ICloud - Apple TV

[hopper81]

I am wondering if there are any A/V Receivers on the horizon that have Internet interface "Bells & Whistles". I expect my Apple TV HDMI connection will eventually play ICloud ITunes when they release it later this fall.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/photo-stream.html
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html

Currently I have:
DirecTV
Roku / Netflix box
Apple TV box
Playstation 3
Very Good Definitive 7001 tower speakers with Bass Powered in the Surround sound speakers. Instead of calling it my 5.1 system I call it my 5.5 system since all speakers have powered sub-woofers either small or large built into them.

Several Music Zones setup - Living Room, Back Yard & Garage

I currently have my Yamaha A/V Receiver RX-V3900 that I bought Oct 2008 which had the Rhapsody Internet Music interface. That was kind of neat but I think the ICloud seems to be the future. I was considering an upgrade to the Yamaha RX-A3000 so I could have 4 music zones and 7 HDMI IN-Ports for my new house that I am building.

Is there any other future internet gadget attachments that I am not considering when it comes to whether or not I should upgrade my A/V receiver?

 

[jinjuku]

I am wondering if there are any A/V Receivers on the horizon that have Internet interface "Bells & Whistles". I expect my Apple TV HDMI connection will eventually play ICloud ITunes when they release it later this fall.

http://www.apple.com/icloud/features/photo-stream.html
http://www.apple.com/ios/ios5/features.html

Currently I have:
DirecTV
Roku / Netflix box
Apple TV box
Playstation 3
Very Good Definitive 7001 tower speakers with Bass Powered in the Surround sound speakers. Instead of calling it my 5.1 system I call it my 5.5 system since all speakers have powered sub-woofers either small or large built into them.

Several Music Zones setup - Living Room, Back Yard & Garage

I currently have my Yamaha A/V Receiver RX-V3900 that I bought Oct 2008 which had the Rhapsody Internet Music interface. That was kind of neat but I think the ICloud seems to be the future. I was considering an upgrade to the Yamaha RX-A3000 so I could have 4 music zones and 7 HDMI IN-Ports for my new house that I am building.

Is there any other future internet gadget attachments that I am not considering when it comes to whether or not I should upgrade my A/V receiver?

There are plenty, it just depends on your budget. Sonos, Control4, AMX, Crestron for control and integration. Just make sure your receiver is supported by the product offering if you do something like Control4/AMX/Crestron.

 

[BMXTRIX]

There are a ton of non-standard everyone does their own thing products out there. The biggest are Netflix and the like. Look at the top of a current generation Blu-ray Disc player for a good idea of this stuff.

Frankly, you shouldn't be looking at any receivers to deliver these products because they end up being buggy, constantly needing firmware updates, and often underperform on the main reason you go it - taking care of your A/V amplification and switching needs.

Ultraviolet, for video, is one of the newest mass-adoption products coming down the pipeline. It will feature online ownership storage for your movie collection. Any device in your home, or on the road, accessing any of your movie collection at any time.

Here's what they aren't telling us: How they are going to get consumers with SOME sort of monthly or annual fee to store our stuff on their servers.

It'll happen, it's all a plan to end up hurting consumers instead of giving us a solid product which we can control. That is... Your iPhone already should be able to send your photos to your home Mac/PC and offer content sharing capabilities across the Internet as you see fit. But, of course, that really isn't the case.

Likewise, if you want your HD movies, you will need a HD streaming box (which exists) and your video library accessible over the Internet. Once again, this is all possible, but it is not easily accomplished, especially to Joe Consumer.

Apple specifically bugs me with how outlandishly proprietary they are with their stuff. I absolutely hate my AppleTV after having it for 2-3 years nobody was using it. Have had a Dune for less than 6 months and we are fighting over who gets to use it next. Apple's proprietary systems will not be good in a world that has a ton of different formats for audio, video, and ways to take photos/videos.