14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since the Apple TV first came out, one of the most common complaints about it was the capacity of the internal disk drive. Although the main purpose of the device is to stream media from your computers to the TV so that it does not need to be stored on the box itself, customers felt that 40GB simply wasn't enough. Apple has heard the voices of many and will start offering the option of getting an Apple TV box with four times the storage.
Apple today also announced that it is offering a new Apple TV build-to-order option with a 160GB hard drive. The new larger hard drive offers four times the storage for up to 200 hours of video, 36,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each. It is easy to connect the Apple TV to a broad range of widescreen TVs and home theater systems, coming standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless networking, Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to a TV without any wires.
Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available through the Apple Store, Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of US$299. Apple TV with a 160GB hard drive will be available tomorrow for a suggested retail price of $399. The YouTube feature for Apple TV will be available as a free software update in mid-June.
The extra storage should keep people happy for a while, until they once again start asking for even bigger hard drives. Both the extended storage option and the software update that is coming up will go a long way to sway the minds of those that were still holding out. Apple will be undoubtedly adding support for other services in the future, but it will take time as they need to develop special custom interfaces for them.