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RUMOR: Major Apple TV shake-up coming on Tuesday, September 30?

Monday, September 29, 2008 · 12:56 am · 42 Comments

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) recently received “an e-mail from an anonymous Apple reseller, stating that they received an e-mail from Apple with instructions to remove all Apple TV displays and literature and to destroy them (which I assume means throw away the literature, send back the Apple TVs) by September 30, 2008 at 5 PM. Additionally, the e-mail says that there will be a webcast ‘kick off’ on September 30,” Christina Warren reports for TUAW.

“Could this potentially be the introduction of the Mini/Apple TV hybrid we’ve all been begging for? Is this related to the rumors of “The Brick?” Warren wonders.

Full article here.

[Attribution CNET. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "DLMeyer" for the heads up.]

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Comment Feed

42 Comments

« Previous 1 2 3 Next »

R

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 6:27 am · Reply

The licensing for their advertising expires, that’s it. Something new may be coming, but not because of this.
almux

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 7:14 am · Reply

Just another Brick in the Wall: Apple building what windoze can’t.

Desperate M$, when you can’t build stuff you break it! Silly M$ folks, remember: NO WALLS = NO WINDOWS!!
Erk

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 7:35 am · Reply

since I got my PS3 and medialink I have rarely used the Appletv, i’d really like to see some more functionality in the thing
TVer

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 7:46 am · Reply

@rickw

“my only 2 complaints have been the inability to turn it off and the need for it to play other video formats, divx in particular.”

You can turn it off by holding the Play button on the remote down for a few seconds.
shen

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 8:39 am · Reply

“Open up the usb slot so that an additional drive can be placed.”

that is all i care about. people who don’t have it/can’t figure out what it is for can complain, but only complaint so far is a) i need at least 2 terrabytes and b) my wife rents WAY too many movies.

….and it is still cheaper than cable.
ATVpatch.com

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 8:49 am · Reply

TVer wrote – “You can turn it off by holding the Play button on the remote down for a few seconds.”

But that does not really turn it off. It still runs, the hard drive spins and it stays pretty warm for something that is supposedly ‘Off’. I have put an On/Off swith on my power cable that runs to the Apple TV, so I power it down from the remote and then hit the On/Off switch and it is actually really Off. No sense in powering something that seems to draw that much juice for not even be used. Plus it’s pretty scary how warm it can actually get, even when it’s supposedly Off.
JoshtheiMacGuy

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:02 am · Reply

I agree with ‘Former’, the ability to record the free over the air shows is critical! Despite the zillion channels of cable TV, I still enjoy free TV and some of the many programs it offers. Using the old VCR tapes is a work around for now, but a decent and easy to use digital recorder would be wonderful.
tt

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:05 am · Reply

brick may be apple tv MAJOR upgrade – so major it will likely have a different name – full browsing support, video chat, gaming, did I mention gaming

mdn magic word: wish
onionhead

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:06 am · Reply

I really hope Apple announce a pvr with digital tuner. I’ve purchased two different brands so far and have returned them both because of noisy and crappy performance and hopeless interface.
tt

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:07 am · Reply

oh yah, did I mention time shifting and recording without subscription? and full time machine compatibility
Ed

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:10 am · Reply

Maybe an upgrade will occur, like tv show subscription, or something that uses the usb port
Sol

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:12 am · Reply

Whatever gets announced, I hope the current Apple TV continues to be supported. I love using it for watching ripped DVDs, video podcasts and tv shows recorded on my Mac with Eye TV. For people like me who watch very little live television the Apple TV is better than any alternative so far.

By the way, a “power brick” is another term for power supply/AC adaptor. If the rumored “brick” is anything to do with video, it could be something like an Airport Express, which is like a power brick in shape, only it would be capable of streaming audio and video; kind of like an Apple TV without a hard drive, controllable through any iPhone or iPod Touch. It could be used to complement the Apple TV, which is intended for the main entertainment system, and used with all the other TVs in a house. With many bricks you build a home (media centre)!
Gassious Clay

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:16 am · Reply

CABLE CARD Support pleeez! I don’t care about Blu-Ray! I just want to get rid of my comcast cable box once and for all!!!!
Yimmie

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 9:23 am · Reply

“CABLE CARD Support pleeez! I don’t care about Blu-Ray! I just want to get rid of my comcast cable box once and for all!!!!”

Amen to that!!
Connor MacBook

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 10:10 am · Reply

Isn’t the mini already a mini/Apple TV hybrid??
Quad Core

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 10:45 am · Reply

“CABLE CARD Support pleeez! I don’t care about Blu-Ray! I just want to get rid of my comcast cable box once and for all!!!!”

Not gonna happen. The idea of AppleTV is to change the way with think about paid programming. For ages, people have squawked about having to pay ridiculous package prices for a bunch of channels they don’t watch and the one or two that they do. With AppleTV, they can get not only just the channels they want, but the specific shows!

We had DishNetwork, which we liked. However, to get the stations we liked we had to pay $100/mo or $1200/year. We figured out that we only really watch 6 programs regularly. The averafe season is 22 episodes, which is $44 per show. Multiply that by 6 shows and you have $264 per year, plus the price of the unit, which is spread over three years or so. Thats a HUGE savings.

Now, since many of the shows are on network TV, a digital tuner means we can watch 4 of those shows for free, saving us even more. This is a game changer!
84 Mac Guy

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 10:47 am · Reply

Put Blu-Ray and a cable card in this puppy and I’m first in line at the local Apple Store.
Quad Core

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 10:56 am · Reply

“my only 2 complaints have been the inability to turn it off and the need for it to play other video formats, divx in particular.”

There are third party hacks to play other formats.
Growl

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 11:32 am · Reply

Why do so many people want the AppleTV to have a DVR and a TV Tuner? Don’t you guys already have one? They’re standard equipment from any cable, satellite, or IPTV provider these days.

Or do you guys just really hate the interface of your cable company’s DVR or your Tivo so much that you wish Apple would do a DVR but better?
@Former

Monday, September 29, 2008 - 12:41 pm · Reply

…(BluRay is a flash in the pan – HD downloads are the future)…

Talk about somebody who thinks what the future should be like. Don’t hold your breath waiting for this one. There are a number of factors that come into play guarantee it will be several years before most people will be able to readily access HD downloads of BR quality.

Otherwise, I pretty much agree with what you say.