Apple TV update delayed

[nickherum]

Found this over on CNET. I really want to buy one, but I want to wait until I hear if it's worth picking up after the update. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer.

http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-986...?tag=cnetfd.mt

Apple TV 2.0 needs a little more time in the oven.


Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils Apple TV 2.0 at Macworld earlier this month.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)Apple put out a press release Wednesday noting that the MacBook Air is now shipping. Check out my colleague Dan Ackerman's review of the extremely slim laptop if you're thinking about making a purchase. But the company also tucked in a sentence about Apple TV in that release, saying "Apple also announced that the new Apple TV software update, which allows users to rent high-definition movies directly from their widescreen TVs, is not quite finished."

Current owners of Apple TV will be able to download the software update in a week or two, Apple said. It was supposed to be released within two weeks of its announcement at Macworld, or that was the plan unveiled during CEO Steve Jobs' keynote speech. New Apple TVs with the updated software ship within 24 hours from Apple's online store UPDATED 1:55pm - As pointed out in the comments below, that sentence was just flat-out wrong. Every Apple TV is still shipping with the old software.

The new software brings a whole new look-and-feel to Apple TV, Apple's bid to connect big-screen televisions to the Internet and computers. It will also allow Apple TV owners to rent movies through the new iTunes Rental Service.

This isn't the end of the world--after all, current Apple TV owners are getting all this for free--but it's not the best news, either. Apple has delayed a few software projects in the past 12 months, most notably the four-month slip in Leopard's ship time precipitated by the push to get the iPhone out on time.

At last year's shareholders meeting, a shareholder asked Jobs why Apple hasn't hired more engineers to keep up with the demand for its products. Jobs said the company considers software engineering a quality issue, not a quantity issue where problems can be solved by throwing bodies at a project. Still, you have to wonder if he'll get that question again this year, with so much now on Apple's plate between the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and now Apple TV businesses.

[mrspeakers]

I *really* wanted to want an Apple TV. I liked the idea a lot but I have concluded it's NOT a media hub, it's just a playback endpoint, and as such, Apple has fallen short of the potential to really change the HT paradigm.

For example, I tried a downloaded movie rental. It took 4.5 hours to download, and I have a VERY fast 16Mbps downlink. I found the t's and c's to be really annoying. The "must watch within 24 hours of starting" was annoying. I realize the movie studios set the t's and c's, but having started it, I got interrupted, and barely had time to resume the next day. Nothing like rushing to relax and watch a movie.

The only hardware advantage an AppleTV has over a Mac Mini is that it has HDMI so you can have a single cable connect, but since the audio is only DD 5.1, there's no love lost there.

I bought a Mac Mini on eBay (core 2, 1.8GHz, $385, new) and it is a way better media center. I can attach my 1.5GB music library and share via wifi to all my systems, without having to connect/disconnect the drives every time I take my laptop offline. AppleTV? Nope. USB doesn't allow external drives. If I want to watch HD, I want 1080P and serious audio, not 720p with DD.

Plus I'm able to use some really nice iTunes visualizers on my panel, which AppleTV also doesn't handle.

Bottom line: Mac Mini does everything AppleTV does plus WAY more for media and is a full-featured Mac at $385. Apple TV offers a bigger drive, but can't run software or use visualizers or serve a music libarary, $329 (no discounted gear on eBay yet).

Easy choice, given MY viewing preferences.

So I have a thought: maybe Apple should rebrand the MacMini as the AppleTV Plus and add HDMI in place of DVI, upgrade the wifi to 802.11n, and add HD playback through iTunes. Not THAT is a serious media center. Then AppleTV 3.0 will work on Mac's and AppleTV, and we'd have some serious horsepower in our media centers.

[ben1080p]

Sad. Im dying to try it out.
I just wished you could actually download HD content to it.
Half my studd looks stretched out and ugly still.

[mrspeakers]

Originally Posted by ben1080p

Sad. Im dying to try it out.
I just wished you could actually download HD content to it.
Half my studd looks stretched out and ugly still.

Where did you pick up half a studd?

[ben1080p]

Originally Posted by mrspeakers

Where did you pick up half a studd?

edit:
Stuff

[DustoMan]

Originally Posted by mrspeakers

For example, I tried a downloaded movie rental. It took 4.5 hours to download, and I have a VERY fast 16Mbps downlink. I found the t's and c's to be really annoying. The "must watch within 24 hours of starting" was annoying. I realize the movie studios set the t's and c's, but having started it, I got interrupted, and barely had time to resume the next day. Nothing like rushing to relax and watch a movie.

I think I read that if you happen to pause the movie during your first time playing and your 24-hours elapses, they do let you finish watching the movie. So it is possible get lost in a movie, then have the real world interruption, and come back to it and still be able to finish the movie. Once that first playback is over though, the 24-hours is a hard cut off.

Originally Posted by mrspeakers

Bottom line: Mac Mini does everything AppleTV does plus WAY more for media and is a full-featured Mac at $385. Apple TV offers a bigger drive, but can't run software or use visualizers or serve a music library, $329 (no discounted gear on eBay yet).

Everything EXCEPT HD movies. Movies from the Apple store in HD can only be purchased from the AppleTV. But from your post is sounds more like you are interested in having your music play with nice visualizations so from that standpoint, your Mac Mini would be great for that. Kinda an expensive route, IMO, but it would work.

[mrspeakers]

Well, I concluded that there was no point in having "half HD" with 720p and DD audio. with all the dough I dropped to be 1080p, I'll spend a few bucks to buy a disc instead of dealing with downloads and onerous licenses.

Plus, I have multiple macs in the house, which are laptops, this one can stay on 24x7, use little power, but serve as a streaming server for iTunes lossless. Also, the video scaling is pretty good in this little box. It's not bad for SD playback at all, though I now have REon in the processor, and the XA2, so it doesn't do much for me.

[Scarpad]

This might become a Viable HD option, as will my Direct TV On Demand, because quite frankly getting any recent HD Disks from Netflix or Blockbuster Online is nearly impossible.

[DustoMan]

Reports are coming in that Apple is releasing the "Take 2" software update today and people are already downloading it. Can't wait to get home and try it out.

[mitchelljd]

Apple tv update is fantastic. and is a real upgrade

although the interface will need more updating when more content is available. it is a great one.

HD movies look terrific in 720p on it.

get one! i love mine

[Scarpad]

I rented in the Valley of Ewah on Apple TV and then was able to get the blu ray version to compare. The Blu ray wins slightly over the ATV version, but only very slightly. Most will be quite satified renting a movie on the ATV over trying to rent the Blu Ray.