Apple squash
Competitors have responded to yesterday's Apple media circus, with Amazon notably trumping Apple's TV show rentals offer.
Amazon has matched Apple's 99 cents US TV show rental promise and has raised it. While the $99 AppleTV is not out for another four weeks in the States and there is no word about a UK product, consumers can buy episodes of Glee, Lost and Desperate Housewives plus other ABC and FOX shows immediately from Amazon's website for 99 cents.
Paid Content believes Amazon is selling the episodes at a loss depending on how long the offer runs for and how popular it is, but has succeeded in stealing some of Apple's limelight. However, the jury is out to whether people will be tempted to shun Apple's ecosystem in the form of iTunes 10 and the Apple TV box.
Apple's new rivals, makers of other VOD devices, have also responded to the launch of the revamped Apple TV. According to Engadget, Roku has slashed the price of its Netflix and Amazon-friendly streamers, with its SD box sliding to $59 from $79, standard HD reduced to $69 from $99 and HD-XR now $99 from $129.
Now pegged at the same price mark as Apple's offering, Roku's HD-XR will boast USB playback and is due to receive 1080p streaming support.
Another competitor, Boxee, has announced its Boxee Box is due out in November. Developers have previously let Apple TV owners run Boxee, while the Boxee Remote for iPhone has proven popular, according to the firm.
Its blog said: "We all watched the Apple announcement. We walked away feeling strongly confident about the space it left for Boxee to compete. We have a different view of what users want in their living rooms. We are taking different paths to get there. The Boxee Box is going to be $100 more expensive than the Apple TV, but will give you the freedom to watch what you want. We think it's worth it."
Of course Google TV is expected to be released later this summer. According to Fortune, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took a swipe at the offering at the Apple event and said TV viewers are after quality TV programmes and high grossing films rather than "amateur hour," (despite Apple TV being able to play YouTube videos).
Google TV will reportedly let users watch content from amateur video sites as well as higher end content using a browser bar. However, Jobs has publicly said he does not think consumers want a computer in their living room.
Jobs also took a bigger pop at Google as he reportedly announced Apple is activating 230,000 devices a day, compared to Google's 200,000. Jobs questioned Google Android's popularity and reportedly said: "We think some of our friends are counting upgrades in their numbers. We think we are ahead of everyone."
However, a Google spokesperson told Fortune: "The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services."
