Apple TV software: Hurry up and wait
That two-week wait for the new-generation Apple TV
Steve Jobs unveiled the box’s new capabilities at MacWord — same time as the iTunes movie rental announcement — but now the free software download is coming “in another week or so.” The update is “not quite finished,” today’s Apple press release said.
Disappointing to see Apple disappoint given the history of this so-far disappointing product. Not a good start to the new era for Apple TV. Analysts already have been dubious of Apple TV’s new features.
The software works for all Apple TV owners, enabling iTunes rentals directly from the box, HD movies (via hdmi) and easy access to any video in the iTunes menu. The price has been reduced to $229 (from $299).
The iTunes Store’s movie rentals are up and working, although the selection won’t be troubling Netflix anytime soon. I rented a movie the other day and downloaded it without incident. More on that later.
Another quick item: BlogTV cut a promo deal with AOL’s instant-messaging service ICQ. Ultimately, ICQ users will be able to use their accounts to access the live video streams from BlogTV, TechCrunch reports. The internationally focused BlogTV is worth checking, at the least just to see some of the strange DIY stuff such as the Mamma_t show.
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Movie Downloads. 100% Legal. No membership fees.
Vudu cuts price as Apple TV v.2 looms
The Vudu set-top box has come down to $295 in a probable response to Apple TV’s new price and upgrades.
The Vudu box
Vudu’s “Bourne Identity” special continues, for now: buy a box and get the first two movies in the trilogy on HD, as permanent downloads.
The Vudu box comes with a 250 gigabite hard drive, good for about 100 SD movies. Output via HDMI goes to 1080i/1080p24.
There is no monthly subscription cost but you do have to pay up front, using an automatic credit card charge to keep, say, $20 in an account. Then your rental movies cost $3.99 for new releases (30 days max/24 hours once started, same as iTunes rentals). Purchased movies, when available, run up to $20. Here’s the movie set-top box’s FAQ.
The new-breed Apple TV
Read the Vudu service review from our friends at last100.
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Hulu: network TV streaming via a gourd
The mystery of the Hulu has been solved, sort of.
The streaming video site’s name means a Chinese gourd that holds precious things. Or from the Chinese words for “interactive recording.” That’s Hu and Lu, to you.
This inside info comes from the NBC Universal-News Corp. site’s chief tech man, Eric Feng.
The CTO unveiled a lot of interesting detail about the video site to TechCrunch’s Mark Hendrickson, who posted the Hulu lowdown in bullet form. Here are a few highlights:
- Hulu currently has “several hundred thousand users” who have submitted “tens of thousands” of feedback messages.
- The public launch should come in the next couple of months, probably around the end of March.
- High definition video will be rolled out gradually over the coming year with more and more content; the company believes that 2008 will be a year when online video companies start focusing less on convenience and more on quality.
- Downloads might come in the long term, but they are not something that Hulu is focusing on currently.
Apple TV already taking a beating
The knives came right away for the Apple TV relaunch. But if the box works as Steve Jobs and Co. intend — movies flow directly to the widescreen, along with whatever Internet video content you’re scooping up — the device could go from embarrassment to standard gear.
If the audio-video quality comes up short then the early adopters will flee. As in, it looks like something wi-fi’d from across the house. We’ll know in a few weeks.
Here are a few analysts’ comments in the wake of Jobs’ MacWorld speech. Some of these guys think the lack of DVD player is a problem, but I’d say they’re way off — your basic consumer won’t be buying anyway. This is early adopter turf for now.
The Apple TV still lacks two key features that would make it a killer product: a DVD player and a TV Tuner. Both may sound old fashioned but consider that many people may baulk at buying yet another device to plug into their TV’s; with a DVD player built in it becomes a DVD player substitute, with a TV tuner and PVR functionality it’s a TiVo replacement. There’s already a healthy group of Apple fans setting up Mac Mini’s in this exact way. (Duncan Riley of TechCrunch)
Apple’s catalog is puny (1,000 titles) and not hits-focued, and it’s in a crummy release window (30 days post DVD). AppleTV is getting better, but probably isn’t there yet for the masses. Its ease of use is surely better than some alternatives, but it’s not set-top box with on-screen promotion (and hey, even that hasn’t worked for MSO VoD). Rental pricing is good ($3.99 for current hits). I haven’t seen the quality, but prior iTunes store releases and AppleTV connections didn’t cut it on big-screen TV sets. (David Card, Jupiter Research)
It’s clear given the updates to Apple TV and the integration of functionality here that Apple is serious about integrating content to the TVs in the home. The ability to flow content to all the screens that are important to consumers is strategically important to Apple and no doubt Apple TV is going to go from “hobby” to strategic product in ‘08. Best part is the ability to rent and download directly from the TV without the need for the computer. The UI is nicely done and makes for a great experience. (Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research)
… Finally, watching Apple rentals on a TV will require the purchase of an AppleTV console for $229, which may be a tough sell for consumers who already own DVD players. (Citi analyst Richard Gardner)
Good Jobs: Big 6 studios go for iTunes rentals
Meet me at the Apple retail store in two weeks. I’ll be picking up the new-generation Apple TV box, which appears to be where it should have been a year ago.
Steve Jobs didn’t bust out with “one last thing” to electrify the geek masses this morning, but for online video synergists it was a very good day. Here’s what came out of the MacWorld keynote speech, along with links to some coverage and the press releases:
iTunes Store movie rentals: Jobs convinced Hollywood he still has the mojo when it comes to content and computers. The following studios are on board: 20th Century Fox, the Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, MGM, Lionsgate and New Line Cinema.
Fox was a given but the final lineup was somewhat of a mystery. The iTunes movie rentals are up there now, with a target of 1,000 titles (100 in high definition) by the end of February. Prices are $2.99 for library titles; $3.99 for new releases; add a buck for high definition.
New Apple TV software: Rent the movie directly from the Apple TV box’s menu on your widescreen TV. Get the movie in HD. Listen in 5.1 audio. Forget Blockbuster, whose stock took an 18% dive after today’s speech. “No more driving to the video store or waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail,” Jobs says with sinister glee.
The Apple TV, a dog product at $299 for launch, celebrates its numerous upgrades with a new $229 price point. Early adopters get the new software for $20. This is good stuff. You get to pay Jobs later, via those $4 rentals. Just like the music downloads and iPods.
Engadget shot some video of the new Apple TV menu. The tech site also dug through the Apple TV/iTunes specs and found some fine print we don’t like.
Digital Copy for iTunes: Jobs trotted out his pal Jim Gianopolis of Fox, the studio chieftain who was on board with imovie rentals from the start. Gianopolis got to hold up a copy of the “Family Guy” DVD “Blue Harvest,” which came out today. Buy the DVD, stick it in the computer, enter a code and — voila! — it’s in the iTunes library, along with all those Michael Bolton music videos.
The Jobs speech video is a must-see, even if you doze a bit. The super-thin laptop seems like magic. Stick around until the end, when Pixar pal Randy Newman confuses the convention hall with a Bev Hills bar crammed with striking writers and launches into a bizarre rap about the end of the American empire. And we didn’t even get to hear “Political Science.”
