The APPLE TV REVIEW

A no nonsense Apple TV Review

When the chairman of Apple announced that the company would be venturing into the TV area, many people dismissed the move as risky business strategy that would claim the career of some top execs at most tech giants. Almost every company in the tech industry worth its name has tried to rock the TV world with some crafty innovation, only to end up with filled coffins.

But those of us who have followed Apple for a long time could not dismiss the announcement as merely talking shop. We adopted a wait-and-see attitude to find out what the announcement would come to.

With the release of Apple TV in 2010, a new device was slowly taking shape that promised to take the nascent home entertainment industry to a whole new level. Apple TV, currently called apple TV 2, is now in its second release, and even the hardcore naysayers are beginning to take notice of its nifty features.

Apple TV is an iconic entertainment device that enables you to stream your movies from your Mac or PC running ITunes software straight to your TV without even a cable connection. All you have to do is connect the device to your TV through the HDMI cable at the back, log into your Wi-Fi connection with the on-screen menu, and bam! There you have it on the screen.

iOS 5 , the new software that runs Apple TV and that is also available on the latest version of iPad, has an innovative software aptly called Airplay that makes streaming movies from your iOS-enabled device as simple as- well normal TV! The technology behind it is quite out of this world. Airplay will provide you with controls on your device as soon as it detects an Apple TV connected to your Wi-Fi network. Press the button and boom! Enjoy your movie on big screen as if you’re in a movie theater.

When it comes to the hardware side, the Apple TV really comes out sparkling like a coin. Characteristic of all Apple devices, the Apple TV features an immaculate sleek design that fits superbly on your hand like a mobile phone. It has nice round edges that makes it look like it has been cut with the hand of a skillful artist. And the icon on top says it all- Apple TV! If you think that the gadget will come to gobble up space on your TV cabinet, just consider this- it weighs in at less than 0.6 pounds and stands only 0.9 inches above the table with a width of 0.9 inches. It’s hardly noticeable even to the prying eyes of that pesky neighbor who always comes to find out what you’re up to. No wonder it’s really difficult to imagine that such a tiny gadget can really entertain the whole family.

On the back, you have an Ethernet port, a micro USB jack for service and support, an HDMI port, an optical audio hook-up, and a spot for the power cable. The technology on the inside only compares to the latest iPad version. It’s powered by the A4 CPU processor-far more adequate to enable you watches movies for hours noiselessly.

The gadget’s glossy finish is quite scratch resistant which helps to preserve its outlook. The bottom surface appears a little groovy-like in order to increase its grip on the surface.

The Apple TV also has built-in (802.11a/b/g/n) Wi-Fi connectivity that it uses to stream content from the web and other ITunes running hardware. For those of you who are used to skipping wires in the sitting room, the wireless connection is really a life saver.

The user interface has not been left behind either. The navigation menus are simple and naturally intuitive even to new Apple users. When you browse a movie, it will present you with submenus of the main actors and their other movies and even the cast details. Not forgetting that Rotten Tomatoes ratings and a plot summary will also appear here. These are some of the details that really make the Apple TV a must-have especially for this season.

When the device boots up, it asks for a password after allowing you select a network. You then have to enter your iTunes details so that the system can connect to your account. And that’s how simple it gets.

Have you subscribed to a series? Well you are in good company, since there’s a feature that will prompt you when a new update is available- a feature that we consider to be quite clever.

Apple TV comes equipped with a slim remote control that will enable you to dictate life from the comfort of your sofa. At first look, the remote control looks a little too simplistic to work, but after some trial you will get comfortable with Apples’ way of simplifying functionality. It has a big round 4-way button on top. Two other smaller buttons have been placed a little below the main button- one for the menu that also acts as the power button and the other for playing/stopping.

One drawback with the remote control design is that entering text like passwords is time consuming and quite a chore-probably Apple should do a better Job here.

If you’re an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch lover, Apple has developed an app called Apples Remote that simply turns your favorite gadget into a remote control via a touch surface. There’s even an on-screen keyboard that shows all the available controls without requiring you to look towards your hand.

Apple TV comes with a whole new way of entertainment allowing you to view content in a revolutionary style. It has a rental service feature that lets you rent  the latest shows from ITunes store at less than a dollar and HD movies at less than 5 dollars- or 3.99 USD for older movies if you like. And if we are to believe the guys at Cupertino, the movies will be available the same day they hit cinema halls. This means that you can connect directly to your Apple account at ITunes without requiring your computer.

And for those who already have accounts with Netflix, the movie distribution company has teamed up with Apple to make sure that you can grab the latest show without having to queue overnight at the local store. It features the “Watch Instantly” capability. Interestingly, Netflix had tried making their own gadget dedicated to movie rentals, but sadly, there’s very little to report in that direction. No wonder they have come so fast on board.

An interesting feature about the whole movie rental feature is that you can watch a movie 24 after release or 48 hours in case of TV series before you can purchase or rent it.

Apple TV is not a lone ranger in this arena. Roku has an array of set top boxes that well competes with the Apple product. The main selling point of Roku is that they have managed to court more providers like Pandora, Amazon’s Instant and HBO GO that makes clients scream for more-exactly what is missing on Apples’ side. Again, they are retailing at a little low rate, compared to Apple’s 99 dollar a-unit pricing, something that would be attractive to a buyer on a shoe-string budget. However, Apples’ TV is some light years ahead when it comes to user experience, and it appears an obvious choice for someone who already owns any of Apple’s devices.

Another head banging feature that puts the Apple TV in its own class is its inclusion of the Rotten Tomatoes popular movie rating service where you can see what other viewers have to say about a program before you watch it. So if a certain show has received some real bashing on the net, you have a nice excuse to skip it!

With the introduction of Photo Cloud service by Apple, syncing your devices has now become more old school than anything else. Just take your photos on any iOS device, and Apple will make it available on all your devices without requiring you to upload anything.

And the Apple TV comes equipped with top-of-the-shelf photo viewing software that makes the whole thing one nice big experience. The outlook is just out of this world giving you several nice layout options. Of interest is the slideshow feature that lets you relax while viewing your photos. The photos appear almost real and big enough to reveal all details. Only ensure that you have a photo streaming file connected to your Apple account where Apple can save your data.

However, the gadget has some low sides that cannot escape commenting. The device is a little short of what its very name suggests- streaming web TV. The company has little content to show and this is probably due to the fact that a few content providers have come on board. However, Apple has promised to sign up other companies to add on the current providers who include ABC, Fox and YouTube. However, Internet radio and podcasts are now available thanks to the latest software upgrade, although not all content is free.

We should also mention here that the gadget cannot play off a hard disk drive. This would have been a killer feature for such gadgets as it would enable you play movies stored in flash memories. The available flash connection is only used for support services- but not much.

Again it doesn’t have a hard drive itself to store content just in case the net connection is disrupted. This would have been a useful feature enabling you to continue watching your show when the stream is not available.

The gadget also seems to have problems syncing with some content providers. For example, some movies that are freely available to Netflix clients have to be rented if you are using Apple TV. Probably Apple should figure a way to make this content accessible probably by entering a Netflix account number of a user.

Some menu item does not seem to fit well though. For instance, the user menu for renting movies at ITunes store appears more advanced than the one provided when you are browsing your own movie collection.

Apple TV again is not compatible with older pre-HD TV, meaning that you have to consider a new purchase If you really want to take full advantage of all its functionality.

On the other side, since Apple keeps on upgrading its software, we expect one day to be able even to watch Cable TV with this device. This would be a big saving for people who subscribe to these services as they would not be required to purchase much hardware.

All content that is purchased or rented on ITunes store is stored on Apples’ Cloud service which makes the content available to any IOS running device at any time-so long as you have a fast internet connection though. You can even download whatever is stored in your iCloud account to any iOS running device or computer with ITunes installed.

With the release of IOS 5, you can use airplay technology to play content straight from your iPhone, iPad or iPod to your HD TV. This technology is one of the most mind cracking features of the new Apple TV. It lets you convert the TV screen to view whatever appears on the iPad/iPod touch/iPhone.   Imagine showing photos of your sister’s wedding to your visitors on big screen!

One area where the apple TV has excelled is in the gaming area. You can use your iPhone as a controller while playing your games straight on your 32-inch TV. This makes gaming quite more interesting and livelier. Some iOS games have even been optimized for the Apple TV. For instance, you can use the accelerometer feature in your iPhone to “add nitrous” to your car while playing Real Racing 2 HD.

So if you are looking for next level of home entertainment, grab yourself a unit of the Apple TV, pop out some popcorn, get together your family and have yourself some really nice time.

This Concludes our Apple Tv Review

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