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Apple HDTV Coming to Your Living Room
by Shane Sturgeon on January 10, 2007 Categories: New Products & Equipment

Apple TV Coming to Your Living Room

Movies, TV Shows, Music & Photos on Your Big Screen TV

Apple TV - CarsMACWORLD SAN FRANCISCO - January 9, 2007 - Apple® today premiered Apple TV™, an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favorite iTunes® content from your Mac® or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts. Using Apple TV's stunning new interface, anyone can quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room using the simple and intuitive Apple Remote. Apple TV easily connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for just $299.

"Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century-you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod."

Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output.* Apple TV is easy to connect to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems and comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort® 802.11** wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to your TV without any wires.***

The seamless integration of Apple TV and iTunes lets users choose from over 250 feature-length movies and 350 TV shows in near DVD quality; four million songs, 5,000 music videos, 100,000 podcasts and 20,000 audiobooks. Users can enjoy their favorite music on a home entertainment system and view slideshows of their photo albums on a widescreen TV. Apple TV makes it easy for users to explore their entire media collection with an easy to use and intuitive new interface. With the Apple Remote, consumers can easily browse through their favorite movies, TV shows, music and photos from up to 30 feet away.

Pricing & Availability

Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, will be shipping in February through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US).

Apple TV requires iTunes 7 or later running on a Mac with Mac OS® X version 10.3.9 or later, or a Windows PC with Windows XP Home/Professional (SP2). An 802.11b/g/n wireless network using AirPort, AirPort Extreme® or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking required. Internet access is required and a broadband connection is recommended. Apple TV requires an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TV. iPod® games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes is available in the US and select countries.

* Video playback based on 640x480 iTunes video content. Music capacity based on four minutes per song and 128-Kbps AAC encoding. Photo capacity based on Apple TV viewable photos transferred from iTunes. Actual capacity varies by content.

** Compatible with 802.11b/g/n. Based on an IEEE 802.11n draft specification.

*** Wireless video streaming requires an 802.11g/n network.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online store.

Press Contacts

Teresa Brewer Apple (408) 974-6851 tbrewer@apple.com

Lynn Fox
Apple
(408) 974-4300
lfox@apple.com

Posted by Shane Sturgeon, January 10, 2007 9:02 AM

Reader Commentary

Reply
glinde • Jan 11, 6:34am
While I'm always intrigued by new technology releases from Apple--they seem to get things right so much more than their competitors--I must admit that I'm a bit surprised and disappointed that this thing only offers 720p. A quick scan of the articles and blogs on this site would demonstrate to any afficianado that 1080p is the hot new technology, and 1080i has been a standard for some time.

I can understand the bandwidth limitations of wireless streaming of HD signals, but I would at least hope that Apple is working quickly to improve the iTV to the most cutting edge capabilities in the near future.

Am I asking too much from the guys in Cupertino?...
Reply
stevekaden • Jan 11, 12:09pm
I have to actively support Apple in this. Let me beat old horses: Rome wasn't built in a day; There is no such thing as a free lunch; and project managers have to kill the engineers to ship a product. (Read as: they got this out in time for the show.)

This is clearly another good step towards the same end game as electronic audio media. I hope this will not become another MP3 and stay mediocre but in the end we need a plasticless, near hardwareless medium/players. No plastics, no toxins and wasted energy, landfills space etc.

And then there is the convienence. With Verizon FIOS creeping into our neighborhoods, very highspeed downloads are within grasp. And we already have other on Demand formats. The future can handle full HD, the present maybe no so well.

I waited 55 years for HD video media, I expect to wait only a little more for instant access, full fidelity, on demand/private ownership-access media all of which will not leave a physical footprint.

And Apple of cour...
Reply
glinde • Jan 11, 12:56pm
I agree with your recognition of this progress. I need to do more reading/research to learn exactly what Apple is doing to push the envelope over platforms like the Xbox 360 and various PC (wireless) streaming platforms.

As far as the 480i limitation, is that still the case if you own Quicktime Pro and download/save HD movie previews and other HD content? And certainly if you have some other digital source of HD (e.g., a HD camcorder), that would supply you with better than 720p content that presumably must be downscaled, right?...
Reply
Shane • Jan 11, 2:21pm
This is not a hardware limitation or engineering decision, it is based on the content. Since the iTunes store was built from the bottom-up to support the iPod, high definition was not initially in the plans. They have since added it, but the content is limited to 720p resolution. So to deploy a box that supports anything more would be a waste (presently). Besides, next year they can announce 1080p with a 2nd gen. box and get another $300 from us ;-)

- Shane...

More in Category: New Products & Equipment

About Shane Sturgeon

Shane Sturgeon is the Co-Publisher and Chief Technologist of HDTV Magazine, an industry publication with HDTV roots going back to 1984, when Dale Cripps founded The HDTV Newsletter. Today, HDTV Magazine is a leading online resource for HDTV news and information and captures the eyes and imaginations of over 3 million visitors annually. Mr. Sturgeon has a background in information technology and has served in various consulting capacities for Fortune 500 companies such as J.P. Morgan Chase, Verizon Communications, Proctor & Gamble and Nationwide Insurance. He has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Wright State University.

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