Well it’d have access to hulu, Netflix, my local music and video files (On a Drobo over SMB), be able to rent content from somewhere (I don’t care whether it’s iTunes, Amazon, etc since I do this maybe 2x a year)

That’s it, nothing crazy really. Yet the two main(stream) players…. have’t gotten it.

First, AppleTV.

I totally skipped the first gen AppleTV. it wasn’t that interesting, even with the hacks. Then came the 2nd gen AppleTV. It was still VERY far from great but more promising.

1. it was iOS, meaning it’d likely get apps like hulu and Netflix, and ABC.. It still hasn’t, but I haven’t given up hope, there’s no real reason I can see why the device would ship with iOS if not to eventually let thru a few media apps.

2. it was iOS, meaning it’d be jailbroken sooner or later. Turns out it took a while, but see below.

3. it was able to home share. Home Sharing is ok, but when we get home from somewhere and want to watch something that I er.. “got online” i’d have to fire up the MacBook, load iTunes, etc then reach out thru AppleTV for it. So it’s an ok solution, but not great.

4. Airplay. This I think will be a crown jewel for Apple and the AppleTV. Admittedly it’s a bit weak right now, but current beta’s reveal the promise. The ability to send any video content on my iPhone or iPad to the AppleTV, awesome. Consider being at a friend’s house, talking about a funny youtube clip or a movie your friend hasn’t seen. If you’ve got it on an iDevice and he’s got an AppleTV, problem solved. No fussing, no transferring of files, etc. AND the iDevice can keep working while the movie is served in the background! I can’t wait to see what Developers do with it!

THEN it got jailbroken. :)

Right now the jailbreak is rudimentary at best, there’s no Cydia, etc. It’s a tethered Jailbreak, so no more “Let me just restart it”, and all the fun is through SSH. However the other day XBMC was released for the AppleTV/iPad. Running natively on the A4 processor. XBMC allows you to access files over SMB. Now I can fire up my AppleTV reach over to the drobo, and watch Iron Man 2. Well kinda…

The AppleTV is capable of handling (aka loading) a 1080p video, but only outputs 720p video. No biggy but the 1080p files get a bit buffery when playing back, I’m hopeful this is something fixable in firmware (AppleTV) or software (XBMC update). But any 720p or lower rez video file, works like a champ!

The AppleTV has a ton of promise!

OK, GoogleTV.

Like most things Google has done lately, GoogleTV is a half baked solution pushed on consumers before it was ready. Sorry Google, the truth hurts. Not everything can be a Gmail.

The Interface is a bit kludgey, tho the keyboard remote control is nice when setting things up, but then a bit over the top when you just want to fire it up and watch something… oh wait there’s not much to watch…

The HDMI network control, is absolutely BAD ASS! I was talking to a friend, and described it as “Apple Level Magic” I mean, why the heck not have the device turn on the receiver and TV, WITHOUT IR blasters? Well I know why Apple won’t do it, because in exchange for a dead simple and easy experience, you give up a slightly annoying model number hunt during setup, that in theory is a one time thing, it’s a trade off I’d rather not make, because it’s such an awesome and Apple-like feature. Advantage GoogleTV

So back to there being nothing to watch. When I sit down at night and fire up my TV, it’s not to watch youtube. Which is about all there is to watch on GoogleTV. Well you can load up video podcasts, but again, that’s not why I’m in front of my Plasma TV with surround sound. Google has managed to completely piss off every network, so that  there’s NOTHING on GoogleTV. Sure there’s Netflix, but really, EVERYTHING is a Netflix box. My Wii, my PS3, my AppleTV, etc. I don’t need another NetFlix player.

Oh yeah and the promise of connecting to your DVR so you can watch your recorded shows… Only if you’re a dish network subscriber. Google has clearly decided that while they might preach “open” they have no problem making partnerships that effectively close up their platforms. Since I won’t use Dish Network, I’m without the cool DVR functionality, because I don’t use Google’s exclusive partner.

GoogleTV has a lot of promise, the app Market (same as AppleTV, it NEEDS apps) will be a big win, I hope (In vain I’m sure) that google just doesn’t open the flood gates and the market is wide open. Please limit the apps to media apps. I don’t want Angry birds! More than the Market, Google needs to make nice with the TV networks. Figure out how to run their ads, or something, shoot, pay them off for a while until you prove your value to them, something. GoogleTV is a fun toy for many right now, but the appeal of a youtube only set top box will wear off FAST.

Oh yeah, and it’s proving very hard to jailbreak… :(

So current winner: No one, certainly not me! My set up includes a Mac Mini that runs Hulu Desktop, the AppleTV for Netflix, and XBMC, and the GoogleTV for well, nothing right now but it’s plugged in in case a ray of hope comes down the internet for it.

If someone asked me about getting the AppleTV, I’d recommend it with a few warnings. If someone asked me about the GoogleTV, I’d tell them to wait, see if it’s around in a year, and then see if there’s any actual content on it.

Current Loser: The Networks. Why? Well I might expand in another post, but let’s just leave it at, since they won’t let me watch what I want (including ads) via Hulu, I get ad free content elsewhere. Networks, I’m offering you my attention, and have offered you my money, take your head out of your ass before it’s too late!

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I loved V as a kid, it was a great show, good message. Sure it was campy and Jane Badler was a psycho bitch of a bad guy, but it was a great show and set of Miniseries/TV Movies.

I watched the new V the other night and while I think it’s got promise, and I admit, it’s a “re-imagining” it’s got some work to do to measure up to the original.

Sure networks today, are run by retards, who give a show 1 episode to hit #1 and if it doesn’t they cancel so they can air more Dancing|singing|boxing|dieting with the stars, so I hope V get’s a chance to work out the kinks.

I’ll work thru the hour with my issues.

The Arrival. So big ass ships arrive over head. They look mean, not nearly as peaceful and goofy as the old series’ saucers. These new ships are bad ass looking. What do New Yorkers do? They clap. Uh, ok. Let’s assume this world hasn’t seen “Independence Day” oh wait, they make a reference to it, so big ass ships appear over head, and we clap? yeah.

The “Vs”. What. The. Fuck?! Is there no word we won’t just use as it is? We have to shorten to rediculousness? I mean, WTF STFU srsly? ;) Calling the Visitors “Vs” is just lame, they’re the Visitors.  Sure they dress snappy in modern human outfits, but they’re still Visitors.

Dress code. Sure the old red jumpsuits were a bit corny, but uh hello. The Visitors are a military/scientific mission. What military travels around in Armani suits? The uniform identified them as 1. visitors and 2. an army. Now they’re neither. Hell in this series “Vs” could all jump out of their ships, run thru the city and immediately blend in. No crazy shades needed, no off kilter voices.

The Red “V” as a propaganda tool FOR the visitors? Uh, I seem to recall pretty clearly that in the original the red “V” was a sign of defiance. It was V for victory over the Visitors, not V for Visitors. Again, What. The. Fuck

Pacing. Sure, like I said, networks today aren’t willing to wait an entire season or even half a season to spin out a compelling story, it needs to be out there fast, and each episode needs to stand on it’s own for the retarded masses with the memory of a goldfish. but really? 1 hour covered a good 3/4 of the series.

We saw, the Visitors revealed as lizards, we saw the existence of the 5th column, we saw the creation, and full fledged existence of the resistance, we didn’t and I suspect we won’t see the vilification of scientists. All we didn’t see was the guinea pig get eaten. I guess they had to keep something for episode 2. Oh and of course the teenage sex leading to an alien baby, looks like that’s lined up for early in the season too.

Lastly I’m bummed we didn’t get more of the original cast re-imagined. Unless they’ve been so re-imagined I didn’t even recognize them that is.

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But hot damn if this clip doesn’t get you excited about watching white mice and guinea pigs eaten alive, well nothing probably will.

Just freakin’ cool! It almost seems like in this clip that the goal isn’t to eat us, which is weird, since that was the corner stone (and stealing our water) of the original miniseries/series/sequel book.

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Turns out ABC is prepping a remake.. Sadly not a sequel, so we’ll never know how the original story continued, but we’ll see the story unfold in a more modern times view.

Hopefully it makes it to the small screen, I’d watch it!

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