Google TV: Is It Time For Apple TV to Drop Its “Hobby” Status?

Google has announced its intentions to invade the living room with an Android-powered media box and partners Intel, Sony and Logitech. Will Google TV finally be a wake-up call for Apple to do something real with Apple TV at long last?
That’s the question posed by MC Siegler over at TechCrunch, who notes that the increasing tensions between Google and Apple have now spilled blood in another front: The living room. And unlike the smartphone race where Apple still has a good foothold with the iPhone, the living room is totally up for grabs since no one has quite figured out how to mine that gold yet.
Google TV, as it’s slated to be called, will be based around the company’s open-source Android platform, which means there will already be plenty of third-party developers coming up with all kinds of cool stuff for it. Meanwhile, Apple TV has been a closed platform (despite methods to hack it to do things it was never designed for). But what if Apple totally reworked its media box to use the iPhone OS?
“The idea of running iPhone-style applications on the Apple TV has long been a sexy one,” TechCrunch’s Siegler notes. “The main problem with developing iPhone apps for the Apple TV seems to be resolution. With the iPhone (and iPod touch), Apple offers only one screen size/resolution, ensuring developers have an easy time making great-looking apps -- while at the same time, making sure end users have a great experience.”
But that has all changed with the introduction of the iPad -- developers are now scrambling to update their apps for the larger canvas that the iPad offers. It’s not hard to imagine that Apple TV could be reworked to run those apps, instead of the hackneyed Mac OS X Front Row-style interface that it has now. (The Apple TV actually runs Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.)
Google has the advantage in this department, since Android “already runs on dozens of phones with different screen sizes,” and even portable non-phone devices such as the Archos 5 Internet Tablet. For their part, Apple likely won’t take this fight lying down -- they’ve publicly stated that Apple TV’s “hobby” status is still something that they are very much interested in investing in, and for all we know there’s a few units deep within the labs at Cupertino already running iPhone OS or some other equally amazing thing.
Whatever Apple is planning to do to counter Google, it’s probably time to step up to the plate and knock one out of the park. We know you can do it, Apple!
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stonee
September 07, 2010 at 7:52pm
I'll choose Google TV, because apple has so many compititors, SAMSUNG, blackberry... (iphone 4, ipad). It's an astonishing phenomena that apple provide users the same content (services) as its compititors with itunes, And the video converter and dvd ripper are no bussiness of "apple" or "blackberry"(both can use them)...on free offline videos (you can get many free videos converter and dvd rippers which are working on windows and different with handbrake from aneesoft official website, but ifunia is should be paid for apple devices on mac). So I'll choose which can offer many of the entertainment sources online.
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Soane
March 19, 2010 at 12:28pm
I have considered buying an Apple TV for some time, but never done so because it's still pointless. Unlike the USA, we in the UK can only get TV shows on our Macs in HD; the few movies in HD are still only available to Apple TV users, though I'm sure that will change one day soon. In addition, HD content is still not up to the definition standards achieved by Blu-Ray, so what's the point in having a full Hi-def monitor or TV and watching relatively Lo-Def content?The main purpose of an Apple TV is to rent video content instantly. It's great to choose a movie to suit your current mood and start watching it within minutes. No more trips in the cold to the rental store or waiting for mail order rentals to arrive. Apple needs to update the Apple TV software to Snow Leopard, handle Hi-Def content recorded on a Mac via an Elgato TV tuner, push the studios to start releasing content in true Hi-Def and prepare for 3D. If they don't then the people who value quality will go the Blu-Ray route. Apple has always been about quality and ease of use; the Apple TV should be no exception.
DJ
March 19, 2010 at 8:42am
I just want to know one and for all where they stand on the future of AppleTV. I agree that if it isn't a major part of their future road map then they shouldn't use resources to fight Google. SO just let us know already Apple! If you don't plan to take it beyond "Hobby", then kill it off already so we can mourn its passing. If you do care about it, then show us that you do and give it some love.
I need some tech solutions in the living room to replace a 5 year old TiVo, and I want it to come from Cupertino. But if we are either 2-3 years away from this, or if it will never come, then Apple should do the honorable thing and send a message to it's customers so we can get closure and move on. I am eyeing a new TiVo Premiere box, but I would prefer an updated Apple TV instead (maybe both, depending on feature sets), but I need to see some progress here. Complete secrecy to the point of death isn't always a good thing. Give us a sign!
tscurtis
March 18, 2010 at 9:54am
Maybe Apple should respond by taking the Apple TV out of "hobby" status, but more importantly Apple needs to avoid getting into a tête-à-tête battle with Google just for the sake of the fight. If the Apple TV is "core" to Apple's future strategy, wage all out war. If it's not, don't waste resources on a fight they don't really care to win.
SpaceTrucker
March 18, 2010 at 7:56am
Apple needs to upgrade AppleTV to Snow Leopard and upgrade it's Front Row interface a tad while including HD DVD capabilities as well as CableCard 2 capabilities and Gaming abilities, then it will become something worthy of the Living Room. Oh, while they're at it, they need to "open" it up some for developers and quit keeping a "closed" platform. It would have already been something more than a "hobby" had Apple actually done these things from the start. A little help with AT&T's "U-Verse" service, and this box could have actually been something...
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cemccon
March 18, 2010 at 7:01am
So we can use them as DVR like devices without the cable box. Need HDMI and HDCP connections. They also need to be able to take the shows we record or download and export them seamlessly to the iPhone / iPod touch or iPad. Plus, we want to update our social media accounts, check our email, and do lite Web surfing, too. Finally, the ability to stream Netflix movies would be good.
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