The Ups And Downs Of Apple TV

CBS Technology Analyst Larry Magid Test Drives Apple's Answer To Movie Rentals

(CBS)  It was the Saturday night before the Oscars and my wife and I realized that there were several nominated movies we hadn't seen yet. It was also a very rainy evening and we were in no mood to drive to a movie theater or even to the local Blockbuster store.

So we used Apple TV to download "In The Valley of Elah," featuring Tommy Lee Jones who was nominated as best actor in a leading role. On Sunday we watched "The Assassination of Jesse James," which was nominated for best cinematography. Other Oscar nominees available for rental include "Michael Clayton," "3:10 to Yuma," "Ratatouille" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." Many of the nominees, including best picture winner "No Country For Old Men" were not available.

If this had been the eve of last year's Academy Awards we would have had to either rent the movies from a video store or watch them on a PC, but this year we got to watch our rented nominated films in our living room on our high definition set thanks to Apple’s newly enhanced Apple TV.

Apple TV is a small box that sits on or near your TV and connects to the Internet via a wireless WiFi network or a wired Ethernet cord. Ever since it was first released in 2007, it's been able to stream video, music and photographs from a PC or Mac running iTunes, and it also has its own internal hard drive, enabling you to transfer iTunes files from a computer to the box itself, so, once the files have been transferred, it can work even if the computer is turned off or the network connection is down.

The device also lets you download free video and audio podcasts and access YouTube video.

Apple TV was introduced in January 2007, but in its first year on the market it didn't sell very well. Apple CEO Steve Jobs even referred to it as a "hobby" during an on-stage conversation last May with Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg at the Journal's annual "All Things Digital" conference.

But, during his Macworld keynote address this January, Jobs announced new software and services for the device that would allow people to rent movies directly from the Apple TV. The movie rental deal also applies to movies you rent on a PC or Mac to watch on iTunes or on an iPod.

He also lowered the starting price from $299 to $229 for a unit equipped with a 40 GB hard drive; $329 buys one with a 160 GB drive. Both versions have an 802.11n WiFi wireless adapter. Apple TV only works with widescreen (16 by 9 format ratio) high-definition or enhanced definition TVs. A free software upgrade allows you to rent movies, buy songs and download podcasts on the original Apple TV.

Before this change, the only way to watch a movie on the Apple TV or iPod was to purchase it (for $10 or more) on a computer running iTunes, and either copy it to the Apple TV's internal disc or stream it via your home network. As Jobs pointed out during his keynote, the purchase model works with music that people want to listen to over and over again but not so much with movies that many people simply want to watch once.

As I recall, that doesn't apply to children. When my kids were little, they would watch their favorite movies over and over again until they (and my wife and I) had them memorized.

With the newly enhanced Apple TV you don't have to use your computer to buy or rent movies, music or download free podcasts to your TV. You can do it from the comfort of your easy chair using only the small Apple remote control. The process is incredibly simple.

Even though movie files can be large, you don’t have to wait for them to download before you can watch them. Even larger high-definition movies are available for viewing within a minute or two after you order them. If you start watching the movie immediately after you order it you might see a little choppiness at first but I noticed that went away after I gave the device a few minutes to download a bigger chunk of the movie.

There are three prices for rented movies. Older movies typically cost $2.99 while newer ones cost $3.99 but you have to pay an extra dollar if you want to watch it in high definition (most movies are not available in high-def). I watched one movie in standard definition which looked pretty much like a standard DVD, but when it came to the Oscar nominees, I sprang for the extra dollar which was worth it for the higher, though not highest, quality. High definition movies are in 720p which is basically the same as some TV networks high-def programs. Blu-ray and HD-DVD high-definition DVDs are in the higher 1080p format. To my eyes, the difference between 720p and 1080p isn’t dramatic but it could be for some videophiles.

It bothered me a little having to pay $4.99 to watch a high-definition video considering that Netflix doesn’t charge extra for its Blu-ray movies but my biggest complaint about Apple TV is that movies disappear 24 hours after you start watching them. You can watch it as many times as you want during that period but if you haven't finished it by then, it's gone. This is also true with videos you rent to watch on a computer or an iPod, which annoyed me to no-end last month when I rented a movie to watch on a plane but wasn't able to finish it on the first flight and it was gone by the time I boarded the plane for the return fight. Even Blockbuster lets you keep movies for more than one day and Netflix lets you keep them as long as you want.

To be fair to Apple, this restriction is imposed by the studios and it's the same with MovieLink, CinemaNow and xBox. Speaking of Microsoft xBox, you can also rent movies to watch on that device. As with Apple TV, you can reportedly download them directly to the box to watch on a TV, though I have not yet tested that feature.

My only other complaint about Apple TV is that, so far, the selection is very limited especially when it comes to high-definition movies. That, of course, will change over time. If you want to find out if your favorite movies are available, you can explore rental movies on your computer using Apple's iTunes software.

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A syndicated technology columnist for over two decades, Larry Magid serves as on air Technology Analyst for CBS Radio News. His technology reports can be heard several times a week on the CBS Radio Network. Magid is the author of several books including "The Little PC Book."

[GooglyOogly]

The first day movie rentals became available, I downloaded the HD version of 300 and marveled not only at how fantastic it looked on my HD screen, but more importantly how perfectly it utilized the Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound system in my living room. The ease of use, the inclusion of every studio, it all adds up to the easiest movie rental system with the sexiest results. Once upon a time I may have dropped $20 to purchase the Blu-Ray version of 300 - now I drop $4.99 to watch it the next time I want to watch it. I''ll bet everyone there is no way I watch 300 more than 4 times - I own 100s of DVDs and I don''t think I''ve watched any of them more than 3 times at the most. The quality is perfect and guess what? I can watch it on my video iPod, my laptop, my Nano, or my home system. Game over Blue Ray. Game Over.

[GooglyOogly]

I love how pro-Apple articles bring the nuts out of the woodwork: "As usual, Apple fails in execution..." lol.

Yep, Apple fails again with Apple TV, just like iTunes failed, just like the iPod failed, just like Leopard fails in comparison with Vista, just like Nike joined them in failing with Nike + Nano...

Uh, should I continue? Whack job.

[rf35]

As usual, Apple has a good idea but fails in execution. I''ll stick to the disk until the technology is perfected (by a corporation other than Apple).

I have an apple tv and think its great. I''m not going to rent anything from iTunes though, the price is way to high. I can rent a dvd from redbox for $1, or get bluray from netflix for next to nothing per disk. Apple should charge $1.30 per movie hi-def or new release.

[Mike Kaufmann]

Has anyone out there opened an Apple TV and upgraded the Hard disk themselves? I have a 40 Gig Apple TV but wish I had a bigger hard disk!

[rbenzon-2009]

Oops. Apologies for the multiple posts.

[rbenzon-2009]

While many of the comments are valid, the suggested alternatives only sound practical to those living in the U.S. Elsewhere, Apple TV remains the best option, which I argued more fully in my blog, www.textraextra.com.

[rbenzon-2009]

While many of the comments are valid, the suggested alternatives only sound practical to those living in the U.S. Elsewhere, Apple TV remains the best option, which I argued more fully in my blog, www.textraextra.com.

[rbenzon-2009]

While many of the comments are valid, the suggested alternatives only sound practical to those living in the U.S. Elsewhere, Apple TV remains the best option, which I argued more fully in my blog, www.textraextra.com.

[rbenzon-2009]

While many of the comments are valid, the suggested alternatives only sound practical to those living in the U.S. Elsewhere, Apple TV remains the best option, which I argued more fully in my blog, www.textraextra.com.

[rbenzon-2009]

While many of the comments are valid, the suggested alternatives only sound practical to those living in the U.S. Elsewhere, Apple TV remains the best option, which I argued more fully in my blog, www.textraextra.com.

[lochlan-2009]

Here we are in the 21st century, and I still can''t go to my computer and download any show I want to from whichever channels website. Why? I wouldn''t even care if the advertisements came through, just let me watch my television shows when I want to and you get the pay-per clicks.

[sjw1253]

I appreciate this critique of the Apple movies.

As I see it - I have Tivo (? correct use of case letters) - and it is $3.99 from direct tv to rent a movie. I don''t have hi-def yet so don''t know the +''s or -''s of having it nor do I know the difference in costs for this service (if any which I doubt as there is probably a monthly fee to cover all HD perqs)...

I would hate to have a movie that is good for only 24 hours at the same costs as I am already getting them from my tivo as the tivo you can save it as long as you like until your memory for your tivo devise is used up...

[prolegomena]

I have an older Apple TV and it''s pretty functional and cool-- I haven''t used the rental feature yet, but will soon...

[RedCoat999]

My TIVO with Amazon Unbox service has all these same features easy to use and since it is a TIVO it records your TV, which Apple doesn''t. The Tivo is a much better device. The same movies you download, if purchased, can also be watched on your computer if you want. I can also purchase the download at work through Amazons website

[pinova-2009]

Psst. Magid. It''s 10 EIGHTY p, not 10 TWENTY p as you published. HDTV is 720p or 1080i or 1080p. The i is interlaced, the p versions are full progressive frames. Not one broadcaster yet transmits 1080p images. Good luck with the tech.

[colvinatch]

The lack of a DVD player absolutely KILLS this device for me. I hear what Jobs is trying to say clearly, that being "the future is in downloads, not discs" however I have hundreds of DVDs and want a device that will both play those and download new content, this would be the perfect device if it had a blue-ray high player included.