The New Apple TV
image from apple.com
Like any other devoted Apple, Inc. follower when the new Apple TV (or Apple TV II as it is sometimes called) came out a few months ago I was terribly excited. I do not own the previous gen Apple TV, but I felt I was ready for Apple to invade my home theater experience, and the results have been nothing short of life changing.
The price point of the previous model had prevented me from even considering it, if memory serves it was over $400 U.S. but in typical Apple, Inc. fashion they increase technology and somehow the price falls. At $99 it is hard to justify not buying one of these little black boxes. This thing is amazing. In our house, the source for video rental has come from two formats, Netflix and iTunes. We have a Netflix subscription via which we receive three disks at a time from our queue, and can stream unlimited content. This we often accomplished via a xbox on our home network. iTunes rentals would be downloaded via a macbook, then sync’d to either an iPhone our iPod Classic and connected to the t.v. with the Apple iPod to t.v. cable. This worked fine, although even with my pretty darn fast connection (25 mbps) it would still take 20-30 minutes to download a full-length movie. Also, with iTunes rentals delivered this way, we were unable to view high definition video.
The new Apple TV changes all that, and setup could not be simpler. Plug in the power supply and HDMI (HDMI is the only connection offered on this device, but honestly why would you need anything else?), connect to your network via ethernet or wireless and your done. iTunes rentals stream instantly to your television, and HD content is no longer an issue. I cannot imagine a better way to stream Netflix video. Also on demand in YouTube.
Yet another incredible feature of this interface is Airplay. With one click you can stream virtually any media from your mac or iOS device (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch). Photos, music, or even entire movies can be streamed wirelessly straight from my iPhone. Very cool. Also, since it’s on the network, I can listen to music and control it from anywhere in the house with Airplay or using Apple’s Remote app.
Granted, you will need a decent high speed internet connection to have this device achieve it’s fullest potential, but that is true of any method of streaming video delivery. I am so impressed with this device, I honestly think I will end up buying one for every t.v. in my home. If you ask me, you should too, and you’ll not be disappointed.
delighted to share. 