Apple is big multinational corporation that produces all sorts of electronic devices for the home users and also for companies. It has the headquarters in California, United States of America but it’s selling its products all over the world. So this means that it has many other locations in other countries, and many employees (around 35.000). Some of the most famous Apple products are: the iPod, the iPhone, the iMac, the MacBook, the iTunes, the MAC OS X operating systems etc.
But we won’t discuss about any of those products today and we’ll choose to talk about another one, the Apple TV. The Apple TV is a digital media receiver produced and sold by Apple. It is a small and simple looking device that is made to play digital video content. So all you have to do is connect the Apple TV to a browser such as iTunes Store, Youtube, Flickr or to any Windows or Mac OS X computer and enjoy the video content on a normal TV or on a High Definition TV. It can function as a home theater connected iPod device or a digital media receiver, depending how you want to use it.
The Apple TV was launched in March 2007 and it had an initial storage capacity of 40 GB. In may 2007 there was launched a second version that had a hard drive of 160 GB and this is the size that you can still find today for an Apple TV. But this doesn’t mean that the product wasn’t improved since 2007, because there was a third version launched in 2009 which can work better with wide screen displays, has improved iTunes integration and can stream internet radio content.
The Apple TV has a memory of 256 MB of DDR2 SDRAM and an Intel Pentium M @ 1 Ghz processor (that has the codename “Crofton”). It has dimensions of 197 mm x 197 mm x 28 mm (7.7 x 7.7 x 1.1 inch). But we think it would be much easier to give the complete technical details for this product. So here they are:
- Processor - Intel Pentium M 1.0 GHz "Crofton" Processor
- Graphics - NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 (64 MB VRAM)
- Memory - 256 MB of 400 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- Hard drive - 160 GB hard disk
- Connectivity
* USB 2.0 (officially for diagnostic use only, though hackers have managed to allow connectivity of hard disks, mice, and keyboards)
* infrared receiver
* HDMI
* Component Video
* Video and audio cables are not included with Apple TV.
- Networking
* 10 BASE- T/ 100 BASE-T Ethernet
* 802.11 b, g, n wireless networking (AirPort)
- Output
* 1080p/ 1080i 60/ 50 Hz (but maximum video resolution is 720 p)
* 720 p 60/ 50 Hz
* 576 p/576 i 50 Hz (PAL)
* 480 p/480 i (480 i is unofficially supported) 60 Hz
- Audio
* digital optical audio
* RCA analog stereo audio
- Power - Built-in universal 48 W power supply
- Dimensions 197 × 197 × 28 mm (7.7 × 7.7 × 1.1 in)
- Weight - 1.09 kg (2.4 lb)
This cool device has a starting price of 229 dollars. So either you want to enjoy movies, pictures and TV shows at the best High Definition quality, or you want to listen to music from iTunes on your home theater speakers system you can definitely choose the Apple TV. What you need to have is a widescreen (16 by 9) enhanced definition of High Definition TV (with a HDMI, DVI or component video input port), a wired or a wireless network, an account on iTunes (only if you want to use it of course) and a Broadband internet connection…and of course 229 dollars to buy it. In the box you will receive the Apple TV device, the power cord, printed documentation and also a useful remote control. So enjoy it, and if you already have an Apple TV, share all your opinions with us.