MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Sep 02, 09 - 07:39 am Comment from: ron

Snappy news is imminent.

Sep 02, 09 - 07:47 am Comment from: rkzavery

I think they should make Apple TV a downloadable software from itunes at about £50 and it would replace front row. Therefor they would make so much more money at hardly any cost. It could be for just mac mini or even all the mac's!

I tell you all, this mac tablet everybody is talking about is a 50 inch multi touch snow leopard driven TV set! ...with an iphone remote!

Sep 02, 09 - 08:00 am Comment from: jax44

And a kegerator!

Sep 02, 09 - 08:01 am Comment from: Mike Caine

I was almost going to buy my second one last week, but decided to hold off until after this event

I have an AppleTV, and in all honesty I hate it. Clumsy interface, slow, only works (out of the box) with iTunes-compatible media, and so on. I've hacked it to add support for most anything else and to use XMBC, Boxee, etc, but it's so pathetic that it struggles with HD content unless it's highly compressed. I'm hoping that perhaps at least an update to the ATV software will be built around Snow Leopard and perhaps improve the speed of this thing. If not, I'm canning it for a Mac mini.

I agree, it is weak and expensive - a wasted opportunity. Like you, after hacking it and uploading all my hd-rips to it - meh - it stutters and struggles like my old original xbox/xbmc with h264 dvdrips. At least I got a few years of watching divx and xvids on the xbox.

I have an Apple TV and find it lacking as well, even with the ATV Flash patch-stick hack.

Get rid of the ATV and release a media center Mac Mini with enough power for gaming and I think sales would be pleasantly surprising.

Still HDD based by the sound of it. I am happy with the Apple TV as it is but an SSD would improve it by making it quieter, more power efficient and reliable.

A Media Center Mini with enough power for gaming... wouldn't be a mini anymore.
Specs cost.

Sep 02, 09 - 09:03 am Comment from: BC Kelly

Read my other post here at MDN on the other related story today, 2nd Verse same as 1st ...

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/22286/

BC

Sep 02, 09 - 09:05 am Comment from: DreamTheEndless

I love my apple tv, but then I never try to run HD content out of it. Works great with sd.

"Still HDD based by the sound of it. I am happy with the Apple TV as it is but an SSD would improve it by making it quieter, more power efficient and reliable."

By the sound of it? You got that from a 1-2 Week shipping date?

If your ATV is making noise there is a problem. Strange that everyone that is experiencing issues with their ATV has also hacked their ATV.
" you get what you get because that's what you went and got"
I think I am going to smack my MacBook Pro with a hammer and then complain about the cracked screen.

I currently have everything I want in a Apple TV. I have a MacMini hooked up to a projector through HDMI and into my 5.1 Surround through a fiber optic connection. I also use it as my WiFi router, my printer server, my DVD Player, my stereo system, media server, and web server. I also have an EyeTV attached for HD Video input. It's really a pretty versatile machine. The best value of any Mac on the market, in my opinion.

Sep 02, 09 - 09:23 am Comment from: John Gee

The tablet will be a controller for a new ATV that will offer gaming and web browsing.

The prophet hath spoken.

From what I can put together, it looks like ATV will be getting a "Snow Leopard" OS update which will update the QT version as well. DVD rips and iPhone/iPod wifi content syncing is also supposed to be a part of it. iPhone's can play HD content so I could see ATV direct downloads able to sync to iPhones/iPods as well.

I am not a big fan of combining the Time Capsule/Airport extreme with the ATV for the following reasons:

a) Usually no ethernet in living rooms in most homes - at least not near the TV hookup.
b) If something goes wrong with a device you lose either your wifi, or your "media center" and your backup system.
c) The device doesn't need to run any "hotter"!
d) 1 drive for ATV AND Time Capsule ensures a short shelf life
e) Most importantly, a lot of people already have a wifi device and possibly an external hard drive and don't want to shell out an additional $200 for stuff they already have.

Having said that, I believe the hardware upgrades = larger drive, faster processor, and possibly an Airport Express. Yes Express. I believe it would mostly be used to extend an existing network. Plus, it isn't much different a network card than is in most laptops making it very low cost.

DVR doesn't make any sense but I would also expect an update for iTunes and the ATV to handle live streaming much better for news and sporting events. Once that little detail is taken care of, the demise of the broadcast TV will be accelerated.

Bonano out.

Sep 02, 09 - 10:49 am Comment from: LeftCoastDude

I am very disappointed with my AppleTV. It is by far the worst product I've ever purchased from Apple, and that list includes a Newton and OSX 10.1.

It is impossibly slow when trying to download HD content, and it still is missing the all of the great bonus content I get on my Blu-ray Disc. It is only 720p, not 1080p (which most BRD's deliver). Syncing to my desktop Mac via Airport is so slow as to remind me of 1200 baud modems. The interface is kind of non-Mac-ish. And it doesn't time-shift. So my TiVo still does a better job than AppleTV--especially since it does time-shifting of TV shows.

Apple should either dump the product or make it truly competitive with Blu-ray and TiVo. I'm always in favor of combining my electronic devices (I've got an iPhone to prove that point). Right now AppleTV, for me, is kind of useless.

Sep 02, 09 - 10:52 am Comment from: Macintosher

Hmmmm... anyone for the new Mac nano?

You Heard It Here First™.

Quicktime X.
Think of what it does, then think of it on ATV. Most of the problems (file formats, stuttering) are solved and HTML video streaming is added.

Sep 02, 09 - 11:25 am Comment from: iWill

Imagine a world where QuickTime X on Apple TV allows live HD streaming via HTML 5. It looks every bit like broadcast television, and the selection is virtually limitless.

Now, how does Apple monetize the stream? iTunes is one way, but like the iPod business model, with Apple selling the hardware, does it really matter?

We may be approaching the tipping point that opens the floodgates of streaming online video to the HDTV.

Video-On-Demand indeed! Hungry eyes await..

.:.

Sep 02, 09 - 11:27 am Comment from: Jimithy

This is gonna be a long 7 days. Not only because of the Apple event, but also The Beatles Rock Band.

Sep 02, 09 - 01:13 pm Comment from: Swing Geezer

I liked my ATV before it had a meltdown. I suspect power supply. Probably an overheating problem The thing ran way too hot for my comfort level.
I've been holding off to replace it till the "new" one.

Having said that, I liked it a lot. It's nice to watch a slide show on the family TV and the occasional rented or purchased film.

@leftCoastDude

I am not trying to jump in as a fanboy for mac but the stuff you said "bothered" you about your ATV seemed more like a hardware isssue non ATV related.

Slow HD downloads: Sounds like you have a slow net connection or a slow network.(though you would have to be running a really slow wireless network to have it gimp your DL speed) Are you running a fast 20gbs internet connection? Are downloads faster on your machine?

If so, is your machine hooked to your internet connection via ethernet cable?

HD content is huge. I have 15Mbs and it still takes a long time to DL HD content. Fact of the bandwitdth, not the ATV.

If you are not running a wireless "N" in 5ghz with "use wide channels" checked then you are not running the fastest network possible either. That will accounf for the slow sync to your desktop.

I have apple TV and I agree there are a TON of problems with it. For me it is mostly the interface and search funxtions for large libraries. I don't think you need a big hard drive since you can stream everyhting, even HD, over a good wireless N network. This way you can put all of your money into faster, more cost effective, storage for all your media.

Sure apple TV could use a bluray disc and the ability to act as a tivo, but the latter would add a monthly cost, whcih to me sucks.

I would like to see the some of the functionality they have on the store translated to the home user.

1. Other movies by actor or director shown when you select a movie or show.
2. ability to search for movies by actor, director or writer.
3. more rsponsive controls
4. transparency for the streaming - -show how much is buffered.
5. The ability to pause and let the machine "catch up" and buffer more if the network performance is slow
6. A faster processor so things like netflix watch now will work. I pay for netflix, so it would be great to get that service along with the apple TV


Well I have wanered off the topic. Meant no offense by the post, hopefully some of the info might help you get the apple tv to bend a bit more to your will.

pj

Sep 02, 09 - 05:29 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

Ok ...

ATV is  TV

Kept wondering what this had to do with All Terrain Vehicles

D'oh ...

BC