Checking out Apple TV

We have been hearing all about Google TV for months and listening to several companies talk about how they will integrate it with their systems but what about Apple TV? Have you hear about this new TV phenomenon and why it's going to change the way you are watching television.

The Apple TV is a very small black box that will sit upon your TV and it's designed like an iPod. You have a little remote control that works just like your iPod does as it has the circular touch switch. It costs $99 but while you may think this is high, its not a bad price for what you get. You can rent TV shows for $0.99 and rent movies for $4.99. Its close the pricing you find with DirecTV and other companies but it literally mimics what you get with the iPod services.

If you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch you can use the function called "Airplay" which provides you with a chance to connect with the device and download your video and audio content and view it on your TV.

Its going to be a device you will see in a lot of homes but will it compete with Google TV and overtake it? Not likely as Google TV is internet with television and it's set to revolutionize the way you watch and use TV. Apple TV is very small, coming in at about 3.9 inches. This tiny little square is easy to hide and it's not big and bulky like you get with other things like DirecTV, Dish Network, and Tivo. It is very sleek and slim and it looks original and unique, what you typically expect with just about every Apple product.

How hard is it to connect to your television? It's actually very simple because you just need to have an Ethernet port and a USB port and an HDMI port will allow you to get it all hooked up and ready to go. The Apple TV features all of the same technology you can expect with any Apple product as it uses the same microchip that powers some other devices like the iPad and the iPhone 4.

The processor is about 1 GHz so it can be pretty fast. The one thing that is unknown is how much memory its going to have. Considering you can store thousands of songs and movies on the iPad and iPod touch, the Apple TV is expected to be able to store the same so you can record your favorite TV shows and movies and watch them as well.

The Apple TV comes with a remote that looks and functions like an iPod. It's made out of aluminum so you don't want to chuck it across the floor ad it can scrape up and can break. While the remote matches the Apple design, it is a headache. It takes awhile to scroll around through the menus and it's not as easy to use as other television remotes that have most of the buttons you need right there for you. You have to use it just like an iPod where you spin, click, spin, click, etc. and for TV users that like to channel surf, this isn't going to thrill them.However if you have an iPod or iPad, you can set up a "real" remote control on your device and sync it with your Apple TV, making it easy to navigate your TV just like you would with a traditional remote control.

It's easy to rent and download things onto Apple TV and you get to keep them for about 48 hours so you can watch them several times. One cool feature is being able to download your videos and pictures onto it so you can flip through them and even upload them to YouTube from Apple TV.