“Networking gear maker D-Link Corp plans to start selling a media device to link televisions and computers that can connect to the fastest type of Wi-Fi networks, a company spokesman said on Friday,” Jim Finkle reports for Reuters.
“The D-Link media device will run on the same wireless standard as Apple Inc’s Apple TV and go on sale in time for this year’s holiday season,” Finkle reports.
“D-Link already sells these media devices, but they run at slower speeds than the Apple product, which is ahead of the rest of the industry. [D-Link’s media device] will sell for $300,” Finkle reports.
Full article here.
Will D-Link be upgrading features with free updates like Apple? Regardless, we have an impossible time imagining that D-Link’s software and user interface will be anywhere near the quality of Apple TV’s. Although not mentioned in the Reuters report, the history of D-Link products (D-Link seems to take great pains to hide the issue of iTunes Store media-incompatibility on their website) would suggest that the D-Link device will not be compatible with TV Shows, Movies and non-iTunes Plus music purchased from the market-dominating iTunes Music Store.
“If Apple TV had a DVD player built in, they’d sell a TON more of them.”
Make that a BluRay player or a HD DVD player.
Like Mr. Jobs said in his keynote speech, AppleTv was not intended to replace DVD players which most households have also included on your Mac or Pc.
It was placed as the conduit for your Pc based Audio Visual Content (YouTube, Photo’s, Home made Video’s, downloaded films, mobile phone clips, itunes music etc) so that you and your friends or family can have a pleasurable experience viewing or listening to the contents, either in normal DVD quality or HD quality.
If you are looking for something to stream Xvid, DivX, outdated low quality MP3 format and Windows type crap, you don’t have far to look for! just get yourself a Windows media centre or a PC capable of delivering M$ exploding content.
Just don’t equate your total ignorance and understanding of what Apple hardware does as the reason why you are waiting.
The reason why those of you on this blog are waiting or critical of AppleTv is because you are outside the Infinite Loop! Even the most critical of Apple’s products have test driven Apple’s hardware and have finally admitted that without doing so, they would never have realised how much frustration & suffering they had been conditioned to endure by Microcraps watery shit!!!
Bluray/HDDVD is highly over rated when you figure in the equipment and media cost to rent or buy movies in that format. The value just isn’t there….yet. A plain ol DVD player would work fine. I think the AppleTV will have to support full HD if it ever wants to gain serious footing. That means buying/renting movies from iTunes in full HD and streaming them from your PC without major delays. AppleTV v.2 will need some serious breakthroughs to get to this level of functionality. Fact is HD programming is scarce. So to pump it in at full resolution would justify your $1500-$3000 LCD TV purchase. AppleTV has a future it’s just not ready for mainstream.
If D-Link products would last longer that 18 months before dieing they might just have a small chance. Of course they can always sell one to Zune Tang/Shiva.
Unlike many on this board… I’m glad to see someone else enter the market. I probably won’t buy one, but then again AppleTV wasn’t all that interesting to start with either.
More competition = better products!
But they’re not entering the market really. They’ve been in it, have been unenthusiastically received, and now are “re-entering” the market with a hope that people will not think their stuff still stinks.
Woo hoo! What a plan!
D-LINK make inferior products that rely on price to sell. (Does this approach sound familiar?) If their adsl routers are anything to go by, configuration of the device will probably require several days, a severe migraine, a degree course in rocket science and eventually a trip back to the store to demand a refund.
More competition = better products” sounds good. So why do we see Zune, Vista and endless pseudo ipods, iphones and music download services so pathetically failing the market test?
News flash – Apple designed products are better because of Apple’s coherent design goals and refusal to compromise (go downmarket). As always, Apple sets its own standards and goals. Inevitably the competition (sic) just doesn’t get it and tries to impose its will and desires on its users. Classic case of the “customer is always wrong” approach.
btw. Lately Zune Tang seems to have reached rock bottom and is searching around desperately for a shovel.
Has anyone tried installing an AppleTV in a car/van/SUV? I think that is a great next step for this. Think about it. All your music/videdos/photos sync’ed automatically when you pull into the driveway and available to listen to through your car’s stereo and watched on the screen that many people have installed anyway.
OK, I have an apple tv and must say…… it sucks. Sorry to say so but it does. Not happy with mine at all and I would not advise anyone to buy one. Common, No HD quality and the hard drive is way too small so you have to “stream” stuff from your computer which is a pain in the neck. Plus the system itself is just slow in response, not a real quick interface. The only parental control is for youtube and who really wants to watch that crap anyway. Not sure what the value to apple tv is.
@zachcube
I guess you shouldn’t have bought it then. You should have done your homework before purchasing it.
@Zachcube
Try learning about Smart Playlists. I have the 40Gb AppleTV and about 120Gb of media for it. I don’t stream anything.
I find the system response time just fine. Next time, try the device before you buy it – if that’s your only gripe – nobhead.
Oh, and what the hell do you need parental controls for? Again, learn how to set up your iTunes library properly.
@shen
bill gates called it “magic” while also saying he wish he had it.
I juest bought a USB Wireless Adapter from D-Link the other day; it sucks! I just can’t fathom paying 300 bucks for a Apple TV alternative from a company that can’t even connect my PC to the internet without excessive amount of pain and suffereing!
“No HD quality and the hard drive is way too small so you have to “stream” stuff from your computer which is a pain in the neck.”
720 is considered HD video.
How many broadcasters are broadcasting in HD right now?
How many broadcasters are broadcasting to the internet in HD right now?
Apart from HDVD & Blueray players which are not streamlining over the internet, H.264 & VC-1 is the closest format to HD for the internet that is available & streaming.
Who uses H.264 to stream content over the internet? Apple inc & YouTube.
Who uses VC-1 to stream content over the internet? M$ in its media players.
How many people are familiar with H.264 as opposed to VC-1? Do the maths!!!
I’ve installed several wireless D-Link cards. Mac support is almost non-existent and if the PC experience is carried over to this device- forget it. D-Link like most PC software writers (Microsoft included) can barely write software.
“User experience be damned.” Must be the credo of every PC manufacturer – Hardware and Software. Apple not included.
Apple knows – it’s all about the user.
My mind is trying to kill me… C&H
Apple TV with a burner… oh cool. But why will this not sell a lot more Apple TV units.
Hmmmmmmm. COS the thing requires a computer to communicate to it… Duh!
Apple GETS it. Plus they provide the solution and experience for both PC and MAC os platform. Burn with the computer dude… cos u need the computer to broadcast to the device hooked into the computer.
Apple is different… and provides nice slick solution because it studies the competition in Apple terms. D-Link had a device long ago… what did they do with it.
Like cell phones… Apple studied the area, and THOUGHT… well Think Different is APPLE… they thought HOW can we do that BUT with all Apple Style. And an all Apple eco-system. Apple makes solutions that tie-in and fit well to this system and that is the experience… AND remember they do it for Windows too!
Crabapple HAS it right… read his comments!!!!
@ Jay & my mind;
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Since AppleTV works with purchased music and video, how, exactly, does D-Link profess to create an AppleTV killer? I guess that sounds cooler than “Just-another-box-that-can-stream-your-content-to-your-TV killer”
@chris, @shen,
There may be some deep philosophical food here, but quite honestly, I believe this whole, “…why doesn’t the industry get it…?” question is the sum total of where we’ve all been lead by Microsoft. MS has watered down and dumbed down the consumer’s expections of what any kind of computing experience can be to the point where we either don’t have any expecatations (except what we’ve come to know), or we don’t know what we should expect, (except that we know we wish it could somehow be better). MS has stripped the end user of any sense of having any influence on how or where computing technology goes, and filled that gap with a sense of utter dependence on whatever thing MS chooses to shell out next, without any regard for filling the real needs of the end user, or any accountability for such things as “user experience”.
I have always said that I see MS as the politburo of personal computing, and they keep trying to spread that power and control into all facets of computing technology. And bear in mind that MS infultrates and gains control not only directly, but also through its too-numerous-to-count “partners”, including D-Link.
Microsoft has screwed the planet Earth so badly we don’t even begin to realize how badly we’re all screwed. The real question is, what do we really do about it. All I can do is to continue to not buy MS products, and when a third party developer makes something for the Mac I try and recommend those things, but the truth is, the whole population of the planet must ween itself of dependence on MS.
I did the math. My household has 5 region-blind dvd players that can handle music and photos (four of which can also handle divx), and I have zero TVs.
With the exception of the Slingbox and Xbox Media Center, I have yet to see any of these devices really take off in terms of popularity…
This will crash and burn — and not just because Apple’s product is superior.
I’ve had the misfortune of helping people with their PCs on occasion, and D-Link makes absolutely the worst crap on the market.
I’ve had 2 Bluetooth USB adapters die on me within a week, and a wireless card that was not able to be set up without a “wired” computer. Calling tech support meant dealing with clods who made Beavis and Butthead sound like Rhodes scholars.
D-Link is one of those “how the hell do they stay in business” companies. But they seem to like them at Fry’s.
@Mr. Peabody
it is entirely possible that it IS all the fault of MS and a few bad companies, in fact i suspect that is the case.
but i am still curious as to how to turn that around, and what goes on at Apple that is, in many ways the reverse of “business as usual” for other companies.
yeah, i agree, “the greatest impact by microsoft on technology may be the extent to which they have lowered user expectations.”
…but knowing the cause is not the same as knowing a cure.
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Ok I confess, I’m using a D-Link Dir-625 Wireless Broadband Router. It just works, both the wireless and the wired ports. If that isn’t enough I got a D-Link Wireless USB Dongle for my daughter’s B&W G3, and it also works very well, go figure. Yup everything worked just fine until I got my Slingbox. Now to be clear, in the house the Slingbox works flawlesslessly over wired and wireless connections, but the D-Link router will not allow me to enter any new gateways as per Slingbox instructions, so I cannot connect to my Slingbox while working on the road. I’ve called and emailed D-Link serveral times and the “clods”, (and that’s being very kind), at D-Link just sit there and read the manual back to me, and I’ve been through each and every word of the manual already. I’m thinking I may have to connect it to a Windows machine to get it to work – but there you have it for whatever it’s worth.