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Apple's new set-top box: the old AppleTV

Appletv2 At yesterday's Macworld keynote, Apple announced an update to Apple TV and the availability of standard def (720x480) and high def (1280x720) movie rentals from the iTunes Music Store. The new AppleTV software isn't out yet but promised "soon" though rentals are now available from an iTunes update (HD movies are only going to be available on AppleTV).

While I've liked my AppleTV, it's always felt like a limited-use device that could do much more. Adding rentals into the mix (along with more podcasts and photo integration) is definitely going to make me use the device more. While I've rented a few Amazon Unbox movies on my TiVo, I haven't been a fan of the low video quality. I've also bought few shows/movies for AppleTV because I rarely watch a movie more than once. I've tested out dedicated Pay-Per-View devices like the Vudu and been grossly underwhelmed (mostly due to the thin selection).

Apple TV is suddenly much more interesting because they have loads of studios on board offering thousands of movies (great selection) along with a new 720p HD option for 100 recent films (hopefully with more to come). Given these new rental options in addition to the old "plays any downloaded web video converted over" and "easily show off all photos from iPhoto" features, I'm much more hopeful for the future of Apple TV as well as the future of the iTunes Music Store becoming something big for everyone.

by Matt Haughey January 16, 2008 in News

Comments

I agree, this is a positive relaunch of the product. The only thing that discourages me (based only on demo footage I've seen) is that Apple now sees the unit as a store first and library second.

It uses the default menu to sell iTMS content. My existing library (My Movies and My Music) are at the bottom of their respective menus. Further, nice new features like suggestive search are available only for the iTMS, not for my own library.

Library-wide suggestive search continues to be what AppleTV needs most. But there's no sale at the end of it so I guess Apple wasn't motivated.

Posted by: Christian Newton at Jan 16, 2008 5:11:13 PM

I like my appletv, too. However, i've got a big problem in the codec support. I hate having to transcode divx (or whatever) to h.264

make it play everything (or at least broaden the selection) and it'll be great.

that and give me wireless keyboard + mouse + safari + a way to easily get ALL my media into itunes (think: anything any PVR software has recorded)

Posted by: matt at Jan 16, 2008 8:17:42 PM

There's a BIG question about movie quality. If movie size is indeed 4G, it means the quality is *crap*. Pirated HD-movies come in two sizes: 4G and 8G. The former are barely watchable, the latter - amazing. If crapple goes with 4G - no one's gonna wanna rent their second movie.

Posted by: chuck at Jan 17, 2008 2:20:16 AM

Needs to do more to be worth the price of a cheap PC. I'm still not sure why they haven't combined the apple tv with the mac mini.

Posted by: Adam at Jan 17, 2008 3:48:49 PM

I would not expect the selection of videos to be too different between Apple TV, Unbox, and VUDU. The movie studios are not going to cut Apple and sweetheart deals.

I would like to know what you think of the HD video quality.

Posted by: Harry at Jan 17, 2008 7:58:05 PM

I would not expect the selection of videos to be too different between Apple TV, Unbox, and VUDU. The movie studios are not going to cut Apple and sweetheart deals.

I would like to know what you think of the HD video quality.

Posted by: Harry at Jan 17, 2008 8:00:22 PM

i'm on my way to buy this item today thanks to the update. i've wanted one for awhile - this is just the icing on the cake. now i just need to find a place to sell the blu-ray player....

Posted by: twibe.com at Jan 18, 2008 10:53:25 AM

When will I be able to transfer movies I download in iTunes to my Tivo?

Posted by: Jono at Jan 18, 2008 8:05:56 PM

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