In Easy Steps: Which media streaming device to buy? – Part 3

Apple TV

The best option if you are an Apple-product user. If you are already in Apple ecosystem, Apple TV is the hands-down best choice for you. Not only do you get uninterrupted access to iCloud, iTunes and App Store but there is YouTube for you as well, of you are regular watcher. Roku, on the other hand, does not have YouTube access.

Apple has intelligently joined all the possible devices, mobile and desktop alike, to the Apple TV. AirPlay lets the users stream videos, audio, pictures and games to bigger displays at the single tap of the screen. The upcoming Mac OS X Mountain Lion will also let Mac devices to stream all the aforementioned content to televisions.

In addition to AirPlay, Apple TV has all the most watched online streaming services including the omnipresent Netflix. The users can rent and purchase video and audio content and directly stream to the device.

Moreover, the user can stream videos directly from iTunes. Therefore, any movies, television shows, songs or pictures that were safe on iTunes or iCloud are not in vain, they can be streamed to the bigger display at a single tap.

Not only the user can stream local content from iOS devices but can also stream online content from services that are not installed or available on Apple TV, provided that the iOS device(s) has the required App.

Applications like Hulu Plus, Amazon, HBO Go are not available on Apple TV but iTunes is a huge bank of videos, therefore, the lack of these services are not a big miss.

The Apple TV costs $99 and is available in only one version.

Blu-Ray/Gaming Devices

Seeing the increasing demand in online streaming content, many of the Blu-Ray/DVD players and gaming console makers have started the same services on their platforms as well. The media streaming is not the sole forte of the likes of Roku and Apple anymore.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Jul 11 2012. Filed under Entertainment, Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.