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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,287
30,354
User Cbluzzyfuzzmorphywizz writes in pointing us to this website with info/speculation on the new device

http://www.mac-tv.de (in German, English translation here)

And tells us, "It says, the new device will be like a stand-alone CD-writer, but will look like a Hifi-component. It has a hard disk, an airport card and a USB port. Via Airport it communicates with all macs in, say, a house or a flat. It is like a combination of a CD player/writer but with the ability to send and receive the music over the airport network. This makes it possible to have all the music in the house stored on one place but to play back in any room you like. The music is sent to any room via airport. Right now, you can use iTunes only in your home office (or wherever your mac is located) but not in any room you like. In the future you can listen to your music in any room without the need to take your CDs from one room to another. Also, you can get your music tranferred to an MP3-Player via USB. Next, via airport you can connect to the internet an listen to a internet radio station. You can do so from any room, provided you have a base station installed.

To sum it up, it is a device, that brings the macs advanced music abilities to every room in the house without the need to buy Macs for every room. Very cool."


Only time will tell...

 

bradbower

macrumors newbie
Aug 12, 2001
6
0
Omaha, NE
benmac

Please, stop spamming your website. Those are all stolen renderings from people with talent. You haven't even credited them. You suck.
 

Pants

macrumors regular
Aug 21, 2001
194
9
Am i the only one completely uninspired by what is effectively a gimmick? Internet radio? great if you have broadband, but here in UK-land broad band is almost non-existant. An expensive MP3 player anyone?
and seriously, what is this obsession in the US with Palm type devices? In Europe, the way to go is with the mobile phone - PDAs have been/are non starters with the masses. They are simply viewed as show-off yuppy tosser toys.
 

Djk515

macrumors newbie
Mar 1, 2001
19
0
It's true

I believe this report has been confirmed by a credible source. Check out this Forbes Magazine article that Apple is promoting:
http://www.forbes.com/technology/2001/10/18/1018aapl.html

It says, "It does have an ace up its sleeve, however. Next week, Apple is going to launch some kind of digital music device. It's not clear exactly what it is, but the device will be Apple's first hardware product that isn't a computer since the ill-fated Newton handheld.

You can expect it will be beautiful, even--dare we say--iMac-esque. You can expect it will have its own little section in the Apple store. And you can expect it to be the subject of numerous clever TV commercials between now and December, all of which will be nominated for Clio awards.

And if nothing else, if it's truly cool, you can bet the thing will boost traffic to the retail stores and Apple's online store. And maybe, just maybe, some of those who buy one will take home an iMac or iBook to match."

 

Traveler

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2001
41
7
DC
Probably not an audiotron

Marketing 101... keep it simple

An audiotron is a very cool idea but it's just too complex for the average consumer. The market for this type of device simply isnt big enough yet to warrant such high publicity. I'm having trouble believing that Apple would make their first non-mac Hardware release in years so complicated and obscure. I could definitely see it somewhere amidst apple's digital hub line-up but not as the front man. But hey, who knows....
 

apgalbraith

macrumors newbie
Oct 18, 2001
3
0
Device Details

The device is Ginger. (http://ginger.patentcafe.com/) Steve Jobs was in on the unveiling, and was impressed enough to create a device based on it.

The device is a portable, self-propelled flat-panel iMac with detachable screen that can be used as a sort of ultra-PDA thanks to OSX's inkwell technology and a modernised version of the Newton OS. The device will naturally include Airport 2.0 to allow it to be used as a base station for your digital music, and the aforementioned screen will also function as a literally universal remote control. It will be a co-branded product, with Sony and Disney in on the deal. Representatives from these companies will be at the announcement to make official their long-expected takeover of Apple.

The device will also mark the return of the Cube, which was not cancelled, but in fact "put on ice". The general design of the device will be strongly based on the cube format, but will include the improvement that it will be stackable to allow for server farms of these digital devices for those of you with lots of music. You ain't seen iTunes visuals until you seen them running on a Beowulf cluster of these babies.

 

Traveler

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2001
41
7
DC
Re: Device Details

Originally posted by apgalbraith
The device is a portable, self-propelled flat-panel iMac with detachable screen that can be used as a sort of ultra-PDA thanks to OSX's inkwell technology and a modernised version of the Newton OS.

Sounds cool... except that sounds alot like a mac to me. The one thing we know it can't be.
 
J

J

Guest
Re: Device Details

Originally posted by apgalbraith

The device is a portable, self-propelled flat-panel iMac...
A self-propelled iMac? I guess I'll be returning that new lawnmower I just bought.
 
J

J

Guest
Re: Probably not an audiotron

Originally posted by Traveler
Marketing 101... keep it simple

An audiotron is a very cool idea but it's just too complex for the average consumer. The market for this type of device simply isnt big enough yet to warrant such high publicity. I'm having trouble believing that Apple would make their first non-mac Hardware release in years so complicated and obscure. I could definitely see it somewhere amidst apple's digital hub line-up but not as the front man. But hey, who knows....

I think (and hope) you're right on with the AudioTron idea. You say it is too complex, but that is because the AudioTron was not designed by Apple. Apple's forte is making difficult things seem simple. (Remember when you had to jump through hoops to get your digital pictures onto your Mac form your digital camera?) I think Apple could easily make an AudioTron-like device that anyone can easily use that would connect to a shared folder on their Mac via AirPort. Like the AudioTron, you could do most of the controlling from the unit and the "hardcore" stuff (e.g. building playlists) via an upgraded iTunes.

The real question is how easy will it be for me and my Mac-using neighbors to share MP3s? And when does the version for my car get released?
 
J

Jynnan Tonnyx

Guest
Maybe it's just the writing, but this "breakthrough" sounds curiously unimpressive and lacking in focus. It's a wireless CD-burner/MP3-player/radio/iTunes-remote-control?

What would it use for sound output? Does it have stereo-quality speakers built in? (Hardly a portable device, then :))

Why should I use a wireless device with USB to transfer MP3s to a player, instead of just plugging the player straight into my computer? And does a battery-powered device smaller than a laptop have enough juice to power a USB bus? If I have to plug it into the wall, it's not very convenient to use "in any room I like".

If it transfers music and the like from the host computers via AirPort, why does it have or need a built-in hard drive?

This description just doesn't sound logical to me. But then again, I was thoroughly convinced that the Quicksilver spy photos were fake, too. :)
 

jefhatfield

Retired
Jul 9, 2000
8,803
0
macs in every room?

macs in every room would be nice but to take the intiative to bring music to another location with iTunes without needing to have multiple computers is great...it makes real sense

i was supposed to be a part of the home and business networking multiple computer revolution where MCSEs and CCNAs would sit back and collect the money as people lined up to have their many computers networked together with via routers, switches, and hubs

19 year old paper MCSEs from trade school with less than a year of training were making more than senior programmers with college degrees (visual basic magazine)...my MBA CPA friend was driving around in an old car living at home with no money until he went to MCSE trade school and made a mint on home and small business based networking solutions for the dot.com revolution...another man made millions selling $3,000 dollar routers to home startups ready to be the next ebay or hard candy...people were rushing out to buy multiple desktops and i was selling CRTs so fast we could not keep them in stock...and computer tables...people fought over them like a macy's white flower day sale

some cisco and microsoft tech watchers thought this multiple computer and need for networking approach would make microsoft hit 1,000.00 a share and cisco maybe more...the hardware backbone of the dot.com revolution with startups in every garage

...then reality hit and we fell to earth...at least apple was smart and they now don't have to wonder if they will be around next year like cisco...and remember that former company who dumped yoodles of cash into enterprise servers...i think they were called compaq or something like that
 

xhypertensionx

macrumors newbie
Oct 19, 2001
1
0
Re: macs in every room?

I hear you man. I've been studying for almost two years now, and have my CNE and CCNA, and a handful of other certs. I should have just stayed in college. Man I ****ed up. I'll did so well in the classes, but i'll never get a job doing networking. At least I have this tech support job where I support Mac software.. one of which is bundled with the Mac.

Guess its back to college. Any recommendations for what I should study?
 

IlluminatedSage

macrumors 68000
Aug 1, 2000
1,562
337
iPod is what it will be called

Found this at a music business website just now: (Hitsdailydouble.com)

APPLE JUICE: The mysterious new digital product to be unveiled by Apple next week, HITS has learned, is the iPod, a portable hard drive for music that will feature a firewire connection for extra-fast data transfer. What's more, the device will allow users of Apple's iTunes music software to "synch" it to their computer collections, in much the way a Palm Pilot allows synchronous data transfer. The unleashing of the iPod is slated to coincide with version 2.0 of iTunes. (10/19a)
 

Traveler

macrumors member
Oct 5, 2001
41
7
DC
Podunk

Well, I checked out the ipod touting site mentioned above. Don't let the floating red-neck head scare you away, the rest of the site is fairly impressive... Nonetheless, a slick interface doesn't necessarily signal reliability and without knowing where this rumor is even supposed to have originated it's still my firm opinion that he's talking out of his sheep's ass.

[Edited by Traveler on 10-19-2001 at 03:58 PM]
 

rekras

macrumors regular
Sep 3, 2001
172
0
NJ
device

This device seems awfully unuseful and stupid for apple to make with the current speculation. People are saying everything from an mp3 player cd burner, to a portable imac screan. I really dont think any of this is true. For apple to release a portable non-mac product like this its going to be something we never would have imagined and that will blow away the computer industry, and sell millions of units. We can only wait until Tuesday to see what it will be.
 
D

Dink Thifferent

Guest
Breakthrough?

People have their hopes up, and expect a real breakthrough.

However, I don't think Apple is ready to deliver any such thing. Nowadays, Apple takes existing technology, and removes a lot of the frustration from it. And it scores some obvious firsts. (Like iMovie, iDVD, or the digital hub concept).

Whatever Apple unveils should be inexpensive (there is a bad economy out there), and should work only with a Mac. This way, Mac users, the only people who'd buy anything from Apple, would buy this stuff, and thus make some money for Apple without replacing their Macs, which has been about the only source of income for Apple (apart from education) in the last few years.

So, it should be a gadget that people would want to buy for their Macs. It should be cool enough for Apple users to buy it, and it should show enough promise to be valued as another excuse for switching to the Mac in addition to DTP, desktop movies, style and ease of use.

But first things first: Mac owners are an easy sell. If it has an Apple logo on it, the Apple crowd will stand in lines to buy it, even if it's hot air sold in a box for $499 as the iRipOff.

I expect an MP3 player that's cured of its deficiencies: it should have a HD, so you're not restricted to some ridiculous 64-megabyte storage; plus the ability to program it from your Mac and compile playlists etc., and possibly the ability to save sound input as MP3.

MP3 would, by the way, make sense, especially 2 days before the launch of WinXP, which is already infamous for its lack of MP3 support.

But of course I hope that it will be something vastly different, not just an MP3 player. Is Apple canceling MP3 player orders to its own retail stores? Is it removing images of MP3 players from its website? Nay. As for an intermediator between the Mac and the existing MP3 players (as suggested in the article on which this entire thread is based), that's about the dumbest and most useless thing I've heard in this millennium.

So: I wouldn't be surprised by a more-of-an-old-idea-executed-better-than-the-rest-than-a-real-breakthrough-kind of device, but I hope it won't be one.
 

indiaman

macrumors newbie
Oct 19, 2001
2
0
Here's my guess.

This device will be tablet like. Will run a stripped down version of OSX. It will have only minimal amount of storage inbuilt. It will have Airport in built. The way this device would work is that it will be able to stripped down Mail. IE etc that run on OSX in an independent mode and will be able to sync once within range with your OSX mac and update data on the MAC.
This would effectively mean goodbye Palm for Mac users. Additionally, with the kind of emphasis that Apple is putting on the Digital Hub concept, I am sure that they have included a Mobile Phone (Tri Band 100%). You will be able to use this all over the world. A modem would also be included. The Video and Audio features would be the ability to play back/stream Mp3s of a Airport network and Video would be DVD playback.
Tuesday will tell......
 

ThlayliTheFierce

macrumors regular
Jul 31, 2001
248
0
San Luis Obispo, CA
...and for $1500 it can all be yours! Oh wait, we've got one of those, it's called an iBook. That's too close to a computer. It's going to be separated from a computer enough so that it won't compete. And it'll have to be lower in price than a computer. Why would I pay 800 for a mobile device when I can get an iBook for $1300 and get the whole shebang?
 
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