By Graham K. Rogers

The new Apple TV arrives this week in the USA and other countries. Some TV channels were updated in the USA earlier, but not here where the available selection has always struck me as very weak and watery. The device was made available in a number of countries and several commentators were quite excited about this, but although the Thai site was updated to show pricing there was no link to the store so as yet they are not on sale here.

Apple TV - Image Produced with Permission of Apple

The prices on the US store were shown as 32 GB, $149 (5282 baht); 64 GB, $199 (7054 baht).I calculated the equivalent pricing by adding 7% for VAT, giving me 5651 and 7548 baht. As the Thai prices are shown as 8500 baht and 10,500 baht these devices would appear to be massively overpriced for a service that has nowhere near the number of channels or other benefits.

However, the Thai site explains that the pricing reflects VAT and Excise Tax, so this type of device (the previous version was also expensive in comparison) must attract higher local taxation for its class.

Where users here might benefit is with the installation of apps. While gaming is likely to be a prime area for developers, I will be interested to see image editing and productivity apps work as well. It is possible to link a keyboard to the device. While I have never been impressed with the text displays on my own TVs, this could be an area that works for some.

But perhaps not at those prices.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.