Hi Bob.  We are a URC dealer and have been for some time.  We now only do Control4 for universal remotes since we have the opportunity to sell lighting, climate, audio distribution, and so on.  I took a few moments to review the piece directly from URC’s site, and I’m not going to discount the fact that it has many great custom features.  I also don’t want to use this as a platform to blast a successful company or new product.  My opinion is, does it really offer a better solution than the Apple TV?  Labeling it as the Apple TV killer says so.  Maybe it would have been better to call it “the iPod dock killer”, seeing that it offers more features than any other iPod dock.  And, with that I would completely agree.

So, if it doesn’t do video distribution, show your iPhoto library, allow you to download movies or purchase new music, play YouTube videos, or subscribe to podcasts, then it’s really not in the same game as the Apple TV itself…just the pile of docks that every manufacturer has now come out with. 

And just as an add on, am I the only one that thinks $10,000+ DVD servers/clients will be a dinosaur in a year or two?  They may be one fiber run away from extinction.  They’re cool, with very attractive interfaces, just getting close to the end of an era.

Hi Ryan, do you know the feature set of this device?

Are you a URC dealer or are someone competing against URC dealers.

I suggest you contact the appropriate people and get a demo yourself. The dock and the companion remotes, which include the MX-6000 are pretty nice and together they provide many entertainment and control options.

Apple makes a ton of great products and as I’ve noted before I am a loyal Apple user with multiple iPods, computers and iPhones in my house.

They are not the end all of the electronics market however. This product can be used as a solution just like any other product in the electronics market.

Installers and consumers can continue to use Apple TV, but it’s important to remember there are other products out there that can be used in place of it too unless you refuse to acknowledge Media Center and products from Kaliedescape, Escient and ReQuest.

This is as much an AppleTV killer as the Verizon phone was 2 years ago to the iPhone.  Can anyone remember what phone that was (though it was heavily noted as the iPhone killer)?  As a dealer, there is one reason to carry the URC device, and in my opinion the ONLY reason URC would even create such a component…margins.  Call it custom and give dealers a way to make money.  Then sell it to people that don’t know they can get more features from the Apple TV itself.  Our struggle as a dealer and Apple fanatic is finding ways to make money on selling a much better product (anything Apple) when you don’t make the margins you can make on custom products.  So, you have a choice.  Sell a less capable product you make more money on and attempt to convince your clients that there is something “wrong” with the Apple TV because it is a consumer product.  Or, realize that your customers deserve the best and sell yourself and your company as Apple fanatics, install much better product at a less margin, but make your money on service and the fact that you will have many referral and repeat customers.  And, of course if you’re good at what you do, you make the Apple products custom and charge a higher price for them…because they came from you and not the Apple store.

at what point is this an AppleTV Killer? the fact that you instantly get a boost in status when you tell people it was “professionally installed”???

“Using the company’s PSXLink software, PSX-2, owners (regardless of whether they are Apple or PC users) can utilize their computers as an entertainment server. “
—-um yeah… i’ve got ITUNES! and guess what… IT RUNS ON WINDOWS XP!!! omigosh omigosh omigosh!!!!

and what could be simpler to operate than apple tv with its remote? that remote they show there? looks like a PSP made out of recycled pepsi cans.

backed by an installation engineer? who are they marketing this to? how difficult do they think it is to plug in an Apple TV? i ran 1 wire, ethernet, under my crawl space, next to the Co-Ax. i was done in 5 minutes.

look people, apple tv is not going to shake your hand and feed your cat, i’ll admit it and i’m actually glad its not going anywhere near my cat.

but seriously, are you really going to go dock your iPod let alone your iPhone EVERYTIME and all the while you want to watch something in your house? with Apple TV you don’t even have to take your iPod or iPhone out of your pocket. Know why? YOU HAVE ITUNES. if you put any content on an iPhone or an iPod, its already on your home computer.

so now all thats left to do is turn on the Apple TV, get it on your network, pair it up with iTunes and bippity boppity ITUNES! you have the same stuff thats on your iPod or iPhone, streaming onto a TV near you without having to take your iPod or iPhone out of your pocket… and let’s not forget about storage space… you telling me that all the movies and music you ever want to watch or listen to is on your iPod?

if you just want to watch what’s on your iPod… get an AV cable and tell the world you are not an idiot

or are you???

J Xibalba I am with you on the price points and the hobbyist aspect of AppleTV and some of the things out there for consumers. I fully admit that as someone that’s been covering this stuff (on the trade side) for a number of years I am desensitized to price points for the most part and I view most of the stuff I write about in the manner that I can’t afford it so price points don’t bother me.

I do not however dismiss it because I can’t afford it and I look at them as part of my job and if I think something is cool I will write that.

Thank you for reading electronichouse.com

Bob