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Apple Event April 18th, 2004

Namacste said:
Maybe just wishful thinking since I need one so badly.

But seriously think of it: a new flat panel display with HDTV capabilities maybe?

It has been a long, long while since Apple updated these mothers.
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I think that's a great idea. Look how good plasmas have been to Gateway. That's a hot item right now, in the home entertainment market AND the computer market; both of which Apple are interested in having a big impact in.

I think the computer needs to come out of the "computer room". It's such a big part of people's lives now and we still sit at desks to use them just because that's the only place they could fit at first, and they used to be "work only" products. If Apple can TRULY make a successful digital hub that is placed in the living room and replaces the archaic television set, they'd be going in the right direction, IMO.

G5 Powerbooks would be nice, but I won't be able to afford one for years to come. Damn Republicans ;)

Video iPods? Useless in my opinion.
 
No

Video iPod
Audio iPod
Set Top Box
Powermac G5
Powerbook G5


Yes

Updates to Final Cut Pro, Shake and DVD Studio pro
Possible announcement of a new application(could be rumored Digital Audio Workstation).
Possible hardware but that's unlikely unless Apple is teaming with Aja again for something new.
 
About the new 400GB Hitachi hard drive:
Dubbed the Deskstar 7K400, the drive is being tested by manufacturers and could be in digital video recorder (DVR) products available to consumers later this year, the source said.
Click to expand...
Since this is a rumor site, I think me seeing a connection with this is not out of place. :cool:
 
Anyone know the link to register for the press conference? I'll be in vegas for NAB

can't find it on the apple site, did not get my invite as in previous years...

I went to the event last year, lot of fun to be there for the FCP4 release - keynote was sorta like a mini macworld
 
NAB is for professionals only!

I can only say it again - NAB is a yearly event for professionals in the TV, editing and post-production world. There won't be a consumer device. Period. Nothing even remotely consumer. And no new hardware either.

Currently Apple has only one product that belongs to NAB - Final Cut Pro. Last year we saw the unveiling of Final Cut Pro 4 together with AJA's IO BOX. And it was no coincidence that Apple's large booth was right next to it's big NAB rival - AVID.

It's likely that we see a sneak peak of version 5 of FCP. I am hoping that Apple's going to talk about their plans for a file-level shared storage solution. That's something they desperately need in order to compete with AVID. (That's the one big reason why larger editing companies are deciding against FCP and go for AVID)

AVID has an extremely sophisticated product, called UNITY, which allows editors to share media over fibre channel with no restrictions. So called "virtual workspaces" (volumes that can be adjusted in size at any time!) can be written to by editors at the same time. It's a real workhorse and it's the standard in the post-production world. In order to compete in the professional market, Apple needs a competitive product. And by the way, a system like that won't come cheap. AVID's solution can run up to 100 grand, depending on size.
 
NAB is for professionals only!

Sorry, got an error message and just found out that my previous post did get through...
 
twinturbo said:
Forget HDV, how about DVCProHD over firewire-THAT would rock the industry. Broadcast level HD editing on the desktop via firewire and cheap run-of-the-mill HD's. And the Varicam is a great camera, has awesome dynamic range, multiple framerates, etc. For the professional market you can forget HDV-that stuff is crap mega-compressed MPEG-2. They need to get DVCProHD over firewire Now and crush the Sony HDCAM juggernaut.
Click to expand...

Point taken; yes, DVCProHD would be sweet.

However, for semi-pros, support for HDV is still needed. Sony supposedly will be announcing an HDV cam (rumored 1080i, but HDV supports only up to 1440 instead of the 1920) at NAB and JVC should be coming out with v2 of their cams later this year.

And right now the solution for editing is pretty much PC based. The software that comes with the JVCs is for PC. There is the Aspect plugin for Premiere 6.5 (PC) and Pro. And soon to be (was told should be out in a day or two) MainConcept's plugin for Premiere Pro. Plus, uLead has native HDV support.

I know there is now the Heuris and also the Steve Mullen solution, but it is a lot of extra time and screwing around. Where native support would definitely make things a lot easier and a lot less time consuming.

I would actually have liked to seen HDV gone the Mpeg-4 advanced HD route versus Mpeg-2 and also supported 4:2:2.
 
why set top box?

I still don't get why everyone thinks there is a need for a set top box - my powerbook has all of that functionality already and it is very easy to connect to my tv (streams iTunes, iPhoto, etc. from iMac in another room).

I would really like to see an iPod/TiVo device that I can connect to my TV and record shows just like TiVO and then have it on the go for viewing with my laptop or TV whenever I want. For example, if I could record Sopranos on this device (might just be added functionality to iPod), I could then watch it on the plane through my Powerbook via Quicktime and firewire (I agree with Jobs that people aren't interested in viewing TV/Video on a 2" screen). This device would need to be seemlessly integrated with TV/Computer and internet and Apple is the perfect company to do this. This kind of device would change the way we think about broadcasting and could see Apple announcing it at NAB.
 
nuckinfutz said:
No

Video iPod
Audio iPod
Set Top Box
Powermac G5
Powerbook G5


Yes

Updates to Final Cut Pro, Shake and DVD Studio pro
Possible announcement of a new application(could be rumored Digital Audio Workstation).
Possible hardware but that's unlikely unless Apple is teaming with Aja again for something new.
Click to expand...

I'm with nuckinfutz on this one -- no major hardware updates unless it's something along the lines of an Apple branded controller for Final Cut Pro or some kind of audio interface (made by emagic, branded by Apple, for use with Logic). Also, isn't Logic Pro being released kind of soonish? So that might be included with whatever other pro audio stuff they do.

Look for new G5's later this month, I think -- or early next month, but not at this conference specifically. And Lord only knows how long it will be before PB G5's are introduced, but I'm betting it's NOT going to be here, so don't hold your collective breaths....
 
PORTABLE VIDEO PLAYER

I replied to an appleinsider post about this a few months ago, but one of my good friends took photos with an orange plastic apple portable video player, definitely had no reason to lie, and told me this b4 any rumors of the sort were flying around. Because he so independently told me this (and completely in the dark of any rumors or word from apple), I definitely believe him. The kid was shooting promo photos with the thing, and said they came in a few colors. So, I would definitely expect something up this alley. Video iPod for sure.
 
OT

ibrainch said:
I still don't get why everyone thinks there is a need for a set top box - my powerbook has all of that functionality already and it is very easy to connect to my tv (streams iTunes, iPhoto, etc. from iMac in another room).

I would really like to see an iPod/TiVo device that I can connect to my TV and record shows just like TiVO and then have it on the go for viewing with my laptop or TV whenever I want. For example, if I could record Sopranos on this device (might just be added functionality to iPod), I could then watch it on the plane through my Powerbook via Quicktime and firewire (I agree with Jobs that people aren't interested in viewing TV/Video on a 2" screen). This device would need to be seemlessly integrated with TV/Computer and internet and Apple is the perfect company to do this. This kind of device would change the way we think about broadcasting and could see Apple announcing it at NAB.
Click to expand...
I can already suck digital content off my Tivo and play it on my laptop or burn it to dvd. Granted, it's a hack. Most people don't realize that DirectTv/Tivo is only 480x480 - not nearly DVD quality. Very few DirectTv titles have Dolby Digital. There are times when I think a class-action suit is in order. I've digressed :)

Anyway, Tivo is continually trying to tighten up their boxes to prohibit this type of stuff, due to DRM issues, of course. Apple would have to solve these issues. The success of iTMS is a good sign, but I'm not sure we are there, yet. One of the reasons I don't think the current crop of PVRs are coming under a lot of scrutiny is that HD is around the corner and will obsolete everything out there. When HDTV PVRs come on the market, in volume, I don't think it will be without some serious DRM in place.

In the final analysis, I believe you'll have to have a decent income, in the future, to actually be able to control the content you buy with something more than "watch/listen and it's gone" options. When was the last time you saw a boxing title fight on over-the-air TV? It's delayed a week or two even on the cable premium channels (HBO, etc.). It won't be too long before the Super Bowl will only be available on a pay channel. We are being held hostage! Revolt! I promise, if I'm elected, to put a bundle of DVDs in every slot!:)

OK, I admit it, I'm on the other side of martini hour :)
 
rohanputter said:
Sorry, I should have clarified, was just typing too quickly. Ages ago, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that he didn't see the market for watching video on a small screen, rather having a device to plug into others. An ipod with video out and software support would work well. Take your movies with you and plug it in to a TV. Would obviously work with photos too.
Click to expand...

i knew what you meant, just a little gentle ribbing.

btw thanks for being a good sport (people around here have been a little uptight lately)
 
some guy said know consumer products are at NAB

well that could kick ass, cause it could be a pro audio app..and update to logic, i'm excited to see
 
JamesDPS said:
I'm with nuckinfutz on this one -- no major hardware updates unless it's something along the lines of an Apple branded controller for Final Cut Pro or some kind of audio interface (made by emagic, branded by Apple, for use with Logic). Also, isn't Logic Pro being released kind of soonish? So that might be included with whatever other pro audio stuff they do.

Look for new G5's later this month, I think -- or early next month, but not at this conference specifically. And Lord only knows how long it will be before PB G5's are introduced, but I'm betting it's NOT going to be here, so don't hold your collective breaths....
Click to expand...


Considering that the listing from NAB that was referenced earlier referred to Apple under Post-Prodution, perhaps Apple has created a new workstation for video editing/compiling. That would fit into the video/audio/industry theme they were getting at in that announcement. I seriously doubt it will be anything aimed at the consumer market, because NAB isn't exactly a high-publicity affair. As far as rumors of a video iPod, new consumer hardware, etc., I'd expect that at Macworld rather than at NAB.
 
daveL said:
I can already suck digital content off my Tivo and play it on my laptop or burn it to dvd. Granted, it's a hack. Most people don't realize that DirectTv/Tivo is only 480x480 - not nearly DVD quality.
Click to expand...


Hmm. I've seen this elsewhere, but don't understand how you could represent an NTSC image - which is 640x480x24bitx29.97fps I believe - in 480x480. Is the aspect ratio off, or is it padded somehow?
 
this is my prediction for april 19:

New apple Displays. this line is overdue for an update, we may perhaps see the long rumored 30" display. remember that to take advantage of final cut pro you need a good display and apple has great displays

final cut pro update. final cut is being used to broadcast many programs(espn sportcenter is done with final cut pro) so it would be natural for an update for this software

powermacs update-since the powermac ARE ther tools we may see an update using the the new 970FX.

Powerbooks Update- is there is any it will be the new G4 processor that motorla announced.I suspect that Powerbooks G5 are going to be announced at the WWDC

portable video players? i really dont think apple will release one yet

ibox? Perhap will see the light of day.

Thats all for my predictions.
 
It will be some kind of video entertainment device released at NAB I'm thinking.

I was going to say something else intelligent but I forgot what it was... Damn. :confused:
 
Apr. 18th date is ALMOST the 1-year Anniv of iTunes

Regardless of the purpose of NAB, I think we'll see iTunes announcements.

1) April 30th is the birthday of the iTMS.
2) April 30th is Steve's deadline for meeting 100 Million Songs.

I anticipate Apple will use this April 18th date to announce their progress (and HOPEFULLY claim their own trophy... we haven't seen any official numbers since 25Million) in reaching the 100M goal.

Beyond that, it will likely be the FCP, Shake updates. I don't think we'll see iTunes 5 or the iPod 4 here at NAB --- those will be at a separate music event. (But we're due soon, right?)
 
why? for what?

?Hater said:
I replied to an appleinsider post about this a few months ago, but one of my good friends took photos with an orange plastic apple portable video player, definitely had no reason to lie, and told me this b4 any rumors of the sort were flying around. Because he so independently told me this (and completely in the dark of any rumors or word from apple), I definitely believe him. The kid was shooting promo photos with the thing, and said they came in a few colors. So, I would definitely expect something up this alley. Video iPod for sure.
Click to expand...

ok, what would the consumer put on their video iPod? ripping DVDs is 1) illegal and 2) slow. i don't think people need to carry around their iMovies to watch constantly. watching recorded TV shows seems silly too, and with the impending broadcast flags might be short lived. it's possible Apple is testing such hardware in case someone comes up with a reason to NEED to watch movies on a screen much smaller than a 12" laptop.....

remember MP3s were commonplace before the iPod was released. Everyone had MP3s on their computer and needed a good solution for making them portable. not that many people have movies/video on their drives that they require in a portable player.
 
My hopes?
QuickTime 7.
H.264 and HE-AAC support.
...With a Cocoa QT Player and a Win2k/XP Player built from scratch (by whatever team ported iTunes).

This is a professional event. Don't be looking for iPods or PowerBooks here.
...and it's probably too soon to hope for a major revision to FCP one year after the biggest revision it's ever gotten.
 
A video iPod might not be that crazy of an idea after all,
from a NY Times article:

"If you hadn't noticed, audio inventions are inevitably followed by corresponding video versions. Radio begat TV; audio tape begat videotape; CD's begat DVD's.

It was only a matter of time, then, before it occurred to somebody to invent, for want of a better term, the video iPod: a hand-held personal-entertainment gizmo with a color screen capable of playing movies.

That idea has certainly occurred to Microsoft. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Bill Gates demonstrated prototypes of something un-catchily named the Microsoft Portable Media Center. Creative Labs, iRiver, Samsung, Sanyo and ViewSonic all intend to unveil Microsoft-based video players by year's end."


It goes on to describe how two players already in the market work... and it seems like they both can get a little help from Apple ;)

I don't know if this would happen at NAB, but I think Apple should in the cooks for something like this. Check out the article.

-Susana
 
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