The Apple TV (2010) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 4, 2010 12:07 AM ESTAirPlay
Apple is toying around with a feature that has huge potential on the Apple TV. It’s called AirPlay and it lets you stream content from any iOS device to your TV via the Apple TV. It’s very similar to Intel’s WiDi but existing only in the iOS ecosystem.
AirPlay won’t be fully enabled until later this year. For now the best you can do is play your iTunes music library over your Apple TV by selecting it as a output target.
When AirPlay is fully enabled however you can be watching (presumably) any video content on your iPad, iPod or iPhone and at the tap of a button stream it to your TV. It’s a convenience play.
If you watch a lot of content on your iPad, AirPlay may be compelling enough to get you to buy an Apple TV but I believe there’s a much bigger opportunity here.
The real potential with AirPlay is the ability to stream more than just iOS video content, but your OS X desktop or videos played on your iMac or MacBook Pro. I’m talking WiDi for OS X. Apple could probably sell more Apple TVs as a Mac streaming adapter if it enabled this sort of functionality.
Apple does have grand plans for AirPlay outside of the Apple TV. Working with HT component vendors like Marantz and Denon, Apple plans to allow you to directly stream music to other receivers and devices in your house. Apple could take this all the way and begin competing in the distributed audio market, but I suspect that may violate Apple’s stay focused policy (although that’s one area where Apple’s design and UI expertise could really be put to use).
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Hrel - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I think it's funny you listed "not being able to channel surf" as a fault. If anything it's good. That's a huge waste of time. Hopefully if we remove that ability from everyone everywhere people will get up and do something productive. Hell, even a bath is more relaxing than channel surfing. Or conquering the world in Civ. Or writing up little applets for the web. Hell, looking through youtube or wikipedia is better use of time.vol7ron - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I disagree.1. if you have two channels either right next to eachother, or within a small distance, who wants to use the guide?
2. you may not know the name of a show but are vaguely familiar when it came on
3. you can find many new, interesting shows by channel surfing
KineticHummus - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
"There’s simply no way to do away with cable TV and use a simple, IP based, autonomous box for all of your content without resorting to piracy of some sort."SO true...
Mathieu Bourgie - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I couldn't agree more. Let's hope that Apple gets serious about this and that competitors will follow. More competition is good for customers!therealnickdanger - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I dunno... is it "piracy" to torrent TV shows that aired the night before? They're already broadcast for free without DRM...vol7ron - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
what if you don't pay for cable?Tros - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
I think he means for stuff that comes off the air. Say, House MD broadcast over the air from Fox.And technically, somebody is losing because you're not watching advertisements. But that's a whole other level of morals.
It'd be nice if this thing was x86, because then the jailbreak would likely have the HDTV-tuner (already exists in OS X) through USB 2.0. I want to believe that Apple's making a piece of hardware for the hackers/pirates to write software for, but GoogleTV/Amazon doesn't seem to have a problem with going with a rent-free model.
archcommus - Tuesday, October 5, 2010 - link
Thought the same thing myself. Read these words and was glad someone finally wrote down what I had been thinking.Docchris - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
"Most bitrates played fine although at 70Mbps or above the video player would often either crash or the entire Apple TV would reboot."where did you get a 70mbps file from? that exceeds even blu-ray's maximum spec!
Revdarian - Monday, October 4, 2010 - link
On "The Apple TV as a Cable TV Replacement" scroll down to the 3rd paragraph, at the end of it here is the phrase "You have 30 days to being watching and 48 hours to watch the show (unlimited times) once you press play." the small mistake is that it should read "to begin watching..."Great article tho, had great fun reading it, and agree with it all.