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[sevenlayermuddle]

Just got back from a smashing event... Accompanied by circa 300-500 (my guesstimate) other developers, in one of London's finest hotels, getting the benefit of Apple's TV London Tech Talk -  one of a series of ten around the globe.   These events tend to be hugely over-subscribed, so I suspect I was quite lucky to get a ticket. 

Thouroughly enjoyable and motivating though, can honestly say I learned a lot.   Plus a rather nice lunch, and evening reception with further nibbles and plentiful wine, and endless friendly chat with the Cupertino boffins.   

But couldn't help appreciate... People wearing Apple Watches probably outnumbered those without.  Nice to feel at home, once in a while.

[Black Sheep]

I was with you in spirit ...... oh follower of perfection. 

[Weaver]

Me too, as a former developer, in anther life. But working to line someone else's pocket unfortunately.

[Ronski]

I was with you in spirit ...... oh follower of perfection. 

One wonders how Kitz is getting on with her new Android tablet 

[sevenlayermuddle]

I was with you in spirit ...... oh follower of perfection. 

One wonders how Kitz is getting on with her new Android tablet 

I have high confidence that Kitz is very happy with her choice. 

And I must confess, at the last such event (iOS 7 tech talks) I still had a Samsung android phone.  Nobody commented, but I did wonder what they might be thinking each time I looked at it...   

Brand allegiance aside, must  admit I felt more comfortable today, with an Apple Watch on my wrist and an iPhone in my pocket.

[loonylion]

And I must confess, at the last such event (iOS 7 tech talks) I still had a Samsung android phone.  Nobody commented, but I did wonder what they might be thinking each time I looked at it...   

something along the lines of 'wow, I wish I had the balls to not be a mindless sheep' 

[sevenlayermuddle]

something along the lines of 'wow, I wish I had the balls to not be a mindless sheep' 

Thank you for that carefully considered contribution, I bow to your greater wisdom and intellect.

However, if this is representative of contributions that the 'Apple Related' forum area attracts,  and other contributors are determined be so abusive and insulting, then maybe we should simply remove the entire forum area?

[Black Sheep]

Mine certainly wasn't intended to be insulting ...... far from it, I absolutely love Apple products. No finer engineered devices on the planet. 

[burakkucat]

There is always the possibility that something one member posts -- often in jest or intending to be friendly banter -- can be misinterpreted by others.

My feeling, in this case, is that nothing further needs to be done. Posts to this section of the forum are appreciated and I like to read what other have to say.

[sevenlayermuddle]

 

Mine certainly wasn't intended to be insulting ...... far from it, I absolutely love Apple products. No finer engineered devices on the planet. 

Never taken the wrong way for a moment, BS.   

I was less sure about  'wow, I wish I had the balls to not be a mindless sheep' .  In my upbringing, that would not be classed as friendly banter.

Nevertheless, if this was a genuine misunderstanding, let's move on?   

[sevenlayermuddle]

And on reflection in cold light of day, I now feel sure  previous exchange was  indeed my misunderstanding, Loonylion meant no harm.   

Let's (all) stay friends. 

[burakkucat]

Just purrfect. 

 

[kitz]

One wonders how Kitz is getting on with her new Android tablet 

Because it was from Father Christmas, I didnt really get time to play and set everything up until fairly recently.   
Not given a progress report because Im now turning over to the other side with everything.
My phone contract was up a couple of months ago, but with everything else going on, I hadnt had chance to do anything about that either, but the week before xmas I got a new Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo too (cant afford the s6) so I have lots of geeky things to play with as I will also describe later.

I wont do a like for like compare other than to say I am really very happy with both devices and have absolutely no complaints with them.  Am I glad I switched..  so far yes.  Would I go back to Apple - No,  the main reason so far is how much cheaper the accessories are.

----   

The one hiccup was:- As you are aware I do a lot of streaming and despite trying an app that is supposed to cast to the Apple TV I was unable to get this working properly.   

So I bought a chromecast which was in the sale.  This was a real PITA to set up using samsung galaxy devices.. and dont laugh but I resorted to using the ipod to set it up (Something to do with Smart Network and despite hours of searching I couldnt turn it off on either device).   Once set up it casts perfectly fine.     So the only fly in the ointment has been setting up chromecast...  But considering it only cost me £25 compared to how much an Apple TV is I have no real moans.  I can easily plug the chromecast into any TV on my network and it just dangles from the HDMI port hidden away.   I should imagine it wouldnt look quite so pretty though if your TV HDMI is on the side rather than the reverse.

However, when searching for a solution for the chromecast made me think again about my usage and I thought wouldnt it be nice to be able to stream to the upstairs TV and not be reliant on my tablet or phone when I use iplayer 4od etc.   So Ive just forked out £15 for a Now TV box for the upstairs tele which includes 3 months free entertainment package.   I have no intention of continuing after the 3 months has finished.   I bought it for the box which still allows me to stream iplayer, itv hub, c4 and c5 for free.   I can still cast via the chromecast, but I envisage that the new setup makes the ATV and any casting a bit redundant.    Also means I can do other things on the tablet whilst streaming and less charging up of the tablet needed.     

 

[sevenlayermuddle]

Glad to hear it has worked out well Kitz, I thought it would.   Looking forwards to a full report but (hint, hint), even though it's your own forums, this area is meant to be 'Apple related'. 
 

Worth emphasising though, yesterday's event was specifically Apple TV, rather than iOS or OS X.  It is a pretty impressive piece of hardware.  And given the several hundred dev's in the room, plus the other 9 events around the globe, seems fair to hope that a few of them might come up with ideas for really fantastic Apps... 

That, of course, remains Apple's strength imho... they make their own hardware, and communicate the specs in intimate detail to the Dev's, so the Dev's know they can rely on its exact capabilities and performance, and make the most of it, without fear of somebody pushing out a cheap version that turns out to be unexpectedly sluggish.  Been there, got the T-shirt - having once bought a Samsung 'Fame' - people quickly told me I'd wasted my money on grossly inadequate hardware and they were right, it was useless from the day I brought it home,  but I only found that out after I'd spent my £££.   

Hard to imagine an Android equivalent of yesterday's event... who would host it?   Google?  Or would it be Samsung?  Or maybe Sony?   

Time will tell, but Apple clearly have very high hopes for the new TV.  And they do tend to get these things right.

[kitz]

Yep, thats the reason why I was mindful of not doing a full like for like comparison.

However I think I got a bit carried away when describing the only thing that I did find difficult and that was finding something to work with the Apple TV when the the Android devices.  I tried a couple of apps but they didnt quite do what I wanted.

You are correct in that Apple know which devices are supposed to connect (eg iphone/ipad/ipod) so it is a piece of cake getting those to play with Apple TV.    Because Apple plays nice with other Apple its why its easy to be pulled down the Apple path.   

Hard to imagine an Android equivalent of yesterday's event... who would host it?   Google?

Google most likely.   They already have the chromecast, wouldnt take much to develop a box which holds the apps.  The Now TV box already does that as do many of propitiatory boxes such as Roku.   I paid £15 not because I wanted the sky entertainment package, but just for the box, which looks remarkably similar to theApple TV 2, but does a lot more when it comes to UK TV because it has all the UK on demand channels apps built in.  The Now TV box is actually a roku under the hood.

Theres a lot of Samsung equipment that play nice with each other too via their Smart Network, which ironically is that which gave me problems setting up the chromecast.  You can also direct cast to Samsung TVs without the need for any separate hardware or boxes.  Plus it already has all the UK catchup channels.     Even my Toshiba smart TV has apps, but because its now older its never been updated with the other apps other than say bbc iplayer, netflix, youtube etc.