Apple unveils the Apple TV, take 2
By Nilay Patel 
posted January 15th 2008 11:55AM
posted January 15th 2008 11:55AM
posted January 15th 2008 11:55AM
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The Apple TV Product is great. Ilook forward to the new firmware update.
However, there are 2 big features/upgrades that would really make the Apple TV perfect for me.
1: Video Playlist - Ability to play videos/music videos back to back. This works for songs but not for video content. Without this you have to be tied to the remote to jump to the next one. I simply watch music videos less because of this lack.
2: Enabling the USB port for external, supplemental storage. I have already filled the 160GB's and now have to negotiate my content. The addition of a second disk (scratch) externally would allow for all content to be available without the use of my computer.
My friends love the product, and I like giving a demo, but these 2 lacking features make me feel like it's pushing the purchase of a macmini my way. But $600 is a lot to spend in order to get these 2 features.
I don't know if this will be read by anyone at apple but I hope it does.
These are features I know existing and future uses have already come to expect to be a standard feature of the Apple TV.
Thank You
Been reading alot about the apple tv over the past year from hacks to updates ,so i bought one 6 months ago and order 2 more this week .. it just a update software which is great for me as i have the so called old one ,,,i got rid off my cable 2 months ago and been using the apple tv for watching every thing, youll be suprised what out there on the internet i chose what i want to watch and advert free...also it nice to see my 42inch lcd and just my apple tv before there was vcr dvd player cables etc now it looks the way it should clean ,people r always talking about dvd player or blueray ,i think i see where steve jobs is going with this , you dont need them just download them ... no worries about damage disks or going to rent them and leaving them back 5 days late..ive been downloading movie for years this way it just the next step .. ok i have to pay for them but iam sure with in 2 months some will firgue out how to keep them on your system after the 24 hour time limit, then if then can keep them then they will be able to share the on the net so its a good thing
Hmmm.....Apple should almost give this item away...
Oh no..Steve I would love to spend over $300 for the privlege to
rent movies from such an AWESOME company!!
Hmmm....
Gotta admit...this kinda sucks. Why couldn't they just software update the current AppleTV to be able to rent movies? How are people going to access there music and photo library?
It is a software update, not a new model.
I guess I should have waited until the show was over to post my comment. BTW...It is new hardware, but they are offering a software update to previous models.
And that's the sound of VUDU stock taking a nosedive. Bye bye VUDU, we barely knew ye...
Marshall
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The Real HT Info Podcast
Not really all that impressive. The 360 has had HD movies for well over a year in america, AND in the UK for the last month. I don't get how apple can't sort out licensing in the UK when Microsoft can. You'd think Apple's existing deals and size in this market would make it easy.
I try my best to not be an Apple (or, previously, gentoo) fanboy, but I don't hide my distaste for Microsoft. The less money I can give MS, the better. I actively avoid MS hardware (keyboards, mice, networking, etc) when shopping. I haven't purchased (nor pirated) an MS OS in years. And the (original) XBox and games I bought a few years back were second-hand. I'm sorry, but there's no way I'm going to buy a 360 and download movies on it. Not going to happen.
If anyone else out there doesn't like MS' practices, they should do the same.
I'm hardly a Microsoft fanboy, if any other company had a similar product in the UK, i would of used their name. I'm writing as a pissed of brit who is constantly irritated by these kind of services launching in the UK, and while this usually doesn't bother me - obviously licensing issues are a big one. My argument still stands. Its not like Apple are breaking new ground here, drawing up brand new contracts which have never been seen before.
I just want to be able to rent movies on iTunes, even if that is the same selection as what Microsoft offer on Marketplace in the UK.
I'm writing this on a mac now.
I'm hardly a Microsoft fanboy, if any other company had a similar product in the UK, i would of used their name. I'm writing as a pissed of brit who is constantly irritated by these kind of services launching in the UK, and while this usually doesn't bother me - obviously licensing issues are a big one. My argument still stands. Its not like Apple are breaking new ground here, drawing up brand new contracts which have never been seen before.
I just want to be able to rent movies on iTunes, even if that is the same selection as what Microsoft offer on Marketplace in the UK.
I'm writing this on a mac now.
Speaking of the 360, I don't understand why iTunes has to be running on the computer its streaming to AppleTV from...I can stream to my XBox 360 sans iTunes being up and running using Connect 360. I can't say the same for my AppleTV. Just a minor annoyance, but a seemingly no brainer fix nonetheless.
Now if they'd only open up that damned USB port so I can attach a TB drive, then I wouldn't need to worry about streaming at all...
Yeah, as an XBox 360 owner, the HD movies are great. You can almost hear them over the noise of the 360's fans. Movies like Airplane are the best, 'cause the noise of that jet engine really adds something to the movie.
Looking forward to finally renting HD on my nice, quiet ATV.
Finally we can talk about something! http://appletvforum.com/ I'm looking forward to these new features, but since I'm in Canada I'm going to have to wait! ARGH!
@Aaron -- It is a software update, and not new hardware.
Uh, there IS a software update for older AppleTVs, but this is a completely new device. Unless of course, the HDMI port was hiding under a sticker on the old AppleTV.
Um, there was no sticker hiding the HDMI port on the AppleTV sitting in my living room for several months now. Not a hardware update at all, just UI and features.
OK, I may have made a mistake here. I could have sworn the original AppleTV did not have HDMI (the main reasom I did not buy it at the time).
And with quotes like this:
"Apple just admitted that the first Apple TV didn't quite work out -- so it's back with a new model.."
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/15/apple-unveils-the-apple-tv-take-2/
and I swear I read a statement by Steve Jobs that said something like 'it is all new in there' (though I can't find it).
So, my bad. This is disappointing as a software-only update.
What about all of us thtat just bought a $399 Apple TV for Christmas. Do we get a $70 rebate or whatever the difference is with the new pricing for the 160GB model?
I'm with you. This actually makes for a compelling reason to buy this thing.
This is just silly. AppleTV did not just need the movie rentals, it needed the following too:
* 1080/30p support, or AT LEAST, 720/30p. I mean, my camera shoots in 1080/60i, so at least I should be able to watch my stuff in 720/30p instead of the maximum 720/24p.
* It needs DivX/XViD support.
* It needs WMV support -- no matter if it comes from MS or not.
* It needs DV .avi, HDV .m2t and AVCHD .m2ts/.mts support so people can play back their own stuff.
Until all that is satisfied, AppleTV is a joke to me, as a camera owner and serious videographer, and the PS3 is a MUCH BETTER device for that job.
I'm with you, at least give me 1080i. Unfortunately with the current AppleTV hardware, I don't think there is even the possibility of a future software/firmware upgrade to 1080i.
iTunes on a desktop/laptop supports DivX handily. It also adds a menu option in FrontRow just for any content on your Mac that uses it. I haven't experimented with XviD yet. Since I'm mostly Linux and Linux does XviD well, I haven't had a need to.
Why WMV? I can view that on my Linux box using hacks, but I find it pointless. My YouTube-ready camera supports H.264 which Apple supports as well.
What I *would* like to see is a slight redesign to the menu system of FrontRow that de-emphasizes the iTunes store and focuses first on the user's existing content. I'm getting tired of an unneeded menu layer I must navigate to then over the Store item, Preview item, and finally to my stored movies menu. I should be able to go straight to my existing content without all that hopping around. It amounts to a required "opt out" of buying content every time I want to watch something already stored locally. (The HTPC Mini may get wiped and resurrected as an Ubuntu/MythTV box in the future as a result of this "profit first, customer second" design.)
the ArchosTV+ does all that except the 1080i
Apple has been using this profit first, consumer second business model for quite some time now. I use macs all the time but it really pisses me off.
that comment was directed towards shawn.
What is the point of purchasing this device if you own a cable box or a satellite dish? You can already get standard definition downloads of new movies for around 4 bucks and no download time. Plus, they will probably have the ability in the near future to sell HD movies through cable. If this is not convincing enough, you can get netflix and order SD or HD movies to their door. I just don't see how apple is going to penetrate this market at this price point!? Hell, if TIVO can't do it, why would MAC be any different.
I dunno, it kind of appeals to me, having digital cable with (ridiculous) pay-per-view rates and having about $50 in iTunes gift cards left over from Christmas. Also, I'm thinking college students without cable boxes will appreciate this, especially if Apple gets on top of things and releases new movies as they come out.
Do you have any idea how much I despise my cable company? So much that I started a petition to end their monopoly in our city. I got 430 actual (ie: non-online) signatures in 3.5 hours. I hate them so much that later today, once my DSL is installed, I'm dropping them completely. My roommates and I are going sans satellite or cable simply on principle. The new AppleTV announcement just makes me feel that much better about the decision.
PS: Pardon me... the problem isn't my hate for Charter. The problem is that Charter hates me. And you, too.
Well, for starters, you can begin to watch the movie at night, get tired, go to bed, grab your video iPod in the morning on your way to the train, and watch the rest of the movie on your morning commute right where you left off the night before.
Let's see Comcast do that.
I checked my Netflix account to see what I use each month and it seems to average around 8 discs a month. I pay $24/mo for my level of service. That comes to $3 per disc. (Note that TV on disc is usually 2-4 episodes per disc. Lost, Rome, Space 1999, etc)
Apple is offering a two-tier pricing per disc for movies at $3 and $4 each. Apparently, this rental does *not* include television, which you can purchase per episode at $2. A 2 episode rental disc would cost $4 at that rate, a 3 episode would cost $6. etc.
Apple video rentals are more expensive. "Prison Break" has 22 episodes in Season 1 on 6 discs which would cost $44 on Apple and $18 on Netflix. I'd probably pay close to $40/mo for the same amount of movies and tv through Apple as I do Netflix for $24/mo.
The added feature of being able to move your rentals to any other Apple device for watching does me no good since everything else I use is Linux-based. (Netflix may yet support Linux but Apple clearly will not.)
Apple would need to offer some sort of bulk plan where you pay a fixed price per month for a fixed amount of download that brings the average per disc rental price to $3. They also need to beef up their library to rival Netflix's, including the Indy houses and fringe interests like G&L movies.
I give them kudos, though, for being brave enough to unbundle AppleTV from an iTunes-encumbered PC somewhere in the house. A tiny gap in their walled garden, but appreciated just the same.
I have both the apple TV and the PS3. I am also a photographer. I use both and I look forward to this update. For $229, I'll be picking up a second apple TV as well.
As a stand-alone device this is not terribly impressive. But you have to consider that this device is the front-end to the largest media portal on the planet.
The 1G AppleTV did not have the features it needed to make it (no HD for example). This one barely does but as it is, it is one of the first viable (and much less expensive) alternatives to a HTPC (at least in the role of a movie server).
SNORE...
Microsoft had this over a year ago, Blockbuster / Netflix is a MUCH better deal (with the amount of movies I watch)... this will advance the SD / HD download market, but is yet to be the "it" device.
Here is a HUGH question. Will the software convert the AAC 5.1 to Dolby 5.1 out the HDMI and/or optical output? If not, then no one will be able to use their 5.1 surround receivers to get true 5.1 surround sound.
You don't have an Apple iReceiver?!
So what is the difference between this and an Xbox 360? More Studio support or what?
iTunes, and the lack of ability to play games...
Yeah, support from all the studios. Microsoft only has a couple studios on board, I believe.
this announcement is wrong, far as i can tell. Its just new firmware. Its not a new product.
Has anybody already updated their appleTV?
For future hardware updates, why don't they make it a cablecard cablebox, so I can have this instead of the box from my cable provider, rather than in addition to it? That would be an interesting option. Then add a DVR as well, and I may be interested.
Add a qam\cablecard tuner to that thing and I might spring for one.
Big question: 720p only? Does the AppleTV output 1080i/p? Do the videos come in 1080i/p, or are they 720p only?
-Pie
According the the announcement, you can rent "SD" or "HD" movies. The HD movies are $1 more expensive than the SD, so $4 or $5 each movie.
Doesn't actually answer my question. HD is defined as 720p, 1080i and 1080p. It could be any of these resolutions. My understanding of AppleTV is that it was limited to 720p only for output, but that may not be correct.
-Pie
I have an Apple TV and tried watching HD clips from quicktime.com on it; 720 is so so, but 1080 is impossible o watch! So I do expect a hardware update next to a software update.
I wish Apple would just go ahead and make a real STB that I could use with DISH/DirecTV and/or cable...
Until you buy at least 229 movies, each movie you download is going to be $1 more than something you could get through your cable set top box (which you probably got for free), or your Xbox 360 (which wasn't free, but has other uses). The AppleTV won't be a compelling purchase until it does something more than just cost more. When Apple makes the AppleTV into a combination AppleTV/Wii, then they'll have something. Until then, try convincing your grandmother to spend $229 to rent a $5 movie.
Nice!
No need for disks at all. =D