14 DAY TRIAL // After a three week delay, Apple TV will hopefully become available during the second half of March. It was officially announced this January and was supposed to ship in late February.
Apple TV is a set-top box that will enable media digital content to be streamed from any machine capable of running streamed media via iTunes onto an enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen TV. The device will be compatible with both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Apple sells the device for $299.
John Martellaro at MacNewsWorld feels the Apple TV, as presented by the Cupertino CEO, "is troublesome in many respects". He thinks it will not revolutionize the TV industry and, though it will probably be a commercial success, the Apple TV still needs several major enhancements.
Martellaro says it was not so wise of Apple to limit the Apple TV sources to just iTunes. The possibility of accessing regular cable or satellite TV is not available, making Apple TV a simple accessory, similar to a DVD player. The cable companies will develop more powerful top boxes, working on OCAP (OpenCable Applications Platform) protocol, with functionalities similar to those of Apple TV, rendering the latter rather useless.
Then, there would be the "resolution issue". The movie format now available from iTunes is 640 x 480, not genuine HDTV content. People could rather buy DVDs instead, then spend $300 for 640 x 480 movies.
Martellaro lists other issues that Apple should address in a future top box, such as Blu-ray drive in the Mac Pro, displays with HDMI (there were rumors of new Apple TV displays shipping this month, but there is no word on pricing), real HD movies in the iTunes library and several other Apple TV sore points.
Let's hope the Cupertino-based company will take the Apple TV beyond its current limitations and manage to build a truly great device that opens up new prospects for the television industry.