[Mark Smith]

Apple TV has just been updated and now has new apps for Sky News, Qello and Crunchyroll.

We all know what Sky News is, and this is the only one of the three which is free to use, the others require subscription. Crunchyroll is something I've never heard of for, shows Japanese anime, Qello offers unlimited access to concerts and music documentaries.

The Sky News app includes live streaming of the channel in SD, but seems to be better then on Freeview, and also video reports on top stories, weather and showbiz. A search function is included, but I'd also like to see HD streaming. I know this wouldn't be free but it's something I might pay a few quid a month for.

I'm hoping other apps will soon get added, especially the BBC news and sport apps and of course iplayer.

[kingdave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Smith

Apple TV has just been updated and now has new apps for Sky News, Qello and Crunchyroll.

We all know what Sky News is, and this is the only one of the three which is free to use, the others require subscription. Crunchyroll is something I've never heard of for, shows Japanese anime, Qello offers unlimited access to concerts and music documentaries.

The Sky News app includes live streaming of the channel in SD, but seems to be better then on Freeview, and also video reports on top stories, weather and showbiz. A search function is included, but I'd also like to see HD streaming. I know this wouldn't be free but it's something I might pay a few quid a month for.

I'm hoping other apps will soon get added, especially the BBC news and sport apps and of course iplayer.

Can't comment on the apps of Apple TV as I don't have one, but if the BBC News and Sport ones are as good as the apps I have on my Samsung TV then you'll be happy if they update them!

Been using the Sport app to watch red button coverage as it isn't in HD on Freeview, so live tennis from Queens and Confederations Cup football matches. The HD quality has been fantastic - not quite as good as a broadcast but not far off, and way way better than a Freeview SD transmission.

[ovbg]

I would rather see a full iPlayer than just some BBC news clips. The Apple TV is the only platform where iPlayer doesn't have an app for, which is really odd.

As for the new Sky news app, I also found the video quality surprisingly good. I've used Sky and BBC news apps on other platforms, and the video quality is generally horrible.

I had to raise an eyebrow yesterday though, as after updating my Apple TV to get the new apps, and firing up the live stream of Sky news, I was somewhat surprised to see the current live article was about the Apple TV (and new apps arriving)

[dazb]

You say the bbc sport app for watching hd is good, im just getting constant buffering on my ps3 and my connection is fine, dont know if its due to the fact that its from brazil the Confed cup.

[ovbg]

^^ Is it perhaps the same BBC Sport app as shown in this review, but for the PS3?

I have no problems with it on the Samsung TV from Germany (most times), but I have noticed that if I am having a bad Internet day and the viable HD stream is not at the highest level, switching to SD often provides a better quality picture.

Basically, the apps HD stream when not at full quality bitrate is worse than the SD stream at highest quality. At least on the Samsung platform.

Nothing is worse when streaming sports to have pixelation and artifacts when viewing fast action sequences.

[methodyguy]

With the update yesterday subscribers in the US also got HBO GO and a range of ESPN channels. Any chance of the UK getting these?

[ovbg]

No for both.

The US is very cable centric and almost everything goes through the super powerful cable companies. They even have situations where you have to be a cable subscriber to actually be able to access their FTA (OTA) live TV streams on some iOS apps.

Basically, you need to be a subscriber to selected cable TV services and then you can use those log-ins to access either HBO GO or ESPN Apple TV apps.

[methodyguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ovbg

No for both.

The US is very cable centric and almost everything goes through the super powerful cable companies. They even have situations where you have to be a cable subscriber to actually be able to access their FTA (OTA) live TV streams on some iOS apps.

Basically, you need to be a subscriber to selected cable TV services and then you can use those log-ins to access either HBO GO or ESPN Apple TV apps.

Thanks for the information

[dazb]

Apple need to allow access for external devices and other apps if they did i would get Apple Tv.

[ovbg]

^^ Other apps yes (and this will no doubt happen) but I very much doubt external devices.

Plugging things into other things is just not the Apple way. Sure, some people still prefer things that way, but the future is wireless. It is cloudstorage, NAS or anything really, as long as you don't need to physically plug it in. (well, ethernet aside if you go that way)

I am presuming you want to plug a HD into the Apple TV to play your media? If that is the case, why not just use a NAS? Some Routers even have NAS's built in, so just wack a HD on to that?

[Philip Wales]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazb

Apple need to allow access for external devices and other apps if they did i would get Apple Tv.

It can use external devices, as long as they are using iTunes, I can stream from my Mac, iPad, Phone etc..

And yes some other apps would like iPlayer etc would be great