By AppleInsider Staff
Published: 09:00 AM EST
Apple on Wednesday formally acknowledged the first shipments of Apple TV and said customers can expect wireless streaming media device to turn up at Apple and authorized retail stores "beginning this week."
In a press release, the Cupertino-based company described Apple TV as "an easy to use and fun way to wirelessly play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV, including movies, TV shows, music, photos and podcasts."
The device, which easily connects to almost all modern widescreen televisions, lets users quickly browse and view their entire collection of digital media from across the room from up to 30 feet away using the simple Apple Remote.
“Apple TV is like a DVD player for the Internet age—providing an easy and fun way to play all your favorite iTunes content from your PC or Mac on your widescreen TV,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Apple TV allows you to wirelessly play your content from your PCs or Macs using your existing WiFi network as well as the newest and fastest version of WiFi—802.11n.”
Integration of Apple TV and iTunes gives users access to over 400 movies and 350 TV shows in near DVD quality; over four million songs; 5,000 music videos; 100,000 podcasts; and 20,000 audiobooks from the iTunes Store.
Users can also watch their favorite movie trailers right on their widescreen TV, listen to their favorite music on their home entertainment system, and view slideshows of their photo albums in high definition resolution.
Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive to store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and is capable of delivering high-definition 720p output. It comes standard with HDMI, component video, analog and optical audio ports. Using high-speed AirPort 802.11 wireless networking, Apple TV can alsoauto-sync content from one computer or stream content from up to five additional computers right to your TV without any wires.
Apple TV, which bundles the Apple Remote, will be available beginning this week from the
Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $299 (US).
Apple retail stores will also offer hands on workshops and demonstrations of Apple TV’s features, Apple said.
