Comments on: Apple Hosting “Webcast Kick Off”, New Product Launch on September 30th?

By: minimalist

minimalist — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:23:56 +0000

Thanks. I’ll up the multicast rate (I also turned on network robustness as my audio streams to the ATV tend to drop inand out randomly even though the signal is 4 out of 5 bars strong).

In all honesty, this is not surprising. It doesn’t seem much different than how an iPod actively synching with iTunes makes iTunes sluggish and unresponsive.

I just wish Apple would let me control the sync process better. It reminds me of the dumbed-down syncing you get with an iPod Shuffle (why is this different than any other iPod?). They need a totally manual option so the Apple TV doesn’t start a sync when you don’t want it to.

By: kerry

kerry — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:38:34 +0000

@ minimalist: Try switching it to 5.5 or 11, also try updating your Airport Extreme. If none of this works, then you should probably directly connect the Apple TV to the router and see if the problem persists.

By: minimalist

minimalist — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:36:42 +0000

Hmm. Interesting. I never thought about changing the settings on my router.

I’m using an airport extreme and my master copy of iTunes is running on an 2.1 GHz iMac G5 (iSight) with 2.5 MB of RAM.

The only thing I see in the Airport Utility that resembles the settings you suggested changing is something called “Multicast Rate” (which can be set to 1, 2, 5.5, or 11 Mbs and which is by default set to 2).

Any ideas?

By: Aviv

Aviv — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:59:09 +0000

Well, looks like TUAW’s anonymous tipsters weren’t too helpful. It seems as though they rumored an event and then rumored that it was canceled.

It’s safe to say that an Apple TV update is still coming, only we don’t exactly know when.

By: Jim Hutchins

Jim Hutchins — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:55:20 +0000

Can’t help but wonder what is slowing your machines down. Admittedly I have a fairly powerful thunder lizard running Tunes (four dual core MacPro 3GHZ 16 gig ram) but even my MacBook Pro doesn’t seem to have much of a prob when syncing. Perhaps your wireless LAN is the bottleneck? Running the radio mode at 2.4 or 5 MHTZ? Whichever, try switching to the other mode (highest speed) and see if it helps. More RAM is usually the best fix, though.

By: Jim Hutchins

Jim Hutchins — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:13:36 +0000

Two additional features I’d like:
1) ability to stream video to my multiple ATVs simultaneously in different zones of the house from the master library (like I can with Airtunes). The signal’s going right past the receivers, why can’t they receive it?
2) inclusion of iTunes visualizers on ATV when I use them to play music

By: orangetori

orangetori — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:44:02 +0000

I LOOOOOOOOVE!!!!! My AppleTV… and honestly don’t see it going anywhere or being replaced… The AppleTV IS the future… Computers and TVs will eventually merge into a single device… so I see this as possibly a more significant software update.

Here is what I would LOVE to see added to the AppleTV:
- The ability to subscribe to live TV channels (Say I really only watch a couple channels on my Satellite TV. I could subscribe to JUST those 2 channels on Apple TV and they would be delivered through the internet. Then I have the ability already to purchase any TV shows that I may want to watch. That would completely eliminate the need for Satellite or Cable.)
- Add Safari to AppleTV!!! I would LOVE to surf the internet from my couch on the AppleTV.

By: Aviv

Aviv — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:51:12 +0000

I like the middle of the night idea (in theory).

By: minimalist

minimalist — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:24:29 +0000

Syncing really is the Achilles Heel of the ATV isn’t it? It’s excruciatingly painful to to try to do anything on the ATV or the computer it is syncing with during the duration of that sync.

Not only does Apple need to bring HD TV downloads directly the the ATV they also need to improve the syncing options on the iTunes side (i.e. let me turn it off completely and just sync manually when necessary) or let me choose convenient times (like in the middle of the night).

By: Korrrrro

Korrrrro — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:08:23 +0000

EASY TO PURCHASE is the key phrase here. I am simply BAFFLED by the fact that Apple left this feature out.

I want new HD TV Shows but I only have one computer that my girlfriend and I share. And One Apple TV. It’s just NOT WORKING OUT when we have to hold up everything on the computer because we want new tv shows on the apple tv. I know it may sound like small pittens to have to share the devices, but we’re both students and between homework and freetime, it’s just really annoying and extremely frustrating to deal with.

I really, really, really, really hope this firmware update come soon.