by Mike Connelly
The third-generation Apple TV 4K ships with Apple’s A15 Bionic chip, the same processor found in the iPhone 13 lineup, at a lower price than its predecessor. Our seven-unit household deployment showcases the 2022 model’s real-world performance across video codecs, audio formats, networking, and tvOS software. Continue reading Review: Apple TV 4K (3d gen, 2022)
Jellyfin has no native tvOS app encompassing both on demand and live TV. What follows is a detailed UX proposal for what that native tvOS app could look like, covering navigation architecture, user profile selection, the media player engine, and a screen-by-screen breakdown of each tab. Continue reading Proposal: Potential JellyFin Native tvOS App Including User Experience Ideas
Apple’s second-generation Apple TV 4K shipped in May 2021 with an A12 Bionic chip, the same processor found in 2018 iPhones. Up for examination: the hardware upgrades, the limitations of its HDMI 2.1 implementation, and whether the redesigned Siri remote justifies the purchase. Continue reading Review: Apple TV 4K (2d gen, 2021)
A significant upgrade, the Synology DS1821+ replaces the DS1819+’s Atom C3538 with an AMD Ryzen V1500B quad-core processor and adds two built-in M.2 NVMe slots. We cover the hardware differences, SSD caching trade-offs, and notable DSM 7.0 features relevant to the upgrade decision. The performance gap between these two units is larger than the model numbers suggest. Continue reading How To: Synology DS1821+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) & DSM 7.0
In our home, seven Apple TV 4K set top boxes handle everything from live TV and gaming to security cameras and music streaming. But, all of it runs on hardware Apple has not refreshed in two years. Here, we present what we would include in the next Apple TV version: 120 Hz output, better audio codec support, a faster chip, and critical tvOS fixes.
Continue reading My Wish List for the Next Apple TV & tvOS
The DS1819+ replaces the DS1817+’s Intel Atom C2538 with the newer C3538, and its PCIe 3.0 slot supports NVMe SSD caching rather than being limited to SATA speeds. Beyond those hardware differences, the disk migration process and key software features in Synology’s DSM are also addressed, including Synology and third-party applications, the file system, file sharing, synchronization & backup, and security. Continue reading How To: Synology DS1819+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Migration
Plex’s latest iOS and tvOS apps replace Apple’s native AVPlayer with an engine built on the open source MPV player, expanding codec support beyond AVPlayer’s stream-focused limitations. At issue: what changed, why AVPlayer’s codec coverage was constrained by Apple TV’s design priorities, and which formats the MPV-based engine now handles. Continue reading Plex’s New Video Player for iOS and tvOS
The Synology DS1817+ is an eight-bay NAS running a quad-core Intel Atom processor with SHR2 RAID, capable of surviving the simultaneous loss of two drives without data loss. This review covers hardware configuration, file system selection, file sharing protocols, and security hardening for a demanding home prosumer environment. Btrfs goes beyond what EXT4 offers by adding automatic file self-healing and snapshot replication, but migrating between the two on Synology requires a full volume rebuild. Continue reading Synology DS1817+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) Review & Configuration
The Shield TV continues to be an anomaly: in 2017, it is by far the most powerful media streamer and a capable gaming platform though not as advanced as the Xbox One or Playstation 4, but costing nearly as much. While Google focuses on stripped down Chromecast devices and Chromecast-enabled TVs, Nvidia singularly showcases the advanced functionality of Android TV including DVR, media serving, gaming, and now smart home capabilities. Continue reading Nvidia Shield Android TV: 2017 Hardware & Shield Experience 5.1 Review
The Nvidia Shield Android TV, released in May 2015, holds the title of the best Android TV set-top box and outperforms the Apple TV Gen 4, Amazon Fire TV 2, and the latest Roku in raw processing power. This article examines how the Shield stacks up against its main competitors across ecosystems, content libraries, and gaming performance. The Shield’s hardware advantage does not translate into a clear win for every buyer, and the case of who should actually purchase it hinges on a single practical distinction.
Continue reading Nvidia Shield Android TV Review