Apple TV Set: Any thoughts ?

Digital Doctor

Well-known member
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I'm really curious about the Apple TV Set coming out in Q2-Q3 2012.
Jobs said he "cracked" the secret to a successful Apple TV set and that it will have the simplest UI you could image.


Apple observers have been monitoring Apple TV talk at least in part because in the interviews that Walter Isaacson turned into a best-selling biography of the late Steve Jobs, the Apple co-founder
made it clear
that the company thinks it has a path to success in the TV business.
Saying that he had "cracked" the secret to building a successful Apple TV set, Jobs told Isaacson, "It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine."

I think the TV UI is really terrible. Why can't I navigate channels with thumbnails ?
Why can't I have my own Favourites ? (one per family member).
Can't a 50 inch TV display 20 thumbnails at a time ?

Predictions:
Apple TV integrates with iCloud.
Robust sharing with all Apple devices ... ipad ipod iphone
ie. Easily view your pictures on the TV.
Recorded movies are saved to the cloud.
You'll be able to buy movies from Apple TV.
UI prediction: A channel's number will become "unimportant" in the UI.
Q: will it have a Microsoft Kinect type interface ?
Facebook / Twitter integration.
Will you be able to "watch TV" with someone elsewhere ? (ie. you can hear their voice)
Leverage the apps store again ?
I expect some cool interface that allows you to buy things *WHILE* watching the commercial, etc.
An apps store for video content (Think iTunes for video)(think pay per episode YouTube)
- people will drop 99 cents without thinking twice for an app on their iphone.
- I'd pay 99 cents in a heartbeat for getting a video about *EXACTLY* what I want.
----- I want to stop slicing my driver off the tee. [Buy]
- I think this will bring on a new generation of content producers.
- I won't even mention the sordid home grown content that will prosper.
- VideoChatting. FaceTime. will it integrate with Facebook
Other killer Apps: eHarmony for the TV.
I'll think up more predictions later. ;)

Overall: Apple will make the TV a "Cloud + device" tool.
 
Siri-powered remote.

ME: Record new episodes of Last Man Standing
SIRI: You are now recording all new episodes or Last Man Standing

Recorded to iCloud and can now be streamed to ANY iTunes device - iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTV.
 
The apple TV boxes are just pure win! buy it wipe it xmbc it!!! say no more! as for the apple tv you posted about looks great I'll buy it when xbmc can go on it :D

edit xmbc on the normal apple tv out now does all that and more ;o I won't be buying this unless its higher specs^^
 
Apple has been trying this since what, 2006?
They need to let it go.

And with so many internet providers [in the US] starting to meter bandwidth, this may not be a good time.
My DSL is now capped at 150G and $10/50G after. Cable is also metered.
I am no longer making as many backups to my local drive and have cut down on Pandora to see if my consumption goes down.
I'm at 190Gb with a few more days in my billing period.

Back on topic, this all looks good, if it doesn't cost you an arm and a leg for your data connection.
 
Most people are focusing on a new UI for a TV... which it will not doubt have. But think about what Apple did to the music industry... it more or less changed the entire industry, not just slapped a new UI on to CDs (it's been a very long time since I've even seen a CD store... you can't buy a CD at any of the malls local to me... no more Warehouse, no more Sam Goody, no more Tower Records, etc.)

So let's say Apple not only makes a cool TV (hardware/UI-wise), but what if you could get cable service from Apple, delivered via the Internet/IP... you have all your normal channels, just the backend delivery mechanism changes (which isn't even that different considering AT&T U-Verse delivers video via IP already). Apple doesn't have the cost of maintaining physical cable lines (one of the most expensive parts of being a cable provider) and is able to deliver the same channels that look no different than your normal cable for half the cost.

Not only that, the existing $99 AppleTV could become a "cable box" for (let's call it) "Apple Cable" for any existing TV with nothing more than an update pushed down from Apple.

In my opinion, it should be cable providers that should be more worried than TV manufacturers.
 
In my opinion, it should be cable providers that should be more worried than TV manufacturers.
I agree, but it also comes down to your internet provider. Cell phone carriers are doing away with unlimited data and now are internet providers. How much data will be required in an average month?
 
I agree, but it also comes down to your internet provider. Cell phone carriers are doing away with unlimited data and now are internet providers. How much data will be required in an average month?
this is what makes 'the cloud' so unappealing to me. as an australian i have a very limited traffic allotment.
 
Will the cable companies allow a major cable network to offer their content via IP ?

Can you stream Full HD via IP ? Note: with cable companies charge per GB download. If you watched 8 hours of Full HD TV for 30 days what would that cost you in "overage" charges under your current cable plan ? Probably a boat load.

Cable companies will be hugely profitable going forward.
They control the pipes. That's about the best place to be.

They'll just jack up their prices to use their pipes if their profits look weak, regardless of the reason.
 
Will the cable companies allow a major cable network to offer their content via IP ?

Can you stream Full HD via IP ? Note: with cable companies charge per GB download. If you watched 8 hours of Full HD TV for 30 days what would that cost you in "overage" charges under your current cable plan ? Probably a boat load.

Cable companies will be hugely profitable going forward.
They control the pipes. That's about the best place to be.

They'll just jack up their prices to use their pipes if their profits look weak, regardless of the reason.
there are also broadcasting contracts that have to be taken into account. this is most obvious in the case of sport. teams and leagues all negotiate broadcast rights with networks and/or 'cable providers'. apple cannot simply bypass them or rebroadcast their content.
 
Will the cable companies allow a major cable network to offer their content via IP ?

Can you stream Full HD via IP ? Note: with cable companies charge per GB download. If you watched 8 hours of Full HD TV for 30 days what would that cost you in "overage" charges under your current cable plan ? Probably a boat load.

Cable companies will be hugely profitable going forward.
They control the pipes. That's about the best place to be.

They'll just jack up their prices to use their pipes if their profits look weak, regardless of the reason.
Well, it's not "their" content to begin with... They license it from each network (FOX, CBS, NBC, etc.). They pay each network to be able to carry their channels.

In theory, it could be a win for everyone (including cable companies). In theory, if cable providers just started becoming Internet providers exclusively their costs would go WAY down because they aren't dealing with cable boxes, far less customer service, don't need to deal with customers pissed off when their DVR didn't record something, etc. But most importantly, the fees they pay to the networks are huge. You let Apple handle all the "deals" with each network (just like they do with record labels and movie studios now).

As far as throttling IP traffic and jacking up overage prices, yep... of course that will happen (it's already happening, in large part because of Netflix and people just canceling their cable service because they can watch stuff online instead). But there's also real competition in most areas. Like my house has AT&T fiber to the premise as well as a Time Warner cable line. Currently I use AT&T, but if AT&T started capping usage for me (which they don't), it's a matter of a phone call to switch to Time Warner for Internet (who also do not have usage caps currently). Say AT&T went to a 50GB/month cap in my area... everyone would simply switch to Time Warner and they would be left with no customers. Lots of customers using lots of bandwidth is better than 0 using none. For markets with no "switch-to" options, you would simply see the government step in and regulating it. The government isn't going to allow a monopoly Internet provider to start charging $200/month for Internet simply because consumers have no other options.

Even better... hopefully Google gets their Google Fiber project rolling and people start getting 1GB up/down (uncapped) connections from Google or any other company that wants to *just* be an Internet provider.
 
Unless it matches my Pioneer Kuro for picture quality, I couldn't care less what features it has or how slick the UI is.
 
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