An Apple TV a day is only a few weeks away

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Wednesday, 28 February 2007

Expected to ship in February, last-minute delays to Apple’s TV set-top box should now see it launch in mid-March instead to genuine worldwide interest.

The Apple TV is Apple’s big foray into the world of downloaded video playing through your existing big screen TV. Set to sell for US $299, it will source video, music and other content through iTunes, and can even do it wirelessly over the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi standard.

But, it is late, as rumors predicted, with Apple spokeswoman Lynn Fox telling Reuters by email that “Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected”.

The Apple TV is Apple’s attempt to dominate video downloads in the same way it dominates music players and downloads with the iPod. It comes with a graphically slick iPod style on-screen menu system and a 40Gb hard drive to locally store content which can be played back even if the main PC is turned off.

The Apple TV is expected to be sold in many countries worldwide, but not all countries will yet be able to download TV shows and movies from the iTunes store as is possible in the US, although Apple will certainly eventually want that outcome globally if the Apple TV is set to become a worldwide smash.

Whatever happens, Apple has firmly staked its claim to a piece of the video download market. Will the Apple TV ultimately will the digital media download war? Not even eating an apple a day can tell you that, but at least you’ll keep your doctor happy.
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