Hands On: Apple TV

WGS has looked at a number of digital media receivers, but we’ve yet to review Apple’s so called “hobby”, the Apple TV. Steve Jobs has gone on the record to state that the Apple TV is not yet part of the company’s core (no pun intended) business but it’s a product that they continue to tinker with from time to time, most recently with the release of a 3.0 software update for the product.

Perhaps more interestingly, a thriving community of developers has hacked the Apple TV and continue to add improvements and new features to the product. Today’s review will look at the vanilla offering from Apple and over the next few weeks, we’ll look at some of those community enhancements to see if Apple TV really is a viable digital media receiver for your home, or just a half-baked Californian hobby.

What is Apple TV?

Apple TV is a networked media player, which can playback music, video and photos from its internal 160GB hard drive, a PC with iTunes as well as stream online content on demand. If I was from Apple, I’d say:

Apple TV gives you access to an easy-to-navigate world of entertainment. Rent HD movies. Buy HD movies and get iTunes Extras. Buy HD TV shows. Listen to your iTunes music and Internet radio. Even show off your photos. Connect one HDMI cable and, just like that, your TV becomes more than just a TV.

Unlike every other digital media receiver you’ll try, Apple TV is of course hard wired into the Apply eco-system, so it’s tethered to iTunes. Now, I’ve got to tell you, I hate iTunes with a vengeance – I’m forced to use it to get content on to my iPhone and I find it slow, bloated, unwieldy and a pain to use.

What the Apple TV doesn’t do (inexplicably) is serve media from attached network storage devices – it’ll only connect to a PC with iTunes. Which sucks. That said, I’m prepared to give it a go with Apple TV to see what content is available for downloading and streaming, because Apple say:

HD movies. HD TV shows. HD podcasts. HD YouTube videos. With Apple TV, they’re all available on demand. You get instant access to newly released Hollywood hits and popular classic and library titles, including a large selection of on-demand HD movies. And now you can also purchase and watch your favourite TV shows in brilliant HD one day after they air. Or enjoy thousands of free HD podcasts or YouTube videos from around the world.

So, unlike most other digital media receivers around, we may find some decent, high quality video we actually give a stuff about watching. Of course, Apple also promise to show all of your photos on TV, and provide access to your whole music collection through the TV – that is, as long as it’s in the iTunes library.

With Apple TV, iTunes syncs wirelessly to your TV, so your entire music collection can now be played on the best speakers in your house. Use the Genius feature to create new playlists or Genius Mixes, or check out thousands of Internet radio stations that play every genre imaginable. You can also browse and buy music videos on the iTunes Store. And sync songs and videos purchased on Apple TV to your computer and iPod or iPhone.

Your photos deserve a bigger stage. Apple TV puts them on your widescreen TV, where everybody can see them in stunning HD. Select My Photos to browse photos from your Mac or PC. If you use iPhoto, you can find photos organized by Events or Faces. You can also access your Flickr photos or MobileMe Gallery. And you no longer have to huddle around a computer screen to see YouTube videos and podcasts, even in HD — Apple TV plays them big and bold on your TV’s spectacular screen.

Before we even get into the pack, let’s firstly take a step back and review the pricing. Check back at the top of the page and you’ll see a UK price of £219 and a US price of $229. That equates to a £70 premium for the privilege of buying in the UK. Not a great start, guys. Devices like the Popcorn Hour C-200 at $299 offer a wider range of features and formats, but without the internal 160Gb storage so the US pricing is reasonable. For the UK, there are definitely better value options out there.

What’s in the Box?

Ah, the famous Apple box opening experience – actually, the Apple TV isn’t too dramatically packaged, with a simple sleeve revealing a black box which opens up to present the Apple TV device itself and a small remote control.

Annoyingly, for such a premium priced package, Apple have decided to exclude any AV cables and look all you want, but you won’t find an Ethernet cable either. So when they say “Connect one HDMI cable and, just like that, your TV becomes more than just a TV”, what they mean is “Buy a HDMI cable ‘cos we’re to cheap to throw one in”. That’s an unacceptably poor customer experience, Apple. Fortunately, WGS has a few HDMIs and Ethernet cables stashed away, so no need for us to traipse all the way back to the Apple Store to buy high margin cables, unlike thousands of other customers, I’m sure!

First Looks

White polycarbonate? Check. Brushed aluminium? Check. Small white LED to denote power? Check. Okay, you know the score – the Apple TV looks great. Give them their dues, Apple are untouched when it comes to industrial design aesthetics and the Apple TV is small enough to tuck away in your TV cabinet but cute enough to leave out on show.

You’ll be hard pressed to find any buttons and controls on the hardware itself, but flip the Apple TV around and you’ll find a host of AV connectors at the rear, including HDMI, Component Video, Analogue and Optical Digital Audio ports. A power connector, USB 2.0 port and Ethernet (10/100, not Gigabit) socket completes the line up. If you don’t have your lounge wired for data, then the Apple TV comes with an 802.11n wireless connection built in. Allegedly good enough for video (as long as you have an 802.11n router) but I’d always play it safe and go for a powerline data connection.