Apple's September 12th Media Event Roundup

[ImNoSuperMan]

.... no one is going to want to run upstairs to their Mac, go on itunes, click on the media store, select Scary movie #17 (more boobs than all the rest), click download. Then run downstairs to the Media cube, finger on button guessing when they can start to play. I therefore think that front row will gain an interface onto the ITMS so that media can be bought from the comfort of the sofa. This will kick off the actual download from upstairs computer and the front row interface will show when the user can start the movie.

That wud be a really nice feature IMO. BTW there is another simple solution for the Apple movie store to score over it`s rival. I posted my thoughts earlier in this thread but it seems that the post got buried and not a lot of people saw it. So I m quoting myself here. Please forgive me.

Apple has over 150 stores in US(or is it 250?). So is it possible if someone wants to Buy or rent a movie he just goes to any of these stores(which will have Optic fibre connectivity with the online store) and download the desired movie on his iPod/Laptop/mini taking no more than 10 minutes. Now this might not sound that great but it should definitely up the sales of iFlicks by atleast 10-15% IMO. All these stores are located in prime locations in big cities. There is a huge number of footfalls in and around these stores. I dont live in US. But if I did and had such a store nearby I`d definitely be renting/buying atleast thrice as much movies than I`d otherwise even if I had a 10 Mbps connection.

It`s just a thought and it might not really be possible. But if possible it can be one of those nice little extras which can help Apple gain on Amazon.

 

[Bobthemonkey]

how about this for a scenario

quiet release of C2D MB/MBP at the start of the expo - similar to the imac/mac mini

then his steveness can deliver the full its showtime reel at the special event.

announce movie store, with ipod updates, and full ipod video as 'one more thing'

 

[Machead III]

how about this for a scenario

quiet release of C2D MB/MBP at the start of the expo - similar to the imac/mac mini

then his steveness can deliver the full its showtime reel at the special event.

announce movie store, with ipod updates, and full ipod video as 'one more thing'

This would be absolute perfection.

 

[MikeDTyke]

how about this for a scenario

quiet release of C2D MB/MBP at the start of the expo - similar to the imac/mac mini

then his steveness can deliver the full its showtime reel at the special event.

announce movie store, with ipod updates, and full ipod video as 'one more thing'

I think its fair to assume at this stage no macbook/pro updates will be shown tomorrow. All they do is distract from the media/ipod announcements. best you can hope for is a quiet refresh towards the end of this week.

M.

 

[Coolerking]

I think its fair to assume at this stage no macbook/pro updates will be shown tomorrow. All they do is distract from the media/ipod announcements. best you can hope for is a quiet refresh towards the end of this week.

M.

Or later today. Although with 9/11 being at the forefront of the news I doubt it.

Early tomorrow would be best.

 

[netdog]

beatles​

 

[jfmartin]

Here are my predictions... the real thing

Apple is hosting a media event on Tuesday, September 12th 2006 in San Francisco, CA at 10AM Pacific. The event will also be simulcast to a location in London where journalists have also been invited.

The invitation to the media was entitled It's Showtime -- suggesting Movie-related announcements. Rumors sites had originally expected iMac updates during the event, but Apple surprised everyone with iMac and Mac mini updates last week.

This leaves iPods, a Movie Store and the possibility of a new streaming Media device for the Tuesday event.

As usual, a number of anonymous images have been circulating claiming to represent upcoming products, but these are all considered to be fake. Other circumstantial evidence has been reported, but no definitive information on the event.

As always, MacRumors will provide continuing coverage, however, access to these events have become more restricted, so please contact us if you are attending.

I think Apple is going to show impress us big time tomorrow. Here is what will be announced.

* The iTunes Movie Store (iTunes 6.5 ou 7.0) with a few notable reworking of the iTunes Store to allow the integration of movies. I think if Apple is going to charge 10 buck per movie, it will add a few interesting twist to the 'DRM license' that goes with it and that would be part of the reason why only disney will be offered at first.. . The license is what makes Apple apart of the others... Studios will have to wait a see that the 'relaxed' DRM license Apple is proposing for 9.99$ is better than the others and people will realize that by buying 'in mass' so other Studios will come in... and leave Amazon Unbox... well, in a box !

* iPod nano second gen. Larger screen, new enclosure. 4, 6, 8 gigs. May be a few more surprise in the nano (radio ?, movies playable ? we don't on this one, isn't it ?)

* iPod Video full screen size

* all the iPods with a color screen will be declared iTunes Movie Store aware...

All this will be the first part of the show... then one more thing...

There will be a 'media center' kind of box that will tap Airport Express technology in it and that will tie with iTunes as the source of the movies in the living room... the main interface will be Frontrow 2.0.

I think this the exactly the kind of incremental approach is going to take once again tomorrow to bring us Movies in our living room. A well integrated approach that includes all the piece (iPod, iTunes, Macs, and PC)...

iTunes is definitively the new plateform for content delivery...

 

[Porchland]

I haven't seen any rumors of this, but I would love to see an Apple-branded Comcast HD/DVR box. My Motorola set-top box already has the killer app that everyone wants to see from a IP-streaming device: HD movies on demand for $4 a pop. But the interface is slow and clunky, and Apple would do a much better job.

As I've said here before, I'm not all that interested in an iTMS TV/movie store unless it replaces my cable, i.e., gives me most of the TV content I want for a flat monthly rate and movies at $4 each.

 

[Machead III]

It could be simple as having two tabs..one for the music store and the other for the movie store.

By that logic you could tab all of iLife in one app. Or tab the entire Adobe suit in a single window.

Movies and music are different media with different means of consumption, different lengths, different technology, different file sizes, different meta-information etc. etc.

Whatever their solution it has to be "as good as" two apps, almost non of the same rules apply to movies as do to music.

 

[Porchland]

beatles​

And Radiohead.

I wonder about these two -- three before Dave Matthews Band came aboard -- everytime there's a major music announcement.

 

[mi5moav]

Can't wait, especially for photokina. Hopefully, that new Apple VideoCamera will make it's appearance. I need one so badly. My brother is having a kid and I need something youtube. Can't wait Can't wait.

 

[-hh]

Apple has over 150 stores in US(or is it 250?). So is it possible if someone wants to Buy or rent a movie he just goes to any of these stores(which will have Optic fibre connectivity with the online store) and download the desired movie on his iPod/Laptop/mini taking no more than 10 minutes. Now this might not sound that great but it should definitely up the sales of iFlicks by atleast 10-15% IMO. All these stores are located in prime locations in big cities. There is a huge number of footfalls in and around these stores...It`s just a thought and it might not really be possible...

One of the more interesting comments I've seen here.

If you think about the success of iTunes, much of it has been in the "long tail" of obscure music that gets a new chance to be sold, rather than just the Top 10 (or 20) mainstream hits that you would normally find in your local record store (Tower Records, etc).

The same also holds true with NetFlix: because the customer effectively "mail orders" his movie from a centralized distributor, he has more choices than what he finds in the local Blockbuster, since their distribution model suffers from shelf space being finite inside a brick-n-mortar store.


So where is this going?

Cross the concept of using the brick-&-mortar's storefront (Apple's) the the essentially "BTO" feature for buying DVD's of Netflix.

You order your movie online, then go pick it up at your local Apple store where they've freshly downloaded (across their GB connection), burned it to DVD (with copy protections) and stuck in a jewelbox for you.


Managing your consumers to prevent friday afternoon rushes can be built into the price structure: all movies are, say, $14.99, but there's a $5 discount for 12 hour notice and an extra 'rush' $5 handling fee if you order it in-store as a 'while you wait'.

What's in it for Apple? Besides the sale of movies themselves, its one way to increase foot traffic in your stores, for anytime a consumer is in the store, there might be an add-on sale or two.

In theory, Apple could make this a rental service model as well if they wanted to, but I consider that to be fairly unlikely. Similarly, a simliar idea could be done with the localized publishing (at the Apple Store) of iPhoto books ... what all of these ideas have in common is to reduce the delay in delayed gratification.


-hh

 

[aafuss1]

Excellent!

Good find!

I'd like to see iPod5/6th Gen tubes, similar to the nano's.

 

[-hh]

beatles​

That explains London, in spades.


-hh

 

[Chundles]

Can't wait, especially for photokina. Hopefully, that new Apple VideoCamera will make it's appearance. I need one so badly. My brother is having a kid and I need something youtube. Can't wait Can't wait.

What new Apple video camera? I've not heard a single rumour relating to Apple releasing a camera. I think Photokina is just going to herald an updated version of Aperture and the updated MacBook Pro - if Apple do anything at Photokina at all. They may just be holding an information session.

 

[netdog]

6G iPods (simply larger capacity and maybe a new feature or two)

I would have to call such a thing 5.1G so let's hope Steve does better than that.

 

[mkrishnan]

I expect Tuesday will be a good day for the fight against prostate cancer.

Other than that, who knows? I don't expect the thing I lust after -- a Flash-based sub-notebook -- to be quite ready for primetime by tomorrow. Or to have anything to do with the theme of the announcement.

I'm betting some combination of:

1) Video streaming router
2) Enhancement to Front Row
3) Videos being sold in iTMS
4) Enhancement of iPods in relation to these features plus perhaps some silent upgrades like capacity on the Nano

 

[Porchland]

Seems to me the new 24" iMac is the "Media Player" - My two largest "monitors" are my 23" ACD and a 26" old skool TV. I watch DVDs on the ACD, as I get a little bit more picture and a lot more clarity than on my TV.
Seating accommodations in my office aren't as nice as the living room, but oh well...

It wouldn't be a huge leap for Apple to super-size the 24-inch iMac into 42-inch and 52-inch displays. The architecture of the iMac is well-suited to a plasma display.

 

[rtharper]

It won't be updated tomorrow. But it will probably be updated as soon as later this week. Boo freaking hoo already, is it really that big a deal to wait a few days. And here's the big question: IS DELL EVEN SHIPPING MEROM LAPTOPS YET?

No, but they're not playing games with my rather fragile heart =(

 

[Teddy's]

And Radiohead.
I wonder about these two -- three before Dave Matthews Band came aboard -- everytime there's a major music announcement.

If they add the "album only" feature to *All* Radiohead's songs, more bands will follow. Mostly for marketing reasons. There are lots of those crappy "Radiohead wannabes - ohhhhhh our songs should not be outside their album"

Now, I can't wait for tomorrow's event!

 

[Sky Blue]

If they add the "album only" feature to *All* Radiohead's songs, more bands will follow. Mostly for marketing reasons. There are lots of those crappy "Radiohead wannabes - ohhhhhh our songs should not be outside their album"

Now, I can't wait for tomorrow's event!

I think Radiohead is a good beat for iTunes when their new album is out. They've just signed a new deal.

 

[Evangelion]

It is excellent that you can play movies it on an iPod, but I hardly think that is enough to launch "screenplay". Most people want to see a movie on a large screen, not a computer or an iPod.

Is there any reason why you couldn't do both?

 

[Xenious]

While I am excited I'm still not convienced we can conquer the bandwidth issues for higher resolution sources. What I would really like to see (yes I'm dreaming, copywrite, etc) is iTunes to let me do what I do for music with my movies. I realize you can do this today, but lets make it built in and easy. I put a DVD in and iTunes asks me if I want to "rip" it into my video library. The fattest download pipe is when I buy a DVD off the shelf and take it home.

At 15$ a pop I'd rather have a physical DVD. I'm one of the odd ones that was/is hoping for rental subscriptions. I would like the same model as netflix except with the downloads. I pay a monthly fee and can download and watch x movies at the same time. The beauty over netflix there is if I want to watch a movie, I can have it relatively faster then waiting for it to ship.

Finally I of course want a real video ipod. Even if the content isn't all available yet from iTunes, I can make my own and will have the new hardware form factor. One year and holding I am waiting to upgrade my old 3G ipod with dying battery.
-jim

 

[milo]

My Motorola set-top box already has the killer app that everyone wants to see from a IP-streaming device: HD movies on demand for $4 a pop.

Doesn't that require having cable TV?

No, but they're not playing games with my rather fragile heart =(

I don't see how announcing something but not shipping it is better than not announcing something and not shipping it. Either way, you have no computer. Threatening to buy a dell is pretty empty until Dell actually makes that possible.

 

[Peace]

10.4.8 will be a necessary update for what's released tomorrow.
At least if one wishes to buy it and use it.So 10.4.8 will be out in the next couple of days.