Filed under: Macworld, Hardware, Apple TV
Apple TV up close
The Apple TV isn't under lock and key, as the iPhone is. It's about half the height of a Mac mini, with the same footprint, and quite unassuming. It sports a remote we're already familiar with. Here are some of the first pics of the Apple TV, taken during and immediately after the Keynote.
Update: For those that asked in the comments, those are Sony television sets, although I didn't note the exact model.
Update: For those that asked in the comments, those are Sony television sets, although I didn't note the exact model.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Steve said 3:55PM on 1-09-2007
Can you use the AppleTV outside of iTunes? I'm not gonna buy a tv show over itunes when I can bit torrent it.
Reply
Jason said 3:55PM on 1-09-2007
Sadly, I don't see what this gives me, besides paying to move the ITMS from my computer to my TV. Does Apple even sell HD movies? If not, what's the point of the HDMI? The 360, with an HD movie store, sells for $100 more with a hard drive. They'll be making that drive bigger in the future, too. So what makes this better?
Reply
Quix said 4:04PM on 1-09-2007
Still no DVR capability??? I'm so itching to dump my TiVo. The Apple TV is a letdown.
Obviously the iPhone was in the spotlight today, but the Apple TV appears to be a halfhearted effort. Microsoft wants to own the living room, and Apple is going to have to do a lot better than this to counter that.
Reply
Zach Everson said 4:05PM on 1-09-2007
Do I need to get Cingular to use this device too?
Reply
CharlesP said 4:06PM on 1-09-2007
What I haven't seen is any mention of this as a DVR/PVR at all, which seems the most logical function to me... and while playing things from iTunes is handy I can't imagine it's worth $300 compared to a Tivo-esque box. Or is this mentioned somewhere that I've not seen?
Reply
Nic said 4:06PM on 1-09-2007
What type of TV's are they using, I don't recognize them? Maybe something new from apple thats coming later?
Reply
TC said 4:15PM on 1-09-2007
yeah, whats the use if its not a PVR? I want to replace my Tivo series 1! Looks like my only choice here in the UK if I want to not go to Sky or NTL is Windows MCE! At least a second hand mac mini will do a good job at this, and isnt much more than an AppleTV.
Reply
Andrew Childress said 4:16PM on 1-09-2007
About DVR functionality-
If it has got a USB port, doesn't it seem likely that one of those add-on USB TV tuners would work? We know it has an Intel processor, which implies x86 architecture. I think that there could be some compatibility there, especially if Apple wants it to happen.
Reply
arkowi said 4:17PM on 1-09-2007
You know, i was all set to buy an appleTV...I even got a $150 Apple Gift Card for X-mas to put towards of my purchase. However, I have decided against it.
1. The thing apparently can't even do 1080i or 1080p video, WTF. Even so, I would have at least been excited if they had bumped iTMS movies up to 720p.
I can hook my iPod up to the TV and do 640x480, which is what all the content from the iTMS is already...
2. The interface is not all that pretty. Why not do full screen CoverFlow or something? The whole thing just looks like a premature release to me.
3. If I save the $300 bucks I would spend on this, I can put that towards my iPhone purchase and I am half way there. iPhone is way more exciting than this.
that is all,
-arkowi
Reply
running said 4:21PM on 1-09-2007
[1]: not so much. Apple TV doesn't support DivX and XviD. Most of BitTorrent files are in these two formats.
Reply
Mike said 4:26PM on 1-09-2007
Hmm, so it's not iTV, its Apple TV, and it doesn't actually have a TV tuner... Hopefully they'll get this one right the second time around.
Reply
dpratt said 4:31PM on 1-09-2007
The question is: Does it at least support upscaled 1080i output? There are a LOT of us out there with older HDTVs that only accept 1080i on the component input.
If not, this is getting tossed in the PS3-never-buy bin as well.
Reply
Justin said 4:44PM on 1-09-2007
I spoke with an Apple rep at Macworld and he confirmed that it does support 1080i.
Reply
frogbat said 4:49PM on 1-09-2007
i'd be very interested in this if it would let me stream video_ts folders
i often rip dvds i rent to my g5 to watch when i have rather than incur late penalty fees - however i'd rather watch them from my bed
think a mac mini would do a better job - and i wouldn't need to have my rather loud g5 on
Reply
Mike said 4:55PM on 1-09-2007
It's basically an Airport Express for video the way I look at it. I was hoping it would have video in ports so it could be used as a DVR. When I get around to buying an HD TV I might pick up an AppleTV.
It's lowest supported resolution is 480p, right? No 480i for those of us stuck in the Stone Age?
Reply
von Elling said 4:55PM on 1-09-2007
You can bring movies into iTunes if they are in QuickTime or MPEG4 format. The added bonus is the easy management of the videos, but it doesn't change the file at all. So you can bring in any movies from BitTorrent or Handbrake as long as it's in the proper format.
Reply
arkowi said 4:58PM on 1-09-2007
i will add, that the lack of DVR functionality does not bother me. Too many formats (satellite, cable card, cable, antenna, etc). Apple would either have to pigeonhole the service or come up with some kludgy all-in-one solution...no way.
Get an el Gato EyeTV hybrid.
Reply
Tony said 4:59PM on 1-09-2007
As long as you can add a movie/video to iTunes, you can play in on the Apple TV. So, you're not limited to content purchased from the iTunes Store. Of course, this means you'll need to re-encode movies to make them iTunes compatible (H.264, etc.) but that's simple to do using any number of free utilities.
Reply
Joram Oudenaarde said 5:08PM on 1-09-2007
Ehmm, let's assume you're living in Europe.
Hardly any video on the iTS. Which means music only. (and photo's)
Does anyone remember the Airport Express? It has all the music-features already, and ports it to your Stereo.
As for video;
The video-selection on iTS is small, really small. It's not High-Def, and it's too expensive. You pay about the same price as a normal DVD, but without the actual DVD, DVD-box, and cover art. Pretty pricey for a download imho.
Only MPEG-4 and H.264 playback. Which means only iTS, since most other video's you can BUY in this format will not put itself automatically in the Movie-folder. The other problem is that most movies that you can download (for free or through Bittorrent) are in DIVX/AVI format. This seriously limits your options with that Apple TV.
I really hope Apple will step off that ignorant stage, and put in some freedom for all of us: DIVX/AVI playback! There are several options for digital TV which does give these options: Linux has some, Windows has em, and even Apple third-party software has it (MediaCenter for OSX anyone?).
Reply
awaspaas said 5:08PM on 1-09-2007
Let's remember, folks, that in order for this thing to do 1080p, it would need at least a dual core G5 or core duo (Apple's requirements to do 1080p QuickTime files). No way it would be at its current price if it had that kind of processor in it.
The tech specs say it outputs 1080i 60/50Hz, 720p 60/50Hz, 576p 50Hz (PAL format), or 480p 60Hz.
Reply