IPODS, iPHONES + iPADS
2011 Buyers’ Guide
How Does It Work? Apple TV deposits you first in movie and TV rental areas, but there’s more under “Internet” Netflix, YouTube, Podcast, MobileMe, Flickr, and Internet Radio streaming and Computers, which plays iTunes library content from PCs and Macs you’ve linked to Apple TV with iTunes 10’s Home Sharing feature. With iOS 4.2’s AirPlay, video from iOS devices will just take over the screen. Movies. Theatrical releases, solely for rent.
TV Shows. Network and cable, also for rent.
Limitations. Apple’s launch of Apple TV without support from most TV studios means that the device’s selection of 99-cent rentals is paltry by comparison with the priorgeneration model’s set of $1.99 purchasable shows.
Trailers. Free previews of films still in movie theaters. Search. This screen, used in Movies, TV Shows, and other parts of the Apple TV interface, is a slow-moving keyboard that just drags on using the included remote.
Internet. Netflix videos Computers + Settings. are the top new feature. iTunes streaming, more.
iTunes. Videos, music, and More. YouTube, Flickr, Podcasts, and Internet Radio. photos from your iTunes library can be navigated using old-fashioned iPodlike menus from within Apple TV; streaming is nearly instantaneous. As with the prior model, the new Apple TV also offers support for universal remotes, the ability to learn commands from other remotes, and Apple’s own, more sophisticated iOS Remote software - the only way to use a keyboard.
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