Apple iTV: Amazing News or All Hype? - A Closer Look
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As is true with many electronic devices, the Apple iTV may look sexy in the front, but it's where the connections are made that counts. So here's a view of the back.
While it is supposed to work wirelessly, the various ports handle component video, audio, and optical audio. It features a built-in power supply, USB 2.0, Ethernet, 801.11, and even RCA stereo audio ports. The set-top box is controlled with the standard Apple remote, and will work with both PCs and Macs.
Apple had prototypes of the iTV on display after Jobs' presentation. You could see a menu on the Sony TV for the iTV that allowed you to select between movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, photos, and settings. The settings sub-menu, in turn, featured a number of options, including a sub-menu for TV resolution.
At this juncture, I'd like to point out how this is a totally different approach from the one that Microsoft has been taking with its HTPCs. Microsoft would like everyone to get rid of their TVs, DVD players, and other entertainment media and replace them with a PC with a sound card and TV tuner running Windows Media Player. Honestly, do you know anyone who's going to want to watch their favorite shows and movies on a computer monitor when they can watch them on a plasma TV? Or listen to their favorite music through computer speakers when they have a perfectly good set of Bose speakers?
Instead of trying to replace, Apple created a device that effectively builds a bridge between your office and your living room. With Apple iTV, users can have their cake and eat it too, at least in theory.
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