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How about they fix their nav system to include a "rent" or "buy" filter. I hate having to dig deep into the menus to find out that the movie I selected is available for purchase only. Lame!

never mind that crap. i want apps on my appletv. weather app, stocks, etc. just like my iphone. in fact, they should make games for the appletv that i can control with my iphone

Sep 17, 08 - 03:52 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

When is Safari coming to Apple TV?

That would be great

When is Safari coming to Apple TV?

That would be great

no, it would be awful, for the same reason EVER Y type of web tv browser has been, and very unpopular.

What reason is that, bob?

If Safari does come to the Apple TV it will be sans Flash. Things like Hulu.com will most likely not work w/o some hacking.

I'd like the AppleTV to get the new visualizer. Would look great on a 56" widescreen!

Up until now, most every browser on TV has looked like crap because up until now, most TV's had crap resolution. (640 X 480 on a good day!)

But with 1080p becoming the standard, Safari should look fine on anything less than some mammoth 72 inch screen. Combine AppleTV with a 1080p screen, Safari, and the iPhone/iPod touch as an interface, input, remote device, and that would be a pretty decent light to medium duty web browser.

Heck, just throw in the iPhone OS and app store and you could actually have great casual internet, e-mail, IM and gaming machine that would be good enough for the majority of the population.

Sep 17, 08 - 04:19 pm Comment from: DJ

You mean like this? Check out CouchSurfer (was SafariHD until Apple, uh ... intervened)

http://brandon-holland.com/software.html

Sep 17, 08 - 04:20 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

@ Peruchito

I agree - downloadable apps work well for the Wii. Plus they allow information to go upstream too - my kids do this a lot.

Why would it come without Flash, Yimmie? If that's the case there'd be no point.

And you're absolutely right, Synthmeister. That's why the time for Apple to do web browsing on the TV the right way is now.

@R2

The Apple TV is capable of 1080p output. (Apple doesn't sell 1080p programming but the tech is there.)

There is absolutely no reason Safari or any other browser couldn't look good on a 1080p HDTV. At the very least, Apple could offer Safari, Mail, AddressBook, Calendar and iChat. Even the AppleTV should have enough horsepower to handle those apps. Throw in a couple of the less-demanding iPhone games, and Apple would have a winner with very little investment or new technology. (Very little risk in exploring these options.)

Besides, even Walmart is selling 1080p HDTVs for less than $1000 now.

"Apple could offer Safari, Mail, AddressBook, Calendar and iChat. Even the AppleTV should have enough horsepower to handle those apps."

Mail, Address Book, and Calendar, okay.

But Apple has a 1GHz Pentium M in there. I'm not sure I'd like to try using that with iChat video.

Sep 17, 08 - 04:52 pm Comment from: Macfabulous

@bob:

It would not be awful! It would be awesome! For one reason: Apple will make the AppleTV Web browsing innovative in new ways that will finally turn our future TV´s into the prefered household computer/mediacenter.

1: Imagine moving the curser/pointer around on the screen with one finger on your "brand new" iRemote touch, iPod or iPhone and thus transfer the movement directly to the TV-screen where a double tab on the remote will act as a double click in the TV invironment. Voila! You have a remote mouse.

2: Or think of the possibillity that you could just move the curser/pointer around by pointing the iPhone/iRemote touch in the direction you neeed. (You know... by using wifi and the build in accelerometer) Then double tab on the iRemote and it functions as a double click in the browser window invironment

...Yes! It would take some serious development... But if any could do it... It would be Apple

Sep 17, 08 - 05:03 pm Comment from: Macfabulous

...And if you get serious with the AppleTV it would in later versions simply become the new MedieMac containing the full blown Mac OS "Lion" and all of its gems.

Let the remote couch computer era begin

Sep 17, 08 - 05:14 pm Comment from: Macfabulous

...Oh oh! And the first Apple branded TV will soon be a reality. Think of it as an 40 inch iMac with a TV in its stomach. The ultimate MediaCenter is born.

TV shows - Games - Applications - Web browsing - iTunes - Movies ...All from the comfort of your couch

Ok! Now I will stop

Not sure why this hasn't happened already since HD movies are already available, obviously the technology is there, not sure what has taken so long.

I LOVE apple tv but its obvious apple still considers this a hobby, which is too bad, EVERYONE i show mine to is truly amazed, and they are surprised they've never heard of it....slacker apple lack of advertising...

I love my appletv, and I have rented a few items. The probem is everyone is moving to an all you can eat model ith streamed movies. I am sure that the movie industry is wary of Apple's success with itunes and music, so I am sure that they are moving slower with apple than with other vendors like netflix. Steve said it himself, you go against how the public comsumes a product, it is doomed to fail. Music makes sense to buy, movies/tv shows are made to rent.

Sep 17, 08 - 06:49 pm Comment from: Macintosh

@ Bob & R2:

Running Safari and the like on the Apple TV would boil down to how complex the Remote app for the iPhone/touch becomes.

The previous attempts made by Web TV, etc., were horrible because the had a normal keyboard and such. With the iPhone/touch acting as an advanced remote, the Apple TV gains more power than most people realize. Just wait until they release games on the iTunes store for Apple TV.

Game over.

Sep 17, 08 - 06:53 pm Comment from: MacBill

I'm sure this news is very exciting to the 20 people who own an Apple TV.

Wow, this rumor is really a stretch, I don't know...

/sarcasm

Sep 17, 08 - 07:29 pm Comment from: Macfabulous

Comment from: MacBill:
"I'm sure this news is very exciting to the 20 people who own an Apple TV."

Ok! Let´s count down the AppleTV owners in here...

I own one and I love it. So...

1

Sep 17, 08 - 07:50 pm Comment from: Macintosh

Make that 2...

you forget about DPI......if the DPI of the screen is garbage, then text will look horrible anyway. the DPI of computer monitors are always much much higher then even the best TVs today, which is why text looks so great.

Im all for safari on ATV, but its got to work right, and DPI is key.

make that 3.....

I love my AppleTV. The only thing lacking is DIVX support and the ability to just read files off a NAS directly.
...Oh, yeah, I forgot, I need a damn on/off switch too.

Other than that, I really like the device. We have not used Blockbuster since we bought the device. And the ability to watch Youtube is just great. I watched at least 3 international shows that I would never have watched.

Again, just include Divx and this thing would sell to the more than 3 of us.

rick.

...one more thing... Why do I need apps? Totally useless if you ask me. Additionally, who the heck wants to surf on a television? With that remote? With an iPhone keypad?

Why? Why? Why?

Sep 17, 08 - 09:12 pm Comment from: iDon't

TV is oh so dead. What's the next new thing?

4 (i own one, and might get another for the other tv soon)

Sep 17, 08 - 09:25 pm Comment from: mr_matalino

What about Genius support? That would rock!

I just got burned by this. Wow. How confusing. Apple really needs to better inform it's customers about the ever changing capabilities of their products. I saw the shows on iTunes in HD and went home and purchased a season on my AppleTV. Convenient, but now I learn it's only the standard version.

Bozo mistake, but that sucks. I hope they will refund me and allow me to download the HD version. If not, blu-ray is looking better all the time. Who needs all this can can't do BS.

Apple should have sent out an email to their customers explaining the limitations of their new offerings.

Sep 17, 08 - 10:39 pm Comment from: Sitruc

5... Love mine and use it every day.

4

screw apple tv, apples first half-baked folly, give us what should have been is a mac mini with apple tv functionality and bring a REAL digital hub to our sofas!

Sep 18, 08 - 06:41 am Comment from: pocketRocket

What's the lowest tech TV that an AppleTV will work on? Does it have to be widescreen?

Sep 18, 08 - 06:42 am Comment from: MusicDoc

Assuming Rgen is actually #6, I'll make it 7!

8. love it. do wish safari was built in and not a hack.

9. I'd love ATV to become something more, but it's cool anyway and I use it frequently. One more thing though... I soo wish it had DivX support...

#10

I love my AppleTV.

@ bender

i think you mean, "i wish people would encode video in industry standards instead of weird and random codecs"

Sep 18, 08 - 04:01 pm Comment from: Macfabulous

Ok! I think "MacBill" get´s the point. As of now there is already 10 AppleTV owners in here. Maybe the remaining 10 is on holiday and never saw this segment???

AppleTV is here to stay and it will evolve into an even greater product!

Sep 18, 08 - 08:20 pm Comment from: jcw3rd

Make that 11 (my favorite number, what with me being born on 11/11 8^))