What’s in a name? Apple decided to call its home entertainment hub AppleTV, since last September known under its codename iTV. What does it do? It brings all iTunes content from your Mac or PC on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts.
Using Apple TV’s new interface, anyone can browse and view their entire collection of digital media (not only iTunes) from across the room using the Apple Remote. Apple TV connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, and will be shipping in February for US$299; in Europe the suggested retail price will be 299 euro.
“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 CEO Steve Jobs, “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 can 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.
AppleTV can take content from up to five different computers, both Mac and PC. 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. “So if your friend comes by and wants to show you a video from his laptop, you can watch it on your television,” said Jobs.
Specs: 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.
