Author: DaveWeLike

I'm the editor of StuffWeLike.com.

Apple TV $229 AND with MORE Features

At Macworld Apple announced several new features to the Apple TV and a new price ($229 for 40gb, $329 for 160gb), all making for a package that’s actually appealing.

Users can now rent over movies straight from iTunes. Over 1,000 titles will be offered by the end of February. Of that 100 titles will be offered in high definition with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound. Costs will be $3.99 for new releases, $2.99 for library titles, and $4.99 for high definition titles. Costumers will have 30 days to activate the title and 24 hours after that to watch it.

Purchases downloaded to Apple TV are automatically synced back to iTunes on the user’s computer for enjoyment on their computer, all
current generation iPods or iPhone.

“With the new Apple TV and iTunes Movie Rentals, movie lovers can rent DVD-quality or stunning HD movies from their couch with just a click of a button,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “No more driving to the video store or waiting for DVDs to arrive in the mail.”

Other new features include viewing photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on Apple TV.

Apple TV NOT Needed with HomeDock HD

Dock your iPod and view its content in high-definition on your TV, sweet. HomeDock HD Upconverts iPod Video to 720p or 1080i via HDMI. Control the content via an RF remote and you’re good to go. The HomeDock HD will be released in Q2 2008 for the price of $249.99.

HomeDock HD

As of right now you’ll save $50, but the question at this point in time is will the price of Apple TV reduce or add more features that makes the HomeDock HD not that great of a bargain? We’ll disclose this information later today.

[Update] It’s official the Apple TV is now $229. Looks like the HomeDock HD is going to have a tougher time in the market.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

“I’ll be back.”

It’s such an overused quote, but a damn good one at that. SkyNet is back online in this new FOX TV show airing January 13 at 9pm! I had the privilege of watching the pilot episode at the San Diego Comic Con and it rocked.

This series follows Sarah Connor and her son John Connor. There’s no Arnold, but from seeing the first episode he wasn’t missed – although as the series progresses I’m sure he will be. Set in between Terminator 2 and 3 with tons of time traveling goodness, the biggest question is how will this series affect the Terminator timeline?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

While the pilot itself is enjoyable to watch, I do have doubts about the overall story to the series. First off when compared to the films, the CGI isn’t all that great. I hate it when things look cheap. To counter balance that, I want a great story with interesting characters. From the films we already know the backgrounds of both Sarah and John so what else is there to explore? As a fan of the film series, I just want to see the war that has been talked about since the dawn of Terminator 1. Hopefully we’ll get a good dosage of that in Terminator 4 set to be released in 2009.

 

Lost Fans Rejoice! Sneak preview of Lost Season 4

Add The Pipeline – TV Shows to your page

Honestly do I need to say anything in this post? Here’s the first 1.5 minutes of the first episode of Lost Season 4! Lost returns to ABC on January 31st at 8pm.The clip might not make sense at first, but oh it does at the end and it’s so good, forget those crappy Lost Minisodes…

NBC Videos Get a new player, it’s not Hulu

NBC has updated its video site with a brand-new player. These videos differ from it’s Hulu.com website as they are news oriented rather than fictitious shows.

Apparently NBC has truly learned how to go web 2.0! It’s allow third party websites to be able to embed their videos onto their own pages. Ok that’s not really an original idea or that exciting, but the player itself is responsive and the video quality is great. Of course there are ads and there is no way for video embedders to earn a percent off of the views they bring to these clips.

NBC definitely has the content that people want to watch, but if they could build a network like the AP’s The News Room – bloggers would be all over this service. If a website is bringing in viewers to your content, they should receive some sort of credit for doing so. The future for online video is going to be perfect for both content producers and syndicators, if syndicators are able to receive royalties for bringing views to ad supported videos created by the content producer.

We here at StuffWeLike will at some point have this capability for our media player The Pipeline so it’ll be interesting to see how that affects the usage of it.