Intel iBooks, Video iPod, Digital Entertainment in April?

[rumz]

My 2 cents on the media center:

I can see (and wouldn't mind) Apple introducing a Mac Media Center separate from the Mac Mini (Imagine the Mini only perhaps a tad thinner but wider so as to be similar to home theater components in form). Of course they might also up the processor in the Mac Mini to an Intel Core Solo to make it more attractive, but as everyone has mentioned regarding pricing, it makes more sense to me that a media center be introduced as a separate product so as to accomodate more RAM, a core duo, larger hard drive, etc. We're not talking about a TiVo-- we're talking about something that can do it all-- a home media center. Play / record music, play / record video (in HD, etc), display your photos, play your DVDs or downloaded video files, etc. (I was going to suggest blu-ray, but stand alone blu-ray players are currently expected to sell for between $2k and $1k by themselves-- ouch. How do they expect anyone to adopt this technology anytime soon?)

But given that most commercial HTPCs I see out there are clocking in around $2k, It would be sweet if Apple made one that came in much less than that.

Regarding competing with EyeTV: why couldn't Apple have out-developed them? Just because Apple has no public dvr software doesn't mean they haven't been working on it for quite some time. Or maybe Apple won't release DVR features yet but rather push their online content distribution system... who knows what they've got coming. Even if they just updated the Mac Mini and had a more expensive Core Duo option available, I'd go for that.

I'm itching to replace my set-top DVD player. Would I spend 10 times it's cost to get a Mac Media Center? You bet.

 

[rockthecasbah]

This iPod revision, if a real product, would BE a reason for people to actually upgrade...most significantly since the monochrome -> photo. I would replace my 4g monochrome if that came out with that in a heartbeat! (well depending on battery life, price, capacity, etc of course)

 

[Kingsly]

Clearly, there is some mechanism to react on a 'touch' base, but I remember a different patent that combine a display with some kind of visual recognition. The screen was multi purpose and could serve as camera as well as display at the same time. Maybe here is Apple's solution. In stead of using a physical touch screen that requires more pressure, the screen recognizes the motion via a photo ccd (or whatever they developed for this patent). Therefore they can eliminate the pressure that is used in conventional touch screen displays and limit dirt and finger prints from the screen.

Reminds me of the heart of gold in The Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, buttons that activate just by waving your hand over them...

Heres one for the rumor book: Cell phone killer.
1) Use the integrated sensing display as an iSight and screen.
2) Couple with wifi.
3) Perhaps add some Cell network compatibility
4) = Video chat on the go!
Gone will be the days of holding a devise to your ear only to hear a tinny voice on the other side. Now you can see your buddy and hear them in crisp stereo, via the iPod headphones. What's more, you can access the internet, take notes using Apple's inkwell technology, and, oh yeah, listen to tunes. Buy one today. $499

 

[Porchland]

I'd kill for a Mac Mini media server. Though this completely draws away from the original purpose of the Mac Mini, to attract non-mac users to use macs.

Why? It would be a brand new product. Why would that go against the objective of drawing non-Mac users?

 

[MacQuest]

My 2 cents on the media center:

I can see (and wouldn't mind) Apple introducing a Mac Media Center separate from the Mac Mini (Imagine the Mini only perhaps a tad thinner but wider so as to be similar to home theater components in form).

Yeah, something much thinner and as wide as current DVD players and stereo receivers would integrate nicely into the family room. I'd like to see a Bang & Olufsen [www.Bang-Olufsen.com] sleek and innovative design approach taken by Apple for their foray into the home entertainment realm.

Regarding competing with EyeTV: why couldn't Apple have out-developed them? Just because Apple has no public dvr software doesn't mean they haven't been working on it for quite some time.

I'm sure Apple already has this feature [DVR] ready to go, but I'm starting to think that they might not release it because it might impair it's higher profit digital distribution service.

Maybe they'll break up the Mac Mini line into 2 versions; the Mac Mini [primarily a computer with some limited home theater capabilities] and the Mac Mini Pro or Mac Mini HD [a true home theater hub with all of the standard Mac Mini's capabilities]. The main difference would be the recording [if any] and playback quality, features, and definately price.

The Mac Mini would remain the budget Mac and be capped at DVD quality, while The Mac Mini Pro/HD, beyond the obvious HD quality, would probably look more like a thin and sleek home theater component [Mac Thini?] and cost around $999.

 

[MacQuest]

Heres one for the rumor book: Cell phone killer.
1) Use the integrated sensing display as an iSight and screen.
2) Couple with wifi.
3) Perhaps add some Cell network compatibility
4) = Video chat on the go!
Gone will be the days of holding a devise to your ear only to hear a tinny voice on the other side. Now you can see your buddy and hear them in crisp stereo, via the iPod headphones. What's more, you can access the internet, take notes using Apple's inkwell technology, and, oh yeah, listen to tunes. Buy one today. $499

I "messed" myself just thinkin' about it.

 

[lorien]

So this secretary where I work has this bizarre tendency to always have to touch the flatscreen, resulting in beautifully long stripes across my desktop.... ! If my new vPod has an even more delicate (touch)screen she aint gettin nowhere near it and neither are the rest of the long-nail sporting female population!!
*Apple Computer takes no responsibility for damaged vPod screens resulting from sharp anatomy

 

[SWL]

The quality of any TV show or movie is going to be limited to the original recorded medium, and a lot of TV was recorded straight to tape. In fact, I think George Lucas' Episode I of Star Wars was the first all digital film and I don't think that was even recorded in High Def. (But I could be wrong about that)

Most television and movies are shot on film (other than low budget news shows-sitcoms, etc) - and the image resolution of 35mm film far exceeds our current limitation in HD video conversion .... boy, this board is full of some mis-information sometimes!

-SWL
(professional video/multimedia producer)

 

[rxse7en]

Look but don't Touch.

Touch but don't taste...

 

[freiheit]

Widescreen iPod Video

According to our sources, the screen on the video iPod will occupy the entire front of the current iPod with a touch-activated scroll wheel. Assuming the same form factor as the current iPod, this move will increase the size of the screen three-fold.

That would certainly give the Video iPod a widescreen form factor needed for properly watching movies. But the dock connector would be on the side now, unless they redesign the whole thing and put the dock connector on the long side (now-bottom-edge).

 

[MacQuest]

Look but don't Touch.

Touch but don't taste...

Taste but don't swallow...

 

[steve_hill4]

In the immortal words of Spinal Tap..

Thats not designed to actually be used!..you're just supposed to look at it

I was watching it again the other day and that reference fits Apple perfectly at times. However, in the light of recent legal proceedings, I would warn anybody off making the iPod go all the way up to 11.

 

[steve_hill4]

No it's not. It is the same aluminum silver that is used on the PowerBooks and MacBook Pro's. The Mac notebook in that video seems to be a Powerbook with just a colored screen enclosure. Whether it was really colored black or just digitally colored, I dunno./QUOTE]
Well, if you look close enough at the video, the open button is different to a PowerBook, it appears to have a built in circular webcam and there are two trackpad buttons.

Not sure what it is, or what it's supposed to be, but it certainly looks like something other than a PowerBook or MacBook Pro they've modelled that on.

Also, it appears no ports......

 

[steve_hill4]

thanx i know im on the mac site but i actually have windows...do u know of any other softwares that would help me put dvds on a video ipod?

Since all else ignored you, in much the same way you didn't appear to check out the other boards first, I'd head over to the iPod/iTunes discussion board.

 

[p0intblank]

I've said it before and I will say it again... I would love a media center Mac mini! This was the big announcement I was really looking forward to at this year's Macworld, but it never happened. I'm not going to get too hyped up this time around, but I still really want one.

 

[MacQuest]

No it's not. It is the same aluminum silver that is used on the PowerBooks and MacBook Pro's. The Mac notebook in that video seems to be a Powerbook with just a colored screen enclosure. Whether it was really colored black or just digitally colored, I dunno.

Well, if you look close enough at the video, the open button is different to a PowerBook, it appears to have a built in circular webcam and there are two trackpad buttons.

Not sure what it is, or what it's supposed to be, but it certainly looks like something other than a PowerBook or MacBook Pro they've modelled that on.

Also, it appears no ports......

That response of mine was to someone posting that the base of that notebook was chrome like the backing on the iPods. They had also noted that you can see the reflection of the cable, which you can.

That's why I think that is a fake. I don't think that Apple would choose to use the chrome from the iPods as the base for the new MacBooks. With all the complaints about the scratches/fingerprints on the iPods, I don't think that Apple could withstand the cries of customer dissatisfaction with their worn looking MacBook that they are used to keeping for years more than an iPod and use way more.

Plus, the resell value on those MacBooks would drop significantly, which has always been a nice feature of Macintosh computers.

 

[PlayUltimate]

maybe?

i have been planning to get a ipod 5g early this week. luckily i think i can wait a bit for the april event (though not official but steve won't let the 30th anniversary to be quiet i guess).

Not so sure. I remember the buzz around the 20th anniversary of the Mac. Nothing happened

 

[MacQuest]

Not so sure. I remember the buzz around the 20th anniversary of the Mac. Nothing happened

HUGE difference between '96 and '06.

'96 = CEO Gil Amelio / Apple near bankruptcy
'06 = CEO Steve Jobs [Original Apple Co-Founder] / Apple is a multi-billion dollar company and expanding into new markets while growing in it's existing ones

Now do you think there's a reason to celebrate?

 

[Peace]

HUGE difference between '96 and '06.

'96 = CEO Gil Amelio / Apple near bankruptcy
'06 = CEO Steve Jobs [Original Apple Co-Founder] / Apple is a multi-billion dollar company and expanding into new markets while growing in it's existing ones

Now do you think there's a reason to celebrate?

Lets see :

Apple Corps suing Apple ( again )
Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss
Some start-up suing Apple iTunes
N.California people suing Apple for monopolistic practices..
Did I leave one out ?

 

[MacQuest]

HUGE difference between '96 and '06.

'96 = CEO Gil Amelio / Apple near bankruptcy
'06 = CEO Steve Jobs [Original Apple Co-Founder] / Apple is a multi-billion dollar company and expanding into new markets while growing in it's existing ones

Now do you think there's a reason to celebrate?

Lets see :

Apple Corps suing Apple ( again )
Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss
Some start-up suing Apple iTunes
N.California people suing Apple for monopolistic practices..
Did I leave one out ?

Oh, how could I be so naive?!

I forgot that only those companies that have nothing wrong with them are allowed to celebrate landmark achievements and anniversaries.

Oh wait, most companies have issues don't they?

Point is, you celebrate the major accomplishments because trivial and/or minor [even major] inconveniences/legalities will always exist with major corporations, genius. Especially high profile ones like Apple.

Oh, and you did "leave one out." Relevance. My response was to someone stating that because Apple didn't celebrate a 20th anniversary, that they may not celebrate a 30th. I was simply pointing out, as I said, the HUGE difference between Apple circa 1996 and Apple as it stands today IN 2006. I in no way made any claim that Apple was perfect or flawlesss.

Now please, by all means "Peace", get bent.

 

[gwangung]

Lets see :

Apple Corps suing Apple ( again )
Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss
Some start-up suing Apple iTunes
N.California people suing Apple for monopolistic practices..
Did I leave one out ?

Y'all should read some 10-Ks and proxies for other companies.

This is just chump change for a mid-sized company, let alone a company the size of Apple.

 

[MacQuest]

Lets see :

Apple Corps suing Apple ( again )
Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss
Some start-up suing Apple iTunes
N.California people suing Apple for monopolistic practices..
Did I leave one out ?

Y'all should read some 10-Ks and proxies for other companies.

This is just chump change for a mid-sized company, let alone a company the size of Apple.

That is my point exactly. "Peace's" post was so childishly trivial and irrelevant. I don't see what the point of posting those known issues was, other than to show that "Apple isn't perfect." No $... Sherlock.

Proportionally however, when compared to other companies like, lets say...ummm, I dunno... micrap$oft, Apple may seem damn near angelic. Yet still far from perfect.

On top of that, we are on what could be considered an Apple/Macintosh enthusiast site.

 

[Peace]

That is my point exactly. "Peace's" post was so childishly trivial and irrelevant. I don't see what the point of posting those known issues was, other than to show that "Apple isn't perfect." No $... Sherlock.

Proportionally however, when compared to other companies like, lets say...ummm, I dunno... micrap$oft, Apple may seem damn near angelic. Yet still far from perfect.

On top of that, we are on what could be considered an Apple/Macintosh enthusiast site.

I was trying to be sarcastic and humorous..

And I am already bent!

 

[MacQuest]

I was trying to be sarcastic and humorous..

And I am already bent!

Then your humor got lost in cyber-translation. Although I did find it amusing that you would say "Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss".

My apologies for not having grasped your levity. Permission to un-bend at will.

 

[Peace]

Then your humor got lost in cyber-translation. Although I did find it amusing that you would say "Some weirdo that can't read suing Apple for iPods hearing loss".

My apologies for not having grasped your levity. Permission to un-bend at will.

N/P Mac..It was my fault for not putting the after the post.DO'H!