• On MovieTome: See the villain of IRON MAN 2!
March 21, 2007 8:08 AM PDT

Walt loves Apple TV

by John P. Falcone



Gadget godfather Walt Mossberg is first out of the gate with a review of the Apple TV, and he likes what he sees. It seems that Apple's first A/V product designed for the living room worked exactly as advertised. Over 10 days of testing, Mossberg (and colleague Katie Boehret) was able to stream the iTunes-based music, video, and photos from six computers--three Windows PCs and three Macs--without a hitch. Even more impressive was the fact that the video streaming was stutter-free, even though he was testing with an older 802.11g wireless router rather than the state-of-the-art 802.11n Wi-Fi version that's built into the Apple TV.

The full review at Mossberg's Personal Technology site (which, curiously, does not require a subscription even though the paper's main site does) goes on to point out the key limitations of the device--it only streams iTunes content, and only works with HD or EDTVs--as well as some feature comparisons to the streaming and video download services available on the Xbox 360 (one of several competing devices). You can also watch Walt and Katie's YouTube-esque video review embedded above.

CNET will have a full review of Apple TV soon.

Video link from mac-essentials.de via Engadget

John P. Falcone covers home theater and network entertainment products. He's been writing for CNET since 2002.
Recent posts from Crave
Beamer, the iPhone case for night owls
This week in Crave: Day of the Droid edition
Verizon's LG Chocolate Touch is nice but nothing new
Popular iPhone movie app flops on BlackBerry
Top 5 most popular products for November
Ridiculous new Peeks inspired by TwitterPeek
Hands-on with the Nokia Booklet 3G
Battle of the international power plugs
Add a Comment (Log in or register)
When does Mossberg NOT like anything Apple does?
by make_or_break March 21, 2007 9:34 AM PDT
I'd really like to know, not that ol' Walt is anything close to tech-savvy to begin with (he admits it himself, for bloody sake).
Reply to this comment
Viewer Habits
by kimberlyholmes113 March 21, 2007 12:12 PM PDT
It will be interesting to see what the viewing habits are like with this thing.

This week, Shelly Palmer reported that YouTube's busiest time is Saturday
afternoon:
http://advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com/emmyadvancedmedia/
2007/03/googles_idea_of.html

I was kind of shocked by that, and wondered if that's when most iTunes
videos are purchased.

I'm guessing that, if this feels more like traditional TV (i.e. watched from a
couch) then viewer habits may fit traditional more models.

Jessica
Reply to this comment
advertisement

About Crave

The name says it all. Crave is our blog about gorgeous gadgets and other crushworthy stuff. If you would like to contact Crave with a tip or comment, please write to: crave@cnet.com

Add this feed to your online news reader

Crave topics

FAQ: Buying the right Windows 7 upgrade

Readers still have lots of questions on just which version of the software they need to buy in order to upgrade their PC. CNET News tries to offer some answers.

N.Y. lawsuit details Intel's 'largesse' toward Dell

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's federal antitrust case filed Wednesday alleges a longstanding symbiotic relationship between Intel and Dell.