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[sevenlayermuddle]

Nice to see it'll (later) get an iPlayer App.  This will be good, as whilst I already have various ways of getting iPlayer onto my TV screen, such as streaming from iPad or using a seriously crap App on a Samsung Blu Ray player, none of them are very satisfactory.   

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-34660204

It's also an example of why I think the new TV could be a real winner, able to be enhanced with new Apps and App updates from an App Store, rather than depending upon Apple to produce updates.

Definitely on my letter to Santa.   

[kitz]

About time too - this is an area which IMHO Apple are miles behind with.    Disappointed see that there is nothing for existing apple TVs though. :/

Until now, Sky was the only major British broadcaster to offer an app for the US firm's set top boxes.

Umm  not sure if Im understanding things correctly.  Dont BT, Plusnet and Talktalk include iplayer in their set top boxes.   Plusnet certainly has not just i-player, but also ITV player, 4OD & Demand 5.   
Smart TVs all also include iplayer and more.  Its been in Toshiba places for years and most other major manufacturers.    AFAIK Apple TV was about the only one that didnt and needs a streaming devices such as iphone/ipad to play it via.

[Ronski]

The quote is referring specifically to Apples set top box.

Until now, Sky was the only major British broadcaster to offer an app for the US firm's set top boxes

[kitz]

Cheers ronski.. 
 
D'oh it just dawned, that I'd read it wrong..  but my head is a bit up my a*** a bit more than usual this week.

Thanks for pointing it out..  that the others do.. ... but up till now Apple TV only had the sky app.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Agreed, iPlayer was a glaring omission in the earlier Apple TVs.  It would be interesting to know the history... did BBC not want it, or did Apple not want it?   

But the point is now if I understand right, if the BBC (or anybody else) wants an App for Apple TV, all they have to do is knuckle down and write one then publish it in the App Store, to be installed from choice.   They no longer have to negotiate with Apple to have it bundled with the OS, or to have it imposed upon users who might not want it. 

I don't have a smart TV bit I do have a fairly new Samsung Blu Ray.  That has a built in iPlayer but the interface is unbelievable crappy and frustrating, I only use it as an absolute last resort.  Don't know if that's typical of other Smart TVs and the likes?

[kitz]

It would be interesting to know the history... did BBC not want it, or did Apple not want it?

I dont know for certain..   but bearing in mind that the BBC have had to develop an app for the iphone/ipad/ipod which will not only will stream to those devices but in addition will work over AirPlay to mirror and play from the former devices to the ATV, my money would be that it is more likely Apple werent interested. 

The other channels seem to have had less success with getting AirPlay to work.  From memory I think 4OD have attempted but it can be flakey and quite annoying the times when I have used it how its full of bugs and keeps restarting.   If the BBC has apps for all the major brands of smart TVs, it would seem rather strange for them not to attempt one for the ATV,

I live in hope that if they get one working for the new ATV then they will at some point release an update for the existing Apple TVs, but I shant hold my breath.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Thinking on it some more I bet it was the simple fact that iPlayer is only available, and would only work (without cheating), in the UK?

I can well imagine why Apple wouldn't want such an App bundled on devices that were sold globally.   As well as confusing customers with an App that wouldn't work, it would be a waste of its own storage footprint. 

Unlikely then, I predict, that there'll be a retrofit for earlier Apple TVs.

[kitz]

You are likely correct.  :/

[sevenlayermuddle]

<edit by 7LM: sorry, link removed>

I never cease to be amazed by the increasing ratio of technology to the pound (£) these days.   Sure, just as printer manufacturers make their money from the Ink not the printer, so Apple will be hoping for follow-up income from film rentals and App purchases.  And competing products are probably even cheaper.    But even so, by the standards of (say) a decade ago, that's a lot for £130 odd. 

I'm not entirely clear whether they are in the shops yet, or mail order only.  But the skies here are clearing and I could do with a walk. Now, if I were too walk to the station and a train happened to be due, I could catch it and see where it goes.  If it happened to end up in town then I could continue my walk around the town, which might just take me past the Apple shop. 

Best dust off my credit card then, just in case.