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.
1. It's true that there are many other devices out there that do this sort of thing, but none of them I have seen look this good on-screen. I've tried several ever since the first linksys wireless audio player came out. It was awful, the remote was crap just like alot of others in this market. The on-screen displays often have ugly logos and horrible menus. I finally resorted to putting a Mac-Mini in place just to use Front-Row - it is awesome. The AppleTV does the same thing for about a third of the price that I spent. As far as a good interface and decent remote controls go, the AppleTV or one of the new game consoles are the only way to go.
Posted at 1:17PM on Jan 25th 2007 by harley3k