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Intel Mac mini To Evolve Into Digital Hub?
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well put . . .
I agree with you, stuBNC75.
I'm hoping it's actually more of a turnkey device that just plugs into my home entertainment setup. I really like my Tivo other than the fact that their coolest Home Media technologies don't work with the Mac. If the new Mac mini can do everything my Tivo does but include Mac support, HD, and play dvd's, that's all I think it needs to do to be successful. It shouldn't be a computer in the living room but a seamless home media device.
I agree with you, stuBNC75.
I'm hoping it's actually more of a turnkey device that just plugs into my home entertainment setup. I really like my Tivo other than the fact that their coolest Home Media technologies don't work with the Mac. If the new Mac mini can do everything my Tivo does but include Mac support, HD, and play dvd's, that's all I think it needs to do to be successful. It shouldn't be a computer in the living room but a seamless home media device.
<flame retardant suit on>
Ah mr Cube we have been expecting you, been anywhere nice?
think about the current mac mini form factor, add in a desktop HDD and a more elaborate cooling solution for the intel cpu and as the song goes "the only way is up"
</flame retardant suit off>
Ah mr Cube we have been expecting you, been anywhere nice?
think about the current mac mini form factor, add in a desktop HDD and a more elaborate cooling solution for the intel cpu and as the song goes "the only way is up"
</flame retardant suit off>
DVR capability? I think not! Why jeopardize Apple's brand new "pay for TV" model in the iTunes Music Store? Why give people the ability to record for free what they can pay $2 for every week? Apple DVR software ain't gonna happen!
Plenty of third parties to offer it though.
Plenty of third parties to offer it though.
It's the perfect move. The current Mini lacks the grunt to play back HD video without dropping frames. If a new Mini sported enough CPU power to play back HD and stream music/video/photos over Airport Extreme then I'm in. It'll basically beat XBox Media Center at its own game. My hopw would be for the digital tuner PVR thing to be an external addon that could attach to any Mac. So I'd plug the PVR dongle into my PM and use the Mini purely as a streaming data client to my TV. All that along with having the usual Mac desktop on my TV would be very nice indeed.
games games games
A fast mac with a decent graphics card and the ability to run multiple OSes opens this "mini" up for all sorts of gaming options: boot into Windows, insert Battlefield2 and frag away! My call is that this WILL end up as a super console, supporting movies, music, games - much like the the Xbox 360 or upcoming PS3. Steve's just not announcing it yet, just like he didn't announce the Mini as a media centre a year ago.
Go Apple.
A fast mac with a decent graphics card and the ability to run multiple OSes opens this "mini" up for all sorts of gaming options: boot into Windows, insert Battlefield2 and frag away! My call is that this WILL end up as a super console, supporting movies, music, games - much like the the Xbox 360 or upcoming PS3. Steve's just not announcing it yet, just like he didn't announce the Mini as a media centre a year ago.
Go Apple.
LagunaSol said:
HD recording capabilities would be very unlikely. Apple is probably going to want to use h.264, and even a G5 Quad can't encode HD h.264 in real time. Furthermore, there's no way your airport express would be able to sufficiently stream HD video.
Would this Mac mini/DVR thing somehow work with cable, or is it only for over the air broadcasts? Somehow I can't imagine this working with my cable service which requires an addressable programable cable box to block/allow certain channels with a built-in HDTV tuner. So, will this Mac be worthless to most of the television viewing audience who currently have cable TV? Dunno.
BlueRevolution said:you mean like the iPod replaced the diskman? no more monopolies? hehe, you mean better monopolies
Guys Tivo does not have a monopoly on DVRs. There are other DVRs out there.
As for Mac Mini acting as a DVR, I do not see it. You talk about paying Tivo subscription. So who would pay for the program guide on the Mac Mini, Apple? You'd have to pay it to one of two sources of TV programme guides, TV Guide or Tribune. There is more to a DVR than hard disk and a few smartly implemented user interfaces. I am not saying Apple cannot pull it off, but I am saying that an entery point for a former MS Windows users will not be a DVR like Mac. It will be a plain, functional no virus etc nonsense kind of Mac. I'll have my Mc Mini but I'll keep my Tivo too
Has anyone suggested this new item might be in some kind of docking formfactor for the mini? It could be an add-on for the mini (or work only with an updated mini to be announced at the same time) that would accept the mini and make it more compatible with current AV equipment.
.Mac tie-in
Apologies all around if someone has already posted this in the 7 pages of responses that I didn't read through completely. If Apple does include Tivo-like functions in the Mac mini, that service won't be free for life. They will rightly want to charge for it. I think they would bundle that service in with their existing .Mac suite of services. Think about it, doesn't that sound exactly like what Apple would do? They're always about synergy, about tying their existing products together into a smooth, beautiful package. Plus, this theory dovetails nicely with a rumor I read recently that Apple will soon totally revamp .Mac.
Apologies all around if someone has already posted this in the 7 pages of responses that I didn't read through completely. If Apple does include Tivo-like functions in the Mac mini, that service won't be free for life. They will rightly want to charge for it. I think they would bundle that service in with their existing .Mac suite of services. Think about it, doesn't that sound exactly like what Apple would do? They're always about synergy, about tying their existing products together into a smooth, beautiful package. Plus, this theory dovetails nicely with a rumor I read recently that Apple will soon totally revamp .Mac.
iDave said:
So EyeTV will act as a DVR on a Mac Mini? You are banking on the mini having Cable/RF & composite/S-Video inputs (and comply with all FCC rules on such devices) and be able to control your Sat/Cable box? How will EyeTV control my Digital Cable box (or a Sattellite box)?
I suspect if you are well clued you can set up your mini as a DVR, but it will not be a replacement for a Tivo. For that it needs to be settop box, not a personal computer. When IPTV is here, any box with bradband and a hard disk can claim to be a DVR/PVR but not before that.
You can almost certainly bet that it won't. Whatever low-end Pentium M Apple puts into the Mini won't be able to do real-time H.264 encoding at HD (if you mean 1080i). This would only be possible if Apple added a separate hardware encoder, which seems unlikely given the low-cost nature of the Mini.barbaloot said:
The Mini will NOT be the fantasy media center that everyone's dreaming of. Look at the video options at the iTMS for example: only 320x240. Most likely the DVR capabilities, if the rumor is to be believed, will be an add-on feature, as was originally the case with Airport and BT. You might even be required to have a .Mac membership to use the programming service. Frontrow and remote will probably also be extra, although they're most likely to sell a DVR+FrontRow+remote bundle. Also, all recorded videos will be DRMed and you'll be restricted in how you transport the videos.
but hardware can....
http://www.9thtee.com/insidetivo.htm
An inexpensive TiVo does real-time MPEG-2 compression while having only a 50 MHz PowerPC CPU.
Any reasonable HD recorder will use dedicated silicon for the HD codec, or perhaps offload to the graphics card (although that might make watching while recording a problem). Volume would push the price of these specialized chips down to affordable levels - the chips are much faster (at encoding), and much simpler and cheaper than a general-purpose CPU.
Trying to say what a small set-top box can do based on the size and capabilities of a quad CPU PowerMac is myopic - different rules apply.
http://www.ati.com/technology/H264.htmlChaszmyr said:
http://www.9thtee.com/insidetivo.htm
An inexpensive TiVo does real-time MPEG-2 compression while having only a 50 MHz PowerPC CPU.
Any reasonable HD recorder will use dedicated silicon for the HD codec, or perhaps offload to the graphics card (although that might make watching while recording a problem). Volume would push the price of these specialized chips down to affordable levels - the chips are much faster (at encoding), and much simpler and cheaper than a general-purpose CPU.
Trying to say what a small set-top box can do based on the size and capabilities of a quad CPU PowerMac is myopic - different rules apply.
Never mind, you know a lot more about it than I do. I was just commenting that TitanTV (free) currently works with EyeTV for programming recordings. I don't understand the questions you ask.YunusEmre said:
In a previous question, I asked how this rumored new device could possibly work with my cable service (including premium channels and HDTV). I doubt it could.
wilburpan said:
How about two form factors? One wide and thin for the A/V rack. One boxy and stout (like the mini) for the desktop?
WOW! 40"+ Cinema Display and Mac Mini
I hope TS is right!
But lately they have been somewhat unreliable. I have to say they still the most accurate out there
That would be so cool. I am looking forward to such a device so i can store all my music and videos in my entertainment center.
Plus on top of that have a Mac to check email and surf the net everything connected would be really nice.
Now, one piece of the puzzle that might come alongside the new mac Mini would be a larger monitor. I do expect to see Apple roll out a 40"+ Cinema Display at MWSF if they announce the Mini there. That would make perfect sense and would be a great addition to the family.
Apple will dominate the media center if all of this becomes reality.
I hope TS is right!
But lately they have been somewhat unreliable. I have to say they still the most accurate out there
That would be so cool. I am looking forward to such a device so i can store all my music and videos in my entertainment center.
Plus on top of that have a Mac to check email and surf the net everything connected would be really nice.
Now, one piece of the puzzle that might come alongside the new mac Mini would be a larger monitor. I do expect to see Apple roll out a 40"+ Cinema Display at MWSF if they announce the Mini there. That would make perfect sense and would be a great addition to the family.
Apple will dominate the media center if all of this becomes reality.
YunusEmre said:
What's to say Apple can't license the program guide? They set up the box to work with the service. You can use it or not, and pay the money or not. Get three months free, after that you can use it as a media center with or without the Tivo-like features. Still pretty useful even if it's not a DVR.
I wonder if that means Itunes 7 will evolve into DVR capabilities. So in the software you will be able to schedule to record shows on TV. that makes sense to use itunes to do that. Maybe a new application could come out but it seems that Itunes could benefit from that
Le Big Mac said:
I can see a smaller, thinner mini for the desktop, taking the place the current mini occupies as the cheapest new Mac you can buy. Then a new form factor for the living room shows up, slightly larger than the old mini (thanks to a full featured TV in/out card, bigger hard drive, etc.). If Apple goes for something along the lines of the Asteroid rumors and adds features for Garageband as well as true DVR inputs, the form factor will need major revisions (not to mention if they try to integrate an iPod dock). As long as the hard drive and ram are more easily upgradable, I'll be happy.
Adding DVR inputs does not mean Apple has to go directly to a TiVo-like box. By leaving out the automatic recording software, they could leave the door open for non-DRM recording just as if you bought an appropriately equipped PowerMac. If they just leave room for one full size PCI card, this would still be a great buy.
You mean that if someone makes enough predictions, chances are that at least one will turn out to be correct?SAukland said:ok... so now we have reports of intel ibooks, powerbooks, imacs, and mac minis. this is seeming sort of "nostradamus" sounding.
I agree, it seems unlikely that ALL of these products will be introduced so far ahead of schedule...
I can see one intel-based product being introduced in January, but three?
And Think Secret is usually a reliable source.
As some others, I'm wondering if Apple is seeding rumors to try to identify leaks...
Even if they maintained the current form factor with the 2.5" HD, I wouldn't mind the ability to stack external HDs later.