When will we see an Apple TV update?

[paduck]

I'm giving Apple a year to deliver something and then I'm either getting a Mediasmart or building a NAS based solution.

I've long maintained that the gap in Apple's product line is the home server. It should be an area that they are leading in. Look at all the duplicate hard drives/storage you have to have now - iPod, iPhone, ATV, MacBook, iMac, etc.

Apple's current iTunes strategy is driven by a single library maintained on a (usually) desktop Macintosh in the home. They need to move that library off that one Mac and put it somewhere that multiple devices can share it. Time Capsule is a good start if they were to further expand the feature set. They also need to be able to allow you to backup your centralized library somewhere. I think that is a killer app for Apple.

If they don't have such a product, they can at least integrate server storage into iTunes, ATV, etc. a little better. Then users can add the storage themselves as others have mentioned.

 

[jaw04005]

Meh. I think the premium you pay for downloading a digitally distributed file should include unlimited re-downloads.

Especially for items likes TV shows, which you may only watch once initially, but a few years down the road may want to revisit an episode for whatever reason (like for a series such as Lost). However, there's no real point in storing that episode locally. Amazon Unbox has an one-up on Apple with this one.

The size of my iTunes library is getting ridiculous. I've only purchased 5 TV show seasons, two of which are HD. The HD seasons take up roughly 32GBs each.

The day of forcing the consumer to be responsible for these massive digital libraries are over. Apple needs to get with the times and offer an official re-download/cloud storage policy or start offering subscription services.

I don't think the average consumer is going to run out and get a Drobo or HP MediaSmart Server. The later which I've done.

 

[MACisthePC]

A lead Apple TV software engineer, Greg Dudey, is known to have left for Dell. What exactly prompted the move isn't known.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ple_still_working_on_tablet_sized_device.html

 

[spice weasel]

I'm not wholely convinced that BluRay is king. The premium that they charge for it doesn't seem to be overwhelming the market. Lots of people just want to spend $10 and get a regular DVD - not HD. Yes, BluRay is king of the HD market, but I don't know if people fully desire the premium they have to pay for HD content.

I agree, although I'm not really sure why this is. My girlfriend, for example, clearly sees the difference between HD and SD television and between DVD and Blu-ray, but then says "who cares?" She's still perfectly content to watch stuff in SD. I think a lot of people are like this. Others don't even know the difference - they watch SD content upscaled on their HD sets and think that it's HD.

Price is another issue. Until Blu-ray titles drop to $15, I think a lot of people are just going to skip Blu-ray. Right now, you can get $15-$20 titles from places like Amazon, but you have to keep on eye out for sales.

Someone mentioned Netflix. I think a lot of Blu-ray people are going this route, since they don't want to pay the money for discs and don't feel like amassing a physical collection again. The problem with Netflix is that they have now increased their Blu-ray premium (it's now an extra $4/month for the 3 discs per month plan). I went back to renting regular DVDs because of this. Most of what I rent from Netflix is either TV show seasons or movies that I really don't care about watching in HD. Movies like Ironman and The Dark Knight I just buy on Blu-ray. Besides, I've heard that Netflix is having a hard time keeping up with Blu-ray demand in some markets. Why pay $4 extra if you have to wait longer to get the movie?

There is talk of $99 Blu-ray players hitting the market by the holidays this year. If so, then I think this will give a huge boost to the format. Cheaper players = more adopters = (hopefully) cheaper discs.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I'm not wholely convinced that BluRay is king. The premium that they charge for it doesn't seem to be overwhelming the market. Lots of people just want to spend $10 and get a regular DVD - not HD. Yes, BluRay is king of the HD market, but I don't know if people fully desire the premium they have to pay for HD content.

26 dollar movies are a total non starter for people used to buying DVD for less than 10 and buying multiple movie bundles for 13 dollars at Target.

Blu-ray = Laserdisc. Great if you're a movie aficionado with a 5.1 or 7.1 surround system.

Unless you have a 50" HDTV or larger it's hard to see the resolution difference, worth paying 3x for the movie, at a distance from the TV. My opinion of course.

 

[kage207]

I'm not sure about you guys, but I love having my stuff on my computer. I like the "cloud" idea so once you buy it you can select which devices you want the music or movie or TV show on.

I use one computer and have started ripping all my DVDs to my computer. Less stuff to keep track of. And personally, I like the BR technology and was a fan of it from the start. But I like paying $15 per movie since I watch movies over and over and over again. I study film, it's something I like doing. I watch once for pleasure, then on to costume design, to story, to acting and etc. Same with TV shows but the only show I really watch is Scrubs.

I'd like to see an update from ATV and don't mind 1080p that much. I'm happy with 720p. I'd like to be the one running ATV or the home media station for Apple.

My thing is; once I get enough cash, I'll either get an iMac or a MacPro depending upon the time I need it and make that my station where all my music / movies / TV shows are. And if I have kids then I'll just put it on the TimeCap. Otherwise my MacBook will just turn into work only computer and my iMac or MacPro be my media computer for pleasure.