A few days ago I posted a video of the Apple TV in action and you could see the menu on the TV set, and it did look pretty good and easy to use.
Now here is another video giving you a full tour of the AppleTV interface and once again I'm impressed and didn't expect anything less from Apple.
But I just can't understand why Apple hasn't allowed you to cut out the PC entirely on this one. Getting a new video or music involves going to the PC first and then downloading the video off the net through iTunes.
Why not just let you access iTunes directly through your TV and download the videos you want from there, and then synch everything you download back onto your PC for permanent storage.
The Miglia TVMini HD+ is the successor to the Miglia TVMini HD offering 10-bit video and stereo sound and the ability to tune into unencrypted digital cable, analog cable and over-the-air signals. As the name suggest it also supports HDTV.
The Miglia TVMini is of course designed for the Mac and connects via a USB 2.0 port. It will be shipped with the EyeTV 2 PVR software and remote control so you can expect full PVR features.
I was a bit disappointed with the Apple TV to say the least but I have to say it was nice to see RocketBoom being shown on a full screen TV set via the Apple TV, although the Apple TV is of course one of the many products that can do this.
The video below shows the Apple TV in action and it looks and smells all Apple-ey. It's small, looks good next to your TV set, and has a friendly user interface that my girlfriend could even figure out.
It was of course expected that Apple would deliver a user friendly, fashionable device, but its just a shame the Apple TV is all about getting you to buy from the iTunes store, while also lacking many much needed features that can be found elsewhere.
I don't think Apple will be threatening TiVo and the Cable companies just yet.
Not so long ago I expressed my views that the Apple TV was an extremely disappointing device which brought us nothing that we couldn't really do already using non-Apple alternatives and did not innovate in any way.
At the point of writing the article I felt pretty confident that the Apple TV is not going to have major penetration into the living room with only true Apple enthusiasts taking it on board.
The San Francisco Chronicle also supports this argument by raising the point that people's living rooms are already over-packed with consumer electronics and adding another one just isn't appealing not to mention the number of established companies that Apple is competing with here.
Its my personal belief that an Apple TV type product will only really hit mainstream when it becomes integrated into a PVR, or with a games console, like has already been done with the successful Xbox 360.
Quite awhile back we brought you information on a product called the iRecord. It was a device that brought functional, albeit a bit limited, recording functions to your iPod, in effect making your iPod a somewhat portable PVR.
Well now a company from Korea called iCube is showing off their newest toy: the iRec. The idea behind the iRec pretty much the same as the iRecord (as one can guess with the similarities in names).
The iCube can record video straight onto your iPod at up to 640 x 480 through either a composite or S-Video connection. From there you can synch it up with your iTunes collection the next time you plug it into your PC.
The device also has a timer button on it, but apparently that is only used to schedule the end of a recording. Although it is far from a replacement for a full fledged PVR, if you are looking for something like this you now have at least two options.
The iRec retails for approximately $180 while the iRecord goes for about $200.
Mark Cuban poses an interesting question: Why are companies like Apple and Microsoft working so hard to give you a way to move video from your PC to your TV screen? Why not just make the video available on your existing set top box or PVR?
Basically, he argues that cable or satellite services could transfer video feeds directly to your PVR and you could peruse video clips from content producers like CBS or from frat boys running around like idiots. No computer needed. Your PVR is already designed to let you easily sift through a large amount of video content to find what you're looking for, all from the comfort of your couch.
The problem is, you'll never be able to store the same quantity of video content on your PVR hard drive that you can access by visiting sites like YouTube. Nor, I suspect, would you want to. The beauty of internet video is that it's there waiting for you if you want it, and it's not taking up space that you'd rather use for other things, like say, choosing your own television programs to record.
While I agree with Cuban that you could easily access internet video with a PVR, I think the way to do that is to connect more PVRs to the internet. Throw a web browser on there. You can already access online video using PC-based personal video recorders like Windows Media Center (with Yougle), or SageTV (which can access Google Video). Why not add the same functionality to set top boxes, which are basically stripped down computers these days anyway.
Or you could always buy an Apple TV or Xbox 360 to stick next to your TiVo so that you can record shows to watch on one box, and flip a switch to use another box that will let you watch programs recorded on your third box, the PC in the other room. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
Had you been holding out hope that Apple would include PVR functions in the AppleTV? Well it turns out, you don't need no stinking AppleTV to transfer (some) HD content straight from your cable box to your Mac.
The whole setup is a bit clunky, as you have to hook up your cable box to your Mac using a firewire cord, assuming your cable box has a firewire port. And then once you capture the content on your Mac, it turns out that many programs will be unviewable, due to encryption.
That said, if you've got some free time on your hands and want to see how many of your cable channels are unencrypted, have at it. Motivated has a complete set of instructions, or if you want to be lazy, you can check out iRecord, which does most of the work for you.
So first TiVo goes and outsources TiVoToGo for Mac to Roxio, and then Roxio leaves out one of the promised features, a TiVo theme on DVDs you burn from TiVoToGo recordings.
Well, it turns out that since TiVoToGo is built into Toast Titanium 8, and since Roxio figures that a fairly small number of Toast users will really be using the TiVo functions, they left the TiVo theme out of the official release. That seems a bit silly. Why bother building TiVoToGo functions into your product and then leave out a theme that only takes up a few megabytes?
Anyway, Dave Zatz posts a link to download the TiVo theme. All you have to do is download the file, unzip it, save tivo.psd to the Toast DVD Menu Styles folder, and you're done. Zatz also points out that since the file is a psd file, you could probably use Photoshop to edit the theme to your liking
There was a lot of hype that the codenamed Apple iTV (now named the Apple TV) would revolutionize the TV industry and make Apple a mainstream competitor in living room entertainment.
What came out of Macworld was not the impressive revolutionary device that was expected. Rather all that came out was an inferior media extender that allowed you to watch iTunes videos on your TV.
If all Apple set out to do was let you watch iTunes video on your TV then it has succeeded in doing that, but that's neither revolutionary nor impressive, but it will keep the hardcore Apple fans happy.
Still bummed that Steve Jobs didn't deign to throw a TV tuner and PVR software into the Apple TV? Well, Elgato wants you to know that you can still use their EyeTV products to make your Mac into a PVR.
According to Elgato's FAQ, EyeTV can export recordings in Apple TV-friendly formats like H.264 or MPEG-4, which it already does if you export shows to iTuens for transfer to an iPod. Now, the list of recordings in iTunes will be available to Apple TV. It looks like EyeTV's MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings are not Apple TV-compatible, meaning you'll always need to do some file conversion before watching your videos, although the process can be automated.
EyeTV exports programs at 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 resolutions, but Elgato says it's looking into enabling 720p recordings, since the Apple TV will support HD.
So for the price of an Apple TV and an EyeTV tuner, you've got yourself a Mac-based PVR, as long as you don't need to watch TV live. Granted, you'd still have that PVR without the Apple TV, but now you can easily display your recordings on your television set in the living room, no matter where in the house your computer is.
Okay, I don't have a lot of experience performing TiVo hacks, so don't expect step by step instructions here, but kennybain over at the TiVo Community Forum poses an interesting question: do you really need a Slingbox to watch TiVo recordings remotely?
The answer is, kind of. Kennybain applied the "Zipper" hack to his TiVo and installed TiVoTool on his PowerBook. This allowed him to download and stream shows from his TiVo. And then he went and opened up some ports on his router allowing him to access his recordings from sites outside of his home network. He was even able to watch live TV, although it wasn't a particularly smooth stream.
There's a few problems:
It's not secure.
You can't change channels on live TV.
It's really not secure.
But this does raise the question... if all it takes is a couple of software hacks to allow users to remotely access and stream their TiVo recordings, isn't this something TiVo could implement if it wanted to? Sure, TiVo recently started selling Slingboxes at the TiVo store, but wouldn't it create a richer, fuller user experience to just build placeshifting into the TiVo box? As TiVo continues to add broadband features, unlike my colleague Chris Tew, I wouldn't be surprised if the company's working on something like this already. But given the rate of progress at TiVo, I wouldn't expect to see it anytime soon.
A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally announced a few days ago but unfortunately it did not come cheap. Mac users would have to fork out for the full Roxio's Toast Titanium 8 package which costs $100.
The Roxio Toast Titanium package offers full DVD/CD burning capabilities plus a little bit more but many MAC users will probably have software that does this already making $100 extremely expensive for just TiVoToGo considering regular Pc users can get it for $25.
Fortunately Roxio has said at this weeks CES that there is a possibility of a standalone Roxio TiVoToGo for Mac which would of course be sold for a lot cheaper.
While Steve Jobs was busy launching an Apple TV device that only lets you watch videos on your TV at up to 720p, Miglia went and issued an update to its TVMini line with the TVMini HD+.
The TVMini HD+ is a USB box that lets you tune into ATSC, QAM, and analog cable broadcasts with a Mac.
It comes with the usual PVR functions, including pausing, rewinding, and fast forwarding live TV. It comes with EyeTV 2 software and remote control. No word on pricing yet, or even what it has that the original TVMini HD doesn't. But it should be available in February if you're itching to find out.
If you haven't already heard about the iPhone, then you're not the gadget-obsessed geek I thought you were. But here's my take.
First off, this lays to rest all the rumors that Apple was working on a table PC (it was, kind of), a PDA (ditto), a touch-screen iPod (again with the ditto), and a phone (see above). From a video standpoint, this thing is miles ahead of the iPod with video. We're talking a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 screen in a case that's just 11.6 millimeters thick. The touch screen could (but we won't say "will" until we try it) be easier to navigate than the iPod's traditional click wheel.
The only real downside here is that it comes in much smaller capacities than the iPod, with 4GB or 8GB of storage, and unlike many other phones and portable media players out there, there's no expandable storage. But this is Apple, they don't do thinks the way everyone else does. On the one hand, that's great because it means their products work exactly the way they're supposed to. There's no way to cram incompatible parts in there and cause a mess. But it also means there's no real expandability.
And so while I won't say this is the iPhone's downfall, I think the biggest disappointment is that while this thing will actually run Mac OS X, allowing you to run Widgets, Google Maps, Safari, and iTunes, you can't just throw your own programs on it willy nilly. It doesn't support your favorite video codec? Tough.
What else doesn't it do? No G3, no downloading iTunes purchases over the air or WiFi and syncing to your computer, no removable battery, and no support for Exchange or Office. Again, not deal breakers for most people, but all reasons why I'll be sticking with my Dell Axim X50v and Nokia cell phone combo for now.
The 4GB iPhone will st you back $499 with a two year contract from Cingular. The 8GB variety will cost $599, and both will be available in June.
With all of the recent events going on at CES, one might think that it would be all too easy to overlook the current Macworld event that is going on. Never one to let someone else steal the limelight, Steve Jobs kicked off Macworld with a huge announcement: the Apple TV (formerly known as the iTV).
Here's what we know about it: • It supports 802.11b/g/n • Inputs are a USB slot and an built-in Ethernet card • Outputs are HDMI (720p), Component Video out, analog audio out and digital audio out • It comes with a remote that looks a lot like the first generation iPod shuffle • 40GB internal hard drive • Up to 5 computers can stream to it (Mac or PC) • Videos can be viewed from the device as well as downloaded from the internet
Although in my mind the Apple TV really could use a TV tuner in it, I am willing to bet that these things will still sell like hot cakes. I can't wait to see the first reviews on these.
Retail price for the Apple TV is set at $299 USD ($349 CDN), and orders can be placed through the Apple Store.
I was a bit 
Mark Cuban
A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally 
