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Future of Apple TV!!! (speculation)

ClassicMac247

ClassicMac247

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 30, 2007
274
0
Brick, NJ
This thread is purley specualtion for Apple TV's future.
When calling my local Apple store yesterday, I had a conversation with my buddy and we disscussed the very strong reasons why it seems likely, apple will put Apple TV to its grave. Apparently Apple TV never reached its full potential, in the early 1990's apple had working protoypes for a similar device (minus the itunes) and add cable provider/DVR. Was this what apple had in mind when originally designing apple tv? It seems to me the apple tv was just a device to market the name. Apple will eithier release a new Apple TV with more features and a new apple remote (pray people pray), or they will totally kill the apple tv line.:apple:
 
The biggest thing they could do now is open it up with an SDK...it will soon be the only Apple product that could use one well and doesn't have one...
 
utuberider2 said:
This thread is purley specualtion for Apple TV's future.
When calling my local Apple store yesterday, I had a conversation with my buddy and we disscussed the very strong reasons why it seems likely, apple will put Apple TV to its grave. Apparently Apple TV never reached its full potential, in the early 1990's apple had working protoypes for a similar device (minus the itunes) and add cable provider/DVR. Was this what apple had in mind when originally designing apple tv? It seems to me the apple tv was just a device to market the name. Apple will eithier release a new Apple TV with more features and a new apple remote (pray people pray), or they will totally kill the apple tv line.:apple:
Click to expand...
I don't know, the Airport Express is still around and everyone thought that was going to be killed off when the Apple TV was released.
 
neven said:
No, not officially anyway.

Once we can rent HD movies from AppleTV directly, it will be a really, really cool device. Right now I still like it and use it, but it's very stagnant.
Click to expand...

I hope that means Apple is getting ready for a BIG update...
 
It's a great device. I don't care what people say. It's one of my favorite Apple products.
 
powerbook911 said:
It's a great device. I don't care what people say. It's one of my favorite Apple products.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I've got one and love it. I couldn't give a rat's nether regions if Apple discontinued it tomorrow. It does everything I need it to do. I primarily use it for listening to music and watching movies.
 
I love the concept of Apple TV, but I am really hesitant to buy one. I really want a product that begins to take over and consolidate things in my living room like the iPhone did with phones/music/internet/mail. If Apple is going to upgrade the Apple TV, the only reason I see them waiting is because they are waiting to implement better backend features (better iTunes movies store, downloads direct from Apple TV, etc) and the Leopard hype.

Some things I would love to see incorporated into Apple TV are:
1) DVD / Blu-ray Player - this should at least be an option if not standard
2) larger hard drives
3) purchase direct like iPhone and iTunes
4) ability to stream to wireless speakers
5) possibly DVR capabilities if done correctly
*better remote apple remote as a purchased accessory (possibly the ability to use iPhone or iPod Touch)

Just my 2 cents :rolleyes:
 
It seemed Apple was really supportive of the Apple TV until the Phone came out, then nothing. Jobs mentioned that an Apple TV update was coming soon back around WWDC, but nothing yet. Since the 1.1 update, mine has been navigating much slower when navigating from the internal drive (it actually is quicker when I stream for some reason).

As for the next Apple TV - option to add an external drive, possible DVD player built in, bigger hard drive capactites.

I think the problem with the Apple TV is not the unit, but the lack of software updates from Apple. We need:

(1) Chapter Selection menus for movie's - There are some ridiculously long pauses between chapter markers when trying to skip around movies.

(2) Wi-Fi iTunes Store w/ Movie Rental Service

(3) HD Downloads from iTunes (with real Surround Sound, which the Apple TV is more than capable of outputting given it's 7.1 Audio Chip).

(4) Be able to use the iPhone / iPod Touch as a remote (or stream content from them to the Apple TV as well)

(5) Lyric Support when listening to music.

These are just a few things...the device I feel is really designed well, it is the lack of attention from Apple at this point. I love my Apple TV, and it can have some great potential for them if they finally market it correctly and give it some attention.

For the record: I do no think the Apple TV is dying. Apple has simply been busy with the iPhone, Leopard, new iMac's, iWork and iLife '08, Logic Studio, and all the other stuff (maybe the redisgned Macbooks too). I have a feeling the Apple TV will see some cool stuff soon, but we might have to wait until Macworld.
 
Agreed...

All very valid points, i can see how the hype of other products is slowing down a minor products development. That idea with the iPhone and iPod touch as remotes is genius, that would be an awesome feature because i cant stand my apple remotes.
 
utuberider2 said:
All very valid points, i can see how the hype of other products is slowing down a minor products development. That idea with the iPhone and iPod touch as remotes is genius, that would be an awesome feature because i cant stand my apple remotes.
Click to expand...

One of the things I do on a regular basis is send my feedback to Apple via their product feedback website. http://www.apple.com/feedback/

Jot a little paragraph down about certain products (hardware or software) that you would like to see upgraded, and hope they will take notice. I have not been doing this long enough to see if Apple does anything, but I find myself doing it about once a week for little ideas that come to my head.

One example I sent in this week: I think the wireless music streaming concept can be broadened with newer technologies. One thing I suggested was that Apple allow for wireless streaming of all System sounds rather than just streaming music through iTunes using airport express.
 
Just let me download movies from iTunes and do it directly from the Apple TV and I am happy. Although I may get one for the 60 or so movies I Handbraked and haven't seen yet.
 
(1) Chapter Selection menus for movie's - There are some ridiculously long pauses between chapter markers when trying to skip around movies.
Click to expand...

Maybe due to the way the movie was encoded, maybe there is no I frame on the chapter boundary. When scanning maybe there are not enough I frames to present the scanning well.

Not all problems are directly the fault of Apple, however, I'm sure if Apple provided decent specs for their devices there would be fewer issues with material on their devices.

Cheers, Ed.
 
QuarterSwede said:
I don't know, the Airport Express is still around and everyone thought that was going to be killed off when the Apple TV was released.
Click to expand...

However it's not been made 802.11n yet, which is annoying as it slows down the whole network if you only have 802.11n macs...

aswitcher said:
Apple TV + AirportExtreme + Mac Mini = 2nd Gen AppleTV
Click to expand...

I don't think they'd include the Airport Extreme in the package, as they can make money off it, but I do see the Mac mini and the Apple TV merging. It'd be useful if you could browse the web from your couch from the same device etc... that sort of functionality would help.
 
Not trying to be a jerk

Can someone tell me why I would want an AppleTV instead of just using a Mini? Besides the price, is there an advantage to the AppleTV that I don't see?
 
My Apple TV replaced my docked iPod sitting on top of my amplifier.
No longer did I have to get up and go over to select a song or browse.
Then there were the video's I had on my 2 Mac's which I could now show friends using the Apple TV on my wide screen plasma.
Apple starts selling TV shows and movies in the UK and I buy Lost Season 3.
Things just keep get better.

Software updates dont seem to figure much here.

Content does.

Apple is making seriously good $$'s but it's R&D has limits like anyone else.
They have a single source approach to their products.
Leopard was delayed due to the iPhone launch, Job's said so himself.
Why would they want to work on a $299 low volume product's software when they are launching a new OS & mobile phone product line?

I agree that a SDK for the Apple TV would be cool.
I'd love to see it using my Miglia DVB digital television dongle for recording and play back.
Apple arent good at making it easy for others to make money in their space.

They could add a DVD player to it, but why? You can pick up a cheapo DVD player for the price of lunch in your local supermarket.

Apple are only interested in keeping cheap a product they want lots of us to buy that will encourage us to purchase content provided by them.

The Apple TV will live so long as iTunes has content to push on us that makes use of it.
 
eddyg said:
Curious what the difference between HandBrake used for DVDs and iTunes when used with CDs is. Seems like the same issue, not sure why Apple is avoiding it so much.

Cheers, Ed.
Click to expand...
My opinion is that Apple is avoiding DVD ripping due to the DCMA. Apple being an American company, they need to follow US laws.

So, because DVDs typically have copy-protection on them, breaking it is a violation of the DCMA. To rip DVDs, you have to break the copy-protection.

CDs typically do not have copy-protection, and thus does not fall under the DCMA.

Paulsan said:
Can someone tell me why I would want an AppleTV instead of just using a Mini? Besides the price, is there an advantage to the AppleTV that I don't see?
Click to expand...
Hmmm, besides price ...

1. HDMI output. Yes, I know that DVI is essentially the same as HDMI, but with HDMI you get audio. In some set-ups, that can be a big deal.

2. Out of the box support for HDTV formats. Not every TV plays nicely with computers. Theres issues with overscan, etc. With an aTV, you plug it in, select the format (1080i, 720p, 480p) and your done.

3. Component outputs. Some older HDTVs don't have HDMI/DVI. Or maybe all of the HDMI/DVI ports on your TV are used up.

4. Simplicity. The bottom line with a mini is that you need a keyboard/mouse set-up. Not everyone wants that in their living room. The aTV has a simple remote that can do everything it needs to.

If those features appeal to you and you don't mind losing the flexibility that a mini provides, then the aTV may be something you want.
 
Paulsan said:
Can someone tell me why I would want an AppleTV instead of just using a Mini? Besides the price, is there an advantage to the AppleTV that I don't see?
Click to expand...

Price.

There's no question that appleTV is halfbaked in its current version, and that it has been really stagnant for a long time.

Apple can either dump it or improve it. Personally, I think apple realizes that products like this will be huge in the next few years, and dumping it would give up a big chunk of the market. I think it's just an issue of timing, apple just has higher priorities right now, and the market isn't showing that much demand yet for this sort of box. I think once iPhone and Leopard are out the door, they'll make this a new priority and we'll hopefully see an update in the next few months.
 
No future for Apple TV

I think Apple TV has no long term future. Within 5 years It will eventually be integrated as something built into all Macs sold as a built to order option or standard just like they did with Bluetooth EDR 2.0 and airport cards.


They may keep it alive as an external device for the PC users but all the rave and news will be about how the "new imac comes with built in Apple TV"
 
boss1 said:
I think Apple TV has no long term future. Within 5 years It will eventually be integrated as something built into all Macs sold as a built to order option or standard just like they did with Bluetooth EDR 2.0 and airport cards.


They may keep it alive as an external device for the PC users but all the rave and news will be about how the "new imac comes with built in Apple TV"
Click to expand...

that argument doesnt really make sense to me, because the Apple TV is designed to connect your already owned and separate home theater system with your computer's content. unless, of course, you are saying that the iMac WILL BE our home theater systems in 5 years?
 
boss1 said:
They may keep it alive as an external device for the PC users but all the rave and news will be about how the "new imac comes with built in Apple TV"
Click to expand...

Uhhh, you mean Front Row? Unless you hook up your iMac to your TV, this makes no sense.
 
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