AppleTV- will it flop?

[akula]

<a title="Apple TV coverage" href="http://www.tgdaily.com/2007/01/09/apple_announces_iphone/">Apple TV coverage</a><br><br>OK, the AppleTV device has been drowned out by coverage of the iPhone, which does look like it will sell.&nbsp; The AppleTV is a set-top device which will have a 40GB hard drive and 802.11n (well, a draft version of it).&nbsp; The idea is that you buy HD movies online (720p), transfer them to the box, and watch them on TV.&nbsp; It will NOT time-shift video, and it does not have any kind of optical device built in.&nbsp; It is only useful for movies you download (presumably through the iTunes store or something similar), and the Wall Street Journal indicates that the movies that will be available will mainly be library movies, not new-to-DVD movies, in order to prevent cannibalization of DVD sales.<br><br>My take?&nbsp; While the iPhone might be a line drive out of the park, the AppleTV looks to be a soft grounder to the pitcher (easy out).&nbsp; While the price ($299) is fairly low, so are the capabilities.&nbsp; It is cheaper than a next-gen DVD player, but there aren''t many available movies.&nbsp; My guess is that it might be attractive to people who currently watch movies on their Macs, but I can''t imagine home theater enthusiasts or non-Apple fans will bother with it.&nbsp; While Apple hasn''t said as much about its potential uses, what I have seen makes me wonder why Apple even bothered; a Media Center iMac or Mac mini would have made MUCH more sense.&nbsp; The inability to time-shift video or serve as a media server (40GB is far too small to host even a fraction of the movies any of us would have at home).&nbsp; If a person wants hassle-free video rentals, Netflix looks to be a far superior option, and the Xbox 360, although more expensive, is much more flexible (plays games, watches DVDs and HD-DVDs, can download TV shows and movies, and IPTV is coming).&nbsp; <br><br>Did any of you see this thing, and what are your thoughts?&nbsp; I just can''t figure out how Apple can make a phone so cool and a set-top box so useless and announce them at the same time.<br><br>

[Jomari]

<div>as i firmly quote john mayer in a section of Esquire...</div><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><div>anything apple releases has got us by the balls.</div><BR>

[apcarandang]

<div>I think it will great for people with movie collections on Itunes. I'm thinking of getting one since it will wirelessly pick up from your Itunes library. Like&nbsp;all things&nbsp;Apple, I'm hoping everything will be done very easily without having to go through elaborate setup procedures.</div><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><div>I wonder if they just expect you to delete older movies and pick up new ones from your Mac since a 40G drive is small in today's standards.</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>We'll have to see how the picture quality will be like when it's on an HDTV.</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>Currently when I use my Ipod to watch movies on TV, the picture gets softer and not at all DVD quality. </div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>Apple's HD trailers are wonderful to watch on Mac displays.</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><br><BR>

[jstwong]

<div>I was under the impression that it functioned more like a streaming video type of device, i.e. it takes a streaming video feed from your computer and displays it on whatever TV display you have the Apple TV hooked-up to.&nbsp; Hence that is why it has such a small HD, since it is not really intended to store movies on the HD to show.&nbsp; </div><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><div>None the less, at this point, I''m not that interested in it.&nbsp; I''m not the person who leaves their computer on all day, so turning on / booting up my computer to watch a video stream on a remote display is not appealing.&nbsp; I also think it is a negative that it tops out at 720p.&nbsp; I think Apple should have given it the capability to do 1080p and 1080i output as well. </div><BR>

[hoops]

<div>My question is whether it will allow you to stream any video content from pc to hdtv, or just media purchased from the iTunes store?&nbsp; Knowing Apple, I think I know the answer.</div><BR><div>This just may be&nbsp;the better solution:&nbsp; <a title=SlingCatcher href="http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9674879-1.html?tag=more">SlingCatcher</a></div><BR>

[IrritateGuy]

<div>There were dozens of wireless video streaming devices announced at CES from nearly everyone you can imagine in this market, including Dell, HP, Netgear, Slingbox, and others. I don''t see anything new about the Apple TV.</div><BR><div>In fact, the new telco provided IPTV will provide similar capabilities without needing to buy any set top box (rentals are needed, I presume) and they will be capable of downloading entire catalogs of HD movies, including new releases, as well as providing live HD&nbsp;TV and network based PVR capabilities. It seems to me getting a subscription with AT&amp;T''s new IPTV service you get virtually everything the Apple TV offers plus so much more. Right now they are only offering service in parts of San Antonio and Houston, but in a few years all of their customers who can get DSL will be able to sign up.</div><BR>

[IrritateGuy]

Then again, I said the same thing about the iPod being just another "me-too" device which offered nothing that could be gotten elsewhere for less money and often with more features. I was totally wrong about it not succeeding.<BR>

[Huey]

<div>I have the xbox 360, which I can either download movies or stream them from the hard drive.&nbsp; I might be in the minority, but I''ve never downloaded a movie, and have only streamed one home movie, just to see if I could do it.&nbsp; Steaming/downloaded video just doesn''t excite me.</div><BR><div>Rob</div><BR>

[Towen7]

<BLOCKQUOTE><TABLE BORDER=1><TR><TD><b>Date:</b> 1/12/2007 12:27:02 AM <b>Author:</b> Howard Roark<BR><div>Right now they are only offering service in parts of San Antonio and Houston, </TD></TR></TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE></div><BR><div>&nbsp;</div><BR><div>Not just&nbsp;San Antonio and Houston, but also&nbsp;San Francisco, San Jose, New Haven, Stamford, Hartford, Indianapolis, Anderson, Muncie, and Bloomington. Expect to see alot more markets coming very soon. </div><BR>

[akula]

I''m not sure you can compare the iPod to the AppleTV.&nbsp; The iPod had an interface that was superior to the competition, and the included software was also far better than anything similar in terms of ease of use.<br><br>The AppleTV, no matter what its interface, seems to do LESS than the competition.&nbsp; It just doesn''t have the flexibility that people have come to expect out of devices such as the Slingbox.&nbsp; It doesn''t have the space to store movies long-term (and you''d be hard pressed to load it with anything other than iTunes movies anyway), and keep in mind that Apple has admitted that it won''t be first-run movies (as in, the stuff new to DVD) in order to keep from cannibalizing DVD sales.&nbsp; Why pay $300 for a device that won''t play movies you can rent for $4 from Blockbuster?&nbsp; IMO, it isn''t just the technology, but the marketing decisions that mean the device won''t be the breakthrough smash that the iPod was.<br><br>

[apcarandang]

Well, it's officially shipping. Reviews so far have been good. Waiting on mine to arrive any day now. I'm wondering what Apple has under it's sleeves since all movies or Tv shows from Itunes are not in high def. <br><br>Will give you guys my impressions once I get it and set it up.<br><br>APC<br>S&V Moderator

[jstwong]

<DIV>Anthony, definitely let us know your impressions of the iTV.&nbsp; Though I'm not currently interested in it from the view point of buying a unit, I am interested in it to know more about its actual function.&nbsp; From what I gather, it only can receive streams from an&nbsp;iTunes library, and only playback&nbsp;video encoded in H.264 [mpeg-4]?</DIV>

[apcarandang]

<DIV>Updated the firmware on my Apple TV. The interface is beautiful as usual and easy to navigate.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>I rented one HD movie online and it is just amazing. I rented Ratatouille since I have the Bluray evrsion so I can compare the image quality. The rented version looks almost as good as the Bluray version but you can see a bit of compression artifacts but a much better improvement over the regular Itunes movies you can buy.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>Most movies come in standard or HD versions. and now are in DD.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>I have the first generation 40G model. If I were to get another one I would opt for the 160G version.</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>APC</DIV>
<DIV>S &amp; V Moderator</DIV>

[jstwong]

APC, your experience with a HD download seems to be in line with what I've heard from a couple of others - better than standard DVD, but not as good as BD or HD-DVD.<br><br>I'm still kind of mulling over whether to buy one or not.&nbsp; I'm not really in a rush right now since I'm out of HDMI connections anyway, and I don't want to have to buy a HDMI switch just to put an Apple TV into my system.&nbsp; I'm also kind of hoping that Apple gives it a major workover / redo.&nbsp; I would love to see it function more like a DVR and/or possibly integrate its features into a more Mac Mini like unit.&nbsp; <br><div></div>

[apcarandang]

I just bought an HDMI switcher from monoprice but it won't work with the AppleTV. I can switch Directv and my Oppo player on it though. I'm still trying to figure out why it is not switching the AppleTV.<br><br>APC<br>S & V Moderator

[Towen7]

<div>You may have already tried this but... </div><div>Try turning the TV off, then switch to Apple TV, then turn the set back on. I bought an HDMI Matrix switch (also from Monoprice) and about 1/4 I have to do that routine with my Sony TV. Its a handshaking issue.</div>

[jstwong]

APC, my first suspicion is that you are having a handshake issue too.&nbsp; Definitely try the power on sequence mentioned above to see if that resolves your issue.<br><div></div>