Apple TV

[maccaroneski]

I bought the new (ish) Apple TV the other day, and for $129, it's absolutely fantastic. For the uninitiated, it is basically an interface between your TV and home entertainment system to your PC and the internet (or at least some parts of it).

The original problem that needed solving was that my PC with all of my music on it was in one room, and my digital receiver with an excellent set of speakers was on the other side of the house. I wanted something that would stream music from one to the other.

I post this here because I have found an unintended benefit - this will be my new way of showcasing photos to anyone who cares to come around to my house and look at them. It ties beautifully into flickr, and in fact I have it set up to use my flickr stream as a screensaver (in addition to being able to simply browse). Seeing my shots in 50 inch plasma glory is great - even my partner says that this has given her a new appreciation of my photography.

Flickr contacts can be added if you wish to that streaming service. Now I have top quality music where I want to listen to it, and as a bonus, my flickr stream adding the visuals.

And I can control it all from my iphone, essentially anywhere in my house or yard (as my wifi network covers this area).

To boot it was extremely easy to set up- if you already have a wifi network at home, it would not need anything in the way of tech savvy to get it going.

[Gemini2261]

Sounds great...I have been wanting to set something like this up myself...the apple TV ..can it be connected up to a PC or does it have to be a Mac?

How do you use the iphone as a controller?

[maccaroneski]

I have it connected to a PC, and obviously mac would be OK too.

Basically it uses itunes as the interface. If you don't have itunes, it can still do things like connect to flickr and you can rent movies, but you can't stream your music.

There is a free app for the iphone called "Remote", and you connect it to the same wifi network that your PC and apple tv are on, and you are good to go.

[Gemini2261]

I have it connected to a PC, and obviously mac would be OK too.

Basically it uses itunes as the interface. If you don't have itunes, it can still do things like connect to flickr and you can rent movies, but you can't stream your music.

There is a free app for the iphone called "Remote", and you connect it to the same wifi network that your PC and apple tv are on, and you are good to go.

Useful info, thanks...I have a TB of music on itunes so that thing would be great & the slide show ability...I am going to take a closer look at it:th3:

[wolffman]

That's on my Christmas list for the music streaming ability and I went to the local Mac shop and they mentioned flickr there and it's certainly got potential. We have a cacky old tv but music is pretty important to me. Of course plugging in the iPod to the amp does the same thing for a lot cheaper but it looks pretty cool.
That remote app gets a lot if use as well when the laptop gets plugged into the amp. We had a party and when I pulled out my phone to change the music all the ladies were really impressed. (I think)

[Analog6]

Tony, thanks so much for that post. I'd wondered about it for ages, could not work out how it all worked from the various explanations, it sounds terrific. I have all macs now and use Airport Express for my wireless network so obviously it will work for me. That definitely goes on my wishlist.

[I @ M]

Sounds good but for us it would mean having to buy a tv, a home entertainment system and a digital receiver. :D

[maccaroneski]

Small price to pay to display your photos big, Andrew :)

[zorro]

I have the Apple TV and it has revolutionised the way my family consume media...we no longer go to the Video shop as we just rent movies off iTunes, I can stream our music, photo's, podcasts (both audio and video) and also home movies (made with iMovie) and slideshows directly to my TV and HiFi system from my iMac, iPhone, iPad and my daughters Macbook. Control the whole lot with the Remote app on the iPhone or iPad. It will also talk to the couple of remaining PC's in the house. Love it!http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif

[brindyman]

if you have a old computer lying around doing nothing you can do it for free with XBMC :D just share the folders you want to access and load that into XBMC :D

[colinl]

Will it work from an ipod touch, or does it need iphone?

Sounds great. I've seen them advertised, but never looked at them in detail.

[maccaroneski]

Col as the iPod touch has wifi, and you can get the remote app for it, I believe that it will function as a remote as the iPhone does. The beauty is that if you already run itunes and have wifi, it's relatively cheap at $129 and as Zorro mentioned, it can really change the way that you consume media. I just love the screensaver - it rolls through all my best shots. Not that this takes very long for me, but you get the idea :)

[colinl]

Col as the iPod touch has wifi, and you can get the remote app for it, I believe that it will function as a remote as the iPhone does. The beauty is that if you already run itunes and have wifi, it's relatively cheap at $129 and as Zorro mentioned, it can really change the way that you consume media. I just love the screensaver - it rolls through all my best shots. Not that this takes very long for me, but you get the idea :)
Yes, I have both. At $125 it is good. How is the quality of the videos on the big screens. From memory the resolution from the itunes TV and movies isn't that high.

[maccaroneski]

Not too shabby at all Col. The HD stuff available for rental comes down at 720p and 5.1 sound, but the file sizes can be pretty huge (4.5 GB for a 2.5hr film).

You do get some compression artefacts in fog or sometimes in shadowy scenes, but other than that, it's pretty damn good.