[MW Forums]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs today announced the company's new Apple TV, which was initially introduced in September with the code name "iTV." more

[powella]

To keep up with other DVRs (rather to replace them) it will need larger drive options. Would make a decent upgrade option in the Apple Store, I believe.
/forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[minderbinder]

I wonder if this box will allow adding an external drive via usb?
Seems like a nice box, and not just a dumb video streamer. So now that real details are announced (hdtv, new ethernet standard), is there anything else on the market that does what this does?

[Machound]

Quote:

---

The appletv also features a 40GB hard drive, an Intel processor and 720p HD video resolution.

---

I wonder what the technical reason might be for offering 720p but not 1080i? My Mac Mini does 1080i nicely, so AppleTV would be a step down. But for those who have a 720p TV, it's fine.

[heyjp]

Apple's website also shows a new Airport Extreme with 802.11g. Wonder if all our MacBookPro's will be firmware upgradeable to "g" also. The website says that "most shipping Macs come with 'G'".
Jim

[Dfluxx]

I was really looking forward to this, however, it stops just short of being exactly what I want... it doesn't record from TV. Hopefully the next version will have this capability.

[pixelcruncher]

Quote:

---

So now that real details are announced (hdtv, new ethernet standard), is there anything else on the market that does what this does?

---

Well, according to Bill Gates and a few tech sites, the Xbox360 will. IPTV providers like AT&T will allow you to choose an Xbox360 instead of a set top box (I can't imagine it would be free though - maybe discounted?). For an extra $90 you can add wireless networking that (apparently) interfaces with Windows Media player on a PC. You can play Xbox360 games, it does 1080, and with the add-on HD-DVD player you can watch HD-DVDs. The new 360 is supposed to include a 120GB hard drive and HDMI. But all this seems to be months away from happening.
The catch (as somone pointed out to me in another thread) is that its from Microsoft. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Probably will have zero impact on appletv since Apple is counting on the Mac faithful to buy into appletv, and not many of them will see the Xbox360 as an alternative.

[icerabbit]

Fast ethernet is a dealbreaker for me. Same with the new Airport Extreme box. Why go foward with n wireless and leave gigabit ethernet behind? It doesn't make any sense that all macs have gigabit ethernet but the connecting and peripheral hardware does not.

[seanmcg]

Quote:

---

Apple's website also shows a new Airport Extreme with 802.11g. Wonder if all our MacBookPro's will be firmware upgradeable to "g" also. The website says that "most shipping Macs come with 'G'".
Jim

---

Actually, it supports b,g, and n, an external USB hard drive, a WAN port, and 3 10/100 LAN ports so you can hook up your pre-802.11n machines upstairs and stream your video down to the TV.

[tallscot]

Probably will have zero impact on appletv since Apple is counting on the Mac faithful to buy into appletv, and not many of them will see the Xbox360 as an alternative.
It would be a huge failure if only some Mac users buy Apple TV. It's compatible with Windows PCs. But as I've said before, I don't see any reason why a Windows PC user would want an Apple TV other than the fact that Apple's device is the only one that will stream Fairplay files.
Personally, I have no interest in buying TV shows and I'd rather buy a DVD for movies.
So this is box isn't for me. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[minderbinder]

Quote:

---

Fast ethernet is a dealbreaker for me. Same with the new Airport Extreme box. Why go foward with n wireless and leave gigabit ethernet behind? It doesn't make any sense that all macs have gigabit ethernet but the connecting and peripheral hardware does not.

---

That is an odd choice, especially considering all macs now have gigabit ethernet. Hopefully they'll update that in the future for both products.

[tybowen]

Quote:

---

Personally, I have no interest in buying TV shows and I'd rather buy a DVD for movies.

---

I see this as being real competition for bluray and HD-DVD if apple starts offering high deffinition videos. I'd rather buy an AppleTV and download high deffinition content then risk buying bluray or hd disks and accidentally choose the loosing format. Also its much cheaper then either player.
No discout for students though...I didn't really expect it, but I was hopeful.

[Downing]

I'm puzzled by the excitement over Apple TV and probably just don't understand the product.
It would allow me to stream content from my computer to my television, right? Why do I want to do that? I'm a DirecTV satellite subscriber with a Tivo, and I watch a DVD movie from Net Flix maybe once or twice a week. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with my tv watching experience.
I'm a big Apple fan, but I'm scratching my head over how to respond to my wife when she asks, "And why do we need an Apple TV, exactly?".

[ccurtisny]

I don't have a Tivo or DVR, and was hoping this would fit the bill. But since it doesn't I'll still get one considering that I have a MUCH higher quality home theater (audio and video) than what most small computer speakers will ever hope to be. So I'm looking for an easy way that I can watch the tv shows that I've purchased on my tv instead of a computer screen. Also, I have a bunch of movies I've put on my computer (from dvd's I own) so I could watch on my ipod. And movies for my little daughter... basically its going to be a great easy way to watch a movie or listen to music without having to leave the couch or worry about little fingers breaking my good dvd player.
As far as it being 720p, it doesn't bother me, since they aren't selling movies in HD anyway. Its better to upscale to 720p instead of 1080i, and doesn't require as much horsepower.
for the gigiabit ethernet part - since it seems to only pull files 1 way, why would it need the extra bandwidth of gigabit if it is headroom (and cost) that will never be needed - if this thing works well enough streaming and buffering the file, I doubt anyone will ever care about it not having gigabit.
That said - I'm a little surprised that the new airport extreme does NOT have gigabit, considering it is also a real router/hub...