Installation
First, the installation was a breeze. In the menu is an option to “Check for Updates.” After clicking this button, the device tells me an update is available and asks if I want to update now or later. I hit now and the download began promptly, as well as a progress bar telling me the remaining time for the download.

Once the download finished, it rebooted and asked me to choose my TV’s resolution. One more restart and I am presented with the Apple TV’s new menu. This is a much cleaner design than before and is more organized. I am able to select similar features as before, with a few additions.

Movies
Under the movies section, there is now an ability to search movies by different genres, by HD, etc. Under Television, it is structured like on iTunes. I can choose from Top Movies, Genres, All HD, Search, Trailers and My Movies. the Genres is broken down into typical subcategories like Comedy, Drama, etc.

Under each movie’s section, there is an option to watch the trailer, rent SD or rent HD. The My Movies category is for movies that were purchased and synced with the desktop computer. I was able to pull up without any problems the movies on my computer.

Podcasts
The podcast section also received a nice update. In fact, this is the section that most interests me from a video production point of view.

Not only can I watch my subscribed podcasts like before, but now I can browse shows just like under the movies and TV sections. Like the movie section, the Podcasts are divided into subcategories. As shown in the photo, you have Favorites, Top Podcasts, Genres, Providers, Search and My Podcasts.

The Fovorites category is empty when you start off, but as you watch podcasts, you can click it like you would bookmark a website. That podcast then shows up in your Favorites folder. The Top Podcasts is identical to what is shown on iTunes, with subcategories.

The Providers is a very interesting addition. I predict this will become the future version of channel surfing. The top podcast providers have a section here and you can flip through each one. For example, you can click from CNN to NPR to the TWiT network. Some are actual networks, some are new podcast only networks. When you click on that “channel” you see all the shows produced by that network.

Finally, you can search for a specific show. When I searched for magic, The Magic Lantern was listed and I clicked on it:

What is interesting is the related searches below the main show. This is exciting because it works just like on YouTube and also the Amazon “People who bought this book also bought this…” It is a way to recommend other shows that interest people.

Now that people can easily search for and browse podcasts on their computer without any need to go to their computer, I can see the number of podcasts begin to skyrocket. We’ve already seen an increase in the number of podcasts last year, but this is going to give a much bigger incentive for others to get their shows out there.

Now, new media networks like TWiT, Revision3, TPN and others are listed right alongside of CNN, MTV, ESPN, Discover and Disney.

Conclusion
This update makes the AppleTV a device that will possibly make it the iPod of TV. Other devices have done similar tasks before, but not with the ease of the AppleTV. Apple is king when it comes to taking something complex and making it dirt simple for the average person.

As a result, there will be more digital delivery devices like this and the competition will make all the devices even better. It will also mean people will want more content.

In 2008, we are not only going to see an explosion of content in the form of podcasts, but the quality is going to approach that of the big networks. We are already seeing this with GeekBrief TV and MacBreak.

The question is, are you taking advantage of this now and start your own production, or will you be struggling to catch up in a year?

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For those who haven’t read any of my previous posts or been watching the news, AppleTV is a small box that sits next to any widescreen television in the same way that you hook up your DVD player or cable box.

The main difference is that there is no slot for DVDs. There is no cable in connector. The only way to watch content is from a hard drive either inside the device or on another computer on your home network. It hooks up to your iTunes library and will play all your content in your library.

Want to watch a movie or TV show that you purchased from iTunes? You simply use the very simple remove and pick the show or movie you want to watch and click play. The show then streams from your main computer onto your television.

What makes this device different from a cable box or DVD player is that it has the ability to play movies in HD. And this is the big one: it has the ability to play podcasts.

As I’ve written before, podcasts are truly a wonderful thing for independent content creators. We are now in an age where anyone can record a show, edit it and broadcast it to the world.

The problem up until now was that content would be seen on a small iPod screen or computer screen. Now, these video podcasts are side by side with content from the big three networks and all the cable networks. Pretty big change!

So how well does the AppleTV work?

Hooking it up was a breeze. You simply plug in either an HDMI or Component video cable to your tv. It looks for any iTunes libraries on your home network and asks to which one (if you have more than one) you want to connect. From there, you can watch YouTube, any podcasts and any movies/tv shows on your main computer.

The quality varies depending on the content you are watching. At this moment, the podcasts are shining. Many podcasts are being filmed in High Definition (for example, MacBreak and The Washington Post). They are downloaded to the main computer automatically and are ready for you to watch at any time.

The HD content looks spectacular on our set. I have an older Sony HD set that is capable of 1080i. The AppleTV can connect to a 1080i set, but is only capable of playing 720p at 24 frames per second.

While this seems like a black eye on the AppleTV, it isn’t too much of a difference. Most people cannot tell a difference between 1080i and 720p unless the screen is larger than 60 inches and they are closer than 10 feet. I’m safe. I’ve got a 42″ screen and sit back pretty far.

Movies look great also. There is an optical digital audio cable in the back of the Apple TV to hook it into your existing sound system. Sound is very good. Not all of the movies on iTunes are surround (I’ll have to look up details on this).

In the end, the AppleTV provides the average person the ability to stream their content to the world instantly.

So we can go out and create films, episodic shows, documentaries and much more. And this can be delivered in HD for free to the world. This sidestep of Blu-ray and HD-DVD is a great boost to the independent producer. Blu-ray and HD-DVD are, technically, a higher resolution, but Apple TV offers something today that is infinitely cheaper and faster for most people to implement.

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To accomplish this, they used a combination of filters, chemically treating the film and filters applied in post-production to create a very dreamlike look.

He described it as “the feel that it’s a black and white film that has been hand colored” and it did have that feel. Very muted colors and the camera focus and exposure went soft and dark towards the edges. There was also a strong use of the diffuse filter and even more desaturation in the film for many of the flashback scenes. Very well done.

All and all, it was a very entertaining film. Burger was extremely polite and the audience enjoyed his Q&A. Here is a link to the film’s official site: http://www.theillusionist.com/

Without giving away too much of the plot, Ed Norton plays a magician with seemingly supernatural powers. Norton’s character is thrust into a battle of wits with the police inspector after a crime is committed. I’d highly recommend the film for both it’s content and artistic cinematography. Truely a work of art.

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