Apple TV is a streaming digital media receiver that Apple Inc. markets. The first mention of the design was in 2006 at a press conference held as the iTV project in San Francisco. It was debuted as Apple TV in March of 2007 and was shipped to users who had pre-ordered the device. In September of 2010, the 2ng generation of the Apple TV device was announced. Both Apple TV generations were designed to work with the Apple iTunes store and for the user to share content from his/her computer via iTunes. The Apple TV is capable of providing streaming services for options such as Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe, and other digital content sources.

The Apple TV requires the display that it is connected into to be either an enhanced definition or high definition wide screen television for proper display. This means that the screen’s resolution will need to be set to 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576p, or 480p. Connectivity to the television is only possible through HDMI or Component cables. An Internet connection through wired LAN or wireless access is required to access content for streaming. Streaming between local devices allows offline content streaming in the iTunes library.

Apple TV Features

Apple iTunes can easily be accessed directly through the Apple TV device for instant streaming of video, audio, and podcasts. Television shows and other rented programming must be accessed directly through the Apple TV interface and cannot be streamed across devices or local connections.

Apple TV is capable of displaying image formats commonly found on Internet photo services such as Flickr and MobileMe.

Netflix streaming allows users to connect their Apple TV hardware to their Netflix account for instant streaming of television shows, movies, and other exclusive content. Apple TV allows Netflix to be streamed in HD format.

YouTube, Vimeo, and other video streaming services can be added to the Apple TV. It is possible to personalize the experience and content by creating an affiliated account with these services.

Parental control options are available to limit access to online media services. Parents can disable access to Internet Photos, YouTube, Podcasts, and Purchases or Rentals. One can choose to show, hide, or ask for a password before allowing access to any of the content. One can also restrict these services by rating as well.

Some of the content from Apple TV and iTunes have the ability to use closed captioning. A small percentage of the total content available has CC data available in streams.

The device is not enabled to serve user defined RSS feeds although it has RSS feed compatibility.

These are only a few of the features that Apple TV hardware and software have available. Apps can improve the Apple TV experience.

Apple iTunes Home Sharing

Home sharing is an option that is available with the Apple TV and other Apple devices. Up to 5 Apple iTunes accounts and 5 Apple TVs can be connected to each other. This allows the media from 5 iTunes libraries on 5 different computers to be shared between all of the devices including the Apple TV.

This option is only available to a single Apple iTunes account, meaning that users are only able to use devices and computers that they own and purchased content that is stored between them. Using different IDs causes the devices to format and install content that is available only within the respective account.

Formats that are compatible with streaming include:

Video options including resolutions for the encoding format of H.264 up to 720p and 30fps. The Mpeg-4 codec up to 720×432 pixels or 640×480 pixels at 30fps is also supported. Additionally, the Motion Jpeg format up to 720p at 30fps is supported.

Picture formats including JPEG, GIF, and TIFF can be displayed on the Apple TV.

Audio formats including HE-AAC, AAC, FairPlay protected AAC, AC-3 Dolby digital, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV. The AAC and MP3 format files need to be within 16-320 kbit/s bit rate.

Using any unsupported file format will prompt an error from iTunes and will not play.

Apple TV Remote

The Apple TV remote is an infrared remote control that is compatible with the Apple TV. It is specially paired with the Apple TV to reduce the chance of interference from other IR signals that may be sent from other remotes. Additionally, the Apple TV can be configured to work with universal remotes using the correct programming codes if available.

The remote is capable of controlling volume on the Apple TV and to make simple selections. Users can pair an app with their iOS devices to control the Apple TV and library contents via WiFi.

The content that is streamed can also be controlled via a computer with a connected iTunes shared account.