Danny Gorog12 February 2008, 9:35 PM
Apple keeps the update machine rolling with Apple TV and Aperture 2.0 arriving this morning.
Apple TV Take 2
Apple this morning quietly released a major update to Apple TV - dubbed Apple TV Take 2 - which was previewed in mid-Jan at Macworld, and then delayed an extra two weeks. The update is available to all existing Apple TV owners for free, and will begin shipping on new Apple TV units shortly.
On my Apple TV the update took around seven minutes to download (via Optus Cable) and around ten minutes to apply the update. As expected the whole process was seamless. If you're keen to update your own Apple TV you'll need to go in to the Settings menu and select the 'Update Now' option.
Once the Apple TV restarts you'll notice that the whole interface has been completely revamped, and the navigation has been greatly improved as you now don't need to go all the way back to the top level menu to move between modes (Movies, Music etc.). Simply holding down the Menu button on the remote overlays the main navigation menu.
Apple TV 2 also works as a standalone device meaning you can buy movies and music directly from it, without needing a computer at all. Unfortunately, here in Australia you'll only be able to buy music and music videos. Hopefully sometime in the future Apple will remember us down under and add movie support (but don't hold your breath). If you're into podcasts you'll like the new ability to browse the full range of available podcasts and download them directly to Apple TV for viewing or listening.
Photo functionality has also been improved with the addition of .Mac and Flickr streaming. You simply need to point Apple TV 2 to your Flickr or .Mac account and it will download and display the images in a slideshow.
Apple TV 2 also now features Airtunes -- so you can stream music from your iTunes library to your Apple TV and to your speakers without having to turn on the TV at all. For people that invested in an Airport Express, this is quite big news. Although WiFi music streaming from iTunes is a cool technology that works extremely well, it has been disappointing to date that Apple hasn't extended the technology beyond iTunes (to the iPhone, iPod Touch, other Apple software with audio, etc.)
Aperture 2
Apple also released a major upgrade to Aperture this morning. The release is substantial for a number of reasons. Firstly, Aperture now drops to $268 from $449 (it's a strange price - I know) with an upgrade from the previous version going for $129.
Secondly, the Aperture interface has been given a complete overhaul, and, thanks to a new optimised database overall performance has been improved to the point where Apple can handle up to 100,000 masters (plus any number of versions) in a single project. There's also no limit on browser capacity, so more than 100,000 thumbnails can be displayed at a time.
Integration with iPhoto has also been improved, so new users will feel more comfortable getting to know Aperture without having to commit to importing their whole library from the get go.
Apple has created a
list of 100+ new features in Aperture (as they did with Leopard), including, as noted yesterdays announced support for most the newest digital cameras like the D3 and the EOS 1Ds Mark III.