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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Mac News > Briefly: Apple TV gains new channels, Pro Tools 12 changes pricing

Briefly: Apple TV gains new channels, Pro Tools 12 changes pricing
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NewsPoster
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Mar 24, 2015, 03:31 PM
 
On Tuesday, Apple added three channels to its ever-expanding Apple TV lineup, bringing Young Hollywood, Tastemade, and TED to current-generation (black) Apple TV boxes. The TED app channel brings access to over 2,000 lectures and performances, with existing TED members able to sign in and sync viewing and watch lists across devices, as well as bringing the personalized "lean back" autoplay feature to the Apple TV.

Young Hollywood is a trendy entertainment and celebrity gossip channel covering mostly lifestyle and entertainment news, but allows viewers to select highlights by celebrity, genre, or specific show. Tastemade is a food and cooking channel with a travel and exotic-location angle. There have been reports that Apple is preparing for a major Apple TV revamp coming this fall, and recently cut the price of the existing unit to $69, and added the option of the new HBO Now, which allows users to subscribe to HBO without an existing cable subscription.

Example category from Apple TV
Example category from Apple TV's new TED app


Pro Tools 12 now available with new subscription options

Pro Tools 12 is now available for purchase, and in addition to a new "marketplace" feature for finding both talent and plug-ins or content as well as a new cloud feature that allows remote users to collaborate in real-time using chat and other collaborative features, the company has included a subscription-pricing option in addition to its traditional "perpetual" license price.



For buyers who might balk at the $900 cost of a new license, the company offers various new options. No straightforward upgrade is available (or will be going forward), but those with older versions can opt to pay a $200 per year subscription to receive annual updates to the program. Perpetual license holders who want to obtain updated versions much select this or one of the other options before the end of 2015, or they will have to completely re-buy a future release at full retail. If the subscription ever lapses, the user will have to re-buy the latest version, or adopt one of the subscription plans.

Other options from Avid now include a straightforward annual subscription plan with continuous updates and support for $300 per year, or users who only have periodic need of the program (such as freelancers) can go for a straightforward $30 per month pay-as-you-go option. Other programs, such as Reaper or Apple's Logic Pro X, are sticking to the "perpetual" license model. The former company offers its product with two variations on a license: a $60 personal-use or small-biz price, and a $229 full commercial license, with no upgrade pricing (but new versions arrive every few years). Logic costs $200, and any future major versions will cost the same (no upgrade pricing), but again Apple only updates it every couple of years or so. Minor updates in both cases are free.
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Mar 24, 2015 at 03:50 PM. )
     
webraider
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Mar 24, 2015, 03:55 PM
 
Still no Amazon... Everything else is just fluff
     
DiabloConQueso
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Mar 24, 2015, 04:43 PM
 
Are you expecting Amazon, who directly competes with Apple in both set-top box hardware as well as digital streaming content services (TV, movies, etc.), to give Apple permission to include Amazon streaming services on the AppleTV thereby potentially reducing the number of people who opt to purchase an Amazon FireTV or similar Amazon product to consume those services?

It's kinda like being mad at Showtime for not airing HBO content.
     
Mike Wuerthele
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Mar 24, 2015, 04:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by webraider View Post
Still no Amazon... Everything else is just fluff
That's okay, the Fire TV doesn't do iTunes.
     
coffeetime
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Mar 24, 2015, 05:46 PM
 
If Apple keeps adding channels like this, I think it's time to redesign the interface. The current interface is fine for small amount of stuffs but will be super pain to navigate later.
     
jwdsail
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Mar 24, 2015, 11:02 PM
 
Still no dedicated NASCAR, WRC, or Speed51 channels? Sigh.
     
Charles Martin
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Mar 25, 2015, 02:01 AM
 
jwdsail: the recently-added 120Sports has some NASCAR and race coverage, but no there are no dedicated race channels, at least in the US.
Charles Martin
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pairof9s
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Mar 25, 2015, 09:12 AM
 
To be fair to webraider, this may not all be about Amazon avoiding a competitive product. At least from Apple's end, it accepts Netflix and Hulu which would support the hardware competition angle. But Apple also does not include Sling TV (and numerous other video-only services) because of differences on UI control. I'd imagine Amazon has some reluctance to want to adhere its Instant Video interface to Apple's dictates.
     
DiabloConQueso
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Mar 25, 2015, 10:57 AM
 
Hulu, Netflix, and Sling TV do not produce their own set-top box hardware, and must rely on the likes of Roku, AppleTV (with the exception of Sling TV), and FireTV in order to deliver their content to consumers (or, via web browser, which we all know is a less seamless and straightforward experience compared to a set-top box connected to a TV).

I assure you the reason Amazon content isn't available on the AppleTV is because Apple is a direct competitor to Amazon in both the streaming content and hardware regards. Roku, Chromecast, and the like do have Amazon content because they do not directly compete with Amazon on both fronts (streaming plus hardware).

Now, as to which side (Amazon vs. Apple) said, "Nah, they're our direct competitor, so that's a no-go for now," my money is on Apple, though others may feel that Amazon is the one holding it back.
     
pairof9s
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Mar 25, 2015, 11:35 AM
 
DiabloConQueso: I fully agree that hardware w/ services is the main reason for this impasse. My point to someone like webraider is that if you have Amazon Prime, for reasons beyond just Instant Video, it makes owning an Apple TV unappealing. If you use iTunes extensively, then buying an Amazon Fire TV or Stick makes little sense.

So, yes, both companies have no desire to accept the other, but consumers lose out when choosing either. You can see how consumer sides will be taken and neither side if fully right...but it sure feels like it's wrong.

FYI, I'm fully Apple TV (3 of them) and am enjoying the ever increasing programming available. Even the HBO and possible Fall offerings of pay-to-view programming is a blessing for those of us wanting to be "cable cutters".
     
DiabloConQueso
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Mar 25, 2015, 12:22 PM
 
Precisely -- there are trade-offs no matter whose hardware or whose streaming services you choose. There's no "Just buy this device and you can get anything from any provider" solution just yet, and probably never will be (though we're inching closer with every deal cut, like the recent Apple-HBO deal).

For those that are technologically advanced enough, it's simple to throw together an HTPC loaded with various streaming services and front-ends that you can roll-your-own set-top box that streams just about anything, but we're definitely not to the point where grandma can run down to Best Buy, purchase a single piece of equipment, plug it in, and have that same level of service at her fingertips. In other words, we're not quite yet to the point where mass consumer adoption of a piece of hardware like that is feasible, or even available.

As for everything other than Amazon being "fluff," I have to disagree -- though I fully realize that everyone's streaming content tastes differ to varying degrees. AppleTV, renting and purchasing movies and TV shows, and enjoying my Hulu and Netflix subscriptions -- combined with old-fashioned OTA HDTV service via antenna -- more than satisfy my needs, and similar setups do for a great many people.

Saying that Amazon is the sole, worthwhile service is hyperbole -- there are plenty of competing and supplemental services that are very worthwhile as well. Not to take anything away from Amazon's services, but they're not the end-all, be-all that webraider claims them to be.
     
   
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