Apple TV and Xbox Live [Archive] - SoundAndVision Magazine Forums

Towen7

January 10th, 2007, 03:31

<div>Hard to tel with all the hype over iphone but Apple announced AppleTV today. $299 for a set-set top box that will allow the user to download protected video and audio content from Itunes, store it on a 40GB hard drive and output to your tv using component or hdmi. (though max resolution is 1080i). The stb connects to a home network through ethernet or wifi.</div><BR><div> </div><BR><div>Microsoft offers the similar capability with xbox live. Members can down-load sd and hd versions of some network tv programaing and movies. Outside of the gaming commnity I hear NO buzz about xbox live. And few gamers seem to care much about paying for video downloads after paying for xbox live membership fees..</div><BR><div> </div><BR><div>The 360 may be the market leading next-gen GAME platform but ms has been trying to establish the 360 as a home entertainment hub with what appers to be little success. Rumors of upgrades to include iptv functionality and hdmi capability (at what price?), the existing abilty to share a/v files from pc to 360, hddvd functionality, etc. I could be wrong but I am willing to bet that the vast majority of xbox 360s have and will continue to serve as game consoles only.</div><BR><div> </div><BR><div>Has miscosoft misjudged the market? Will AppleTV be a success? Does anyone care?</div><BR>

akula

January 10th, 2007, 18:56

I made another thread before I saw this one, but I''ll repeat the gist here:<br><br>The AppleTV will flop in a huge way.  Sure, it isn''t expensive, but it is extremely limited.  Apple has even said that the movies available will not be the first-run titles that just hit DVD.  You don''t have enough HD space to do much of anything.  I predict it will only be popular for those Mac-philes who already watch movies on their Macs, and wouldn''t mind being able to export that to the TV with minimal hassle.<br><br>The Xbox 360 is a better pick for this sort of thing.  You don''t need a Live Gold membership to download movies and TV shows; <a href="http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1106-moviestv.htm">a free Silver membership will work just fine</a> (scroll down in that link for the info).  Sure, a 360 premium costs $100 more than the AppleTV, but you also get a quite good game console out of the deal (might be a plus to most people), and with IPTV coming to the 360 and HD-DVD being a fairly reasonable add-on, I can''t imagine that the AppleTV will be anything approaching a good success.  It may not lose money for Apple, but I just don''t see it getting much of any market penetration.<br><br>If you are wanting a device that can download new content in HD resolutions and will expand your media abilities, the 360 looks to be easily worth the money, even when mated to the HD-DVD drive (the ability to use the 360 as a DVD or HD-DVD player is a huge advantage).  The AppleTV looks like a $300 price tag for the privilege of being locked into the iTunes store for all your movie viewing needs.  Some will think that it''s great; most will skip it.<br><br>