iTV To Go 'Beyond Streaming'?

[babyj]

Whilst I'm not Microsofts biggest fan, their Media Centre is pretty good, actually its a lot more than pretty good - even I'm tempted. Once you've got Media Centre running on your PC, you can hook up a £200 Xbox 360 to access all the content (music, video, digital tv etc). The PVR side of Media Centre is excellent as well.

If the iTV is going to cost £100, it will need to do something pretty special to be a success - everything that Microsoft offerings can do at the very least.

 

[h00ligan]

are you kidding me

seriously...


"The iTV is already known to be able to stream music and photos as well, and the possibility of Apple including an internal hard drive in the iTV has already been raised, but the analyst also believes the iTV will have advanced user interface software to further the ultimate goal of improving user experience and simplifying consumers' use of content."

could you possibly predict anything more vague.. why the hell are people rating this positive?

 

[mahonmeister]

I'll speak loud and clear:

DVR

iTunes Store can't now nor will it likely ever replace Dish Network for me. Just let me record my shows either directly with iTV or via something connected to it. I hope when this is released, HD DVD and Blu-ray make there way into Macs.

 

[dernhelm]

I'm glad that he confirmed this. Otherwise Macworld in January would be memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Mr. Jobs finished his keynote with the startling admission that there is nothing left: "That's all folks! We've got nothing else in development. See you in 2010."

I'm tellin' ya! I'm in the wrong business. Forget all this deadline - get product out carp. Get in to journalism where all you need to do is restate the obvious with a few well-placed typos, and Bob's your uncle.

Ahhh! I'm blind!

 

[furious]

I'll speak loud and clear:

DVR

iTunes Store can't now nor will it likely ever replace Dish Network for me. Just let me record my shows either directly with iTV or via something connected to it. I hope when this is released, HD DVD and Blu-ray make there way into Macs.

that would be nice

 

[Rocketman]

amps would lead to another possible product

I know this is quite a lot to ask for a first foray into this market for Apple but I think they could do alot with AV hardware, with a little help from established high end companies this could be awesome.

Apple has/had an agreement with Mc Intosh, the audiophile company not to do that. I wonder if they have resolved that by buying the company or a fee?

This is a possible limitation.

Rocketman

 

[Philberttheduck]

What'll be the price on this badboy, you think?

 

[AidenShaw]

...shouldn't take long

Living room, car, blah blah blah.

Nobody has yet delivered a truly GOOD streaming media solution for my hot air balloon. Are you listening Apple???!!!!!

M. Jobs can be an expert at emitting hot air...

 

[swingerofbirch]

Obviously it's going to have a Blu-Ray drive and go head to head with the PS3.

Apple may even include some games like Bejeweled that you can play with the remote.


Everyone is fighting over the living room now. You can bet your bottom dollar, that Apple, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are going to be knocking on your door for the next few years. If you let them in, are they going to run for the bathroom or kitchen? Not likely. They are going to be running for the living room. And they are going to be coming with cameras. They are going to want to stay for a long time. They'll want cash up front and then monthly allowances.

Who does that leave out? The one conglomerate that's never made a piece of hardware: Google. So where will Google look for help in integrating their software in living room hardware? Duh! Apple! But Apple better watch out, as soon as Google gets in the living room through Apple they'll open their services up to all hardware manufacturers and leave Apple in the dust. I just hope Apple has considered that likely possibility. Apple's like the Trojan horse which is carrying Google. We all know what happened to the soldiers inside the horse--they went and killed people. But we never hear about what happened to the actual horse. And that actual horse is Apple. Let's just hope they're full of something more than Google, or even worse just full of s_it.

 

[gugy]

I'll speak loud and clear:

DVR

iTunes Store can't now nor will it likely ever replace Dish Network for me. Just let me record my shows either directly with iTV or via something connected to it. I hope when this is released, HD DVD and Blu-ray make there way into Macs.

I am with you but I believe Apple will offer that trough Elgato with Front Row and some sort of DVR functionality via EyeTV. That way Apple's offers DVR without compromising themselves with the whole DRM thing and pissing off the networks.
Mark my words. Plus, I think the Elgato's founder is on Apple's board of directors.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Bright Idea...

Imagine this if you will for a moment....

iPHONE in hand you snap a photo. take a video, update a contact or just want to send the video to your blog or .MAC Account.....

You do so with ONE click or 2 but no more than 3 for a FLICKR account.

BUT wait. Your .MAC account is integrated to your Mac so not only does your .MAC account have the video but so does your Mac! Now you get home and can use iMovie to edit that video.

Or better yet use a nice easy Menu system to "Remotely USE iMovie" to edit that movie you've just recorded, and uploaded to your .MAC or to your Mac (via iTV) or just show a preview to those at home - kinda like file sharing or say to other Macurmors.com members!!!

That would KILL ANYTHING out on the market!

 

[Flowbee]

Reading through all the expectations in this thread has me thinking that there are going to be some veeeery disappointed people on the day this is announced.

I'm guessing it'll be something like Airport Express, but for video. With a Front Row interface and a remote. Watch videos from you iTunes library, browse the iTunes store, subscribe to video podcasts, watch streaming movie trailers. Maybe a built-in web browser. If we're lucky, it will be able to browse and play video from YouTube or other video sites. That's all I'm expecting, anyway.

 

[macEfan]

Its the Pippin 2!! this time its intel instead of Bandai!

lets hope so!

I want a pippin, but they are all so rare and expensive... would be grate if the itv let you play games on your tv!

 

[ipedro]

I think Apple will use the iTV (can't wait to find out the permanent name) as their living room connection to many other Mac features.

The most notable of which would be iChat on your TV. It should be pretty straightforward to add a Front Row menu for iChat and allow users to connect an iSight to the iTV. Result: Instant video phone made user friendly.

I have a feeling that Leopard will be a lot about iChat and communications in general. iChat will likely move into the VoIP arena like Skype and this is where iTV and the iPhone will come in.

Apple is already a computer company, a consumer electronics company, a music (and other entertainment media) company and will likely become a communications company (a multi billion dollar industry). Apple stock is dirt cheap right now.

 

[gugy]

Reading through all the expectations in this thread has me thinking that there are going to be some veeeery disappointed people on the day this is announced.

I'm guessing it'll be something like Airport Express, but for video. With a Front Row interface and a remote. Watch videos from you iTunes library, browse the iTunes store, subscribe to video podcasts, watch streaming movie trailers. Maybe a built-in web browser. If we're lucky, it will be able to browse and play video from YouTube or other video sites. That's all I'm expecting, anyway.

you are right for version 1.0.
iTV will evolve into other many things as the time goes by. Just like iTunes 1.0 and look what iTunes is today.
I agree with you that iTV will be very straight forward when it comes out, but the potential is there.

 

[mealex]

iTV to Support Keynote Presentations

I think iTV will have the feature of showing your Keynote presentations right right there, how easy and cool would that be. Never have to sit at a Mac again to show that presentation, just a few click by with the Apple remote. By the way I am surprised I never heard of this on the internet, it just seems logical to me to be added as a feature.
Anybody got a clue why would iTV include a HD?

 

[bommai]

I think iTV will have the feature of showing your Keynote presentations right right there, how easy and cool would that be. Never have to sit at a Mac again to show that presentation, just a few click by with the Apple remote. By the way I am surprised I never heard of this on the internet, it just seems logical to me to be added as a feature.
Anybody got a clue why would iTV include a HD?

The hard drive is most likely for caching large media files, whether locally or from the internet so that when the user does a rewind or fast forward, the hard drive cache can be used. Flash memory can be used also but it would be better with a hard drive since there is a lot of data and hard drive is still cheaper and also more robust for multiple writes.

 

[SeaFox]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated that Apple was now "in your den... in your living room... in your car... in your pocket", and hinted that that theme gave a "little idea of where [Apple] is going."

In our bedrooms?

In our heads!?

Help, I can't remember how to mentally press the stop button on my iPod Implant! Make the music stop!

 

[pjo]

This is my first post and I'm sorry if it drags on too long but I'm a recovering audiophile and I've been dreaming of a simple to use Apple experience from start to finish for home theater. A one box device would have to be bigger than the itv prototype but in the world of HT processors, amps, and disc players, the average size is much larger and all AV furniture can accomodate it. It could easily contain all the mentioned features of itv, a tuner, an optical drive, and modular hard drives similar to the Macpro to expand storage as needs (or finances) dictate. A surround sound decoder and multi channel preamp outputs would complete the list for me. I think a multichannel amp built in would be great, but heat might be excessive unless class D is used. Leaving out the amps would lead to another possible product, powered speakers and a sub. I'm picturing the style of the Hifi for Ipod. They could be sold solo or in pairs and would need only line level inputs. A price break to buy a 5.1 or 7.1 system would be nice.

That would be nice, but to do this with existing hardware I plan to use a mac mini; logitech z990s and a TV or projector (no HD content in my country). Two things that setup won't do are HDTV and 7.1 sound.

 

[roach]

Well, then you don't understand Apple's magic. That's precisely where
they are good at: make complicated things simple.
It's like a Sony TV remote control compared to others : when you use it, you find everything else too much complicated...

How do you record channel 105 from 5:30PM to 6:30PM on Friday? Damn...that would take forever with 4 buttons.

 

[Carniphage]

I'll speak loud and clear:

DVR

iTunes Store can't now nor will it likely ever replace Dish Network for me. Just let me record my shows either directly with iTV or via something connected to it. I hope when this is released, HD DVD and Blu-ray make there way into Macs.

No No No No No!

All a DVR is - is a better VHS. A way of watching broadcast TV a little more easily. It's a timeshifter, but it is not revolutionary.
DVRs are popular with the (few) people who have them because they end some of the scheduling tyranny of the broadcasters.

But the problem is not scheduling. The problem is broadcasting itself.

Every modern business has had to face up to the opportunities and challenges of the Internet. One of the most significant is what they call disintermediation. Cutting out the middle men. Buying direct.

TV needs to be disintermediated. The advertisers and the networks get in the way. There needs to be a better pathway between producers and consumers.

Advertisers screw-up television. They influence content. Great shows are pulled, not because they don't have enough enthusiastic viewers, but because they don't attract enough consumers of sanitary towels or tooth whitener.

Lousy shows clog up the airwaves because they attract a large number of bottom-dwelling viewers who might just notice the ad for low-price hemorrhoid cream.

Broadcast TV is a business model from the 50s which needs to die. But if you *really* want your TV content determined by the marketeers of ant-acid remedies then stick with your DVR. Stick with Celebrity Love Spacktard. Cheer it up for American Idle. Wave pom poms like a sixteen year-old for the vacuous, empty spam that the networks churn out, to fill the gaps between revenue-generating advertising.

But while dreaming of Celebutard Love Assault... just for a second, imagine how much better TV could be if we could pay Joss Wheadon for Firefly DIRECTLY, or pay someone to make Star Trek with the same level of integrity as Battlestar.

Hint - if it started to suck, we would stop paying.

I'd prefer my television direct.


Screw the advertisers. Screw the networks. Screw Rupert Murdoch. In fact, pull down your dish and cram it in Rupert Murdoch.

Go iTV

C.

 

[mrthieme]

That would be nice, but to do this with existing hardware I plan to use a mac mini; logitech z990s and a TV or projector (no HD content in my country). Two things that setup won't do are HDTV and 7.1 sound.

I am about to do the same with a ppc mini that I don't use. I am hoping at least to get the Front Row interface with an integrated tuner to view cable tv without 3rd party hardware and software. The other features I mentioned are a long way away I suppose, but a simple one remote, one interface system is what I think alot of families would benefit from. Easy to use= likely to buy. itunes would not work if purchasing songs was a confusing labrynth of screens.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

My guess would be too much cost for such a small market. There's not a lot of 1080p content out there and even less 1080p displays. For a first gen device, I think 720p would be good enough. Maybe even 480p if it's cheap enough.

Although, in the end it'll probably depend on bandwidth limitations. They never said what protocol they'll be using. Some are assuming 802.11n, but that would limit them to the newest Intel Macs with a firmware upgrade.

What if the iTV did both, which it will? B, G and N. They would offer the same quality download to start with. Broadband connections haven't reached acceptable levels for HD movie downloads in 1080p etc. So as is, if you have an intel Mac, all it means is that the video, movie etc. will shoot over to your TV a heck of alot quicker. The name's gonna be "Teleport" by the way.

 

[mrthieme]

Apple has/had an agreement with Mc Intosh, the audiophile company not to do that. I wonder if they have resolved that by buying the company or a fee?

This is a possible limitation.

Rocketman

I was not aware of that, but breaking the agreement with Apple records not to get into the music distribution business has worked out for them I think.

It's funny, the first hifi company I thought of for an Apple HT product was Mcintosh, the complete opposite design asthetic. If I could choose I would prefer someone a little further down the price scale. Rotel would be a nice match, very good performance for the money, for speakers Paradigm comes to mind.

 

[MikeDTyke]

If the iTV is going to cost £100, it will need to do something pretty special to be a success - everything that Microsoft offerings can do at the very least.

The quoted price is $299 which nominally translates to £157 + Apple stiff a brit tax + Government screw yer countryman tax.
I'm expecting £199.

If you think the iTV will do everything that a media centre pc circa(£800) does then i want to know what you are smoking?

It'll be a highly focused 1st release ie, everything in the Sept presentation + RSS feeds rebranded as clever channels, delivering usual junk off YouTube and Google video.

Games, ichat, online imovie editing, they'll be in patch releases, when you buy iTV 2 or never, cos Steve thinks those things suck ass on a TV.