Tag: apple tv

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Playing with the Apple TV

I spent a bit of time this evening trying out more of the different functions of my Apple TV. I have been using it more recently for streaming video from my iMac to my TV. Tonight though I wanted to see what else it was capable of. One thing the Apple TV will do is allow you to play video (and audio) podcasts to your TV.  I tried a couple of the (high quality) MacBreak Weekly podcasts and was quite impressed by how they looked on my TV. Not sure though if I would ever actually watch a whole episode of MacBreak Weekly on the TV, at this time I prefer to listen to it in my car. Though I am sure there are people out there who would watch it.

Like a lot of these devices, the Apple TV, allows you to watch YouTube on your TV, and though quite an easy interface, entering text on the Apple TV is nigh on impossible to do easily. The Apple Remote has very few buttons and makes the PlayStation text entry simple and effective! However all is not lost, Apple’s free Remote App for the iPad (and iPhone) allows you to use that to control the Apple TV. On the iPad this makes it much easier to enter text, such as names and search terms for YouTube.

I used this way to enter text to add my Flickr account to the Apple TV. Interestingly I had to my Flickr name, not my account name. I quite liked how I could show my Flickr images on the TV. This is how I show photographs quite a bit now, since I went digital, I certainly don’t print out as many prints as I should and like.

Overall there are many features of the Apple TV I like, the interface is quite usable and certainly much better than some other similar devices I have used. It is though not perfect, I would like to be able to use it to access BBC iPlayer, 4OD and other video on demand services and not just film rentals from iTunes.

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Updated the Apple TV

I have updated my Apple TV to 4.1.

I’ve not really noticed any different as I haven’t been using it much before I updated.

Having used it a little more recently I have found that it is much faster than Front Row on my Mac mini for moving between media from the iMac downstairs. As a lot of my media is in standard definition the 720p resolution hasn’t been much of a problem. Also all my iTunes HD content is 720p so the fact that it can’t play 1080p content at 1080p is at this time not so much of a problem. I wonder for the future whether this would be a software upgrade or (more likely) Apple will release a new model of the Apple TV.

It’s a pity that BBC iPlayer and other similar services aren’t available on the Apple TV, I personally would like to see 4OD on the Apple TV.

So will we see Apps for the Apple TV in the future, one can hope.

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Apple TV

Though I have had my Apple TV a few weeks now, however I have not really used it, nor have I streamed any rented films either.

Now this is not because of any problem with the Apple TV. It’s partly that I haven’t watched that much television over the last few weeks and haven’t had the time to sit down and watch a film either. When I have wanted to watch something I have relied on on my EyeTV or the Mac mini that is currently under my TV. The Mac mini won’t be here forever and when it goes I am sure that the Apple TV will be used more.

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Unpacking the Apple TV

You have to just love the way that Apple package their “toys”. Unpacking the Apple TV was a really wonderful experience… can’t believe I just said that.

Slide the box open, tip out the Apple TV. Remove the clear plastic and then a strip of black plastic film that protects it and the ports. Underneath was the remote, in at an angle so the box can be smaller and under that tightly tied was the power cord.

I connected the Apple TV to my TV and then using the remote connected it to the wireless network. After turning on Home Sharing it found my iMac on the network and I could easily play content from it. Now with my faster broadband I will have no worries about renting movies on the Apple TV, though not sure how often I will do that at £4.49 a pop… Disappointed that we in the UK don’t have TV episodes, hopefully at a later time. No BBC iPlayer either!

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Apple TV

Yes, I have gone out and bought one…

Took me a while to find in the Apple Store as the box is tiny compared to the previous model… very minimalist packaging!

Still in the box at the moment….

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Apple TV Soon…

According to the original announcement from Apple we should see the Apple TV before the end of September. The last time I went to my local Apple store they still had the old model and no news on the new one (nothing new there then).

Originally I was quite excited about it and nearly pre-ordered….

However since then I have become slightly less keen.

Will still probably buy one.

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£99 Apple TV

Yes!

Well nearly yes!

Apple today announced their new Apple TV. A quarter of the size of the original Apple TV, no hard drive and a much lower price.

£99 is a much nicer price than the £200+ of the older version.

The main downside is a lack of storage, however streaming is possible from both Macs and iOS devices so not too much of an issue. My experiences of 802.11n streaming is that it does work fine and is much better than 802.11g wifi. I am thinking though that the iPad and the iPhone use the slower 2.4GHz 802.11n and my 802.11n network runs at 5GHz I may need to add a third wireless network at home if I want to stream from my iPad.

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New Apple TV

Well Apple are holding an event on the 1st September for the press.

Generally at this time of year we see Apple announce their new iPod line up for the festive season.

With sales of traditional iPods falling I suspect (as others do) that there may be a limited refresh of the traditional iPod line, but the real focus of this event will be a new iPod touch and a new iOS4 based Apple TV (or iTV as Apple want to call it). There are also rumours of an iPad refresh, not sure how reliable that is, but we will be getting iOS 4 for the iPad about now and I do wonder if the delay was down to a refreshed iPad with Facetime camera? There are also other rumours of a 7″ iPad.

What really interests me is the new Apple TV. I have been considering buying one for some time now and keep putting it off. Using a Mac mini has solved many of my issues with pushing video and music from my computer to the front room, however this is only a temporary solution. In the long term I need to choose between getting another Mac mini or getting an Apple TV. The new rumoured $99 Apple TV actually might be a real solution and in many ways could work alongside a Mac mini!

Will be interesting to see what is in fact announced on the 1st September.

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New Apple TV ?

According to various rumours Apple may be releasing a new Apple TV but in a different format compared to the current model. If the rumours are to be believed then the new Apple TV will be a screen-less iPod. It will only have 16GB of on board storage. It will in the main be streaming content from a Mac or the cloud.

I already use my iPhone to do this, however this new Apple TV has the advantage that it will she able to play 1080p HD content.

The price?

$99

Probably will get one.

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Going HD

Though I do like HD pictures it has taken me some time to go HD.

In the early days there was the “battle” between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and though in the early days it looked like HD-DVD would win, my preference was for Blu Ray, so I decided to wait and as well all know now, Blu Ray won. Though with the availability of HD content via services such as iTunes, maybe physical media won’t be here much longer… well it might be in my house as my broadband connection is not the fastest in the world!

So without any kind of HD player, why should I bother buying an HD TV so I didn’t…

Then along came Sky HD… this meant that I could watch HD TV if I wanted to… however I didn’t fancy paying large amounts of money every month to Sky for the odd HD programme.

Freesat promised HD without the monthly contract, but I would still need a dish on the side of the house and to be honest they are very ugly  and I didn’t see much on Freesat that I couldn’t see on Freeview that I would want to watch. Too much work really to go HD via Freesat.

This week sees me getting a Sony Bravia HD 1080p TV.

So why have I gone HD?

Well Freeview HD has been switched on in my area. Yes it is only three HD channels, but they should be picked up by my aerial, so no dish.

Combine that with the Blu Ray player I got for Christmas to replace my aging DVD player, I am almost ready to watch HD.

I will probably (finally) get an Apple TV too, so that I can watch content from my iTunes collection on the new TV.

All I need now is for Elgato to releaves a Freeview HD adapter.