“And now Amazon has gleefully proved my point by announcing – with perfect timing – that its second-generation Amazon Fire TV box WILL support 4K UHD streaming,” Archer writes. “What’s more, it will do so for a price of just $99.99 (£80 in the UK), comfortably undercutting what Apple is asking for its HD-only boxes.”
“You will need both a 4K UHD television set and a broadband connection that delivers a stable speed of at least 15Mbps to make use of the new Amazon Fire TV’s 4K streaming capabilitie,” Archer writes. “The thing most people will spend the majority of their time doing on their Amazon Fire TV or Apple TV box is simply watching video. And the fact that much of this viewing can be done in glorious 4K on the Fire TV box but only in HD on the Apple TV box surely gives Amazon’s new offering a potentially killer edge for both serious AV fans and the growing millions of people keen to get the best from their shiny new 4K TVs.”
MacDailyNews Take: The assumption that “most people will spend the majority of their time simply watching video” is a naive assumption. The Apple TV App Store will dramatically impact what people do with their TVs. Every minute spent playing a game or checking the weather or utilizing any of the tens of thousands of new ideas that developers will come up with for Apple TV is one less minute spent “watching video.” There are only so many hours in the day.
Archer is wrong. Apple is certainly not embarrassed. Especially by Amazon. Amazon is not a tech company, it is a warehouse with a website run by a bald midget with a massive Napoleon Complex. Peddling badged plastic pretend iPads, fake iPhones (oops, Fire Phone is already defunct), and wannabe Apple TVs to the unsuspecting does not a tech firm make.
Obviously, Apple has the capability to offer and deliver 4K video. Certainly, they have their reason(s) not to offer 4K support immediately. Perhaps they will flick the 4K switch in software after they have signed deals with the content providers? If Amazon’s hardware is capable of 4K, the new A8-powered Apple TV hardware certainly is, too. And that would be just like Apple has always been with Apple TV: Under-promise and over-deliver. For the life of the product, Apple has constantly improved existing Apple TVs via software at no extra cost to users. If not, there’s always next year, but the new Apple TV offers much more than simply streaming video and 1080p is perfectly acceptable even on 4K Ultra HDs.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, Amazon’s box is wonderful for passive streaming, the 4K is the draw (not for us, though, as we already get Amazon, Netflix, and other 4K content directly through the apps in our Sony 4K Ultra HDs) versus the 1080p offered by Apple TV, but the Apple TV App Store will simply be unrivaled, to say nothing of the expected Apple Internet TV bundle(s) that loom, hopefully (right, Eddy?), just over the horizon. And, of course, Apple TV’s Siri Remote offers a glass touch surface with accelerometer and gyroscope for motion control. Amazon offers nothing like it.
No 4K is a bit of a let down. Finding 4K content is a chore. Right now, we’re mainly stuck with Netflix or Amazon and their limited 4K choices to feed our 4K Sony Ultra HD TVs. Oh, well. Perhaps the hardware is capable and Apple can simply add 4K content at a later date once 4K TVs become more prevalent? – MacDailyNews Take, September 2, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Amazon unveils $100 Fire TV box 4K video support, Alexa voice control – September 17, 2015
With the all-new Apple TV, Apple changes the game, yet again – September 14, 2015
Analyst: Apple TV streaming service on the way, could cost at least $40 a month – September 14, 2015
Local media streaming app Plex coming to Apple TV – September 14, 2015
What Apple got right in Apple TV’s user interface – and what needs work – September 11, 2015
New Apple TV has the potential to do for television what iPhone did for mobile phones – September 11, 2015
Apple preps to conquer living room with all-new Apple TV – September 11, 2015
Hands-on with the all-new Apple TV – September 10, 2015
Gruber: Apple TV will define how all TVs will work in a few years – September 10, 2015
Here’s how much RAM is inside Apple’s iPhone 6s/Plus, iPad Pro and new Apple TV – September 10, 2015
New Apple TV sounds great, but where’s the 4K? – September 10, 2015
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