Apple Entering Projector Market?

[the_mole1314]

Re: Simple Analogy

Originally posted by penguin
I think I see where this is going.

When Apple addressed digital music they built the Music Store and the best AND coolest device to play MP3s on.

So in the future when Apple addresses downloadable movies we will have the Apple Movie Store and the iProjector to display your movies the way movies were intended to be viewed. BIG.
Front projectors will soon be THE coolest way to watch your movie. I think many a geek (including me) use cheap <$800 LCD projectors for movie night. Even though you need a dark room and the picture isn't as perfect as a TV, size matters and watching a big movie is so fun in itself. Try it.

Well, downloading songs if infinatly more faster than downloading movies. It takes hours on a standard DSL/Cable connection, while songs take seconds, or a minute.

I think rumor is crazy and odd enough to be true. It's not like someone can make this stuff up, like new cinima displays, or the iBox.

 

[rtype]

Originally posted by crenz
But the LCD can not only be used for videos, but also for serious work ... so if you spend money, might as well spend it on something that has more than one use. (Unless you need to do a lot of presentations.)

And projectors don't have more than one use? I use one for computer applications, home theater and video games. One of the primary uses of laptops in business is presentation. Sales people often travel with a laptop and projector.

Projectors are a growth industry and the prices of projectors are falling rapidly. I'm not a rumor informant or anything but logically speaking, it would very much make sense for an Apple branded OEM projector to appear on the market.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

there was a rumor about a new form factor imac and a display that was as different to the Lcd imac as it was from the crt imac. my guess would be a wireless display?or a seperated display from the imac which would be a new form factor for imac. a new projector line with computer is to soon, you know how long it takes to download anything even on dsl. this is page 2.

 

[bcstanding]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
I doubt it, Apple needs a real consumer product hit. another expensive cube with a expensive projector isnt going to help them. a plasma tv or even a large crt is still way better then a projector. apple has to focus on the consumer line and what the consumer wants. projector isnt on many lists that i have seen.

I'd have to disagree with the comment about a plasma tv or a large crt being way better than a projector. If you have a light controlled, decent sized room (like a family room in a basement), a projector is an excellent option.

Also, a projector isn't on many lists I've seen either, but couldn't you have said the same thing about an MP3 player before the iPod?

 

[J-Ray1000]

Here's an idea...

What if this new projector is the projector equivalent of the iPod? Meaning, it simply has a hard-disk in it?

The most viable option for this is uploading Keynote presentations to be shown on the road. Or iPhoto slides-shows. Or movies even ripped through a new Quicktime that's more like iTunes.

At home, it could be like an integrated tivo to store movies and play them back. I doubt it would stream from Airport, but it may simply download them wirelessly onto its own disk.

I don't think the market is there for this kind of thing, but hey, no one thought the iPod had one either. Of course, why have this integrated with a projector instead of simply a stand alone hard disk recorder?

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

you still have people moving in front of it plus it sucks up a lot of power. big flat screens to me are the way. just hang one where ever you want it. with a projector you still need the viewing surface and a mounting for the projector. If apple did this it would be a product looking for a market.

 

[rtype]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
you still have people moving in front of it plus it sucks up a lot of power. big flat screens to me are the way. just hang one where ever you want it. with a projector you still need the viewing surface and a mounting for the projector. If apple did this it would be a product looking for a market.

So what are the business projectors already on the market and selling well doing?

 

[CalfCanuck]

Re: Here's an idea...

Originally posted by J-Ray1000
What if this new projector is the projector equivalent of the iPod? Meaning, it simply has a hard-disk in it?

The most viable option for this is uploading Keynote presentations to be shown on the road. Or iPhoto slides-shows. Or movies even ripped through a new Quicktime that's more like iTunes.

At home, it could be like an integrated tivo to store movies and play them back. I doubt it would stream from Airport, but it may simply download them wirelessly onto its own disk.

I don't think the market is there for this kind of thing, but hey, no one thought the iPod had one either. Of course, why have this integrated with a projector instead of simply a stand alone hard disk recorder?

There already are several out there that have some sort of Flash Ram, but the biggest problem out there is procrastination. Most speakers out on the road are hammering out changes at their laptops and dropping these into Powerpoint until right before their presentation.

If someone is travelling away from the office for a presentation, there's a lot of money and time involved, esp if it's in another city. Most would not sacrifice the 9 lbs savings of travelling without their laptop only to screw up their presentation. Or if they did, they'd never do it a second time.

 

[CalfCanuck]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
If apple did this it would be a product looking for a market.

Absolutely. Why do I always have to agree with you?

People talk about how great projectors are, and how they might displace LCD's. But what about the cost of bulbs? These ain't cheap - often pushing $300 for the ones rated at thousands of hours (about 20 cents an hour). The cheaper bulbs often have rated lives of as little as 150 hours. So would a desktop user want to drop $50 every month to replace bulbs?

On the strategic level, since this is a market that Apple is currently not involved in, it would take a LOT of resouces to let people know about this. There are entire magazines (and web sites - that's were this rumor came from) dedicated to this market, and while the margins are high, so are the sales costs. That means Apple would have to start advertising from scratch, in a market already awash with products. Bring out those $$$$$$

If true, this is bad for us mainstream Mac folks. As I noted earlier, you sell these one at a time, because workgroups only need one, so Apple would have to devote a lot of resources to finding each of those sales. With CPUs, if you get your foot into a work group, you can sell a bunch of units, along with displays, software, etc. Look at the supercomputer - sold over a 1000 units, and now others will follow given the Xserve.

The only way it wouldn't be a major distraction is if Apple just dropped it on it's web site as another display option when you were buying a CPU and didn't try to push it with marketing. But if that was the case, why bother?

 

[bcstanding]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
you still have people moving in front of it plus it sucks up a lot of power. big flat screens to me are the way. just hang one where ever you want it. with a projector you still need the viewing surface and a mounting for the projector. If apple did this it would be a product looking for a market.

How much do you have to spend? Like I said, a projector is great under certain conditions. I'm looking forward to getting one when I build a family room in my basement next summer...

I have to agree though that this doesn't make sense for Apple to do this unless they're doing something different that what other projector products are. If it's just a me-too projector, that seems rather pointless.

 

[Tux Kapono]

I must be the only one here who doesn't know what FP stands for.

 

[Flynnstone]

Originally posted by Vroem
If this would be possible it would exist. But it's impossible: the bandwith and speed needed by a monitor or projector is a magnitude larger than Airport or even gigabit ethernet (not to mention the latencies.)

It's not impossible. It's actually quite possible.
Goto www.infocus.com , they sell projectors and a accessory called LiteShow.
It is limited by bandwidth.

 

[rtype]

Originally posted by Tux Kapono
I must be the only one here who doesn't know what FP stands for.

Context. Front Projection

 

[neilw]

Originally posted by Flynnstone
It's not impossible. It's actually quite possible.
Goto www.infocus.com , they sell projectors and a accessory called LiteShow.
It is limited by bandwidth.

That sort of thing works for slow-moving business presentations, but is not practical or intended for home theater, which is what the original poster was saying. There definitely seems to be some confusion whether the rumored product is geared for home or business use. The original posting in AVS forum suggests home theater use.

I can envision a home theater projector with built-in airport, that could act as a client for a Mac serving images from iPhoto or iMovie (in addition to fulfilling its primary purpose via DVI input.) However, it just doesn't seem like a particularly profitable avenue for Apple to pursue.

I could more easily believe them going into the business projector market, though I'm not sure exactly why they'd go there either.

Frankly, if Apple entered this market without first (or at least simultaneously) addressing the problems with its consumer Mac line-up, I'd really have to start wondering what they're thinking.

Originally posted by Sol
The forum that started this rumour seems full of people who think "Macs are too expensive" but at least one person had the common sense to point out that the Apple Displays are very cheap compared to competing products.

Most people think "Macs are too expensive", including a lot of Mac owners.

 

[DaveGee]

Originally posted by Centurion
OK. Here’s the scoop…it really isn’t a DV stand-alone projector, but rather a revision of the G4 Cube, with a built-in projector. It’s a combination projector and computer! This is the 20th Anniversary device. It also has a 1.6 GHZ G5 processor. Wait till Saturday, you’ll see.

Heh... too funny...

The heat of a 1.6 GHz PowerMac system (CPU, HD, etc) and you wanna add the heat of a projector bulb?!?!?!?

The freakin box would melt!

All kidding aside.. heat really is a major problem tho.

Unless that is you had some SERIOUS fans at work - FAN NOISE and projectors are not a good mix... Just ask any home theater geek (like me). I have an 8' screen with a DLP projector... thank you very much! but it's been outta action since the bulb died and it'll cost me $450 for a new one...

Dave

 

[IJ Reilly]

The last time these peripheral rumors got started, they turned out to be new Belkin products (announced by Apple, and sold through the Apple Store, but not Apple products). In fact, custom add-ons for Apple products built by others seems like a bit of a trend lately. So if you ask me, Apple will most likely begin selling a high-end projector through the Apple store, possibly exclusively, but it will probably be made by somebody else. Samsung would be a good bet.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Another thought: What about a projector with an ADC connector? If the projector could be powered from the Mac (don't know if that's feasible), it would cut down the number of line cords to one, and possibly none for shorter presentations. Apple could offer this projector in a bundle with a 12" PB, Keynote, a Bluetooth remote, and a custom-designed bag from Brenthaven. Somebody who does a lot of dog-and-pony shows might find that combo to be irresistible.

 

[Jonnod III]

Well, in the UK you get good tax relief on computer hardware. Strikes me that a projector from the Home Cinema room that occasionally goes out to do presentations would qualify for tax relief....

 

[DaveGee]

Originally posted by IJ Reilly
Another thought: What about a projector with an ADC connector? If the projector could be powered from the Mac (don't know if that's feasible), it would cut down the number of line cords to one, and possibly none for shorter presentations. Apple could offer this projector in a bundle with a 12" PB, Keynote, a Bluetooth remote, and a custom-designed bag from Brenthaven. Somebody who does a lot of dog-and-pony shows might find that combo to be irresistible.

Two problems...

1 - Todays projectors draw a fair bit of power for the special bulbs maybe more than ADC can provide.

2 - Laptops (most common device connected to a projector) don't have ADC at all.

Dave

 

[CalfCanuck]

This will be a hard market to crack

No matter how you slice it, this market is never going to be that huge for Apple. Most projectors sales are for Windows PC's, and few of those would even know that Apple had a projector (if this thread is true), let alone seriously consider it.

While a small minority of Mac users might want an Apple device, most Apple users shopping for a projector would consider all manufacturers, not just Apple's. So any successful unit would have to be better than what's currently out there - and that's a pretty saturated market, and one constantly changing.

Of course Apple could go path of least resistance and just rebox an existing unit, but that adds the least value for Apple (as well as for Mac users).

With so many other PRESSING demands that would really add to their bottom line, I just hope this isn't a true rumor.

 

[penguin]

Light Bulbs

Has anyone ever made a projector using white leds instead of bulbs? No bulb replacement cost and it would run cool. Then hook it up with the same wireless technology that sony's new TV anywhere is using. Maybe even dock it into an optional rear projection box. Sounds good to me.

 

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by Tux Kapono
I must be the only one here who doesn't know what FP stands for.

Front Projector, in the current context.

As opposed to "Rear Projection" (most non-flat-panel big-screen TVs).

It also stands for "Flat Panel", which could be the source of some confusion (when jargons attack ...) Possibly even the source of this rumor ("Apple is working on a new FP display." "A new FP?" "Yup, a new FP. Awesome specs, too." --> "Hey, folks, Apple's working on this awesome new Front Projector that's going to blow away the competition!" ...)

 

[AndrewMT]

Originally posted by Superdrive
Great maybe a Powerbook G5 is in this new line

Samsung announced its ultra-thin 56" DLP projector screen at CES. DLPs are far superior to plasma and now they can be the same size! Not to mention, DLPs are usually half the cost of plasmas. Doesn't Samsung supply Apple with most of its displays?

 

[boskie]

Originally posted by Vroem
If this would be possible it would exist. But it's impossible: the bandwith and speed needed by a monitor or projector is a magnitude larger than Airport or even gigabit ethernet (not to mention the latencies.)

This is not impossible:

http://www.projectorpoint.co.uk/wirelessprojectors.htm

And,

http://www.projectorcentral.com/wi-fi.htm

Clearly show that there are products already available and viable for presenting both presentations and MPEG2 (7-8Mbps - DVD Spec quality) over bluetooth and 802.11b (11MBps) respectively. With the advent of 802.11g (54MBps) and the non-ratified other extensions of the Wi-Fi certification will bring MPEG2 HD hopefully up to full res.

If Apple comes out with a product like this i Will get of my ass and finish my Home Theatre Loft conversion!

Bring it on.

 

[neilw]

Neat. I am a huge fan of DLP rear-projectors, finding their picture to be notably superior to plasma. I'm waiting for the price to come down a bit before diving in.

Still don't know how Apple would fit into all this...

Has anyone ever made a projector using white leds instead of bulbs? No bulb replacement cost and it would run cool. Then hook it up with the same wireless technology that sony's new TV anywhere is using. Maybe even dock it into an optional rear projection box. Sounds good to me.

I don't think white LEDs (even groups of them) could come anywhere *near* the intensity of the bulbs they use in projectors. I'm sure that if/when they become suitable for such use, manufacturers will try to use them. The expense and longevity of the bulb is one of the negatives of projectors (both front and rear) right now...