new AppleTV 3 & Siri

AppleTV has only been a worthwhile product once it is jailbroken. Apple designs for use with Apple in a Apple based world with Apple based people, buying from Apple and just generally acting like fruits.

I bought a AppleTV as my first media player and was so thoroughly disappointed with the requirement to keep a PC running iTunes 24/7 to get videos to my AppleTV that it was rarely used. To top it off, the extremely difficult nature of adding my own content to it proved to be a real headache.

There were better choices then, there are better choices now. Siri I'm sure will let you pick one of the movies which you have bought from the iTunes store just fine, or one of the ones you painstakingly loaded into AppleTV yourself. It doesn't really solve anything, but gives us another way to do things.

Of course, the XMedia bar interface of AppleTV is extremely limiting for those who have large collections, so they DO need a solution.

One of my biggest gripes is that Apple still delivers a far better user experience for those already locked into the Apple world. That is, the GUI is responsive and slick, even if it isn't the best. It looks good, and AppleTV tends to respond far more rapidly than other media players which I have tried.

Others could learn a lot from that, but Apple certainly has a lot to learn as well.

You make it sound like this is one of the top 5 most egregious pains found in the modern household.

As it is, it is still *much* more of a hassle to get up and get a bowl of chips and a beer while watching a movie than it is to turn on the TV and start a movie. I haven't been inclined to install a fridge and cupboard right next to my recliner to solve that problem, and I'm not inclined to change out my media players to solve the problem of the universal remote.

-Suntan

Humm.... I just this week decided to get the Apple TV2 and now this.
I HATE waiting as I have no patience . Do you guys think the 3 will still have the $99 price point?
So do I understand right ,that you have to have iTunes open 24/7 in able to watch video stored on your mac/PC?
That would be a pain in the butt to go to my office and enable it everytime I wanted to watch a dvd that I store on the Mac.

If it played 1080p stuff its worth looking at.



Couldn't agree more about the Atv.

no one is talking about siri on aTV3 but you and that thread you started in the roku forums. microsoft is barely making a dent with voice control with kinect, apple wont get into that. where do you suggest apple puts a microphone array in the apple tv? in the remote?

If you have it stored as an actual DVD (video_ts folder or .iso) without completely re-encoding it to an apple approved codec and container then you don't have to bother going and starting up itunes.

...Becuase your new appletv won't play it back even with itunes running.

-Suntan

If they add a USB port and someone gets XBMC on it like the v2, I'm buying.

knowing apple, they'll add siri, a5 processor, microphone, the works... but keep it at 720p. because in the words of "the man" 99% of users can't tell the difference. but as soon as the atv gets 1080p, then suddenly they'll tell the world they are the first to add 1080p support and all the other companies are copiers. i fell off my chair when the ipad2 was released and jobs said "last year was the year of the copycats." somewhat true, but those copycats had front and rear facing cameras, same processor, etc. a year before the ipad2.

just venting, i really do hope though that they have 1080p as thats really the missing link as long as you jailbreak it.

There is no reasonable basis for the ATV3 rumour. References to code for a 3,1 atv mean nothing. This whole thread is strange.

An iPad2 with an ATV2 running iOS is a very nice combination. This obsession with 1080p and specs is really getting a bit much. Obviously enough people don't care about the 720p limitation to matter since Apple sells more ATV2's then all the other players combined.

There are excellent general media players out there. If you need an mkv player with usb, 1080p, etc...then obviously the ATV is not for you. The ATV will never have a USB port. Never.

My original ATV1 is a great general media player running XBMC under Linux with the addition of a $25 CHD card. Before that it was an excellent player for what I used it.

There are a lot of people who don't understand the value of different companies putting out their solutions to various problems. They want Apple to change and become like a WDTV or whatever. It's not going to happen.

philip

Might be a dumb question, But does the current ATV2 have the hardware capability to run 1080p?

It won't output 1080p. It can decode some 1080p files. XBMC has shown that.

philip

There is no reason to believe an ATV3 is on the way, exists, will ever exist, etc ... It seems to me that AirPlay and wireless interaction with iDevices are the main reason for an ATV2 ( as well as buying or renting from the iTunes store). That would seem to imply that 1080p is less of a priority at this time since it would require too much bandwidth. It's possible that Apple will come out with whatever, but I don't know why you are even mentioning an ATV3. It was 3 years between the ATV1 and the ATV2. The ATV1 is only a year old. Now it may be possible that they use the A5 cpu at some point for cost reasons, but it still won't be a general media player that the vast majority of user here want but that is less important for the population as a whole.

We have gone over this quite often. We know why a lot of people want a general media player. That is not the crowd Apple is aiming at since that crowd doesn't want to spend any money. They have a much larger audience in mind. The other fairly large group is into Blu-ray disks and obviously Apple is not making products for them. They want disks to go away.

philip

Hey @pmcd, you seem like someone in the field who knows their stuff but I will have to disagree with you about the ATV3. Current codes exist inside Apple software that suggest ATV3 is being created / tested. Now this may not mean it will ever get to market BUT, with Apple moving new devices to 1080p, you have got to put your money that they will begin to roll out all other Apple devices that support this as well. Why would Apple allow an iPhone 4S user to record in 1080p and only limit Airplay to an HDTV to 720p? This was the scenario a few years ago when ATV first came out due to bandwidth and hardware cost constraints. 1080p was not important to Apple then, it will be in the future. Proof is the iPhone 4s.

This has happened before with other code lines and device versions that never made it to market.

Apple's going to do 'something' though. Let's not forget they hired the THX developers for 'something'. An all out media assault box/HTPC of some sort?...who knows. We can all agree that at some point, they'll need to cross the 1080p threshold to remain competative BUT let's face it, reliable 1080p wireless streaming isn't ready for prime time just yet. The last thing Apple needs is poor streaming of 1080p content. Imagine the flamestorms from the Apple haters?

Currently i'm quite content with my sacrifice of 1080p content for the ATV2's slick and quick GUI and reliability. iOS5 and iPad Mirroring make the ATV2/iPad combo rig the combo with the most available on-line content and gaming functionality to date.

This is all I have been trying to say, but wish I could have said it this well. Totally agree.

philip

Maybe... in the US only... Outside the states people don't even know what an AppleTV is...

Apple TV2 has a low power A4 CPU that cannot play most 1080 videos, this is why they limited the output resolution to 720p max.

Apple's marketing strategy is all about degrading what everyone else sells, and has a marketing advantage over their products,
if Apple does not sell a 1080p media player people don't care about it, if Apple does not sell a media player with a USB port people don't want it, you sound just like them.

Fact is, this line of products is completely new to them, just like the phone business was new to them a few years ago, they just don't have the knowledge "what people want" from media players/streamers. "The iphone does not need a front facing camera. Who wants videocalls?" then "The new iphone has a front facing camera for videocalls - AMAZING "

That is just plain uninformed.

philip

Couldn't agree with you more. I have tons of apple stuff in my house but I'm not a fanboy to keep insisting that apple's decisions is for humanity's best interests. Fact is, apple doesn't give a rats a$$ about their customers. They release "new" products when it's convenient for them. The atv2 doesn't have the chip power to do 1080p. Instead apple tells the public they chose that on purpose since no one can tell the difference. I wonder if they are even aware that more than a handful of people in north america own projectors in their home and the screen size is bigger than 50".

Now when they release a 1080p atv they will brag they're the first ones to have it (when in reality they are the last). I hope I'm wrong and they release an awesome streamer. Then all that's left is to allow more video file formats other than the 2 that iTunes currently allows.

That's a good point....incorrect but clear and concise as in North America LESS than a 'handfull?' of people own projectors in their own home. Flatscreen sales have outsold PJ's of all types combined to the tune of 200:1.And of those PJ's, 720p models constitute nearly 40% of those in use. So much for your speculation on that point.

If you don't like Apple, just leave it at that....it's your opinion and no need to justify it with half a$$ed conjecture and conspiracy theory. Apple is far from the Antichrist of the consumer electronics industry.

Yes....UNDOUBTEDLY there's more capable media players out there for streaming stored content. NO ONE is debating this. You win OK!

Is anyone really denying that Apple will move into 1080p territory with the next edition media streamer?

I'm sure that they will include 1080p if they can get it working reliably, which the A5 should be able to do.

That is one difference between Apple and most streamer companies that no one can deny. Apple won't sell a feature if it doesn't work 100%. Most streamer companies will sell a feature if can be made to almost look like it works.

A very successfull business ethic!

The ATV2 is already capable of 1080p video, the ATV2 is display locked to 720p because it is basically an iPhone in a box so it doesn't have the electronics to output a 1080p display ergo Apple didn't bother with 1080p videos.

Putting the A5 inside the ATV2 doesn't actually make much sense as it doesn't need it from Apple's POV, assuming they update the internals of the ATV2 to output 1080p then the same A4 chip is what they can use especially if it's cheaper to make.

So I think that is what might happen same hardware as current ATV2 just with 1080p display output and videos through Apple market. The only way I see an A5 in it is if the current ATV2 cant be redesigned to output to 1080p displays and the necessary hardware is present in the A5.

I think you missed my sarcasm in which thousands of north americans do own pj's. I was implying that apple probably only thinks 5 people in the US own pj's. Obviously, flat screens are the most widely used but there are many who own pjs so the whole "no one can tell the difference" is crap talk. And yet people here keep defending that just because jobs said it. Like I said before, I have tons of apple stuff in my home and love it. I just find it annoying when the company tries to convince the public they did 720p on purpose. No they didn't, it was inferior hardware to begin that is why the couldn't do 1080p, NOT that they chose do it.

This is why I am still torn. Do I pick up the ATV2 now or wait, grrrrrrr.