 "Apple TV is here for Rs 7,900; HD movie rentals start from Rs 120")
Nearly a year after Apple launched the Apple TV for US users, the media-streaming device is now available in India for Rs 7,900.
Apple’s India website reflects the availability of the device and lists the various functions along with images of India-centric content. Apple TV is essentially a media streamer, which ties into the company’s iTunes store or your other iDevices and lets you stream and share content to your HDTV.
The Apple TV
The device needs to be connected to your HDTV through HDMI while it can pull content from other Apple devices when connected to the same network. So if you have a good collection of films and music, you can instantly share it with other viewers over the Apple TV connection. One can also outright purchase or rent new content from the recently-launched iTunes store.
The Apple TV page on the company’s India site says: “No more queueing to check out DVDs or watching stale blockbusters on cable. With Apple TV, you get instant access to the hottest Hollywood titles and new releases — often the same day they come out on DVD. Once you find what you’re looking for, simply press Play, and in seconds, you’re watching the opening credits with cinema-like Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. SD rentals start from just Rs 80, and HD rentals start from Rs 120. You have 30 days to start watching, and once you begin, you can watch as many times as you want in 48 hours.”
HD movie rentals begin at Rs 120
Apple TV links to some out-of-store content as well, but this is mostly geared for American viewing interests. American sports fans in India will be glad to know they have other options to catch up on their favourite sport besides conventional TV and illegal streams. Apart from music and videos, you can also use the box to view photos from Flickr, access content stored on iCloud, mirror your iPhone, iPod or iPad’s screen to your TV using AirPlay to play games on the big screen and also watch YouTube and Vimeo videos using their respective apps. The device also streams news feeds from the Wall Street Journal for continuous business and general news updates.
Apple is reportedly in talks with Indian content providers to bring more of their movies, music and TV shows to the iTunes store, which already has most new releases in its library. An initiative similar to the Netflix and Hulu Plus integration could be the magic pill, which will bring content that is normally not released in India, to these shores.
Apple TV lets users stream YouTube videos to theirHDTV
In December, we had reported that Apple TV will be coming to India soon, but the price at the time was rumoured to be Rs 6,990. The official price of the device is slightly higher than other streaming devices that offer a similar service without the added perk of the iTunes store.
The model which has been launched in India features the same design as the last-generation Apple TV. It is powered by the A5 processor and unlike the previous version, supports playback of 1080p videos. Late last year, Apple made purchases of books, music and even movie rental possible using iTunes.
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