The first thing you notice about Apples second version of Apple TV is its size, or lack thereof. At a very compact 3.9 inches by 3.9 inches by .9 inches high, and at just over a half pound in weight it is much smaller than the original Apple TV. Solid aluminum construction and black finish make it, like all Apple products, a very attractive item. The ability to hook it up and just place it anywhere and have it be virtually invisible is definitely a bonus.
In the package you will find the Apple TV itself, a sleek aluminum Apple remote and a power cord. I have to mention that the power cord is just that, a power cord. No huge brick to wrestle into your already crowded power bars, or to hide behind existing components. Just a simple plain power cord. The only thing Apple does not include, and I think this is patently ridiculous is the HDMI cord. But at a price tag of just under $100.00 USD, I guess they had to cheap out somewhere.
That being said, the lack of an HDMI cable is the only place that Apple skimped with this product. It is a very versatile and amazingly easy to use little gadget.
You can rent TV shows and movies. TV shows (in the US only) directly through the Apple TV. Cool? Yes, but the only drawback is that you can only rent those shows or movies, you can’t buy them. However you can buy them via itunes on your computer and then stream them to your Apple TV. You also have access to Youtube, Netflix, Flicker, Podcasts and MLB TV (U.S only). You can watch previews for movies and TV shows that are in the iTunes store and you can even watch previews for theatrical coming attractions.
However the best, and most useful feature on the new Apple TV, is your ability to stream any content, including pictures and music that is in your iTunes library straight to your TV via wifi. Plus, thanks to the Airplay feature on most modern IOS devices, you can Push content directly from your iPhone, Ipod Touch, or Ipad straight to your TV as well. This includes even videos from apps or the web. Airplay even allows us to record a video of our daughter on my wifes Iphone and immediately push it to the Apple TV and watch it on our 42″ LCD flat screen. I can’t tell you how awesome that is.
The new Apple TV is ridiculously easy to set up and get running, and even easier to navigate and use. The menus are well laid out, and the UI as with all Apple devices is very user friendly.
Apple TV supports the following audio, video, and picture formats:[39]
Video
H.264 up to 720p at 30 frames per second
MPEG-4 up to 720 x 432 (432p) or 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frame/s
Motion JPEG up to 720p at 30 frame/s
Picture
JPEG
GIF
TIFF
Audio
HE-AAC (V1)
AAC (16–320 kbit/s)
FairPlay protected AAC
AC-3 Dolby Digital pass-through [40]
MP3 (16–320 kbit/s, with VBR)
Apple Lossless
AIFF
WAV
I have had the Apple TV box set up in my family room for almost a year now and not a day has gone by that it hasn’t been used at least once a day. Whether it is streaming music to my home theatre system, watching slideshows of family pictures, or just surfing through Youtube to find that hilarious video you want to show your buddies, it is well worth the money I paid for it.
Thanks
Cpt. Benjamin Willard
