Delboy’s Blog

I spoke to early, earlier this week when I thought all was well with Windows XP SP3. Today I sat down to watch my podcast’s shows when everything kept crashing. After I rebuilt my Apple TV reinstalled iTunes all was still not well.

The problem I was having was that the Apple TV kept loosing a connection with my iTunes and as such disappeared from the device list in my iTunes.  The only way to get the Apple TV back in the iTunes list was to close and reopen iTunes or power off the Apple TV. When I did get it back in the list as soon as I started to watch a show it would drop the connection.

Finally I decided that it most be SP3 and yes i was correct. What I can say is that the uninstall for for Service Pack 3 works very well, apparently better that the install and now that I am back to SP2 all is working well with my Apple TV.

In conclusion if you are using Apple TV I would avoid installing Microsoft Windows XP SP3.

Technology @ Home

I was recently asked about how I use technology in the home and how I share my home media with my family back in the UK. I thought that this would be the ideal subject for my next blog. In this blog I will highlight what technology I am currently using in the home and how I share my digital media with my family and friends back home in the UK.

How do I store my Data?

I store my data using a small windows XP box with many USB drives hanging off it. I currently have 6 USB drives with a total capacity of 1.5Tb. I also run a number of applications on this “Server”.

What Software do I run on the Server?

iTunes – I use iTunes to share my Photos, Music and Video with my AppleTV and other devices within the house.

Mozy – I use Mozy home to back up all my data to an offsite location keeping all of my data secure. I currently have 1.1Tb backup to the Mozy servers (I wonder if anyone has more backed up).

Skype – I use Skype as the main phone service into the house. I find this much cheaper than using a conventional phone server, especially for calling the Europe. I have 2 USB Linksys iPhone (the original iPhone) for my handsets.

NTRConnect - I use this as a way to remote control my Server and in partnership with MSN i am also able to copy any of my files to and from my remote location.

MSN Messenger - I use messenger and the shared folders option to copy files to and from my remote location. If I need a file I can remote to my server with NTRConnect and put the file in my shared folder that is shared with my Laptop. If I have some new files when I am traveling I am able to add them to my shared folder on my laptop and they are then copied to my server, I am then able to remote to my server and move the files to where I need them. Even adding files like picture’s to my AppleTV so they can be viewed on my TV before I am even home.

Sharing my Media in the Home

Last year I decided to be an early adopter of the new AppleTV when it was released, for sharing my media in the home. This has been the best purchase I have made. Before I bought the AppleTV I was using a Linksys Media device to share my digital pictures and music with my TV and sound system. This was fine, but I wanted to share video with my TV. When I read about the AppleTV I decided that this was the device for me.

AppleTV

With the AppleTV connected to the TV I am now able to stream all of my media from my server to my TV at the touch of a button. This includes over 400 movies, 1000+ TV shows, 1000’s of music files, and of course my digital pictures. On top of this I now have Youtube on my TV.
Earlier this year Apple released an update to AppleTV adding a number of features. The 4 features that I like the most are as follows.

Movie Rental – I am not really bothered about renting standard movies, but I really like the option of renting High Definition movies.

AirTunes – I can now push music from any PC or Laptop on my home network to my AppleTV and then on to my surround sound system with AirTunes. If I also add an AirPort Express Base Station to the network and connect some speaker I can now send music to a number of different room through out the house all in sync.

Photo sharing with the Web – The new version of AppleTV allows you to now look at photos and Video that are shared on .Mac and Flickr. This gives me the ability to look at my friend’s pictures on my TV, and give my family and friend’s the ability to look at my Photo’s and Video’s on their TVs back in the UK.

HD and surround sound – Adding 5.1 surround sound and High Definition movies as an option made AppleTV far better option.

So, how do I share my digital photos and home movies?

Well, I upload my media to my .Mac account from there. My family and friend’s can either access my photo’s from my website or via there AppleTV on there TV’s.

What I would like to see next from Apple TV

There have been many rumors as to what might be next for AppleTV, and if we have learned anything from Apple, it is to expect the unexpected. However, for what it is worth, here is what I would like to see next for AppleTV.

Video Messaging – I would like to see video messaging integrated with AppleTV. An application like Skype added to the box and a web cam connected to the USB port would be great for communicating with other AppleTV users.

Internet Browsing – An Internet browser added to the box, plus a wireless keyboard and mouse really would connect the Internet to the living room.

HD Movie Purchase – Now that we can play and rent High Definition movies through AppleTV, I would like to be able to purchase HD movies from iTunes so that I can watch them at my own leisure.

Now that’s how I use technology in the home.

So Blockbuster and Netflix are to release a set top box this year to take on AppleTV this should make for an interesting year for getting your Media to your TV.

Now the question is can they catch Apple who have now been selling AppleTV for over a year. I am a big fan of AppleTV and have been using it from day one and in my opinion Apple have a very good product and it will be hard to beat them apart from on price.

The one big advantage that Apple has is when you use Apple TV all your media can be watched on not just your Apple TV but also on your Mac, MacBook, iPod and iPhone. I myself have one shared iTunes in my house with all my media shared out and I can watch anything on any one of my devices this is something that neither Blockbuster or Netflix will be able to do.

Blockbuster and Netflix will probably be able to beat Apple on pricing and this is something that might push Apple to improve there pricing model. I would like to see the cost of renting a Movie come down by at least a $1 and I would also like to see the time I start watching a movie to the time it is deleted extended to 48 hours. Also reducing all TV shows to $0.99 would be nice as well.

Blockbuster and Netflix might be entering the market but that just might improve my AppleTV experience.

So an interesting 12 months ahead.