Netflix goes where Apple TV should have

May 21, 2008 at 10:17 pm · Filed under Hardware

I’ve had an Apple TV connected to a HDTV in my living room for months now. Overall, the experience has been good. Not great, good. Insofar as movies specifically, I just wish it worked different. If I want a movie, I rent it. Since I want the highest quality video I can get, I rent the HD movies exclusively. The quality is phenomenal. The price is not. Nor is the viewing policy.

After pressing ‘play’ Apple gives you 24 hours to watch the movie. Then, it’s gone.

After getting to know Apple TV the ‘different’ model that made the most sense to me as a user was the all-you-can-eat model. There is only one Apple TV in my house, and it can only handle one stream at a time. So, not unlike a (paid) television even if I had unlimited access, I cannot watch more than one movie or program at a time. I would rather pay Apple $29.95 a month to consume all I can through that channel than to have to rent or buy every piece of individual content I’m interested in. Basically Netflix streaming to my house. Well, today Netflix announced just that.

The set-top box Netflix announced is $99.95 (as compared to Apple TV’s $229 for their base model) and while it has some shortcomings, it certainly does make an interesting comparison.

The Netflix box is a part of a Netflix account. You still have your queue and pay your monthly fee. The only thing that is missing is the trip to the mailbox.

The shortcomings?

1. There is no hard drive-all content is streamed (no buffering, rewind and fast-forward are likely clunky)
2. Lack of selection (not a shortcoming in comparison to AppleTV, just in general)
3. Lack of HD (the box supports HD, but the service is only streaming standard definition signals at this time)
4. It’s only movies, no television or podcasts.

All of these shortcomings could change, and I’d predict some will sooner than later. My hope, which may be that and nothing more, would be for Apple to offer a similar monthly video plan.

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3G iPhone Poll

May 4, 2008 at 10:26 pm · Filed under Poll, Hardware

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If you have any comments about 3G coming to the iPhone please comment below.

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3G iPhone vs. Edge iPhone Speed Test

May 4, 2008 at 10:18 pm · Filed under Hardware

Is 3G enough to get you to make the move from your current handset to an iPhone? Would you upgrade to a 3G iPhone from the existing Edge handset you already shelled out a few hundred dollars for?

If you’re pondering one of those questions, here’s a test on YouTube which gives an approximation of the experience one could expect on a 3G iPhone. The 3G isn’t an iPhone that snuck out of Cupertino. It’s an Edge-based iPhone which is using a shared HDSPA modem Internet connection by way of WiFi.

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