Mac Mini hooked up as DVD player, DVR, and Media Center.... Oh and it's also a computer with the full internet available to it 
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Google Announces Google TV for Fall 2010 Launch
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Well, it can use Hulu, apparently.
Most people don't want to waste their time ripping/buying, they just want to stream. That's where AppleTV fails.
Controlling the mythical TV market has been the target of many companies for decades. Google's latest announcement is only the latest in a long line of such brave attempts to take this beast which is partly dinosaur and mostly a mix of competing high technologies. If that isn't bad enough the whole thing is watched over by a group of lethagetic federal agencies, commissions, and bureaus that are lost in the technologies of the previous century.
Apple is wise to be cautious in throwing too much energy into this roiling stew and losing sight of it's main goal of being a controlling force in mobile communications and entertainment devices.
Google is becoming more and more an unfocused company. It reminds me of Xerox (anyone remember them?) of the early 1980s. They developed many great ideas that made them no money, and got distracted enough that they lost control of their main source of revenue.
Apple is wise to be cautious in throwing too much energy into this roiling stew and losing sight of it's main goal of being a controlling force in mobile communications and entertainment devices.
Google is becoming more and more an unfocused company. It reminds me of Xerox (anyone remember them?) of the early 1980s. They developed many great ideas that made them no money, and got distracted enough that they lost control of their main source of revenue.
Your posting (trolling) history in these forums since last December would suggest otherwise.
Andy Rubin, Google vice president and inventor of the Android platform, was one of the founders of WebTV back in the days, so this is no surprise.
why are you connected to the internet?! they're going to track you down! uh oh, they're coming! RUN!!!!
I was watching the demo of this today. Seriously the most unprofessional thing I've ever seen - presenters on stage were arguing with each other, practically yelling. Made them all look like amateurs, which they basically are. I couldn't stand it, and I'll be convinced once their stupid little keyboard actually works and they don't have to yell at the audience to "turn their phones off." It's weird that at an Apple keynote, you never have to do that. It's almost like one company is far far more professional...
Meh, not really VHS like, but certainly the quality of iTunes HD movies is not nearly as great as a good Blu Ray movie. HD content is not where iTunes excels at, not yet at least.
The force is strong in this thread though.
Mac Mini hooked up as DVD player, DVR, and Media Center.... Oh and it's also a computer with the full internet available to it
Full internet, eh? Not web "lite," like the iPad...?
I used to run a Mac Mini as HTPC, but there is no good front end for Mac OS - Front Row is pathetic, and Plex is too buggy.
So, I got an Aopen Mini with BluRay, run W7 MCE with Media Browser, and even have Netflix HD
But, Google TV has a different purpose, for a different audience.
It's what Apple TV could have been, if Steve Jobs wasn't so greedy, and hadn't locked users in a scheme of paying for stuff they could get for free from the web or over the air/cable/satellite.
So, think of it as a much, much better, and open, Apple TV.
Google rocks, Apple rots (lately).
I'm quite impressed with the demo video of the device. Would be much interested in this than Apple TV I think wish everything would just work together though.
As I live in Australia, I guess Google would need to do a deal here? I haven't looked that up yet. And I guess it's include Foxtel as well as Free-to-air channels.
Look forward to more information on this
wish everything would just work together though.As I live in Australia, I guess Google would need to do a deal here? I haven't looked that up yet. And I guess it's include Foxtel as well as Free-to-air channels.
Look forward to more information on this
AppleTV is nothing but a way to make more money off the iTunes Music Store. GoogleTV is riding the coat tales of the massive movement towards instant gratification of watching TV on the internet. It's free, it's instant, and...it's instant.
That convenience and money saving is better than paying a bunch of money to buy a Blu Ray player that's just going to cost you more money to buy all of your movies all over again that for most people won't change the experience all that much. What if you can just come home and watch the Simpsons any time you want on Hulu on your HD TV? That's going to get some attention. That kind of simplicity is what has changed the tide for Comcast vs. the Satellite companies with on Demand. That's the direction things are moving in and 15 years ago when WebTV was around, things weren't going in that direction, they were going to computers.
robrobin10
I am totally convinced with u...it's new innovation . So it is required that we wi"ll wait untill it start functioning
I am totally convinced with u...it's new innovation . So it is required that we wi"ll wait untill it start functioning
Until people become willing to dedicate 20 gigs of storage space to a single movie, and it becomes possible to download 20 Gigabytes in under 90 minutes, we will never see streaming HD with BluRay quality.
And where is Microsoft in all of this? I mean this is freaking Google for goodness sake. At this rate if Yahoo makes an announcement, or even my neighbors pet cat makes a technological advancement ...it will be something light years ahead of Microsoft. Complacency will lead them to become obsolete in a matter of years.
as we all know that google may be a masters when it comes to internet but are they good enough to provide that niche in the tv market, it is still to be seen...yes they can be unprofessionals in this....i agree with ur thought
this is just the kind of reaction, i was expecting . For me too it is hard to understand their unprofessional approach
well for the two market company it may be a competition but yes well done to GOOGLE the giant of internet market to move away head...:
You see, this is the reason why few companies are probably interested in having you as a customer (or anyone else of your ilk). You seem to expect to get all of your entertainment and TV for free. How is a media company going to make any money by offering a service like that? The only alternative is advertising and frankly I've grown tired of ads and would much rather just pay for the content that I really want.
Right now, Netflix streaming content is bit of an anomaly as it is being supported by their disc rental business but I expect this to change in the not too distant future. Netflix will transition to a pay-per-view or even a dedicated subscription model for their streaming content. The same is going to happen to Hulu, so those of you who are pointing to these services as an example of "free" content should be preparing to see them go over the next year or two.
In any case, video-on-demand and streaming media is the future of entertainment and that seems to be the direction that Apple is taking with iTunes, the iPhone/iPod/iPad, and the Apple TV. I fully expect that before the end of this year (and probably even before we see Google TV) that Apple is going to make a major new initiative in this area.
And while we're at it, let's list some technologies that probably won't make it in any big way into the next decade:
Audio CDs
DVR/PVRs
DVD/Blu-rays
In fact, you'll never see these on any next-generation Apple TV product.
It seems a video for retarded users....
Plug your MacMini, MacBook, PC, what you want to your HD television and you more more stuff. many users i kno have a MacMini with HD monitor + eyeTV and Skype. All in one computer, media player, dvd player, internet, television, telephone.
GoogleTV can be pretty nice but it is not new..... buy a WDTV Live and it does most of these stuff.
Plug your MacMini, MacBook, PC, what you want to your HD television and you more more stuff. many users i kno have a MacMini with HD monitor + eyeTV and Skype. All in one computer, media player, dvd player, internet, television, telephone.
GoogleTV can be pretty nice but it is not new..... buy a WDTV Live and it does most of these stuff.
I'm quite impressed with the demo video of the device. Would be much interested in this than Apple TV I think
As I live in Australia, I guess Google would need to do a deal here? I haven't looked that up yet. And I guess it's include Foxtel as well as Free-to-air channels.
Look forward to more information on this
if there is any device that people know and love, it is the television.In fact 4 billions of people watch TV.Google TV is a new experience.Google TV uses search to give you an easy and fast way to navigate to television channels,websites,app,shows and movies.it is a global announcement so it wi"ll work in AUS.yes it will have FOXTEL and FREE TO AIR CHANNELS.so u have every reason to be excited
it involves technical advancement yes, but i agree with ur fact that they should ensure it's quality first rather than to be complacent about it...