The new version of the Apple TV, to be so trendily named the iTV, is going to try to be a lot less lame than the total flop that came out a few years ago, but with an inferior chipset inside, that might not happen.
So, it’s very difficult to go out and buy anything new that hooks up to your TV and doesn’t provide full 1080p HD video. Whether it’s your cable company’s DVR, you video game system, or your Blu-ray player, most consumer electronics companies are finding that it would be pretty foolish to offer anything less as the standard.
However, Apple, which doesn’t believe in anything other than its own closeted viewpoint, won’t be putting full HD technology in its latest gadget.
The iTV will have an A4 processor, the same kind of chip that’s found in the new iPhone 4, allowing for only 720p high-def video. For the not so technically inclined, 720p is code-word for “those cheap HDTVs in the back of your local Best Buy store that no one wants.”
According to a post on Engadget, Steve Jobs was very adamant about using the A4 processor, even though Apple could have easily used different technology that would have allowed for full HD playback.
The first version of the Apple TV came out in 2007 and ended up slapping Apple in the face because of its terribly limited scope, having no support for any other online streaming content, no video recording capability, and a specific inability to even playback other videos on the computer it was linked to. Sales were extremely sluggish and the gadget was widely considered a huge flop.
Of course, the silver lining here is that the new version of Apple TV will only cost $99, so it’ll be an impulse buy for a lot of customers, namely the blind Apple drones. But true videophiles wouldn’t mangle up their TV connections even if they got the device for free.
