The much-hyped Apple TV is finally here to do to the living room what the iPod did to our pockets. Apple is remaining coy about what's inside, but we can glean a certain amount - a 40GB notebook hard disk, a power supply and a wireless 802.11n (draft 2.0) MIMO access point, for a start. It's using an undisclosed Intel processor and a stripped-down version of Mac OS X.
It isn't anything to do with broadcast TV in the traditional sense, and is best considered as an iPod tethered to your TV. There isn't a single button on it - not even power - with everything accessed via the standard (and all too easily lost) Apple Remote. Hook it up to your TV via the HDMI output, or component video and analogue (or optical) S/PDIF audio outputs, then plug in the power. A wizard takes you through attaching it to a wired or wireless (802.11a/b/g/n) network, where it will signal its presence via Apple's Bonjour protocol.
Once paired to an iTunes library on the network, you can either stream content from there or from the 40GB hard disk. It shows up in iTunes in exactly the same way as an iPod, with the same sync options, such as newest, selected or randomised content. For photos, you'll need to use iTunes in conjunction with Photoshop Elements or Photoshop Album, with playback options frustratingly limited to "all" or predefined playlists.
The iPod-like menu has sections for movies, TV, music and podcasts, as well as idiot-proof preferences. It all looks fantastic, with no perceptible lag, despite all the swish lighting effects and animation. But the UK is yet to enjoy the Apple's biggest triumph - downloadable TV and films. We're promised they'll be here this year, but there's no firm date, which is particularly galling given the risible format support - it doesn't support DivX, for instance.
We're not crazy about having to use iTunes either, but you're stuck with it, as you are with the paltry 40GB hard disk. We'd like to see parental controls for when video does come along, as well as much-improved format support. But there's also an awful lot to like - it's silent unless you press your ear to it, it's beautifully built and, while it may not do everything it could, it does at least do it with style. Unless you're happy living in an entirely iTunes world, we wouldn't buy one right now, but it's certainly one to watch.
System Specifications
802.11b/g/n with WEP and WPA-PSK 10/100 Ethernet AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV ,H.264, MPEG4, MOV, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PNG 197 x 197 x 28mm (WDH)
Verdict
A promising start for Apple's living-room takeover, but we're still waiting for the best bits.
Author: Ross Burridge
PC Pro Online