Comments on: What Features Should the New Apple TV Have?

By: Bob Parish

Bob Parish — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:09:32 +0000

I think Apple TV needs a bigger hard drive, maybe the newest WD Scorpio 1TB and the COAXIAL digital output replacing the Toslink.
This way, it will be the definitive iTunes Audio Center, and with an iTouch nobody needs anymore a TV/Monitor for listen HIGH QUALITY music!

By: nutmeg

nutmeg — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 22:01:19 +0000

Bullsh*t. Palm Pre sucks and it doesn’t do half the stuff I want.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:20:20 +0000

Stephen: some of your info is just wrong. I sync a 70GB library to my AppleTV (maybe that’s small by your standards). Admittedly, I had to use the wired LAN connection to do it, because it would have taken about a week over the WiFi. But it worked, and subsequent syncs (which are usually just 40-50 songs or a couple hundred new photos) can be done wirelessly. And if you sync the library onto the AppleTV, you don’t need to have iTunes open on an external computer while you use the AppleTV.

The AppleTV is a bit slow, but its UI is simple, and combined with an iphone/ipod Remote, it’s pretty easy to navigate. I think it gives a great bang for the buck.

By: Ryan Belisle

Ryan Belisle — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:30:11 +0000

I would just like them to fix the 5.1 surround sound support. I currently am encoding all of my movies via Handbrake using the 5.1 AC3 passthru. With the latest updates, I can no longer hold down play/pause and select the 5.1 audio track.

By: Ben Barren - Confessions of a Mad Man » groundhog day in paradise

Ben Barren - Confessions of a Mad Man » groundhog day in paradise — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:51:36 +0000

[...] with Gigaom that Apples needs to refocus on Apple TV : How about letting it play .mkv, xvid etc that arent from Itunes etc And throwin the ability to web b…. Oh OK thats the Mac-Mini minus some UI tweaks + [...]

By: What New Features in Apple TV That You Want? | Gayakuman

What New Features in Apple TV That You Want? | Gayakuman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 05:47:28 +0000

[...] pushed into gaming and offering HD video content on the iTunes. Michael Wolf, the spearheads of GigaOM Pro said, Apple should add higher video quality and gaming capabilities to give more potent combination. You [...]

By: ACM23

ACM23 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:45:50 +0000

I will gladly pay more for an updated Apple TV with these features (in order of descending importance):
1) Tuner for Live TV – this would be a pain to do with the MacMini as it is – and a DVR. As it was said above, this makes it immediately a strong option for those of us who haven’t replaced our DVR/VCRs with analog tuners yet.
2) Netflix streaming video support.
3) TiVO would be great- Hulu not so much. I don’t need to watch streaming commercials.

The price would have to be better than the Mini, since most of us could do all of this with this machine. However, I bet most potential buyers of an improved Apple TV already have at least one MacBook or Pro at home and don’t really need yet another full-on Mac connected to a TV.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:49:27 +0000

Here we are wishing for a set-top box to be a computer. As the world is changing and consumers are consuming media through multiple sources, the traditional set-top box will become obsolete for mainstream consumers and be confined further to a niche. Only a computer will provide everything a user wants now and in the future.

If you were to go to an Apple Store and/or do a little light reading, you would learn Apple has provided this “ultimate” set-top box for some time now. It is called the Mac Mini and is used frequently used for simultaneously as a DVR, streaming, downloading, gaming, internet, and networking machine. It has a higher price point because it requires better hardware to do everything and anything.

I understand the average consumer is not so savvy and doesn’t know what to buy. However, hoards of savvy consumers are buying nettops and small form-factor computers to connect to their new LCD TVs. It will eventually catch on, hurting the internet set-top box market. The obvious problem is simply confusion in the marketplace, as there is nothing inherently wrong with the Apple TV which is designed only to cater to iTunes aficionados.

By: andrew

andrew — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:42:52 +0000

My opinion is Apple’s interests as a company and mine as a viewer are at fundamental odds when it comes to the Apple TV. Apple wants to sell/rent content from iTunes store. I want to view the content I already have or buy in other formats in the future.

I bought a Mac Mini a few months ago and run Plex. It allows me to view the content I put on the Mini. I can stream content from a variety of sources (even though streaming doesn’t really interest me much) and back up to a NAS or other computer if wanted. I can pop in a DVD and view it on the TV if I want.

A UPnP server would be nice as well, but then I’m not using iTunes to manage my content like Apple wants.

I thought I could have my PS3 be my media server, but the interface doesn’t stand up to more than 5 or 6 items. Why is it so hard to find one device to store and playback all my media and have a decent interface doing so?

By: Usually Named

Usually Named — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:41:37 +0000

Weak vision in gaming? You’ve got to be kidding. The iPhone app store is a game changer. I think they have the gaming vision — and it doesn’t involve expensive consoles playing a visually tricked out FPS.

By: Jesse Kopelman

Jesse Kopelman — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:17:49 +0000

Agreed. I’ve been suggesting this for a while now. Easier to hide the price of components too. The Apple crowd is surely willing to pay $2,000+ or more for a nice TV, but with a STB you are limited by the price ceiling of the entry level Mac Mini.

By: Bob K

Bob K — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 18:29:10 +0000

It needs to be less like a glorified iPod and more like an entertainment-oriented Mac. Let Apple TV be the home’s media server, and allow iTunes products around the house to store, stream and borrow files from it instead of the other way around.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:46:38 +0000

The Apple TV is easily Apple’s worse product they currently sell. I needs to be more than a hobby and a real product! Just hook one up to try and sync with a large iTunes library and watch it choke!

It needs better hardware and to interface with a REAL media server. Having to keep iTunes OPEN just to use it is crazy. Apple needs a software based media server that can run on any Mac (or Mac mini!). Adding more sources for streaming media (Netflix, Hulu, etc) should be a priority. Adding Blue-ray player would make it interesting. Giving it TiVo functionality would be a home run. Adding iChat would be extra bases.

I would like to see Pandora, Last.fm, as Apple completely ignores Internet radio on the Apple TV, even though they include some in iTunes. How about HD radio with tagging? How about allowing some Slingbox/SlingCatcher type functions so you can stream anywhere?

Better performance is a MUST. Waiting until the Apple TV finally connects to your Library just SUCKS! Right now the Apple TV is a broken iPod for your TV!

By: Weldon Dodd

Weldon Dodd — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:59:36 +0000

The AppleTV only needs a couple things…

support for 1080p content (faster processor or hardware decoding)
7.1 digital audio (new chipset)

Beyond that, I’d like to see an interface makeover that puts the focus back on *my* content instead of the iTunes Store. Streaming content from the net would be nice (Pandora, Hulu, etc.) but that’s not as urgent in my mind.

By: Jack Chawla

Jack Chawla — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:24:18 +0000

Simple….make it more like iPhone. Open it up and let developers build cool apps for AppleTV and give an easy way for users to use this Apps. Within months, we will have apps like NetFlix Streaming, Hulu, iPlayer, etc, etc. for AppleTV and some cool apps we don’t even know we need.

Also, HD video chat (aka Personal Telepresence) kind of solution will be cool. Plug the camera with microphone in USB port and house the camera on top of TV and you have….one on one video+voip chat. Apple has all the necessary pieces to make this happen.

Why is Apple moving so slow on so many obvious opportunities???

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:05:22 +0000

I bought a 50″ flat screen last year and as an experiment, didn’t hook it up to cable or satellite. Instead I hooked up a new Apple TV, our Wii, a Roku, and a Blu-Ray DVD player. Guess which device gets the most use? The Roku (which coincidentally happens to be the least expensive of the lot). The Apple TV gets the least use, and we don’t generally use it for watching TV — we mostly use it to shuffle music on those nights when we have guests over for dinner.

If the Apple TV (or some other device) had the ability to play or convert any video format it would place the device front and center in our living room. Apple insisting on exclusively using its own Martian video formats that don’t work on any other devices is a low-level form of DRM.