Maccast Members #161 - Apple TV

Opening

• A lot of rumor and speculation has surrounded what moves Apple might make in the “television” space.
• Some think Apple will have a full blown Apple TV set and cable like TV service maybe by this time next year.
• The thing is, Apple has a great TV product now and a lot of people (probably you) have one.
• At the D Conference this year, Tim Cook revealed that Apple has sold 13 million Apple TV and that half of those sales, roughly 6.5 million have been made in the past year.
• Apple has long called the Apple TV a “hobby”, although Tim Cook did also say at the D Conference that there is a “grand vision” for Apple and television.
• A recent study from Frost & Sullivan, showed that 56 percent of all streaming devices sold worldwide are Apple TV.
  • Roku can in a distant second with 21.5 percent of all global device sales.
  • Yet according to another study from Parks Associates, at least in the US, Apple TV seems to suffer from ‘Android’ syndrome. They say that 37 percent of those studied use a Roku to stream content on their TV, while just 24 percent said they use an Apple TV. So, what are people doing with their Apple TVs?
    • One answer might be AirPlay, which I’m guessing some folks don’t think of as streaming.
• I thought it was time to go back an look at the current Apple TV and see how it works and what it can do for us today.

Apple TV

• The current version is generation 3
• It is a “set top” box that connects to your existing TV and home entertainment system.
• It uses HDMI and digital audio out to do so
• There is a micro-USB port, but that is solely for service and updates
• You control the interface with the Apple Remote or by using the ‘Remote’ app on an iOS Device.
• Connects either over Ethernet or Wi-Fi (802.11n) to your home network.
• Can playback up to 1080p HD video

Content

Apple Stuff

• Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcasts (iTunes content)
• iTunes Radio support will come with the iOS 7 update
• Accessed in two ways. Directly from iTunes Store Purchases or by accessing iTunes content from computers on your home network
• To access your iTunes content on other computers you need to enable “Home Sharing”
  • On your Mac in iTunes, choose File > Home Sharing > Turn On Home Sharing. Enter your Apple ID and password. You’ll need to use the same account for both the Apple TV and in iTunes
  • On the Apple TV, Computers > Turn On Home Sharing. Again, enter your Apple ID and password.
  • Once enabled you will be able to use the ‘Computers’ section to access the content and libraries of any Macs running iTunes on your home network that have Home Sharing enabled.
• To access content directly from iTunes:
  • This would be purchased Movies and TV shows.
    • Settings > General > iTunes Store
    • Enter your iTunes account information
    • You can now access the ‘Purchased’ tab in the Movie and TV Show categories on your Apple TV and stream any purchased content from there
    • You can also browse and purchase content on the iTunes Store directly on the Apple TV.
    • Top, Genre, Network, Genius, and Search options
  • You can also access Music directly from iTunes in the Cloud if you subscribe to Apple’s iTunes Match service (USD $24.99/yr.).
    • Settings > General > iTunes Store and enable iTunes Match
    • You will get a new ‘Music’ item in the Apple TV UI and you can browse and stream your Music directly from iTunes
  • Podcasts
    • Podcasts that you are subscribed to in iTunes or in the Podcast app should sync through your Apple ID
    • You can also browse and search for podcasts
    • Subscribe and Unsubscribe on the Apple TV. These will sync back via iCloud to other iOS devices
  • Photo Stream
    • Access the Photo Stream app
    • Sign-In with your Apple ID
    • Can browse your Photostream and Shared Photostreams
    • Can go into Settings in Photo Streams to enable or disable streams
    • Can Browse using the remote.
    • Press ‘play’ to get a slideshow.
    • In the ‘Slideshow’ setting you can set music (from your iTunes Library), transitions, duration, etc.
  • Trailers
    • Access Movie trailers
    • See movie synopsis, cast and crew details, and the rating on Rotten Tomatoes (no reviews)
    • See photo galleries
    • Access shorts and featurettes
    • See local showtimes by entering in your zip code.
  • Radio
    • Access “radio” stations and stream their content
    • Have both “terrestrial” and internet based stations
    • Browse by category only
    • Can add stations to a “Favorites” list that appears at the top.
  • iTunes Radio
    • Coming with iOS 7
    • Free service that operates like “Pandora”
    • Will get Ads. One for every 15 minutes of content. One video ad an hour.
    • If you subscribe to iTunes Match you get the service ad free.
    • Create “Stations” based on songs or artists
    • Can adjust the station to add or exclude songs or artists
    • Buy song or album directly
  • iTunes Festival
    • Seasonal, but coming up in September
    • Live streamed content from London.
    • A month’s work of concerts with a new one each day.
    • Artists like Lady Gaga, Justin Timerlake, Elton John

Third Party Free Content

• Flickr
  • Enter in a username to view there images from Flickr
  • You can search on a term
• YouTube
  • Can browse featured, most viewed, most recent, top rated
  • Search for videos
  • Log in to your account at see your content
    • Your Videos, Watch Later list, Favorites, Subscriptions, playlists
• Vimeo
  • Browse Featured Channels and Categories
  • Search for videos
  • Log-in to access your account
    • Your videos, feeds, likes, and collections
• The Weather Channel (new)
  • Enter your location or zip code to get the weather and forecast
  • Has daily, hourly, 10-day and video forecast
  • You can add multiple locations
  • Additional Weather Channel shows you can stream
• Wall Street Journal Live
  • Live video stream at scheduled times
  • Business related news video from the Wall Street Journal
  • On demand video
• Sky News
  • 24-hour Live news channel out of the UK
  • Also has on-demand video segments
• Smithsonian Channel (new)
  • Full episodes of some of the networks shows
  • Focus on science, technology, art, culture, and history content.

Cable Required Content

• These are channels you need to have a matching cable subscription for to be able to access ALL the content
• There is some non-live or on-demand content you can still access
  • Watch ESPN, sports. Clips and highlights without cable.
  • HBO Go, movies - can get previews without HBO
  • Disney Channel (new), family
  • Disney XD

Premium Subscription Services

• Netflix, movies and TV
  • Sign in with your Netflix account.
• Hulu Plus, TV
  • Sign in with your Hulu Plus account.
• Sports Services MLB, NBA, NHL
  • For free you can access clips, game summaries, box scores, play stats and details, game schedules
  • If you want to access full live or pre-recorded (on demand) games you need a subscription
• Qello, Music concerts
  • Requires a subscription
• Cruchyroll, Anime

Airplay

• Send content from iTunes
  • Click on the ‘Airplay’ icon and choose your destination.
• Send content with iOS
  • From the player
  • From apps
• Some apps can use an Apple TV and Airplay as a “second screen”.
  • Let’s you see content on the Apple TV that is different than what is on the iOS screen.
  • There are some games that use this. Real Racing 2 and The Incident for example
• Mirroring from iOS
  • Double tap to access the App Switcher
  • Swipe right to get to the volume and Airplay options.
  • Select the Apple TV as the output source
  • Switch on the ‘Mirroring’ options
• Mirroring from a Mac
  • In Mountain Lion only
  • Open System Preferences > Displays
  • In the AirPlay Mirroring drop-down, select the Apple TV you want to Mirror to.
    • You can optimize the display resolution for the Apple TV or to show your desktop resolution (side letterbox bars).
    • Once on there is a ‘Overscan’ correction option
    • You can only Mirror your main display.
  • Can check on the ‘Show mirroring options in menubar when available’
    • This will show the Airplay icon in the menubar when there is an Apple TV available to mirror to n the network.
  • Air Parrot
    • Great for older Macs that can’t run Mountain Lion
    • Also has a version for PCs
  • OS X Mavericks is going to bring the ability to use AirPlay to an Apple TV to extend your desktop. Basically use your Apple TV as another display.

Cool tips and Tricks

• The menu button is the path back.
• Can move app tiles around with press and hold of select button
  • Any app tiles, other than Apple’s ones, in the top row.
  • Press and hold and the tile will “wiggle” you can then move it around with the direction keys on the remote.
  • Press the select button again to drop it in place.
  • Repeat for each one you want to move.
• Hide app tiles you don’t use
  • Go into Settings > General > Parental Controls
  • Scroll down and you should see each “app” with the word “Show” next to it.
  • Select one you want to hide and press the ‘select’ button on the remote to toggle it to ‘hide’
  • Do this for each app you want hidden fro the main interface
  • You don’t have to have Parental controls on for this to work.
• Holding the select button on certain screens can provide more options
  • In Movies, access Chapters, Subtitles, Audio, and speaker options
  • When playing Music:
    • Start a Genius Playlist
    • Access and re-order the ‘Next Up’ playlist
    • Access Speaker selection and volume options.
• Pressing ‘down’ or ‘up’ can often provide more details
  • When viewing info on a Movie pressing ‘up’ will give you the synopsis.
• In Settings > General > Bluetooth you can set up and pair a Bluetooth keyboard
• Apple’s free ‘Remote’ app is also a great way to control your Apple TV
  • After downloading the app, just set it up on Home Sharing with the same account you used for your Apple TV
  • Let’s you use your iOS devices on-screen keyboard.
• Make sure you’re getting full HD
  • First go to Settings > Audio & Video > TV Resolution
  • It defaults to ‘Auto’. Look under the Apple TV picture and make sure it’s set to the right HD resolution for your TV
    • Something like 1080p HD - 60Hz
    • Only Apple TV 3rd gen can do 1080p
    • Set it manually from the list if ‘Auto’ has it wrong
  • Then go to Settings > iTunes Store > Preferences
    • Check the Video resolution option and make sure it’s HD
    • Also look at HD Previews and make sure it’s set to ‘ON’
• Access a Plex server without Jailbreak
  • Plex Connect
  • Basically you change the DNS to route requests through the Plex Connect software and it changes the responses it gives back to the Trailers App
  • It converts the Trailers App into a Plex client.
  • Apple’s latest update broke it, but there is a workaround here
    • Basically some request need to use SSL and certs you need to generate and install.