JF Mezei

Since Apple TV is an IOS device, I figured this might be the best newsgroup.

In the past, when the new Apple TV was released, was this done in
conjunction with Macs, iPhone ? ipods ? ipads ?


I am considering my entertainment options. My Sony BR player gives me
access to Sony's equivalent to itunes store (Video Unlimited). Just
wondering when a new model of Apple TV might come out to see if it woudl
have any advantage over a sony BR player.

Davoud

JF Mezei:
> Since Apple TV is an IOS device, I figured this might be the best newsgroup.

> In the past, when the new Apple TV was released, was this done in

> I am considering my entertainment options. My Sony BR player gives me
> access to Sony's equivalent to itunes store (Video Unlimited). Just
> wondering when a new model of Apple TV might come out to see if it woudl
> have any advantage over a sony BR player.

You know Apple well enough to know that there is no chance whatsoever
that anyone here knows the answer to that. I do know this, however: if
your Sony works and you are satisfied with it, it makes no sense to
toss it out.

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

Alan Browne

On 2012-01-13 06:08 , JF Mezei wrote:
> Since Apple TV is an IOS device, I figured this might be the best newsgroup.
>
> In the past, when the new Apple TV was released, was this done in
> conjunction with Macs, iPhone ? ipods ? ipads ?
>
>
> I am considering my entertainment options. My Sony BR player gives me
> access to Sony's equivalent to itunes store (Video Unlimited). Just
> wondering when a new model of Apple TV might come out to see if it woudl
> have any advantage over a sony BR player.

Apple TV was(is?) a "hobby" shop at Apple. They never expected much to
come of it. The units were sold as much to earn user feedback as
anything else.

There are ample rumours of an Apple television set coming in 2 sizes
this year.

And that won't be a hobby for Apple - it will possibly be the non plus
ultra of entertainment distribution and consumption. (The usual
television makers have been going all out on connectivity and
multi-media options of late - and some new players like Lenovo are
stepping into "television" as well. They all know or believe Apple are
coming and are trying to lock in customers now).

When? Really? Come on, you know better than that.

You can DL MacTracker which includes Apple TV and see if there is
anything you believe is more than a coincidence.

I've been mulling my BR (Panasonic, no connectivity) player and my
plasma (2 HDMI inputs, only (BR and HD-TV)). The spec of the Apple TV
will be very interesting to me - but I suspect it will have enough of
the usual Apple limitations that I will shy from it.

--
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty."
Douglas Adams - (Could have been a GPS engineer).

JF Mezei

Davoud wrote:

> that anyone here knows the answer to that. I do know this, however: if
> your Sony works and you are satisfied with it, it makes no sense to
> toss it out.


Oh, i won't toss my sony VCR. It has internet connectivity, gives me
netflix, youtube etc. It has far better connectivity than the Sharp
Aquos TV. I was actually quite susprised with it when I bought it a
couple montsh ago. (and yes, I call still call it a "VCR" even though it
is closer to a CD player than a assette recorder.


However, I am pondering how I should go about entertainment. Whether it
sould be cloud sourced (aka: streamed to the TV without local copy) and
pay the $5.00 everytime for the rental, or whether I should just buy
BR/DVD media or just download the movies without any DRM from sources
which are not MPAA-approved.


This may sound stupid, but are there DVR boxes that allow me to record
from HDMI input ? AKA: record to disk the output of a BR player or the
output of a digital tuner ? If that were the case, then I wouldn't
object to paying $5.00 to stream a movie because I could then record it
and play it back later.


On the other hand, should Apple come out with a compelling offer, I
might consider getting an Apple TV an have it drive my television set
and source content from Itunes.


netflix recently pulled some british TV programmes from its line up due
to the feud with some MPAA members. (such as Yes Minister etc (at least
from canada, not sure if they were pulled from USA as well))


There are movies that are worth it. Something like Avatar. And then
there are movies that are fun to watch like "meet the fokkers" but for
which I wouldn't really want to pay much or even take up disk storage.

Michelle Steiner

In article <u8udndLyIuPu5I3SnZ2dnUVZ_rSdnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Alan Browne <alan.browne@FreelunchVideotron.ca> wrote:

> The spec of the Apple TV will be very interesting to me - but I suspect
> it will have enough of the usual Apple limitations that I will shy from
> it.

I doubt that I will buy one, at least not in the next two years, and
probably not for quite a while after that. I still have two years to pay
off on my current TV set (at 0% interest), so I won't be in the market for
a new one until then at the earliest.

Besides which, unless Apple will have a TV with at least a 65" screen, I
won't get it; no sense in downsizing.

The one thing that would lead me to buying one would be if it offered
networks and stations ala cart, unbundled, at prices that are competitive
with cable and satellite systems.

--
Tea Party Patriots is to Patriotism as
People's Democratic Republic is to Democracy.

Michelle Steiner

In article <4f10f9fe$0$5630$c3e8da3$eb767761@news.astraweb.co m>,
JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:

> This may sound stupid, but are there DVR boxes that allow me to record
> from HDMI input ? AKA: record to disk the output of a BR player or the
> output of a digital tuner ? If that were the case, then I wouldn't
> object to paying $5.00 to stream a movie because I could then record it
> and play it back later.

No, and I doubt that there will be any time soon because of copyright and
digital protection issues.

Right now, movie rentals via the internet and (I think) cable and satellite
have a 30-day window to start watching them from time you order them and a
24-hour window to finish watching them from the time you started watching.

--
Tea Party Patriots is to Patriotism as
People's Democratic Republic is to Democracy.

Davoud

Michelle Steiner:
> Besides which, unless Apple will have a TV with at least a 65" screen, I
> won't get it; no sense in downsizing.

Different strokes for different folks. I wouldn't buy one unless it
were available with a 32" screen (in addition to any other sizes)
because I will not have a TV larger than 32" in my home. In fact, I
don't want a TV in my home at all, but my wife is a sports fan....

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm

JF Mezei

Michelle Steiner wrote:

> Besides which, unless Apple will have a TV with at least a 65" screen, I
> won't get it; no sense in downsizing.

If Apple is to have a compelling "all in one" offering, it will not only
have to have an actual television display with electronics inside, but
also a stand alone "apple TV" that can plug in to existing TVs.

Note that Samsung and others are coming out with more and more connected
TV sets to pre-empt Apple's entry into the market.

It is quite possible that entertainment of the future will not some from
one source but perhaps many. Perhaps you'll need a subscription to Sony,
one to iTunes and one to Netflix and one to some other service etc etc.

Glenn Shaw

Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org> wrote in
news:michelle-F88DE3.23492313012012@news.eternal-september.org:

> Right now, movie rentals via the internet and (I think) cable and
> satellite have a 30-day window to start watching them from time you
> order them and a 24-hour window to finish watching them from the time
> you started watching.

One exception to the 30-day "start watching" window are video rentals from
Microsoft's Zune Marketplace, which have a 14-day window:

http://www.zune.net/en-
us/support/zunemarketplace/videos/buyingrentingvideos.htm

(Apologies if the URL wraps.)

--
Glenn Shaw | Indianapolis, IN USA
To reply by e-mail, swap the net and cast

Alan Browne

On 2012-01-14 02:43 , JF Mezei wrote:
> Michelle Steiner wrote:
>
>> Besides which, unless Apple will have a TV with at least a 65" screen, I
>> won't get it; no sense in downsizing.
>
> If Apple is to have a compelling "all in one" offering, it will not only
> have to have an actual television display with electronics inside, but
> also a stand alone "apple TV" that can plug in to existing TVs.
>
> Note that Samsung and others are coming out with more and more connected
> TV sets to pre-empt Apple's entry into the market.

Those who have reviewed those sets indicate that they are all bells and
whistles without the seamless integration. It's that integration that
Apple do so well that has those co's attempting a pre-emption that will
just be poorly integrated experience.

> It is quite possible that entertainment of the future will not some from
> one source but perhaps many. Perhaps you'll need a subscription to Sony,
> one to iTunes and one to Netflix and one to some other service etc etc.

This is the Venn effect of having a lot of overlap in a few services in
an attempt to get ones personal menu of entertainment. OTOH, I've been
giving thought to dumping my cable service (including cable, HD cable
and telephone) for a higher bandwidth (cable internet) service and do it
all via the internet. We have cell phones and don't need the land line
much anymore.

--
"We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty."
Douglas Adams - (Could have been a GPS engineer).