The new
Apple TV is finally revealed, and it’s not quite the iOS 4 device we were expecting. It is, however, $99--a fairly average price for media players--and trying to re-focus the brand into a device solely intended for streaming content rather than storing it. But are there already devices on the market that do what Apple’s intending? Roku lowered their prices in anticipation of the new Apple TV, and Boxee had some
interesting comments to make about Apple’s announcement.
Read on to see Apple TV, Google TV, Roku and Boxee duke it out in handy chart form.
| Platform | Apple TV | Google TV | Roku XR | Boxee Box |
| Price | $99 | N/A (Expected $200)
| $99 | $199 |
| Connectivity | 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet | 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet | 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet | 802.11b/g/n, Ethernet |
| Resolution | 720p | 1080p | 720p (1080p coming) | 1080p |
| Streaming Services | $.99 Fox, ABC rentals, HD movie rentals, YouTube | Dozens: Netflix, Pandora, Last.fm, DVR content, live TV, YouTube | Dozens: Netflix, Youtube, Amazon VoD, MLB, Revision3, and more | Hundreds: Netflix, YouTube, Hulu (maybe), MLB, and more |
| Format Support | m4v, mp4, mov, avi over AirPlay | N/A
| N/A | Any non-DRM format |
| Outputs | HDMI, Optical audio | HDMI, Optical Audio | Composite, Component, S-Video, HDMI, Optical audio | HDMI, Stereo, Optical audio |
| Inputs | microUSB | USB | USB | USB, SD card |
| Availability | Now | November | Now | November |
Perhaps the biggest chink in Apple’s armor is their new $.99 television show rentals from ABC and Fox. Sure, that’s an attractive price-point--but with Amazon Video on Demand selling those same videos for $.99, it’s hard to recommend renting via Apple TV. Unless you’re a watch-it-once disposable TV consumer, in which case the Apple TV is your device.
Google TV remains a pretty big question mark in the media player space, but it’s taking the opposite approach of the new Apple TV. Apple cut their price from $229 to $99, and are hoping people want simple streaming and rentals, not computer functionality. As
Bussiness Insider points out, Google’s hoping to bring the power and range of the computer to the living room.
We’re all for supporting web video, but Google TV will need a big marketing push, incredibly friendly interface and irresistible price-point to take up a position between the TV and cable box as a do-it-all device. It’s also important to note that Google TV is a platform, not one specific device, so exact specs ma: all of our spec data came from
Logitech’s Google TV offering.
The Google name may propel Google TV to some success, but we can see the Boxee Box carving out a decent niche in the media player market. But at $200, it’s hard to see the device gaining widespread success. Maybe with $50 shaved off the price and big deals with Amazon and Hulu, Boxee could really take off. CEO Avner Ronen candidly said Boxee was working on all of those things in the comments section of the
Boxee Blog.
From where we’re sitting, these four platforms are vying for two markets. Apple TV and Roku will battle it out for one, while Google TV and Boxee will scuffle for the other. The Google/Boxee bout is too early to call, but Roku clearly offers more for your $99. Unless you’re a huge fan of that big ol’ Apple logo and AirPlay streaming, or simply love the minimal form-factor of Apple TV, look into a Roku XR.
Image credits: Engadget, Logitech, Boxee
