Sunday

Apple TV: TV Watching Just Got A Lot Better

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After two years of touchtone phone system silence, Apple has completely redesigned its “leisure activity” product; the result is a more feature-driven, rationalized Apple TV. It expenditure only $99, offers 99-cent TV-show rentals, and streams content from your computer, your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

The latest Apple TV lacks a hard drive, so it is 75 percent than its predecessor. Measuring 0.9 by 3.9 by 3.9 inches (HWD) and weighing less-than 10 ounces, it’s basically a tiny black box that can stream over any 802.11b, g, or n Wi-Fi signal. It requires iTunes 10 or later to stream from a computer.

Apple has hit a home run with AirPlay, which enables streaming from iOS devices to Apple TV. Downloading a video to your iPad, iPhone 4, or iPod touch and streaming it on your Apple TV will be a reality with the iOS 4.2 update, due out this month. As long as your devices are all on the same Wi-Fi network, your Apple TV can access whatever you’ve rented after some minimal set-up.

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The new rental system is also notable. For 99 cents, you get a TV show for a 48-hour period. You can buy or rent a show on iTunes via your computer or iOS 4.2 device, start surveillance it on that device, and end surveillance it by streaming to your Apple TV. But, you can’t rent something on Apple TV and watch it on your iPod touch later, or hold any content on the Apple TV—rentals only. It’s best to hold or rent all of your content via your computer or iOS 4.2 device, so that the content can be watched back and forth between all of your devices.

The new, miniature Apple TV expenditure less than most iPods. Sure, the rental limitations can be irksome, but, particularly for iOS device owners, the new features dramatically outweigh the letdowns. Because of its affordability, ease-of-use, and impressive capabilities.