TeddyK
on - last edited on
Media players are starting to filter down the retail pipe, despite not having truly hit critical mass just yet. Western Digital, Seagate and Asus are the ones who helped start it, but HP and other manufacturers will be next to take a bite out of this new pie. Apple TV appeals to me as a streaming device for Netflix, iTunes and YouTube, but I’m not thrilled that it’s very limited in what file formats it will play when streaming from your own Mac or PC.
According to the tech specs, Apple TV will only support .m4v, .mp4, .mov and Motion JPEG. It also won’t do anything higher than 720p HD. I contrast this with the Asus O!Play, an item I’ve had for almost a year, which plays dozens of file formats and can even play a Blu-ray rip at full 1080p.
The other element that I’m curious about is how the new Apple TV will handle network attached storage. The specs indicate that streaming from a Mac or PC requires the use of iTunes 10, but what if you have a computer with limited storage capacity? A NAS can hold terabytes of content, and Apple already has one in Time Capsule, so why not be able to just access the stuff on there directly and forget about iTunes? There might be a workaround to this, but the closed architecture is not the way this whole setup should work.
And lastly, the lack of a USB port on the back is another glaring omission. Apple could’ve easily found a way to put that in, giving the Apple TV functionality in offline situations, too. Plugging in an external hard drive or thumb drive with content stored on it would be perfect for playback without the need to be connected to the Internet.
The Xbox 360 will be able to stream Netflix, but it’s also much more of a resource hog than the Apple TV will be. Plus, you also get access to YouTube, video podcasts and the iTunes Store. Not bad, and I can’t fully judge until I try it, but my hunch is that Apple fell a little short of hitting a home run with this thing.
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