handle softmodding a xbox that is for sure the way to go
(BTW my media storage server is a G5 Powermac) so yes you can use XBMC w/ Macs
remember the apple tvs we all heard rumors about last spring
a 40 inch apple glossy screen and an itv nice
They keep selling those movies and tv shows at the same resolutions, I'll keep passing the ITMS by.
Guys.. think about this for a moment.
Its not airport express with video. It does not have a harddrive. It will not act as a router. No one said it has AirTunes.(which is really the only thing that if missing would cause me to not want it.)
It's got an 802.11g wireless interface, which is what its going to be streaming the video over. Eventually, these type of boxes will be built into tvs.
This is more like Xbox 360 + media center PC than anyone here is seeing.
You don't play the videos from your notebook or computer. They are accessed from the network, from the device. Are you really expecting your wireless network/computer to be serving up 1080p ?
Fat chance. 640x480, better than standard def tv. What 90% of the market has. I will buy one.
I like the idea of watching podcasts on a TV.
Sorry, but visited the MacExpo in Paris last week and cannot find the respective keynote of Steve Jobs about the iTV. Can anybody help me?
Where is the built-in Blu-Ray player? Discs are not dead ... at least not yet.
The Apple i-tv will have all the correct settings and controls for rez on i would expect all popular TV sets so slating them on holding back info on the operating system on it is a bit forth coming, how often has apple produced a product that is a pain in the backside to work?
Let it be born before trying to kill it A!!!!
I have an XBMC too, of course it's better than anything out there. But the average joe is never going to be able to figure out how to mod thier xbox, and install xbmc, let alone configure thier shares etc. etc. This reminds me of what happened with mp3 players about 10 years ago, (remember the EM-PEG?) they were hacker community toys normal people could not use them.
When Apple introduced a content delivery system (Itunes and the Itunes store) and a user friendly portable player (Ipod) THATS when the masses entered into the downloadable audio fray.
And now they are following the same formula for video. It's a good bet they will succeed with a new video content delivery system (Itunes 7 and Video on Itunes store) and a user friendly set top bot (iTV).
why would 1080i instead of 1080p? surely it will support HD, otherwise, why hdmi? it should also have good upscaling ability. The interface will also be stellar. With D-link's similar box for $200, apple's rendition for $300 makes great sense. Also, the box will eleviate the necessity for maintaining another computer. It looks like it won't talk to iphoto or the like, which is a bit of a downer for me, but with the above, I will buy one. And I am someone who builds my own machines. I'm working on a vista box that will probably be the media server for it.
I really appreciate your help.
http://www.laptopbatteryclub.com/
For those of you concerned about the use of the iTV moniker... iTV is just the Apple internal name. Jobs said on his announcement, before it was to be released they'd have to have another name for it. So no problem there.
if itv allows streaming of divx(3.11, 4.xx, 5.xx, 6 pro), xvid, hd divx, mpeg-4 then i will buy it....my present configuration does not meet my needs...forget about the blueray and hd dvd wars and remember divx/mpeg-4 is the future of video and video exchanging...remember mp3(mpeg-3) and how it revolvutioned music...i hope stevie boy remembers this when he releases this product....VIVA LA BIT TORRENT!
hmmm...Konqueror springs to mind don't you think guys?!?
I had a Widows Media Center TV. The interface was HARD to navigate, most of the times it would change channels without my command. The remote was large and crummy with tons of buttons I never use.
I just bought a Mac Mini Core Duo, with Front Row. Thanks to the easy setup, all my favorite Sports Games, about 70 of my DVD's, and TV shows are all now on my mini. I have 3/4 Terabytes of storage so there's plenty of space left. I do agree that with HD content coming, I'd like to see some Blue-Ray 1080P content, especially 1080P60, which currently none of the Sports Channels support, and only real expensive TVs. Also, if the iTV DID have a USB/FIREWIRE port, it would be nice if you could plug in an iSight and use your iTV to chat to your friends.
Front Row in general is far too regulated. It would be nice to see some Front Row plug-ins. Kind of like Dashboard, anyone can make a widget really easy.
If you ever peeked in any of the current computer offerings from Apple, you will notice that they all have 3 Airport Antennas and 802.11N chipsets in them. That makes me think Apple is ramping up for HD content at home. The other delemma is, how to down-convert HD DRM videos to get on an iPod. It is hard enough to get your own AVI and other movies into H.264.
This is like the cable company calling and trying to get you to buy a cable box for $300. But they don't offer any real cable TV service. They just have a very limited selection of on-demand choices you have to pay for individually.
The whole concept is flawed unless apple can provide a real cable TV service (that means NBC, HBO, Showtime - everything) and/or an on-demand service with a COMPLETE library (like Netflix). Most shows people watch are network shows which are free. Nobody's going to pay $3 just so they can watch The Office on.... their televisions. They can already do that. For free. Just like 5 years ago nobody was going to pay $.99 for a song just to listen on their home audio system. iTunes music worked because of the iPod. It provided a portable audio jukebox which is very beneficial to people. But there is no "must have" video device to hook people in. Nobody cares about portable video. Most people don't even care about renting video.
Whatever services Apple comes up with, cable/sat companies will have beaten them to it. And they already have the subscriber base, the equipment installed, and a huge advantage in the dedicated delivery infrastructure.
Unlike MP3s where no market existed till they showed up, Apple would have to steal share from an already existing market. And they'll have to rely on the Internet as a delivery method. Customers will have to have broadband, and they will have to already own a computer and leave it on all the time. That's in addition to buying this $300 thing.
And anyone with an already subscribed user base can compete with the same idea. Netflix could start tomorrow if they wanted. They could notify every customer their new $200 gadget will let existing subscribers watch on-demand over IP without any additional charges.
"Nobody cares about portable video."
?
I think iPod sales show you are completely wrong.
I only hope this thing can do what others have said: XviD, DivX. If I need to convert everything to an apple codex forget it!
I do it for my iPod which only slightly annoys me (RANT:ON the iPod killer WILL play Divx, XviD, etc in the future as chips get faster and smaller and some company does not bow-down to the MPAA--Most likley some smart Asian company RANT:OFF ) but doesnt take that long because I am downgrading everything (resolution, bitrate, audio) to a tiny screen but to have to do everything for my big screen would take forever--And then I would have to back it all up again!
The Apple TV is going to be amazing. I found a community already, if your going to get one check it out. www.appletvusers.com
Am I the only one who sees this as a waste of 350 bucks? What real purpose does this thing accomplish? Why not plug your computer into a nice big monitor (or an HDTV, for that matter) and forget about the iTV playing useless middleman?