Apple TV

New Apple TV Features iTunes Movies and TV Shows, Netflix, Photos & More in HD

March 7, 2012—Apple® today announced the new Apple TV® featuring 1080p programming including iTunes® movies and TV shows, Netflix, Vimeo, photos and more in HD. With iTunes in the Cloud, customers can purchase and play their favorite movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store® and watch them instantly on their HD TV. The new Apple TV features a simpler, refined user interface making it easier than ever to access your purchased movies, TV shows and music with iTunes Match℠ right from iCloud®. With AirPlay®, users can stream or mirror their favorite content from their iPad® or iPhone® 4S to Apple TV.

"People are going to love streaming movies and TV shows in 1080p with the new Apple TV, and photos look beautiful displayed at the maximum resolution of your TV," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Apple TV is easier than ever to use with its new icon-based interface and the ability to access your purchased movies, TV shows and music right from iCloud."

Apple TV users can choose from an incredible selection of programming including over 15,000 movies and over 90,000 TV episodes on the iTunes Store. Apple TV also offers great content from Netflix’s streaming catalog, live sports from MLB, NBA and NHL as well as Internet content from Vimeo, YouTube and Flickr.* Read more

Another year, another CES. The huge consumer electronics extravaganza in Las Vegas that officially opens on January 10th looks to be a major showcase for tablets, TVs and connectivity this year. The 55-inch LG OLED TV is already getting a lot of buzz even though it's rumored $8,000 price tag will keep it in the fantasy realm for most consumers. We predict this will be the most photographed and talked about product at the show.

Android Tablets Will Make Another Run At the iPad

This time last year Google was just about ready to ship its tablet-friendly version of Android called Honeycomb but even that didn't seem to help Android make a dent in Apple's iPad business. This year we have another version of Android called Ice Cream Sandwich which may or may not help the mainstream tablet vendors like Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and others attract buyers to their tablets. At the moment it looks like the two dominant tablet makers; Apple and Amazon won't even be exhibiting at CES. We also think we'll see tablets featured at a lot of booths as accessories to TVs and controllers for smart home technology. The word is we'll see close to 100 new tablets on display at this year's CES including some quad-core, Tegra 3, Kal-El-powered versions like Acer's Iconia Tab A700. Samsung's 5.3-inch Note, which represents a new size for tablets should be getting a lot of attention along with some tablets that might be running Microsoft's Windows 8.Read more

This year's CES should bring out the latest HDTV sets from all the big names including Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and more. We expect to see more connected TVs with more iPads and other tablets controlling them. A challenge they will all be facing is how to make their TVs stand out from the pack. With little differentiation between one, high refresh rate, LED backlit big screen HDTV set, and another, TV manufacturers are going to have to differentiate in order to make their TVs more appealing than others. One differentiation we may see is added TV "smarts" either built into the TV itself or provided in a companion device like a tablet. TVs with more smarts will help but with rumors of an Apple TV coming in 2012, we wonder if any of the major TV brands will be able to compete with Apple in the battle for the living room.

TV Brands Used to Be Enough of a Differentiator
Unfortunately, throwing pixels on a screen is not enough to sustain a TV manufacturer's market share. HDTVs like laptop computers are becoming something of a commodity; there is little to differentiate one brand from another. Even Sony who has been able to command a price premium in the past now has TVs that are priced similarly to Vizio TVs. Of course there will always be new technology advances like Ultra High Definition (UHDTV), quantum dots, and big screen AMOLED TVs but these won't come for some time and once one vendor gets one of these features, they all will.Read more

With last year's release of Avatar, 2010 has turned out to be the year of not only 3D movies, but also video games and sports. And this holiday season consumers will be able to bring the 3D experience home. So, if you're looking to jump in on 3D, Panasonic's VT25 series 3D TV would be an excellent choice. It offers up great color reproduction, price, and a high quality 2D picture, combined with the experience and passion Panasonic has for 3D.

Next up, connected TVs. Today's connected TVs are really starting to hit their stride. The Samsung 6400 series of LED HDTVs not only offer a slim form factor, but offer a wide range of applications. On the 6400 series, consumers can enjoy streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, Vudu, Blockbuster, Hulu Plus, CinemaNow and much more. Or listen to music from services such as Napster or Pandora. Bottom line - connected TVs bring a world of on-line entertainment to the big screen. Read more

"I've just decided to switch our Friday schedule to Monday, which means that the test we take each Friday on what we learned during the week will now take place on Monday before we've learned it. But since today is Tuesday, it doesn't matter in the slightest." – Mr. Turkentine, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), Wolper Pictures Ltd.

We're not certain what the preoccupation is with TV, but firms beyond the old-fashioned content developers, producers, "shippers" have gone out of their way to say they have the solution you need/want!

First, there was the bi-annual IFA conference in Berlin. All of the consumer electronics folks gathered to spin their TV, video, whatever stories and show their wares.

That was followed by IBC in Amsterdam. There, the worldwide broadcast industry gathered to figure out how they were going to survive and make money with the growing demand for online video and audio content.Read more

Rent Commercial Free HD TV Episodes for Just 99 Cents

September 1, 2010—Apple today announced the new Apple TV which offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. Apple TV users can choose from the largest online selection of HD movies to rent, including first run movies for just $4.99, and the largest online selection of HD TV show episodes to rent* from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America for just 99 cents.

Apple TV also streams content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe, as well as music, photos and videos from PCs and Macs to your HD TV. Enjoy gorgeous slideshows of your photos on your HD TV using Apple TV’s selection of built-in slideshows. Apple TV has built-in HDMI, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an internal power supply for easy set-up, and features silent, cool, very low power operation in an enclosure that’s less than four inches square—80 percent smaller than the previous generation. Read more