机顶盒上市(特价)

苹果公司宣布，它预计将破解1,000,苹果最新版的Apple TV售价高达1000美元，令人印象深刻, but more for the way it has benefited the market than for the actual number of shipping units.

The re-emergence of Apple's "hobby" on to the market has been instrumental in educating the consumer on several fronts, raising the bar for set-top box user experience and accelerating the overall demand for inexpensive set-top streaming boxes.

全民教育
Apple's attempt to push the consumer away from reliance on internal storage, 新款Apple TV设备没有硬盘就更突出了这一点, as well as the company's advocacy of high-definition streaming (or progressive download) and adaptive bitrate (ABR) delivery, 导致消费者的教育水平提高了吗.

The typical Apple approach is to take care of the complexities in the background, 而新款Apple TV在这方面的评分当然很高. 超越了对消费者的“它就是有用”的基本教育, 虽然, the last few months of Apple's renewed push in the market also seems to be providing a much-needed education for an industry intent on competing at a scale level.

例如, 消费者被迫等待许多分钟，有时甚至几个小时, 在极端情况下——查看内容. 这些延迟的罪魁祸首包括HDMI握手错误, 哪些已经作为设备固件升级的一部分进行了更新, 更糟糕的域名服务(DNS)问题.

Joe Maller, an Apple TV owner who is more tech-savvy than most, posted his findings on his 博客 关于Apple TV和全球DNS服务之间的交互.

“昨天晚上，我们想在新买的苹果电视上租一部iTunes电影,马勒本周早些时候写道. “而不是马上开始, 苹果电视说我们要等2个多小时才能开始看."

Maller is one of the fortunate minority in the United States to have a very high-speed connection, 所以他不应该面对 问题 that the recent FCC report reveals face the majority of American "broadband" users: a connection speed lower than that of the average HD-based set-top box.

"I've got a healthy 15-20Mb/s connection and a clean wire to the Apple TV,”马勒说。, “所以这不应该发生. 一点点研究发现了一个令人惊讶的解决方案:不要使用谷歌DNS."

Maller goes on to explain that the use of a global DNS service wreaks havoc on distributed content models, 例如内容交付网络使用的那些, 而Google DNS则阻碍了cdn确定位置的能力.

"I switched to my ISP's DNS servers and now HD rentals on Apple TV are ready to watch in 10-20 seconds,米勒说。, concluding 与 a comment about a problem 与 general consumer education for early adopters.

因为大多数人不知道DNS服务器是什么,他说, "this problem primarily affects the 'tech-vanguard' and those fortunate/unfortunate enough to be inside our circles of helpfulness."

In other words, even the tech geeks who adopt these products early on are in need of education.

用户体验
Another area where the new Apple TV is raising the bar is the aspect of consistent user experiences.

比如iPhone, 苹果控制硬件和基本软件, 苹果电视有一个简化的用户界面, 旨在驱动一致和极简的用户体验.  Apple prides itself on providing the consumer 与 the "magic" delivery of content, and it does so by shooting for an old-school user experience mark: allow consumers to video HD videos 与 less physical effort and fewer clicks than it would take load up a DVD or Blu Ray disc.

在竞争方面, the Xbox gaming console is another example of a high-quality user experience, for the same reason that the Apple TV excels: 微软 controls both the hardware and the software for the device, 优化用户体验.

这不足为奇, 然后, that Google is potentially curtailing the release of newer Google TV products, 以便更好地提升用户体验.

最近的一次 纽约时报 article noted that Google may be asking Sony-a company that released one of the first Google TV set-top boxes-along 与 other consumer electronics manufacturers, to hold off on releasing new Google TV products at the Consumer Electronics Show in early January.

的原因? 根据 次 article, 引用熟悉该公司计划的消息人士的话, 谷歌要求电视制造商推迟推出, ，以便改进软件, 其中哪一个受到了冷淡的回应."

其中一个冷淡的接待来自 时报》 own David Pogue, who panned early Google TV devices for having a poor user experience.

For those of us who have had the chance to play 与 several Google TV devices, 问题不只是一个设备上糟糕的用户体验, but an inconsistent one across the various Google TV offerings: from button-heavy remotes to oddly positioned keys on a keyboard, 设备的接口, 以及访问内容的界面, 用户体验是否高度不一致 .

谷歌似乎学得很快, 虽然, and the delayed launch at CES could put the company on a better footing to compete 与 Apple, 微软和像Roku和Tivo这样的小公司.

销售上升
Despite the limited appeal of the Google TV devices and their hefty price tag compared to the Apple TV, there is a segment of the market that is benefiting from Apple's educational push: inexpensive set-top boxes such as those provided by Roku and the private-labe领导 Boxee Box.

安东尼•伍德, Roku的首席执行官和创始人, 谁在之前的流媒体活动中做过主题演讲, 他说，苹果的加入实际上帮助该公司的销售额翻了一番.

根据… 面试 与 商业内幕, Wood claims that Roku's pre-emptive strike to lower its prices to prices below Apple TV has paid off.  给那些可能不知道背后故事的人, Roku pul领导 a bold move on the day prior to Apple's announcement of the new Apple TV, cutting the price of all its units: two of the units sell for less than the $99 Apple TV and the third, flagship product-which provides 1080p streaming capability that Apple does not-sells for the same price as Apple's competing product.

Woods tells 商业内幕 that the company expects to double sales this year, 以卖出第100万盒结束这一年. Revenues are also expected to double, from $50 million to more than $100 million in 2011.

对亚马逊上Roku机顶盒销售情况的抽查, 约占Roku总销售额的25%, 领导 商业内幕 to reveal that all three of Roku's players sit in the top fifty of Amazon's consumer electronics list.

"The $80 Roku XD streaming player is #9 on Amazon's best-selling gadgets list," 商业内幕 而其售价100美元的XDS播放器(更多功能)排名第11. Roku的低端“高清”播放器排名第42位. 与此同时，100美元的苹果电视(Apple TV)排在第23位. 罗技的谷歌电视盒排名第110位."

D-Link的Boxee Box, the private label version of the often-discussed device also made the list, 第171位, so it's safe to say that the tide is rising for almost all companies involved in the delivery of streaming / progressive download content. 

流媒体工作人员将在CES展上大举亮相, 涵盖这个和其他主题, 活动将于1月6日开始, 2011, 在拉斯维加斯会议中心.

苹果电视和Roku销售强劲

今年，很多人会在圣诞树下发现苹果电视或Roku电视盒.

12月21日