Apple TV Menus (cont’d)

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Access to podcasts is something that I rather enjoyed on the Apple TV.  Syndicated content like this is really the future of TV so having early access to it helps the Apple TV stand out. 

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Here you can see a list of the podcasts that you are subscribed to, both audio and video and the blue bullet next to them indicates that there are unwatched episodes on the list. 

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The Apple TV also has support for any photos that you have in your iTunes library — I didn’t have any in iTunes before I got this unit but found the photo support to be adequate.

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Of course the classic photo-based media extender function it so setup a slideshow — you can see all the various options for that here.  Just be careful what directories you all list in your library!  😉

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Starting into the configurable settings on the Apple TV…

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The first option is to set the video resolution that you want the Apple TV to output at: 480p, 720p and 1080i are your options at the standard 60Hz.

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For most users, leaving the Apple TV on full time is probably the best option to avoid the start up delay as the system boots and Apple has included a screensaver in here that will either cycle through your photos, your album covers or just display the Apple logo. 

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The screen saver at work with my album covers.

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The Apple TV supports through the air updates as well for when firmware upgrades are offered.

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The sources tab is where you can attach more or new iTunes libraries to your Apple TV; the only problem I have with these is that you can’t view both libraries of music or video at the same time.  You actually have to go into the settings and select the other device so seeing a “combined” library isn’t possible. 

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