[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple TV (third generation): What you need to know here

[TheBum]

Part of a question above asks about playing back ripped movies and you failed to answer it.

[CatOne]

TheBum, on 07 March 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

Part of a question above asks about playing back ripped movies and you failed to answer it.

The existing AppleTV plays ripped movies just fine, if you rip via HandBrake. I wouldn't expect this to play back any old janky format from stuff snagged via Bit Torrent. Matroskha or MKV no dice, duh.

[j1h15233]

Will you be able to upgrade HD movies previously purchased from iTunes? For example, if I bought Captain America in HD will I be able to add a 1080p version for no charge, assuming of course that a 1080p version is made available?

[ChaseFeganfw81]

In other words, the only differences (right now) between the aTV2 and the aTV3 is 1080p. Considering less than 1% of my downloaded and converted movie and television collection is in 1080p, my $99 would be better served by saving up for the iPhone 5.

[GabrielLucero]

yup, ATV Flash and XBMC to play your movies. I'm going to see if there's an update for Apple TV 3.

The Apple TV is nice but xbmc on it is really cool

[BrianM]

CatOne, on 07 March 2012 - 02:50 PM, said:

TheBum, on 07 March 2012 - 02:31 PM, said:

Part of a question above asks about playing back ripped movies and you failed to answer it.

The existing AppleTV plays ripped movies just fine, if you rip via HandBrake. I wouldn't expect this to play back any old janky format from stuff snagged via Bit Torrent. Matroskha or MKV no dice, duh.

There is at least one method to "convert" MKV to something that plays in iTunes (which should be supported on the new AppleTV with 1080p support)

[Nickos84]

I have purchased a bunch of movies from the iTunes store at 720p. Is there anyway to "upgrade" my purchases from 720 to 1080 for a small fee? Like when iTunes removed the DRM and improved the quality of music you could upgrade individual purchases for a small amount.

[davidagalvan]

"However, a new feature automatically pushes new iCloud photos to your Apple TV for immediate viewing."

This has been available for some time now via Internet --> Photostream. So. . . what are you talking about?

[jrandersoniii]

What about 2nd Gen Apple TV and Lion for the new AirPlay feature? Do we need an upgrade? I would question the average persons ability to determine which is 720p vs 1080p. .

This post has been edited by Jason Snell: 07 March 2012 - 10:31 PM
Reason for edit: Abusive

[jrandersoniii]

davidagalvan, on 07 March 2012 - 03:47 PM, said:

"However, a new feature automatically pushes new iCloud photos to your Apple TV for immediate viewing."

This has been available for some time now via Internet --> Photostream. So. . . what are you talking about?

I thought the same thing when this was discussed during the presentation.

[Chris Breen]

jrandersoniii, on 07 March 2012 - 03:50 PM, said:

What about 2nd Gen Apple TV and Lion for the new AirPlay feature? Do we need an upgrade?

I believe you're talking about AirPlay mirroring from your Mac to the Apple TV. This is a feature that will be part of Mountain Lion -- it's not part of Lion. And yes, considering that Apple announced it prior to the release of this new Apple TV, the Apple TV 2 will support it.

[classicmacs01]

You can also get a Logitech Harmony remote and it does a much better job controlling the AppleTV than the basic Apple remote included with the AppleTV. You can use all the standard play/stop/ffwd/frwd/skip transport controls, not just the directional arrows and select button.

[gk_brown]

Glad to hear that the 720p version will get the new UI. But I have to disagree with the idea that the stock remote is limiting - on the contrary, I find that it does exactly what I'd expect and doesn't get in my way like other, more complex, remotes tend to.