Apple TV

Mac Tip #303/22-August-2007
Synchronise the Apple TV

The Apple TV can synchronise with one computer in your network, though it can play items on behalf of other computers too. I have my Apple TV synchronised with my main machine: my MacBook Pro.

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I have quite a lot of media files on my Mac. As I write I have:

• 16 GB of iTunes Music (includes 500 Mb of movies)
• 15.6 GB of Photos

All of these are copied across to the Apple TV. Then when I add or remove items in iTunes the files are added to or deleted from the Apple TV.

I have a lot of control though, as I can set preferences for how the Apple TV and my Mac should interact. You do it like this:

• make sure the Apple TV is connected up and ‘paired’ with your Mac.
• open iTunes and wait a few moments.
• click on the Apple TV item under Devices in the Source column. The main area of the window shows a Summary of information about your Apple TV.
• click on each tab in turn across the top of the iTunes window: Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcasts and Photos.
• in each tab select the settings you prefer.

Once you’ve made all your choices, click the Sync button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.

If you make major changes, or if this is the first sync, you’d be well-advised to either connect your Mac to the Apple TV with an ethernet cable or to leave it to sync overnight. Remember to set your Mac not to go to sleep. My Apple TV now contains about 35 GB of files and it took hours for the first transfer of data over the wireless network.

By the way: the multi-coloured strip across the bottom of the Apple TV window in iTunes responds to clicks. Click on the bar to rotate display between GB, number of items and media duration (eg hours or days of music). The screenshot shows the same bar three times — each one showing different information.

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Mac Tip #302/15-August-2007
Introducing the Apple TV.

Some time ago Apple introduced a tiny new product called the Apple TV. That’s a somewhat confusing name as it’s not a television tuner in the sense of a box that can handle cable, satellite or terrestrial TV signals.

The photo here shows my Apple TV and remote stacked in amongst my other TV-related gear.

In fact, it’s more like an iPod, which is why you’ll find it in the iPod + iTunes section of the Apple website.

It works like this: you connect the Apple TV to your television screen, and to the Internet. Load up iTunes on your computer with music, videos, podcasts, audio books and so on, then synchronise these with the Apple TV.

At some point you turn on your TV screen and the Apple TV and play the music, videos or other tracks. Use the included Apple Remote to control playback (but not volume).

You can also watch your iPhoto library and iPhoto albums on the TV screen.

Some content comes straight from the Internet: there are thousands of YouTube videos available, for example, as well as movie trailers.

Now I need to pause for a moment and explain to my International readers that here in New Zealand we don’t have access to movies or TV programmes via iTunes, so for the next part I’m not speaking from personal experience.

The Apple TV can play movies or TV programmes you’ve bought via the iTunes Store. Pay for and download the programme, synchronise it with the Apple TV and watch at your leisure.

I’ll write more about the Apple TV in future Tips, but for now I want to share the bad news: you need reasonably good equipment to use the Apple TV. Your 20, 10 or even 5 year old television set is unlikely to be up to the task.

What you need (according to the Apple website):

• Widescreen TV
• Mac or PC
• iTunes 7.1
• Wired or wireless network
• HDMI cable or
• Component video cables and analog audio cables or optical audio cable.

Apple TV works with widescreen, enhanced-definition or high-definition TVs capable of 1080i, 720p, 576p, or 480p resolutions.

I find I watch less broadcast television these days and more video podcasts. The Apple TV makes it easy to view these on the TV screen, and they look great! Here are a few I recommend. Search for them in the iTunes Store:

• Apple Quick Tip of the Week — generally about 30 seconds each.
• NASACast video — generally about 3 minutes each.
• Rocketboom — generally about 4 minutes each.
• WebbAlert — generally about 4 minutes each.
• GeekBrief.TV — generally about 5 minutes each.
• National Geographic Video Shorts — generally about 5 minutes each.
• ScreenCastsOnline (affiliate link) — generally about 30 minutes each.

You don’t have to have an Apple TV: you can watch these video podcasts on your computer screen, but you will need a broadband connection.

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