I’m not going to lie to you: There’s more sophisticated streaming media hardware out there, and we’re going to talk about it later in this guide. But here’s the thing: When you plug a streaming device into your television, you expect it to well, stream something. Simply put, no service currently offers Canadians a larger selection of movies, or television shows to buy or rent than Apple’s iTunes Store, all of which the company’s $109 Apple TV is designed to leverage.(You can also get a refurbished one online from Apple for $85.) That’s it’s killer feature: more content than you could hope to watch in a lifetime, with more on the way every day.
A simple black box about the size of a hockey puck, the third generation Apple TV doesn’t look like much. On the front of the device, you’ll find a single white light that turns on when the hardware’s running, and blinks every time you push a button on it’s minimalistic three button and directional ring remote (you can also control it with an iOS device by downloading Apple’s free Remote app). Apple keeps things simple with the hardware’s tail end too: There’s a power port, another for plugging an optical audio cable into, an Ethernet jack for those with homes without WI-Fi connectivity and an HDMI connection to connect to your HD TV. Unfortunately, there’s no other means for hooking a current generation Apple TV to a television set or monitor, so be sure to check your television set to see if it has an available HDMI port before you buy. Under the hood, there’s a 802.11a, b, g or n networking compatible Wi-Fi adapter and a single-core A5 chip. Which basically means that it can stream and present high definition audio and video content without stuttering, provided you have a wireless router and Internet connection fast enough to support it. It handles input from a Bluetooth keyboard as well, which makes it a little more pleasant to search the thousands of films and television shows available to purchase or rent from the iTunes Store.
In addition to the streamable content available via the iTunes Store, the Apple TV can also act as a gateway to a number of other popular services and channels. Every Apple TV comes preloaded with Netflix (but you’ll need a subscription) right out of the box, as well access to YouTube, VEVO, Flickr, Wall Street Journal Live, Vimeo and a wide variety of free podcasts and Internet radio stations. users can also enjoy content free and paid from the National Hockey League and Major Legaue Baseball, Major League Soccer, concerts and music documentaries from Qello and a massive library of Asian programming from Crunchyroll. What’s more, Mac and PC users with iTunes installed on their computers can rip DVDs they own and stream them over their Wi-Fi network to their Apple TV; Making everything you own – both downloaded and imported – watchable on one device. Finally, Apple computer and iOS device owners can also stream music, video, photos and audio, or just about any other onscreen content to an Apple TV on the same Wi-Fi network, via AirPlay.
The only true downside to investing in an Apple TV is that doing so means that, in order to make it worthwhile, you’ll also have to invest in content from the Apple iTunes Store. This isn’t a problem if you never plan on watching your videos on another device. But if you want to watch a movie you bought through iTunes on an Android or Blackberry device, you’re out of luck. With the exception of downloaded music, all iTunes content is protected by strict Digital Rights Management measures that ensure it can only be viewed on proprietary Apple hardware. Bummer.