Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Apple TV - Review

Apple TV is here. I had an opportunity to test it out this weekend - here are my thoughts.

First...

It's important to understand that companies like Roku and Tivo are already on the market with set top boxes and also Boxee Box and Google will be unveiling their highly anticipated versions in just a few weeks. This is Apple's second version of Apple TV.

Whats it for?

So the idea is to get more entertainment out of your TV using this little box (a quarter of the size of the previous model) that costs 99 bucks.

Hook the box up via HDMI to your TV (cord not included) and plug in the power cord. You need a Netflix account and the latest version of iTunes. You control it via a little remote (provided) or through your iPhone or iPod Touch. The setup took literally 1 minute.

The interface is extremely intuitive and easy to use like you would expect from Apple.

Content

You have access to purchase ad-free TV shows for $0.99, (FOX, DISNEY, ABC, BBC), over 4,000 HD Movies at $3.99, access to Netflix, YouTube, Internet Radio, Podcasts, Flickr. You can also stream all of your photos, music and videos directly from your iTunes Library.

In November AirPlay will be launched which will allow you to stream from your iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad directly to your TV.

My Thoughts

Apple has cleverly positioned itself. If you have a lot of Apple products it really streamlines your gadgets creating an entertainment hub in a small footprint.

Is this a game changer like the iPad or iPhone? No, but it's a cool device that can be used for what you want it for. I've been hooking up old school via HDMI to my computer and playing content that way - which I am fine with. However, if I want to still be use my computer when I'm not playing a movie on the plasma or just simply listen to a podcast while I'm multitasking its sweet to have the capability. I can definitely see families sharing photo albums too over the holidays from their computers or people loving the AirPlay app. For $99 its worth experiencing hands on.

Final Note

It will be interesting to see how it pans out for networks. Will they get behind this digital platform that doesn’t promise huge monetary output? Maybe the money isn’t there but the future is?

1 comment:

  1. Two months ago I would not have found this intriguing; but
    since I now own an iPhone, a netflix account, & a wifi enabled netflix streaming blue ray player I'm a little more excited by apple tv. Hopefully within a few years it can replace the cable box & be on demand all the time. Which it sounds like what apple is trying to accomplish.

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