If you asked your mom or dad what DLNA or UPnP stood for or did, would they just look at you weird? While the two technologies enable users to wirelessly beam content to Internet Connected TVs from their tablets, phones, and computers, Apple’s AirPlay is the first implementation that makes the experience seamless. Tap the button again and playback resumes on your root device. No complicated setup is required – it simply works.
Some, like Bloomberg and Hunter Walk, have suggested that AirPlay is Apple TV, and that Apple will simply license AirPlay to the major Connected TV manufactures – and by default every Connected TV sold will be an “Apple TV” – the remote being your iPhone or iPad. It’s certainly a sensible theory – there are 250 M+ iOS devices, and with the upcoming OS X update, laptops can now leverage Airplay as well. That’s over 300M Apple devices that can push content to TVs. → Read More
Developers don’t have to wait for a fully baked version of Apple TV to come out to get a feel for how their apps will play on the big screen.
Although an eco-system for Apple TV apps does not yet exist, there are dozens of quality iOS applications that are best consumed on an HDTV via AirPlay Mirroring. Creating apps specific to the leaned-back setting of the living room requires more than just supersizing titles originally conceived for smartphones or tablets. Successful Apple TV apps need to source and showcase entertainment, news and social activity in ways not currently possible via cable, satellite or video streaming providers.
Inside are the 10 best iOS apps available on Apple TV today. → Read More
With the new AppleTV coming out later this month there’s been quite a bit of discussion about if it would be running on the new iOS system, or something else. The good news is we now know – configuration files in the iOS 4.2 beta have confirmed that the AppleTV will be running iOS. → Read More
Including access to Netflix on the rumored iTV seems like a no-brainer at first — every set-top box worth its salt has it. It’d be suicide not to, right? But then you start thinking about how Apple would probably like nothing more than to launch a full-scale competitor to Netflix in the form of 99¢ rentals. Chances are it was actually a difficult decision to make: it’s like acknowledging that Netflix has something Apple needs, and I’m sure you can imagine how much they like that idea. → Read More
Apple has an event on the books for this coming Wednesday and it’s widely expected that Steve-O will announce new iDevices, specifically an iOS-version of the Apple TV and new iPods. Most of the pre-iTV news is purely speculative as we really don’t know much about it, although it should hit at a lower price point and a new cloud-based iTunes should debut alongside the device. Forget about the cable TV assault for a quick minute though. Let’s talk about these new iPods. If things go down as the leaks seem to say, you might actually want a dedicated PMP device again. The iPod is set to have a second coming. → Read More
When looking at the current incarnation of Apple TV we find a tragically flawed device that overshot and underperformed at the same time. Essentially an iPod Classic with HDMI out, the Apple TV had a pitiful hard drive and a useless OS unless hacked. In the end, it was more expensive and more underpowered than anyone liked and competitors quickly filled the niche, offering format agnostic streaming boxes with Netflix support and devices like the Xbox 360 that allowed UPNP access to content on your network.
In the end, I got rid of my Apple TV even after hacking it to oblivion. I tried to love it. I really did. Unfortunately, however, I probably won’t be going back to the platform, even if the $99 mini-iTV Apple TV thinger appears on September 1st. Here’s why. → Read More
It can be argued that Apple eventually dominates in every consumer electronic market it enters. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the history of iPod, iPhone, and iPad. They are market leaders. However, the one exception is with the Apple TV. It didn’t exactly flop, but the media streamer is far from the blockbuster hit of its iDevice brothers.
That may change once the rumored $99 iTV hits, but analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray indicated in a note to investors that the iTV is just the beginning. He believes the cloud media service hints of a true Apple HDTV: a flat panel HDTV that’s designed to be a stand-alone TV, allowing users to give up their game console, Blu-ray player, media streamer, and most importantly cable TV. The only thing is, Gene’s wrong — at least about the physical HDTV part. An Apple TV would go down in history as the biggest flop in the company’s history. → Read More
As soon as the rumor broke that Apple would be renaming its struggling Apple TV to iTV, to better fit with the company’s i[Device] naming system, I thought to myself, “Isn’t ITV the name of a television network in England that always misses key goals in soccer games?” Yes, yes it is. In fact, the network isn’t too keen on Apple using the name iTV, and has promised to “vigorously defend” its IP. → Read More
The next version of the Apple TV is coming soon. There’s been a few rumors over the last month that the next version will be around $99 and feature some sort of cloud-based streaming. But that’s about it. Well, the crazy kids over at Engadget apparently have it on good authority that those two rumors are correct and the next Apple TV, or as it will be called, the iTV, is right around the corner. Like it or not, this might be the device to finally spring media streamers from a niche market to the mainstream. Just in time for the Boxee box and the Popbox to swing in and steal the show. → Read More
The news is a bit aged but Boxee Beta is now on the Apple TV which means folks who updated to the latest ATV firmware can now get their media fix on. How do you get it? Hop over here, make a nice little patchstick, and rock out.
Boxee has full instructions right here and here’s our quick how-to. → Read More
Rumor has it that the rumors of a rumored Apple TV update at the non-rumored Apple music event on September 9 were just rumored and that Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster was simply pulling more information out of his rear. → Read More
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=2010794&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=8cc641&fullscreen=1quick intro to boxee from boxee on Vimeo. The Boxee application It’s the holidays and you’re short on cash. You want something cool and new to play with but you already spend all your dough on Thomas the Tank Engine stuff (true story!). Why not upgrade stuff you already have? I’m going to describe the process for upgrading your Apple TV by adding Boxee and XBMC to your Apple TV. → Read More
Boxee, the excellent, multi-platform, FOSS social media frontend has received a major upgrade: it now supports Netflix and all its functions — queue, watch instantly, and so on. In addition to that and all the regular bugfixes, they’ve updated the look and feel of some of the major media sites: Hulu is now a little more native-looking, Youtube supports “higher quality video playback” (whether it was a Boxee or Youtube limitation before is not clear), and also updates integration with Apple movie trailers, Flickr, MTV Music, and a host of other sites. Not bad at all! If I had a TV, I’d definitely be using Boxee or a Popcorn Hour. Unfortunately, there’s a cloud to this silver lining: Netflix won’t work on your AppleTV, although they’re still working on making it happen. Apparently the little white box’s processor is just too frail to handle it. Neither is Netflix available for the Ubuntu version of Boxee: Netflix has planned a Linux-compatible version soon, however. A pre-release Windows version was also released today, but only to a small group for early testing. That pretty much leaves OS X users as the lords of the Boxee manor for the moment, so if you’re interested head over here to upgrade or register. → Read More
We posted some rather complicated instructions over the weekend for users of the AppleTV augmentation app Boxee to manually upgrade. Of course, the official version would come out after only a day or two. Now those of you not terminal-inclined can enjoy the fruits of the box. Did that sound dirty just then? → Read More
As skeptical as I’ve been about AppleTV, Boxee makes it look pretty damn nice. If you’re one of those who tried out this mod but have been left out in the rain by the 2.3 firmware update, this is your chance to get your unrestricted media center on again. They’re working on making the old method of installation work on the new firmware, but until then you can install Boxee manually by following the instructions in this forum post. I’ve also copied the instructions to the “inside” of the post so click on if you have a fear of forums or something (I don’t blame you). → Read More
Always one to kill two birds with one stone, Apple has announced the official availability of the Macbook Air and the fact that the AppleTV update will hit “within two weeks,” which is four weeks from two weeks ago when Stevie said it would be out sooner. Not that we’ve been freaking checking all last night or anything, right? Press Release → Read More
Everyone was happy to hear that the AppleTV was losing a bit of cost, as it was hard to justify getting one before with the features it offered. Now, however, it’s a much better deal (some disagree) and even my skeptical self is tempted. But whence this discount? The margins are as thin as the skin on my teeth. Computerworld speculates that since the discount did not extend to the UK and only partially to France, where licensing and fees-for-services are different, that Apple must have fought for an agreement with North American movie biggies to get a slice of every rental in addition to having access to their library. They run a hard bargain, as AT&T and Cisco can tell you, and it seems likely that something like this is the case. Take a buck off every rental? If someone rents one a week, the discount will pay for itself in a little over a year. Well played, Apple, well played. Is Apple subsidizing the $70 Apple TV price reduction by taking a cut of movie rentals? [ComputerWorld] → Read More
I really love home theater stuff. I’m a nerd for it. And that means that, perhaps like you, I’ve run out of HDMI ports for my gear. My TV has but one, and I’ve got three different devices that vie for it, much the same as how girls vie for my attention. The solution is the XtremeHD HDMI switcher by the geniuses over at XtremeMac. Looking very much like my Apple TV, the XtremeHD, lack of leading vowels aside, is a simple machine that works flawlessly, and is just what the doctor ordered. For the HDMI situation, not the girls who chase me. → Read More
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