Apple TV vs. Everyone Else
Now that orders are being taken for the Apple TV and everyone else has shown off their competing products at CES, it’s time to decide how to spend that money burning a hole in your pocket. Which wireless-enabled, high-definition set top box will soon be cluttering your living room?
Photo by Ryan Block of Engadget.
Sony Bravia Internet Video Link Box: Only works with new Bravia displays, isn’t wireless, and will be tied to Sony’s content offerings. Next!
NetGear Digital Entertainer HD: Fashionably styled like an Apple product. But no internal storage and a $349 suggested retail price. Meh.
Sling Media SlingCatcher: Could be the best of the bunch, all the more attractive for its sub-$200 price point. Problem? Not available until this summer.
Apple TV: $299, 40GB of storage, Wireless-N connection, ships in February. Definitely the leader of the pack at the moment.
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[…] The big news today at Macworld was the Apple iPhone, but we also got the specs on the Apple TV (nee iTV), to be available next month. Jackson has already declared it “the leader of the pack.” […]
NewTeeVee » The Rundown on Apple TV on January 9th, 2007 at 12:04 pm - Permalink
I’ll be purchasing an Apple TV. I’ll admit to being a fanboy, so this thing will mesh will with the other gadgets I have (PowerBook, iPod, etc.).
The Slingbox/SlingCatcher combo looks interesting though, so I’ve got my eye on those. If they released a Slingbox with a built in ATSC tuner for OTA HD, I’d probably stick them in my setup as well.
Jared Hanson on January 9th, 2007 at 12:23 pm - Permalink
[…] Apple TV impresses: Jackson matches the specs with the competition […]
GigaOM » GigaTeam Goes MacWild on January 9th, 2007 at 3:45 pm - Permalink
[…] Apple TV impresses: Jackson matches the specs with the competition […]
NewTeeVee » GigaTeam Goes MacWild on January 9th, 2007 at 3:46 pm - Permalink
Will appleTV stream DVD/VIDEO_TS content? Or will there be a lock-in with iTunes?
sri on January 9th, 2007 at 4:38 pm - Permalink
Without XviD/DivX compatibility, the AppleTV is far too limited with regards to compatibility with the great majority of content that’s available out there. If all I wanted to do was buy my video content from iTunes, it’d be great — but this is an early-adopter product, and right now, the early adopters aren’t using DRM-ed videos in H.264 format.
So no thanks, I’ll keep my (sub-$200) Netgear eva700, which does everything Apple’s gear will do, and then some (and works just fine with non-widescreen TVs). Sure, there’s no hard drive in the Netgear box — but there aren’t any other moving parts either, making it silent. My content’s stored on a big NAS in the closet, where it belongs.
Toxic on January 9th, 2007 at 5:37 pm - Permalink
Another alternative is a modded xbox running XBMC (http://www.xboxmediacenter.de/). I’ve been using it for years and it works well. Theres no HD and the interface isnt as slick as iTV but it supports plenty of codecs and has plugins. Mine even plays youtube videos as well as streaming apple trailers.
Dan on January 9th, 2007 at 7:54 pm - Permalink
How about Xbox 360? Streams music, video, and photos from any Windows XP/Vista machine, at up to 1080i. If your main box is Win MCE or Vista Home Premium and has a tuner, add DVR capability to the list. The interface (either version of MCE) is better than Apple TV (understandable, they were probably focusing all their efforts on the real star of today’s announcement). Starting at $299.
Oh yeah… and it is a latest-generation gaming console, and a DVD player, and rips CDs directly to the hard drive (if so equipped), and for an additional $199 it plays HD-DVD. And it hit retail in November of 2005–about the time that Front Row was first announced.
Joe Cheng [MSFT] on January 9th, 2007 at 10:28 pm - Permalink
The Xbox 360 has the specs and the software, certainly, but is a bit above Apple’s price point. It’s true the Linksys router is a great bargain right now, but I’m not sure if it supports HD.
Don’t think I’m not bothered by the lack of DVI and support for Divx. And I honestly thing the Sling solution could be much more compelling, and cheaper to boot. Ultimately, I think my solution is going to be some el-cheapo commodity device that’s open to hackery.
Jackson West on January 9th, 2007 at 11:16 pm - Permalink
Also, Sri, according to Ars Technica, no, the Apple TV does not play Video_TS:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/1/9/6543
Jackson West on January 10th, 2007 at 4:58 pm - Permalink
Really, no DivX/Xvid? I had just assumed it would be there. This is like if the iPod didn’t come with MP3 support. What a waste . . .
Jesse Kopelman on January 10th, 2007 at 5:17 pm - Permalink
XBox 360 IPTV, Apple TV: What’s New in Digital Content-to-TV Devices…
Between product launches at CES and the debut of Apple TV at MacWorld, devices that help consumers get their digital content via their televisions are clearly one of the hottest trends for 2007. GigaOm’s NewTeeVee blog has some great coverage…
The Glowria IPTV Blog on January 11th, 2007 at 2:28 pm - Permalink