Apple TV updates?

[happydude]

MacRumors doesn't appear to have a buyer's guide for TV, so i'm wondering when rev 2 came out (was it early 2008?) and if it is a good idea to be looking at getting one soon, or if there is an update that "should" be around the corner.

any advice?

 

[iOrlando]

MacRumors doesn't appear to have a buyer's guide for TV, so i'm wondering when rev 2 came out (was it early 2008?) and if it is a good idea to be looking at getting one soon, or if there is an update that "should" be around the corner.

any advice?

yeah early 2008 they added some new features..rent HD movies..etc...other then that...nada..just minor bug fixes...i wouldn't wait for much...if you want it..buy it..

 

[Sky Blue]

I bought one last week as there didn't seem to be much going on on the rumors front. Love it so far. IIRC the hardware hasn't changed since day 1, only the Take 2 update about a year ago and a price drop.

I guess if there's anything big coming it'll be for the usual iPod/iTunes event in Sept.

 

[CalPoly10]

They need to update the AppleTV pretty soon here. Big time updated firmware, built in widgets, bigger hard drive, etc.

 

[Shoesy]

They need to update the AppleTV pretty soon here. Big time updated firmware, built in widgets, bigger hard drive, etc.

hair dryer / kitchen sink / massive tubes.

 

[kiranmk2]

They need to do something about the streaming. I can understand where they are coming from on drive sizes: 40 GB for those that mostly stream everything (with a bit of space for multiple rentals and buffering) and a 160 GB for those that might throw some films on and take it away with them. I can see them moving to a 32 GB SSD at the low end and staying with the 160 GB high end (all-be-it with a move to SATA drives). What they need is a better way to stream. Whether it's through an apple home server, a firmware update for time capsule or even loading iTunes onto the ATV itself there is no excuse (especially with all Apple's "going green" marketing) to need a computer on and running iTunes to be able to use the ATV properly.

I suspect the current hardware isn't able to run iTunes and decode HD stuff, so I'd expect an Ion update soon. The main sticking point is what Apple's long term plans are. Media-wise the Ion will last as long as the current 1080p standard does (and we haven't even reached the 1080p download standard yet), so one hardware update to Ion could last for at least 5 years in terms of playing back videos with occasional bumps for storage - this would allow them to begin a massive push on ATV features by simple software updates. Of course, if Apple are eyeing gaming, then we could see a new chipset released every 18 months or so which would kill backwards compatibility.

 

[realityking]

Maybe one update would be sufficient for 1080p but there are other features at the video horizon (e.g. a wider color space) and we don"t want to forget the audio side. There will always be something missing for someone that can only be added with a hardware change.