When you hear the word “television” or “TV,” the first thing that comes to your mind is an imaginary image of a large screen display. This is the concept of television in our world in general, however, as a result of the modern technology revolutions, this concept has differed somewhat today, as neither the display screens look like they used to be, nor are the broadcast methods!
So what is Apple TV?
It is a small digital entertainment device that resembles a TV Receiver in its principle, but it receives its information and contents through the servers of Apple and other companies by connecting to the Internet and not via satellite connection as is the case in our homes today.
Our goal of TV is actually purely entertaining most of the time and follow everything that is new. This is exactly the goal of the Apple TV, but in a different way, it is easier and better, away from the hustle of unimportant annoying ads or adherence to specific show dates that may not fit your work schedule and daily activities. It also contains a system for displaying channels, but they are not satellite channels in our sense. Rather, they are more like Internet sites for these channels with broadcast content that may be direct or indirect. All of this is done over the internet. Therefore, Apple TV requires a fast Internet connection in order to function efficiently. This is one of the reasons why it is not spread in our homes in our Arab world!
Until you get the idea of broadcasting through Apple TV, we will take the example of the famous series Game Of Thrones, an American series produced by an American channel called HBO. HBO is a satellite TV channel like any of our satellite channels that we watch on TV in our homes (eg MBC), but at the same time HBO has a digital online streaming service called HBO Go and a second one launched in April via Apple TV called HBO Now and these services allow HBO subscribers to watch the channel via a direct broadcast via the Internet instead of a satellite connection, in addition to providing the Video On Demand service, which allows watching the channel's entertainment contents of series, movies and TV programs within an indirect broadcast (such as watching all episodes of The Game Of Thrones series in all its seasons, or choose specific episodes to watch... that is, simply, watch what you want without limits and without being restricted to show dates!) This principle is exactly the same as that of MBC's "Shahid.net" website, if you have any idea about it, except The cost of a monthly subscription to HBO Go or HBO Now is approximately $15, because the content is free of annoying ads. This is a second major reason why the Apple TV or any other similar device is not available in our homes today. The Arab citizen may be such an amount of money for him, and refuses to pay money to watch something and is satisfied with piracy via the Internet as long as it is a free method and will not cause him any legal violation of copyright within his country! The previous example also applies to movies, TV shows, music or sports content that are broadcast through websites, and home entertainment devices such as Apple TV. Depending on the display channel, HBO is not the only one that offers digital streaming services over the Internet.
Perhaps the most important and most famous digital movie broadcasting service that you have heard about and did not know exactly what it does is Netflix. Let’s call it the channel, so to speak. It is digital only and not satellite as well. It allows you to watch an infinite number of famous foreign films in high definition at a cost of $7.99 per month. It is also possible to find free streaming channels at no cost such as YouTube which also has a streaming channel on Apple TV and of course it is free as long as YouTube has free viewing content and relies on ads for its revenue.
A third major reason for the unavailability of Apple TV in our Arab homes today is that we follow 99% of Arab channels. Unfortunately, these channels have only provided their services via satellite broadcasting only without providing them with digital broadcasting services over the Internet, and this brings us back to the first main reason It is slow internet speed in our Arab countries in general. Even with fast internet in some Arab Gulf countries, no one would think of owning an Apple TV without Arabic channels that support it. Most Arabs do not speak English and therefore there is no point in following foreign channels that lack Arabic subtitles in their series or movies.
The Apple TV is also connected through the iTunes Store to your Apple ID account, which allows you to buy and listen to songs, buy or rent series and movies, and watch or store them on it (limited capacities) instead of subscribing to other channels that are broadcast through it. Apple TV also includes AirPlay, which allows you to wirelessly display your iOS device or Mac screen on your TV screen with an Apple TV provided your iOS device or Mac and Apple TV are connected to the same Wi-Fi network. This feature is great because it enables you to play on big screens
From 2007 until today, Apple released four generations of the Apple TV, during which their shapes, sizes, ports, user interfaces, features, and available channels changed over time until it reached what it is today, the best and smartest generation of Apple TV, which Apple announced at its conference since Days on the XNUMXth of September, which will be available for sale in the month of October. The new generation intelligently relies on the famous Apple smart personal assistant Siri to search for everything new in the world of TV, cinema, art, sports, games...etc.
The really special thing about the latest version of the Apple TV is that a software store has been added, where programmers can modify their applications available on iOS through a new development package called tvOS and make it available via Apple TV and create new ways to use it through it. Perhaps the most important applications that can be offered through the new Apple TV are educational applications, as well as entertainment applications such as games, navigation applications, maps, social networks, and a myriad of applications in various fields, which will be launched later on the new, fourth generation Apple TV exclusively.
Hardware for Apple TV
The new generation Apple TV has an Apple A8 processor, PowerVR Series 6XT GX6450 graphics card, 2GB RAM, 32GB or 64GB storage, tvOS 9.0, Bluetooth 4.0, USB-C, HDMI, and a power port and a USB port. Ethernet to connect directly to the Router via Ethernet cable or even via Wi-Fi and supports 1080p/720p/576p/480p resolutions via HDMI, and unfortunately it still lacks support for 4K resolution and weighs approximately 410 grams.
Do you agree with the author of the article? Is Apple TV really not suitable for the Arab world?
Article author: Basil Smou
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