Apple Hires Amazon’s Fire TV Head to Run Apple TV Business

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 29, 2000
Messages
38,878
Apparently Apple has hired Timothy D. Twerdahl, Amazon's former head of Fire TV as Vice President in charge of the Apple TV. (Warning, linked page contains a video which plays automatically.) Twerdahl has previously also held roles at both Roku and Netflix. The Apple TV is a part of Apples "other products" revenue category which only generates approximately 5% of the companies revenue as a whole. As we have been reporting for some time now, Apple TV sales have been a major disappointment both for Apple and developers.

Personally I wonder if the Apple TV's woes in latter years has in part been due to Kodi Support for the Apple TV 2 being discontinued, with no support being added for the Apple TV 3, and only alpha support for Apple TV 4. The Apple TV used to be a very popular device to use for Kodi purposes.


Twerdahl joined Apple this month, a spokesman for the iPhone maker said. He had been general manager and director of Amazon’s Fire TV business since 2013, according to his LinkedIn profile. At Apple, Twerdahl reports to Greg Joswiak, a vice president in charge of marketing for the iPhone, according to a person familiar with the matter.
 
Without mentioning that Apple TV4 doesn't have 4K support minimum. Obviously doesn't have HDR and can't natively stream Amazon Prime video.

As someone who has invested in the apple ecosystem (2x Apple TV3, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad) I wouldn't waste my time with the TV again. Mine were both corporate gifts.

Love my roku that does 4K and HDR though.
 
Krazy925 said:
Without mentioning that Apple TV4 doesn't have 4K support minimum. Obviously doesn't have HDR and can't natively stream Amazon Prime video.

As someone who has invested in the apple ecosystem (2x Apple TV3, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad) I wouldn't waste my time with the TV again. Mine were both corporate gifts.

Love my roku that does 4K and HDR though.
Click to expand...

EXACTLY
 
Yup, and I like that the Roku is largely agnostic when it comes to different content providers. It does not push me to Apple. It doesn't push me to Amazon. I decide. And, yeah, Roku has some pretty good hardware if you buy in at that level. Heck, I even bought my parents a roku express for $29 so they could watch sports on SlingTV (they've never had a cable subscription) and they love it. Apple never even entered the conversation.
 
I'd just like one box that can be a MythTV frontend, with full LiveTV and recorded program support, as well as mount and play back video files in NAS folders, as well as stream Netflix, Youtube and Amazon Prime, all while being able to bitstream surround formats to my surround receiver.

Thus far I haven't found one.

My home made Kodi boxes are great, for MythTV and NAS folder use, but it is absolutely painful to get them to stream Netflix and Youtube, and even when they work they are iffy. Amazon Prime is right out.
 
I gave my appletv away because it was locked to apple. Love the Roku and also my HTPC.
 
Krazy925 said:
Without mentioning that Apple TV4 doesn't have 4K support minimum. Obviously doesn't have HDR and can't natively stream Amazon Prime video.

As someone who has invested in the apple ecosystem (2x Apple TV3, MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad) I wouldn't waste my time with the TV again. Mine were both corporate gifts.

Love my roku that does 4K and HDR though.
Click to expand...

Clearly you lack courage.
 
TheHobbyist said:
Zarathustra[H] I am not sure on the MythTV aspect, but I think the Shield TV can do all of the things. I am researching this heavily and near pulling the trigger on Shield TV's and a new NAS build.
Click to expand...
It really is a great android box. Haven't had a single issue with mine. And streaming games from my main rig on the other side of the house when I don't feel like leaving the couch is just awesome. 4k support, nice interface, plex, kodi....etc. Can't say enough good things about it. Planning on getting a second for the bedroom as the Fire tv I have in there now just doesn't compare IMO...
 
With so many dirt cheap Android TV boxes that can do pretty much anything , why would you want Apple? for nicer menus?
 
The big thing is AirPlay and comparability with your iTunes purchases. I use the first when friends come over and it's fun to have different music. The second would probably make the infamous older crowd happy because the "stuff I buy on my computer appears on my TV".

I haven't played with an Apple TV4 -- it's the first one with a store so you can use non stock "apps". Can't jailbreak Apple TV 3s and stuck with stock apps.

Honestly it's the least polished of all of the Jobs era stuff. For a 10 year old product as of January 9th I'd actually call it a piece of shit. There it is all the complaints about the Apple TV
 
Krazy925 said:
The big thing is AirPlay and comparability with your iTunes purchases. I use the first when friends come over and it's fun to have different music. The second would probably make the infamous older crowd happy because the "stuff I buy on my computer appears on my TV".

I haven't played with an Apple TV4 -- it's the first one with a store so you can use non stock "apps". Can't jailbreak Apple TV 3s and stuck with stock apps.

Honestly it's the least polished of all of the Jobs era stuff. For a 10 year old product as of January 9th I'd actually call it a piece of shit. There it is all the complaints about the Apple TV
Click to expand...


Airplay is a well understood 'standard'. All my Kodi AND fire boxes are AirPlay targets, just like Apple TV
 
Spire3660 said:
Airplay is a well understood 'standard'. All my Kodi AND fire boxes are AirPlay targets, just like Apple TV
Click to expand...

It cannot do online video streaming properly for the most part, and also mirroring.

I bought the Apple TV 4 when it first launch. Roku and fireTV has been collecting dust ever since. The only thing that I find annoying is Amazon Prime Video isn't on Apple TV apps.
But I can still stream it off my phone or tablet to it.
 
so Apple needed help making apple TV an even shitter device than what it is. In that case getting help from somebody that has made a shit device is a good way to go.
 
I bought an Apple TV over black friday. I quite like it. Yeah no 4k and a strange lack of Amazon Prime, but for what I use it for, it's perfect.
 
When I bought my current house, the builder gave me an Apple TV box as a housewarming gift. After trying (and failing) to make it work with my NAS-based video library, I gave it away and plopped a cheap-ass Chinese android streamer box in front of my TV. It works so well I bought one for each of the TVs in my house (3 in total).

Screw Apple. Those 'droid streamers work way better and cost me about $60 each. All 3 set me back less than a single new Apple TV would have cost.
 
I think the AppleTV and the likes will never be huge sellers. Average people are content with the built-in features of their "smart" TVs.
 
I considered Apple TV before I bought my Roku 4. I looked at the specs and the hardware and decided there was no way in hell I was paying the Apple tax to get less features and less hardware. Love my Roku 4, before that I had been using PCs or my Bluray player to stream.
 
AppleTV is good if you use Apple products. The AirPlay feature works perfectly with no configuration on all iOS devices.

However it's a limited market for Apple because they don't support the things mentioned here, such as Prime Video, Kodi, etc.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top