[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple TV Software Update 2.3.1 is out in the wild here

[buzglyd]

Well, hopefully Apple TV will start showing up on my iMac as an AirTunes device. It disappeared after the last update.

[li0n]

I have two Apple TVs and the more I think about them, the more annoyed I get.
First, I had to prove that I am not a criminal movie pirate by DOWNGRADING my HDMI connection to component, just to watch a move I bought on iTunes. Thanks Apple. That made me feel great.
Second, in the year 2000, I hoped we would have flying cars. We don't. But, we can actually use our TV as a 2nd monitor to amaze our friends and family as we browse the web. I consider this a fairly distant close 2nd to flying cars. Thanks again Apple for doing everything you can to prevent me from doing this. I currently have an Apple Mini - next to my Apple TV - with a DVI connection to a projector. I screen-share to it so i can play a better screensaver on my TV than the one -the one- that comes on Apple TV. I can also now see my flickr account, which I can not from Apple TV because AppleTV only allows access to public Flickr accounts :-? My Flickr account is 'private' due to a nude photo which apparently someone complained about. Oooh! Must I move to Spain for boobies to be okay again?
Don't get me wrong; I love Apple. (I converted to Macs one day by throwing my pc in my swimming pool so that it could not be repaired... again. I spent a couple hundred thousand dollars converting my company to Macs then, too. Great investment, it turns out.) But that doesn't preclude me from pointing out areas where Jobbo might improve his products.
peace

[dgswift]

I have had the same supremely fustrating problem with my MacBook.

[TheBum]

Hopefully this fixes the white screen problem with downloaded movies that normally requires a reboot to fix.

[TheBum]

As for Boxee, the only thing I ever used it for was Hulu, but now that Hulu has been pulled from Boxee, I probably won't even bother reinstalling Boxee after the ATV update.

[pln]

According to TUAW - http://www.tuaw.com/...stealth-update/ - it contains a network bandwidth tester.
And apparently reapplying the patch stick re-enables Boxee.

[ronincali3002]

li0n said:

I have two Apple TVs and the more I think about them, the more annoyed I get.

First, I had to prove that I am not a criminal movie pirate by DOWNGRADING my HDMI connection to component, just to watch a move I bought on iTunes. Thanks Apple. That made me feel great.

You had do downgrade to Component? Really? Why? I have my AppleTV connected via HDMI straight to my TV, and have had no issues. Were you connecting to some other peripheral?

My rants about the AppleTV are as follow:

- "My...Music/Movies" at the bottom of the list of choices. DUMB. They should be first. Fix it Apple.
- Available Preference settings are WEAKSAUCE. I want more choices.
- Inability to use my iPod touch to fully navigate my Apple TV, or use it as a keyboard for my Apple TV. DUMB. Fix it Apple!
- No way to purchase on iTunes via my Mac for download on my Apple TV. Sometimes I don't want to download to my Mac first.
- Contract with HULU like you did with YouTube so we watch higher quality, and a broader range of things on the Apple TV.

Apple is REALLY slow or disinterested in doing things to make the Apple TV a product more people want to buy, or making it better for those who have it already.

[folklore]

li0n said:

I have two Apple TVs and the more I think about them, the more annoyed I get.

First, I had to prove that I am not a criminal movie pirate by DOWNGRADING my HDMI connection to component, just to watch a move I bought on iTunes. Thanks Apple. That made me feel great.

That's not Apple's fault. That's compliments of the content producers. The specific technology used is HDCP. Chances are good that your display (TV, whatever) doesn't have HDCP, so it's not licensed to view content that's HDCP protected.

Again, it ain't Apple's fault that content providers want to use digital rights management (DRM) technology like HDCP to protect their content. It took Apple years to convince record labels to remove DRM from audio tracks, and the previously dominant format (CD audio) had no DRM. Every current video format uses some form of DRM - DVDs have a weak encryption scheme, Blu-ray Discs use a much stronger encryption scheme, and digital downloads use DRM too.

Don't expect that to change any time soon, and don't blame Apple for it.

[garyi]

I have XBMC on my appletv and if I could just work out how to load it from start up I would be happy if apple stuck the software up their a*
They need to accept that people don't want to rent expensive old films.

[Chris Breen]

garyi said:

> They need to accept that people don't want to rent expensive old films.

My guess is their data is showing otherwise. I rent one or two movies a week from Apple on my Apple TV -- mostly family stuff that's suitable for my kid. The fact that they put a network test in there indicates that they're aware that download problems are not helping them. Hopefully they'll take that data and do something useful with it.

[li0n]

[quote name='folklore']
>

li0n said:

> I have two Apple TVs and the more I think about them, the more annoyed I get.
>
> First, I had to prove that I am not a criminal movie pirate by DOWNGRADING my HDMI connection to component, just to watch a move I bought on iTunes. Thanks Apple. That made me feel great.

That's not Apple's fault. That's compliments of the content producers. The specific technology used is HDCP. Chances are good that your display (TV, whatever) doesn't have HDCP, so it's not licensed to view content that's HDCP protected..

I know about the HDCP thing, and yes, I join in applauding Apple for its no-less-than-heroic effort in dragging the content providers into this century. However, Apple does have an ethical responsibility to its customers, to inform us that there is a reasonable chance we may be unable to watch content for which we pay (and perhaps, to offer a refund in such cases). And they have received earned criticism for this; for introducing the technology in the manner they did: 1) quietly, which was a major inconvenience to many of its customers; and 2) early, as the release came when many displays & TVs were (and are) not HDCP compatible, forcing people to spend $ either a new TV, or more cables, or just not watching. Not good choices.

But, alas, I rant too much about a relatively minor annoyance (Isn't that one of the purposes of the web?).

If there's a wish here, it is that Apple would give the content companies a little jab and me a little warning on iTunes when I'm about to click on that $14.99 button.

[folklore]

li0n said:

>

Quote

If there's a wish here, it is that Apple would give the content companies a little jab and me a little warning on iTunes when I'm about to click on that $14.99 button.

I don't disagree, but I wonder what that warning would look like. Out of curiosity, did you ask Apple for a refund?

FWIW, I had compatibility issues with my AppleTV and a Sony TV using a HDMI cable. The AppleTV would lock up - a lot - when I was navigating menus. Switching to component cables seems to have solved this issue.

Obviously, HDMI isn't all it's cracked up to be. If I had to guess, HDCP handshaking was causing the issues I was having. But that's just a guess, and I have no other experience with HDMI and HDCP to use as a comparison. So I simply don't know if there's something wrong with Apple's implementation, or if it's the HDMI and HDCP standards that have problems.

[desdichado]

I'd just like the option of purchasing the HiDef movies. We can rent them, but we can't buy them and we can buy TV Shows in HiDef, but not movies. What sense does that make? I obviously wouldn't buy all of them, but every once and a while buying a digital HiDef movie would be great.
Also, give me a Netflix like subscription on movie rentals via Apple TV (and get rid of the stupid 30 day delay to rent) and I'll likely drop Netflix.
Otherwise, I like my Apple TV. We have all of our DVDs Handbroken and loaded on and all of our music is digitized. Add the Remote function on the iPhone and a few Airport Expresses with Speakers throughout the house and it is a nice low tech house automation solution.