“Thursday’s release of Apple TV 3.0 software doesn’t do a lot to change that, but for the unknown number of people who have bought an Apple TV box over the past two and a half years, it seems to be a pleasant improvement that addresses some lingering interface issues while adding whole new levels of mystery about exactly what (if anything) Apple is going to do with the product,” IDG News Service reports.
“The highlight of the Apple TV 3.0 software update is its revamped main menu. Gone is the two-column grid introduced as a part of Apple TV ‘take two.’ Instead, there’s a new interface that takes full advantage of widescreen TVs… Font fans will be happy to know that the Apple TV interface is now drawn with famous, comforting, star-of-a-major-motion-picture Helvetica,” IDG News Service reports. “It looks nice.”
IDG News Service reports, “Main menu aside, the major new feature addition in Apple TV 3.0 is support for the new expanded-feature formats Apple introduced to the iTunes store back in September, iTunes LP and iTunes Extras. Since these formats bring a DVD-menu-style interface to music collections and movies, respectively, it was a natural that they’d end up on the Apple TV. And now they have.”
“Apple has finally added streaming Internet content sources to the Apple TV! Hooray! Dance the happy dance! No, wait a second. You’re dancing because you think Apple added support for Netflix or Hulu or Vimeo or MLB.tv or something, right? Well, stop dancing. Because Apple’s addition to Apple TV is a whole lot more modest than that: Internet Radio,” IDG News Service reports.
“As far as I can tell, the Apple TV 3.0 software update improves the Apple TV I bought in 2007, and I’m grateful for that. The new features are welcome, and I think that iTunes Extras has the potential to drain all remaining enthusiasm Apple TV owners might have had for buying DVDs,” IDG News Service reports. “And yet… It’s impossible to talk about the Apple TV without asking the big question: Where is this relationship going?”
Full article here.
Can some confirm if AppleTV 3 is based on Snow Leopard?
“And yet… It’s impossible to talk about the Apple TV without asking the big question: Where is this relationship going?”
Nowhere but up Sparky.
So with this update, you can now do almost as much with an Apple TV as you can with a Mac Mini, except play/burn DVDs, surf the Internet, run applications, etc.
What is the point of Apple TV again?
– built-in wireless streaming
– HDMI port
– half the cost of a Mac Mini
– easier setup and use
There are now easy to add to “slots” for Hulu or other Internet services. This new interface is built for easy expansion of services. I believe we will see more of this first calendar quarter of 2010.
I’ll just add to what Kramerica said:
– Almost ONE THIRD the cost of a Mini
– Designed to be used and viewed on a TV
– Designed to be used with only a remote control
– HDMI -and- component
Duh. They’re different, for different things, with some overlap. Your question is like asking why anyone would need a $25,000 Honda Accord a $55,000 Lotus Elise will do more.
@currentinterest,
Good point. I hope you’re right! As nice as AppleTV already is (I like mine a lot), it’s ripe for even more functionality. It’s an Apple product – it should be really great, not just nice!
the addition of a Hulu channel would be sweet.
oh ya, let us use the USB port for adding a second drive, kinda stupid we can’t already.
A Mac Mini does built in wireless streaming, and is easy to set up, and plugs into just about any TV with the right adapter.
So the Apple TV is just a cheaper, feature poor Mac? You can’t even attach TV tuners…
A mac minis resolution and aspect ratio are not designed for a tv. Apple tv is. Not to mention atv is $229, the cheapest mini is $599.
Apple is playing the Apple TV game with The Studios having tied both of their hands behind their back.
The Studios are scared shitless of Apple’s possible dominance of the living room. They would rather split it between Sony and Microsoft.
Bastards.
So the Apple TV is just a cheaper, feature poor Mac? You can’t even attach TV tuners…
No! The AppleTV is no more a cheaper feature-poor Mac than an iPod touch is a smaller “feature-poor” Mac.
Instead, it’s a purpose-designed device. It’s for people who want a cheap, simple Apple-based solution to watch content from the iTunes store or stored on the the Mac they already have.
Capisce?
I love the Internet Radio addition, world radio without Satellite!!
Have any of the writeups of atv 3.0 shown any screen shots? I’m quite bored with reading descriptions of what it looks like.
@Mike,
I read on Twitter that the OS is still 10.4.7.
I think tv is fine as it is. I’m just waiting for a hardware upgrade cos I’ve held off so long already. In the meantime I’m gradually ripping my DVD collection using HandBrake’s Universal preset for both iPhone/iPod and tv playback.
I hope Apple add 1080p support. I can’t see them adding video streaming or DVR functions that will cannibalize their pay-per-download business model.
Wow! Are tech and electronics writers really that dumb and blind?
The world is moving away from physical content and going to the internet, whether Sony, Universal, Warner, etc., like it or not. If they want to remain relevant in the digital world they will have to get on board with the player that has the largest distribution service and on-stop shop on the planet. Content on your desktop. Content on your laptop. Content on your mobile device (including the soon-to-be-released tablie). Content on your big screen TV. Nobody has it covered from top-to-bottom with a one-stop point-of-sale (iTunes) like Apple.
Did they really think that the Apple TV was JUST a hobby??? Apple hasn’t even really fully enabled the device yet and still nobody else comes close with a complete solution. How does one EASILY get their from their game console (X-Box, Playstation, Wii) to their laptop/desktop (Dell, Sony, Lenovo, etc.) to their mobile device (Samsung, Sony/Ericsson, G!, Pre, etc.) and get all of those devices talking to one another with no problems? How do you manage your content among these devices? You can’t, unless you’re Apple.
The endgame is near. All that’s left is for these companies to decide if they want to continue to be a player in the new world or be a footnote to it. If the content companies decide that they’ll withhold content from Apple to stop them or slow them down, Apple has enough cash now to buy one or two key companies and flood the market with bargain-basement content pricing if they have to and this will effectively force the others to join the game or go bankrupt.
Why the fk would you want to attach a tv tuner to an appletv?? You have one built into your tv!!!! You’re the kind who whines like an literate ms follower.
I’m going to now bitch and whine to bluray player makers because I want it to play am radio, 8track cartidges, and have a tv tuner built in. Then I can be a naive whinner too
The only thing I would tweak with atv is have the ability to tranfer videos from iTunes and be able to remove the video from iTunes without deleting the copy from atv, since that will also remove it from atv. But I won’t whine and cry because of that.
Apple has Apple TV marking time, with small improvements to keep existing customers happy, so that Apple can refine the underlying content distribution technology and content provider relationships. Then, when Steve Jobs and Apple believe the well-developed markets and available Internet bandwidth are ready to seriously transition away from physical media (discs), Apple will make a big move. The big data center in North Carolina will no doubt play a role. Apple’s lack of support for Blu-ray is another indicator (Apple does not want to encourage something they want to supersede).
And when that day comes, I think everyone else will be scrabbling once again to counter whatever threat Apple is posing this time.
I would just love for TV to just not stutter when streaming a large iTunes library…a hardware update is the only thing that will seem to fix that, though…that’s why a Mac Mini is so attractive…
big al is correct
that’s whats holding things up , not apple
greedy short sighted movie studios
Apple TV…the one produce from Apple I want to buy but do not see enough wow in it to do so.
Its pretty simple, you either have interest in Apple TV or you dont. That does’nt make it a bad product if your not interested. I love this device and with the update I have the internet radio on right now while I am doing chores around the house and its nice every once in a while to walk by that TV and see all my personal pictures scrolling by set as my screen saver.
Hmmmmm…..maybe Apple TV hardware upgrades soon?
I don’t see why Internet radio is such a big deal…it’s always been available. If you made a playlist with all your favorite radio stations in iTunes, then synced that list onto your aTV, viola! Instant internet radio on the TV. Been doing this for a while now.