Gadgetory

hey I'm Matthew moscovia from CNET and we're gonna take a look at the new Apple TV the new model looks exactly the same as the old one but inside it's got a faster processor 1080p support and there's a redesigned user interface the look of the box is still the best I've seen it's small it blends in with your home theater and the power supply is built into the box so there's no annoying AC adapter or power brick there's just a tiny white light on the front that lets you know it's on and that's it around the back there's an HDMI port and optical audio output an Ethernet port and a micro USB port although the USB port is only used for service and support there's also built-in Wi-Fi for connecting to your wireless home network so the outside of the box isn't new but the user interface is it's a new icon driven design and when you scroll down it really makes your TV look like a giant iPad if you're looking at iTunes for movies or TV shows there's also a new menu bar across the top letting you quickly access useful categories like purchase content and search itunes on the Apple TV is even better than before with both your movies and TV show purchases saved in the cloud for rewatching the selection of both movies and TV shows is excellent and HD content looks fantastic although when we tested it against the older 720p Apple TV you really couldn't tell a big difference between the two the big downside is that for HD content you're looking at paying three dollars per episode to buy TV shows and movies cost around five dollars to rent in between 10 to 20 dollars to purchase so it really adds up fast if you watch a lot of content outside of iTunes there aren't nearly as many content options Netflix is still there as well as MLB TV and YouTube but there's no Amazon Instant Hulu Plus Pandora HBO GO all of which are available on the competing Roku LT for half the price the Apple TV also isn't as capable of playing back all kinds of different digital media formats so if you have a lot of MKV and DivX files you're gonna want to look at something else like the Boxee Box or the WD TV live well it doesn't have as many content sources the Apple TV does have another killer feature if you have other Apple products airplay and let you take almost any photo music or video you have on your iOS device and stream it right to your TV so if you're listening to Pandora on your phone you can play it on your Apple TV even though it doesn't have a native Pandora app and outside of airplay the Apple TV also works with other Apple cloud-based services like iTunes Match and Photo Stream so altogether if you're invested in the Apple ecosystem and you already own an iPhone or iPad the Apple TV is pretty much a must-have gadget at this point although if you're not into Apple products you'll get a better value from competitors especially the Roku LT and if you've already got an old Apple TV that looks like this don't worry about upgrading as they offer almost the same exact experience I'm Matthew moscovia from CNET and this is the Apple TV