

Apple unveils new line of iPods, revamped Apple TV - Uncle_Sam
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2010-09-01-apple-ipods_N.htm

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ZachPruckowski
The new Apple TV rental model isn't really price-competitive - Hulu's free for
current-run TV, and Netflix is cheaper for older (not current season) TV or
for movies. At least the old model let you keep the file to re-watch.

~~~
enjo
Hulu+ provides the full library for a lot of (primarily NBC right now) shows
as well. For $10/month and a small media PC (Acer Revo R1600 in my case) my
wife and I are able to watch more TV than we can reasonably handle. I love the
service.

We've dropped our cable. We use a combination of streaming Netflix, Hulu, and
Redbox for all of our entertainment needs. I just don't see where Apple TV
provides any real advantage. Especially with XBox promising Hulu support early
next year.

~~~
dbrannan
Agreed, and I own an older AppleTV. It hardly gets used anymore other than to
stream Flickr photos now and then as a screen saver.

~~~
thehigherlife
checkout the crystal hd addon chip and the compatible XBMC builds for a
reinvigorated apple tv experience on the older boxes.

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bcl
I already have 3 Roku players. The Apple TV doesn't offer me anything I don't
already have. Less actually, Roku also has Amazon VOD, various custom
channels, streaming of local video and a budding app ecosystem. I've recently
switched from using iTunes to Amazon for buying TV shows because their player
is Flash based and works great on my Linux systems.

~~~
adolph
If you aren't an iTunes user, then it certainly won't offer you much--I'd be
surprised it it would work at all without an iTunes account activation.

Roku is interesting, but their stream from iTunes option is not great:

"MP3tunes on Roku is the newest, most affordable way to listen to your iTunes
library all around the house, as well as on mobile devices and in the car. No
longer are you tied to your computer or an iPod–instead, MP3tunes syncs your
library (10GB FREE for Roku customers) to ‘the cloud’, and from there, you can
stream to any Roku."

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timdellinger
Using the iPad as a remote control for the Apple TV is pretty sweet.

I'll predict the next step is to use Apple TV to display games that you're
playing on the iPod Touch or iPhone, i.e. your Apple handheld devices become
video game controllers.

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burriko
That seems unlikely. iOS games require you to touch things, which usually
means you need to look at the touch screen rather than your TV.

I suppose the games that use a virtual d-pad style control system might work,
but that hardly seems to be enough of a reason to do it.

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adolph
I'm looking forward to the rest of the story coming out. The demo of playing a
movie on the iPad and then moving it over to the TV: will this come to the
iPhone and iPod Touch with iOS4.2? Will it work with music? Will Apple's
AirTunes devices get AirPlay and receive similar functionality?

EDIT: Seems like other iDevices get AirPlay with iOS4.2:
<http://www.apple.com/appletv/#remote>

Also, AppleTV still has USB: <http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html>

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alanh
USA Today has the current highest-ranked HN article on this topic?

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CountHackulus
Steve Jobs may have a public stance of hating porn on his devices, but the
Apple TV sure is perfect for it. It's connected to your home theater, can
stream files from your computer, and is internet connected. What more could
someone watching porn want?

~~~
callmeed
_"What more could someone watching porn want?"_

Real sex with a real person?

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teilo
So, Jobs announced that iTunes 10 was available today, and they are
advertising it on the front page, but when you try to download it, you now get
an "available soon" note for 10, and a download link for 9.2.1. I wonder if
they ran into some snags...

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hakl
That $99 ARM box looks like it could be a lot of fun for unintended purposes.

~~~
Someone
Indeed. I guess that thing will get jail broken fairly soon, and then things
get interesting.

