You mean "Walker, Texas Ranger" marathons and exercise machine infomercials are Apple's future?!
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Apple in Talks to Build Cable Set-Top Box to Display Live Television
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You mean "Walker, Texas Ranger" marathons and exercise machine infomercials are Apple's future?!
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Yep, I'd be perfectly happy if the Apple TV just had input for an antenna. I don't care about this cable card junk. Let's face it, the cable companies are never going to allow this.
This is a pipe dream at best...
TiVo still has trouble convincing cable companies to integrate the tuning adapter into their hardware (which would spell the end of the TiVo GUI) without relinquishing complete control ...
Cable companies would rather die than let Apple dominate the DVR business. There is higher chance of IPTV taking over completely by having content publishers (studios, news corporations, etc) sell their content directly to consumers than an Apple DVR ever coming to fruition.
Taking on an Apple DVR with the current cable industry's attitude would be a money black hole...
TiVo still has trouble convincing cable companies to integrate the tuning adapter into their hardware (which would spell the end of the TiVo GUI) without relinquishing complete control ...
Cable companies would rather die than let Apple dominate the DVR business. There is higher chance of IPTV taking over completely by having content publishers (studios, news corporations, etc) sell their content directly to consumers than an Apple DVR ever coming to fruition.
Taking on an Apple DVR with the current cable industry's attitude would be a money black hole...
Here's a better way to make a DVR...
..Put recording and playback in a data center.
The set top box then becomes a cheap thin client connected to the internet. No tuners, hard drives, cable cards. No installation engineers. No missing any shows ever.
This is inevitable.
..Put recording and playback in a data center.
The set top box then becomes a cheap thin client connected to the internet. No tuners, hard drives, cable cards. No installation engineers. No missing any shows ever.
This is inevitable.
I got rid of Sky a couple of years ago after their internet part of my TV package kept going from slow broadband to dial up every 2 months or so. Switched to Be Broadband, and have never been happier. I got an apple TV 2 when they were released two Christmases ago, jailbroke it, and installed XBMC. I get all my live through the TVCatchup plugin, and the iPlayer plugin is probably what I use the most. Add Icefilms, FastpassTV and Navi-X to that, and I have more content than I know what to do with! I have a several hard drives of my favourite TV shows, movies etc for high quality viewing if the internet should take a wobble.
All in all, it is really reliable - and XBMC are working on full PVR support, along with network saving from the ATV, so there is more to look forward to. All this down an £18 quid internet connection, using rather old kit, as the overheads are low. There was a fair bit of reading up at the start - but the XBMC community is brilliant - active, lots of updates across the many areas of software - and pretty friendly and helpful. Happy days for a nerd : D
All in all, it is really reliable - and XBMC are working on full PVR support, along with network saving from the ATV, so there is more to look forward to. All this down an £18 quid internet connection, using rather old kit, as the overheads are low. There was a fair bit of reading up at the start - but the XBMC community is brilliant - active, lots of updates across the many areas of software - and pretty friendly and helpful. Happy days for a nerd : D
Apple has to cut deals with these guys if they ever want to make a dent in this industry. Cable companies are not struggling. Apple wants them more than they want Apple. People are gathering around watercoolers to talk about last night's episode of Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Walking Dead, American Idol. The vast majority of people have not cut cable because they want well produced content (and these cable guys produce the content). And the alternatives are a pain. A web browser is a FAR inferior interface to any tuner's tv guide. People also just enjoy channel flicking. Sometimes I want to just turn my brain off on a Sunday afternoon and I'll watch something I unexpectedly found about sea lions or painting, or whatever. Discovery is not as easy without a cable subscription. Sure, I'd like to pay for individual channels but they have no reason to do that. Apple can do wonders with an interface and cable companies can give content and live video. Sounds perfect to me. Though, I'd prefer all this in an actual Apple television.
Apple saved the music industry from certain doom.
The cable industry doesn't need saving there is nothing there worth saving.
The cable industry doesn't need saving there is nothing there worth saving.
Oh Yeah.....
like there's ONLY one TV market in the world and yes it is the USA....I have an ATV and it streams my Plex media just dandy. I'd ask Apple to be a little less concerned about keeping iTunes afloat and open up the OS to allow all manner of apps.
BTW, here in dear 'ol Blighty, we have great FREE TV over the air and via satellite, even via cable. So you get a nice healthy competition coming from the cable providers and from SKY TV, so if you are of a mind to want to pay for a movie or a sports then you can.
A good free TV service works wonders to make the subscription services more competitive. It seems this simple formula completely escaped the attention of lawmakers in the USA.
like there's ONLY one TV market in the world and yes it is the USA....I have an ATV and it streams my Plex media just dandy. I'd ask Apple to be a little less concerned about keeping iTunes afloat and open up the OS to allow all manner of apps.
BTW, here in dear 'ol Blighty, we have great FREE TV over the air and via satellite, even via cable. So you get a nice healthy competition coming from the cable providers and from SKY TV, so if you are of a mind to want to pay for a movie or a sports then you can.
A good free TV service works wonders to make the subscription services more competitive. It seems this simple formula completely escaped the attention of lawmakers in the USA.
My guess is that Apple is going to penetrate the market in two ways
1. With a television and everything build in
2. With a box set for everyone that wants the Apple experience.
People don't change televisions like they change smartphones or even computers.
This way they can sell to everyone
1. With a television and everything build in
2. With a box set for everyone that wants the Apple experience.
People don't change televisions like they change smartphones or even computers.
This way they can sell to everyone
I hope apple comes with something great sooner than later. Microsoft has a HUGE head start in the Home Theater area with Xbox. It is not just a gaming console anymore. It crushes theTV in content and apps. I just hope Apple is making the deals they need to because Microsoft sure is.
The Xbox has allowed me to cut cable because I get every single NCAAF game for no extra cost other than my Xbox Live subscription. That is killer.
Granted the Xbox costs more than the
Guess who is selling more. (Hint: It is not Microsoft).
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TiVo still has trouble convincing cable companies to integrate the tuning adapter into their hardware (which would spell the end of the TiVo GUI) without relinquishing complete control ...
Cable companies would rather die than let Apple dominate the DVR business. There is higher chance of IPTV taking over completely by having content publishers (studios, news corporations, etc) sell their content directly to consumers than an Apple DVR ever coming to fruition.
Taking on an Apple DVR with the current cable industry's attitude would be a money black hole...
Exactly, the cable companies are regional monopolies enforced by government regulations and they will DIE rather then ceding any control, which is why any Apple set-top box is a red herring.
We don't have free TV here in the UK. We have to pay a TV licence. The USA to an extent does have free TV.
Here we have to pay for a TV licence, even if you don't actually own a TV theirs many variables left so you still have to pay for a licence. Freeview and Freesat maybe free from subscription channels but you can't exactly say they are free to use because of the TV licence.
Sounds plausible at first, but I don't want a whole new TV; I'm perfectly happy with the one I've got. It is reasonably priced content and user experience most people are after. If APPLE can give us a nicely integrated, sleek, all encompassing set-top box, similar to APPLE tv but with SIRI, with the content we want, while at the same time breaking up those cable-company monopolies, they'd have a HUGE winner on their hand, and in the long run I believe it would be a win-win for content creators as well as consumers.
I know, I know, this would require by-passing cable companies and dealing directly with content providers, so APPLE would have to convince them that they could make more money that way, than by sticking with the old tried and true system of cable-cos ~ middlemen effectively ~ and that, NOT TECHNOLOGY would be APPLE's biggest obstacle. I believe THAT is the direction we're heading in; Cable companies of the future will be more telecommunications providers rather than content distributors; people are just not going to be willing to fork over anywhere from $50 to $150 a month to have the option of watching 200-300 channels. You'd have to be chained to your TV to get your money's worth; a much more user-customizable 'menu' is what's needed.
I don't care if it were APPLE or another company who would pull this off: THIS would revolutionize the TV industry. The only problem is we still need those cable guys for our Internet connections, so they're not going away anytime soon. Aaahh, a guy can dream...
Also worth asking, how many of those XBOXs are in bedrooms rather than living rooms. Apple TVs are probably mostly in living rooms and, being so small and cheap, a lot of households could afford two without breaking the bank.
What are you going to record? As far as playback goes, you've already got Netflix etc.
Also an Apple TV makes no noise, while an XBox 360 is like having a 747 in your room.
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Netflix content sucks compared to cable TV packages.
Perhaps you are missing what I am suggesting.
When you subscribe to a set of services, currently they are amalgamated in the living room. All these pipes converge at the back of the TV.
This leads to expensive equipment, massive duplication, a bad user interface and so on. Technically, its a lame solution.
My proposal is that the services are received and amalgamated in a data centre. (Imagine a building-sized TiVo serving everyone.)
The recording happens there. The channel switching happens there. Content is unified and searchable in a better way. The data center builds a unique grid of channels for each customer - and delivers it as a single stream.
The user then watches the shows. Has infinite recording. Instant channel switching - all under a unified interface.
All that gear, all that wiring, hard drives, power adaptors, remotes would be redundant. Along with the engineers, call centers, cable cards.
All of it conveniently on the iCloud datacenter. Comcast says "thanks but no thanks" and keeps their profits clutched tightly.
Comcast would love this. You have to see the world from their point of view.
Comcast make money by selling content distributed through their pipes.
Under this new model the same content is distributed through the same pipes. They get paid the same but life suddenly gets easier.
Comcast have to buy and install this ton of hardware. They have to have fleets of engineers. Apple box subscribers would need none of that.
Furthermore this tech would allow them to reach subscribers who are not even on their networks.
Money is being left on the table. This would allow Comcast to claim it.
Why do you say that?
The music industry was deadset about embracing online music sales and MP3's until iTunes came along.
I'd say that Apple is pretty good about saying "this is how we're going to do it and it'll be successful. You can either come on board or be left in the dark."