What Will Become of the Apple TV?

Podcasting News reported today that investment firm Piper Jaffray predicts that Apple will release a “connected television” and a new Apple TV with DVR or TiVo-like functionality that will sync recorded programs onto your iPod.  While it seems unlikely that Apple would be interested in introducing recorded TV shows into their ecosystem, the living room is a key area Apple has yet to dominate. So who knows…

Described several times by company executives as a “hobby,” the current version of the Apple TV  sports a list of shortcomings that have kept many Apple fans from adding the little silver box to their arsenals. Limited storage and restricted sources of media, to name a few.

Geeks have been improving their own Apple TVs for a while, adding larger hard drives and third-party software like Boxee, and now they’re making such improvements available to the masses.

At the time of writing this post, an eBay search for “boxee” yields six listings for modified Apple TVs, most of which are brand new: bought, tricked out, and put up for sale for just under 400 bucks.

One commenter on Podcasting News’ article puts it succinctly, “Apple TV is DOA.” It’s a product that doesn’t bring much to the set-top party except for smooth integration with the iTunes universe. And with products like SageTV, PlayOn, and the Roku’s streaming video box offering up access to services like Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, and even Hulu, maybe we’re discovering that there are bigger, better universes.

Check out Podcasting News’ post for more info on the Piper Jaffray report and analysis from other experts.