Apple TV 2 – What We Want To See
I love my Apple TV.
I use it as my primary jukebox at home and think it’s the best way to rent movies (if they’re available.)
So besides having more new releases available for rent the same day they come out on DVD, what do we want to see in an updated Apple TV?
1. SATA Hard Drive Interface
The current Apple TV uses the older PATA 2.5″ hard drive interface which limits the capacity of the hard drive to 320GB. SATA 2.5″ hard drives (like the ones used in MacBooks) currently go up to 750GB with larger 1TB and bigger drives on the horizon.
2. 1080p HD Resolution
The current Apple TV has a max resolution of 720p, but most HD TVs nowadays can run at 1080p. Although the file size of 1080p video will be larger, hopefully so will the hard drives.
3. Boxee / Hulu / Netflix / DVR
When YouTube access got added to the Apple TV, everyone got excited about the possibilities of combining the Apple TV experience with other video services. Unfortunately, nothing else has been (officially) added. The content creators and content providers are still working out their differences. It’ll probably take some more consolidation in the industry before they all play nice together.
4. Extended Apple TV
Sonos is awesome and very expensive. Networked Apple TVs that allow media to be played across different rooms in the house would really be cool. Apple should buy Sonos and incorporate their software into iTunes.
5. Faster, Better Remote
The Remote app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is great except its way too slow to connect. The remote app should be instant on (like all other remotes) or just improve the remote that comes with the Apple TV. I’m all for simple and clean designs but my poor Apple TV remote is constantly being made fun of by the bigger remotes. While we’re at it, let’s switch to rf control and not have to point the remote at the Apple TV.
So there you have it. People love their Macs, but they also love sitting and starring at a TV. The Apple TV is great way to combine these two activities. Hopefully the next version of the Apple TV will continue to improve upon the experience.
