Friday
Jan192007
Apple TV - Some Thoughts
Friday, January 19, 2007 at 12:38AM
Following on from Macworld it seems that iPhone has generated enormous amounts of coverage much to the detriment of Apple TV.
Now that things are starting to get back to normal (at least as we build up to the big Superbowl advert rumour) I've had some time to start thinking about the arrival of my Apple TV.
I ordered one a day or so after launch whilst still at Macworld via the UK online store. It should arrive 3rd March according to the confirmation mail.
It was a no brainer really, my main reason being for the testing of ScreenCastsOnline episodes via Apple TV. Luckily (or not as I'd like to think this was forward planning) all of the weekly shows for Extra! members have been produced and distributed in HD 720p (1280x720) resolution encoded in H264. This should mean that near enough the last 12 months worth of content should play beautifully via Apple TV at the highest resolution it can support!
Sweet!
Video Podcasts
Once that is confirmed, I'll also be looking to utilise the Apple TV for my own personal Video podcasting pleasure. This should mean I'll be able to watch all those video podcasts I've been ferreting away for ages although, they will probably look pretty bad on my 50" HDTV (MacBreak excepted). I think there is only ScreenCastsOnline and MacBreak that are publishing in HD. But anyway, that's another tick in the box.
Live TV & PVR
Now Apple TV doesn't support Live TV or have any PVR functionality. And I think it's fair to say that it never will. It just doesn't fit in with the iTunes Store model. Why give people the option to record their own stuff when tey can buy it at low cost from the iTunes store, pre-packed for Apple TV and with a seamless, stress free workflow behind it - more about that later.
So anyway, I've got my EyeTV package on my G5 which will allow me to record the occasional TV program if I want. The cools thing about the latest version of the EyeTV software is that it adds the correct metadata into the recorded file and will automatically add it to the TV Shows section of iTunes. Bingo - it should appear on Apple TV. I've read that Elgato will be pushing out an update once Apple TV is available that might even encode in HD. Another tick in the box.
TV Shows from iTunes
Nada, zip, no way hosay :-(
No TV shows available from iTunes Store in UK - Bummer!
Movies from iTunes
Nada, zip, no way hosay :-(
No TV shows available from iTunes Store in UK - Bummer!
With the absence of TV shows and Movies from the iTunes Store I've been investigating other means of getting "Internet Sourced" content onto the Apple TV. This of course means into iTunes which invariably means re-encoding stuff such as Divx encoded material or transcoding 1080 resolution transport streams into iTunes compatible format. No good, especially transcoding 1080 HD ts material into 720p mpeg - it takes forever!
So either Apple needs to open up the store to us here in the UK (I'd gladly pay) or can we expect to see more "internet Sourced" stuff being made available pre-coded for the Apple TV. I suppose it depends on penetration and numbers.
We'll soon know!
Now that things are starting to get back to normal (at least as we build up to the big Superbowl advert rumour) I've had some time to start thinking about the arrival of my Apple TV.
I ordered one a day or so after launch whilst still at Macworld via the UK online store. It should arrive 3rd March according to the confirmation mail.
It was a no brainer really, my main reason being for the testing of ScreenCastsOnline episodes via Apple TV. Luckily (or not as I'd like to think this was forward planning) all of the weekly shows for Extra! members have been produced and distributed in HD 720p (1280x720) resolution encoded in H264. This should mean that near enough the last 12 months worth of content should play beautifully via Apple TV at the highest resolution it can support!
Sweet!
Video Podcasts
Once that is confirmed, I'll also be looking to utilise the Apple TV for my own personal Video podcasting pleasure. This should mean I'll be able to watch all those video podcasts I've been ferreting away for ages although, they will probably look pretty bad on my 50" HDTV (MacBreak excepted). I think there is only ScreenCastsOnline and MacBreak that are publishing in HD. But anyway, that's another tick in the box.
Live TV & PVR
Now Apple TV doesn't support Live TV or have any PVR functionality. And I think it's fair to say that it never will. It just doesn't fit in with the iTunes Store model. Why give people the option to record their own stuff when tey can buy it at low cost from the iTunes store, pre-packed for Apple TV and with a seamless, stress free workflow behind it - more about that later.
So anyway, I've got my EyeTV package on my G5 which will allow me to record the occasional TV program if I want. The cools thing about the latest version of the EyeTV software is that it adds the correct metadata into the recorded file and will automatically add it to the TV Shows section of iTunes. Bingo - it should appear on Apple TV. I've read that Elgato will be pushing out an update once Apple TV is available that might even encode in HD. Another tick in the box.
TV Shows from iTunes
Nada, zip, no way hosay :-(
No TV shows available from iTunes Store in UK - Bummer!
Movies from iTunes
Nada, zip, no way hosay :-(
No TV shows available from iTunes Store in UK - Bummer!
With the absence of TV shows and Movies from the iTunes Store I've been investigating other means of getting "Internet Sourced" content onto the Apple TV. This of course means into iTunes which invariably means re-encoding stuff such as Divx encoded material or transcoding 1080 resolution transport streams into iTunes compatible format. No good, especially transcoding 1080 HD ts material into 720p mpeg - it takes forever!
So either Apple needs to open up the store to us here in the UK (I'd gladly pay) or can we expect to see more "internet Sourced" stuff being made available pre-coded for the Apple TV. I suppose it depends on penetration and numbers.
We'll soon know!
Technorati Tags:
Apple, itv, BitTorrent, Apple TV
Reader Comments (6)
Just another non-news story from Macworld (that's not a citicism of you Don, I enjoyed your coverage).
Where the heck's 10.5 ?!*@!!
So (hyperthetically) - I'm sat at home (mainland UK), watching video images sent from my Apple TV hooked up to my TV. I don't have an aerial, I don't have a Sat Dish, and I only watch www derived content... will I still be obliged to buy a TV licence? Got a feeling the law says if you have equipment capable of receiving terrestrial or satellte UK TV you need to buy a licence.. hmmmmm
Yes Phil, if your TV has a tuner, you are legally obliged to buy a licence, even if you don't have an aerial.
The Mac mini seems like a better choice than Apple TV. Many videos are embedded in webpages and the Mac mini can view them with Safari, whereas the Apple TV cannot. I want to view these videos on big screen from my easy chair, not on a computer screen at a desk.
Yes, the Mac mini is more expensive than Apple TV. But you get what you pay for. The Mac mini can play (or burn) DVDs, faster processing, more RAM that is easily expanded, more disk space that is easily expanded via Firewire, expandability via 4 USB ports, capability to use Elgato EyeTV and Toast, and it has the same footprint as Apple TV.
Other than price and easier hookup, what are the advantages of Apple TV over Mac mini?
EyeTV is great, saves any programmes to disk like a PVR if you want and in the right formats.
Also, there are ways of getting YouTube and other video sharing sites material downloaded. You can use the Firefox plugin here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390/
That gets the video to your desktop. You'll need to change the file ending to .flv
To convert mpeg 4 or another format for itunes download isquint (free) at:
http://www.isquint.org/getit.php
now you can put any video file from any video sharing website onto iTunes and use your AppleTv
Don't forget that the BEEB signed a deal with Veoh to carry their stuff (veoh.com)
Hope that's useful
Don - Could do two screencasts... one on hooking up and using an Apple TV to a HDTV, and the other on hooking up and using a Mac mini with a HDTV?