More TV Shows on the Way? FrontRow iMac Only.

[clcnyc]

Ditto.

When I go to iTunes, and try to preview a TV episode, nothing happends. Anyone else experience this?

Same thing with me, and apparently a lot of other people. I checked out the discussion boards on Apple.com, and it's a problem across the board. Videos preview fine, but not TV shows. You have to take some long way around it. Hopefully this will be fixed in 6.0.1. 😕

 

[Fab_Fab]

What about using a Bluetooth remote control.
For example the new Sony-Ericsson phones (K700, W800) have a Bluetooth remote control built-in which also works with my iMac. (Arrow Keys, Mouse...)

I think it would be great controlling front row with your mobile Phone.

 

[DTphonehome]

You're right. It has been discussed. And maybe you can't read all the comments but the search does that for you...

I suppose this is off topic, but does anyone else find the search feature of this forum software to be seriously lacking? Maybe I'm just spoiled by Google...

 

[Juventuz]

Same thing with me, and apparently a lot of other people. I checked out the discussion boards on Apple.com, and it's a problem across the board. Videos preview fine, but not TV shows. You have to take some long way around it. Hopefully this will be fixed in 6.0.1. 😕

I just tried previewing and episode of Lost and it now works.

 

[NicP]

Of course, most TV does suck, you`re right, but there`s still lots out there that doesn`t.

As for the cost thing, Tivo can take care of those commercials, and even if it couldn`t, I could fast forward through them.

There is still no reason to pay for TV that is free! 🙄

what we need is some decent internet TV streams, that would be cool! I ditched normal radio for internet radio, i'd love to be able to do the same with TV

 

[Le Big Mac]

I see FrontRow requiring the remote to work and with the iMac the only comp with the remote it makes sense that its only available on the iMac. What I wonder though is where is the ir port on the iMac. I don't see one. Could it be that it reads it with the built in iSight?

I read somewhere that, yes, it's built into the isight. Or really iSight is capable of being an IR receiver as well.

All the more reason why Front Row should be adaptable to all macs (assuming sufficient processing power, which I can't imagine is an issue--it looks like a new way to start a slideshow, which works on most G4s just fine).

Buy an iSight, and the remote, and get the software, and done.

 

[Ibjr]

What about PhotoBooth? I imagine that will be coming out for other Macs soon.

David 😎

only after isight is found in the others as well. Remember those patents for laptops and isights?

 

[Ibjr]

I really don't think Apple is positioning this for the Living Room. Check out the Front Row web page. The eye-catching quote is "Do the math. iMac G5 + remote control + DVD = the most popular dorm room" It's been ten years since I was in college, but I never knew anyone with a big TV. A 20" widescreen TV would have been pretty sweet. The fact that it's in a G5 iMac is all the better...

Apple isn't targeting this at your (or your parent's living room), they are targeting it at the high school and college kids. Photo Booth is certainly targeted to them as well.

One of the most mac friendly campuses, Stanford, has kids with projectors. a 20 inch TV wouldn't be as big of a deal as they seem to think.

 

[wdlove]

I read somewhere that, yes, it's built into the isight. Or really iSight is capable of being an IR receiver as well.

All the more reason why Front Row should be adaptable to all macs (assuming sufficient processing power, which I can't imagine is an issue--it looks like a new way to start a slideshow, which works on most G4s just fine).

Buy an iSight, and the remote, and get the software, and done.

I am certainly hoping that it will work with other Mac's also. Not everyone will be getting a new iMac.

 

[DVNIEL]

Eh. FrontRow. Doesn't really impress me.

I've BEEN having a bluetooth remote that I know I like eons better than the Apple one: Salling Clicker for my Palm Tungsten T3

It has a screen, it controls all the iLife apps plus more, and you can control system preferences with it.

Microsoft Media Center Remote = 45 buttons
Dell Media Center Remote = 43 buttons
Apple Remote = 6 buttons
Salling Clicker for Tungsten T3 = 5 buttons

I win=)

 

[indirstr8s]

Front Row's importance to me.

I own the one version previous imac G5. I bought this beauty just a week back. Im also using it as my music server to stream music into my main stereo. It sits quite a bit away from the stereo and streams music over wireless.
Front row is very important to me so that I can browse the music collection when I am not sitting near the computer. The front row further facilitates this by showing info in BIG text.
I really hope the Front row app becomes available for other macs, also the blue tooth version of the remote. Anything less is a very crappy policy from Apple.

 

[~Shard~]

I suppose this is off topic, but does anyone else find the search feature of this forum software to be seriously lacking? Maybe I'm just spoiled by Google...

I find the Advanced Search capabilities to be more than adequate whenever I need to find anything.... <shrug>

 

[PRØBE]

Something else slightly off topic

I find the Advanced Search capabilities to be more than adequate whenever I need to find anything.... <shrug>

I just noticed that the UK iTunes store has added music videos. They are charging £1.89p per video (same price for the pixar shorts, which you used to be able to stream for free from the Pixar site). This converts to $3.304.


Anyone else think this is just too much?

 

[indirstr8s]

Eh. FrontRow. Doesn't really impress me.

I've BEEN having a bluetooth remote that I know I like eons better than the Apple one: Salling Clicker for my Palm Tungsten T3

It has a screen, it controls all the iLife apps plus more, and you can control system preferences with it.

Microsoft Media Center Remote = 45 buttons
Dell Media Center Remote = 43 buttons
Apple Remote = 6 buttons
Salling Clicker for Tungsten T3 = 5 buttons

I win=)

After reading villanova's message, I downloaded the salling clicker and am using it on my ipaq. Neat.

 

[nagromme]

Or really iSight is capable of being an IR receiver as well.

You may be on to something. This download lets iSight (even the standalone version) see in the dark:
http://www.ecamm.com/mac/iglasses/

That's not going to help the paranoid any 😀 This iMac a) has a sensor that knows when it's dark, and b) has a camera that can SEE in the dark 😛

only after isight is found in the others as well. Remember those patents for laptops and isights?

That has been on my mind 🙂 (Apple wouldn't be the first, though. Sony had at least one subnotebook with a low-quality cam.)

 

[~Shard~]

I just noticed that the UK iTunes store has added music videos. They are charging £1.89p per video (same price for the pixar shorts, which you used to be able to stream for free from the Pixar site). This converts to $3.304.


Anyone else think this is just too much?

Don't worry - being in Canada I'm used to getting screwed on the exchange rate on many things. 😉 However I must say, I do believe we have the cheapest iTMS in the world since our songs are only $0.99 CAD comapred to $0.99 USD in America. It's nice to get a break for once. 😉 😎

 

[Thanatoast]

I just noticed that the UK iTunes store has added music videos. They are charging £1.89p per video (same price for the pixar shorts, which you used to be able to stream for free from the Pixar site). This converts to $3.304.

Anyone else think this is just too much?

hey, it costs a lot to import those videos all the way from america. and it's the english-version riaa that you should take it up with.

and also slightly off topic, will there ever be plans for an int'l store? what if i wanted to buy japanese anime or mexican soap operas or baywatch in german?

 

[johngordon]

I just noticed that the UK iTunes store has added music videos. They are charging £1.89p per video (same price for the pixar shorts, which you used to be able to stream for free from the Pixar site). This converts to $3.304.

Anyone else think this is just too much?

i might have considered using it to buy some videos if they were hi-res and i could burn my own compilation dvds - but as they are i can't imagine buying more than the odd one.

will have to get the oild classic pixar short with the lamps tho'!

and going back to the thing about the iMacs with FR being aimed at dorms or bedrooms - true, although watching Jobs' presentation, he did say something about how cool it would be to view all this stuff from the sofa. this is the problem - my iMac (if I had one) wouldn't be in the same room as our sofa.

Iain

 

[dejo]

I suppose this is off topic, but does anyone else find the search feature of this forum software to be seriously lacking? Maybe I'm just spoiled by Google...

Then you'll love MRoogle

 

[Blackjack75]

Requirements for FrontRow are NOT high

The only thing you couldn't do with frontrow on a macmini is the same thing you couldn't do in Quicktime: playing hi-res content. Apart from video-decoding it does absolutetly nothing that wouldn't run on a PC with any cheap openGL card.

Just look at the demo. What do you see? FOUR freaking flat openGL textures moving around and a few text boxes moving smoothly. Wow. You surely do need a quad-G5 and the lastest ATI for that kind of interface. You know you can run 3D games on a mac mini? Sure it's not the smoothest, but believe me a game is a thousand times more demanding than a lovely GUI. I've been programming with OpenGL on my iBook (same radeon 9200) and one thing you can be sure is that you shouldn't be afraid of mapping and rotating a dozen faces.

I know lots of people want HD and nothing else but I am one of those who are pretty satisfied right now with DVD resolution/quality. Which a macmini can play well, even in h264 (I guess so since my iBook 1.2 ghz with the same radeon can do it). I'd just love to be able to connect my iBook on a macmini on my TV and use frontrow as the GUI.

And for the remote as others said, there are other solutions. As the following site explains if you can control front-row or any other app (itunes, VLC, Quicktime, DVDPlayer) through keyboard then you can easily create a HID description file for it. Just upload this file to your phone to remotely control that app from your compatible mobile phone with bluetooth (eg. my K700). Salling clicker does something similiar (but not for free).

See make_your_mac_a_bluetooth_zombie

 

[fklehman]

It's be wicked cool if we coulde eventually download TV shows from other countries--Britcoms, etc. I pay $10 a month for basic basic cable, just because I refuse to pay $50 a month to those damn telecom/cable behemoths for a bunch of religious and shopping channels I don't want. I would rather just pay for a couple shows I really want to watch instead of shell out tons of dough just to get BBC America. Someday soon the Chinese will put up a satellite and offer it to American TV couch potatoes for $20 a month, and then our own profit-mongering DirectTVs etc. will go belly up and I won't shed a tear...or they will at least have to offer TV channels a la carte and the stations that suck will go belly up as they should have years ago. Let's put the free market back into cable/satellite so people aren't subsidizing crap channels that they don't care about. Anyway here's hoping internet video could make that happen.

 

[BWhaler]

Front Row will be coming for other Macs in the future. It's a business decision, that's all, so discussing the technical angles is naive. Apple would rather sell at 1300+ computer than a $49 software package. But give it time, since this announcement--along with video--was just the beginning of the exciting things to come.

I am excited for now as to what has been released, as it indicated exciting things to come...

 

[BWhaler]

I hope we get new shows quickly. I travel abroad a great deal, so it would be nice to buy current shows I am missing.

I hope the networks move quickly to provide content. There is a ton of money to be made here...

 

[ErikGrim]

I use Photoshop, but is there a "feature" that makes animated GIFs easy? Sorry, it's an area I've never used or researched before. I work in graphic arts, not internet-type stuff. Never had an interest or need for the animated thingy before now. 😉

Yes it is, it's called Image Ready (you might have noted that other app in your Photoshop folder?). Click the Send to Image Ready button in Photoshop to automatically start it and transfer your image to it.

 

[Peace]

I personally don't watch Lost on ABC but it was on the tube and I noticed they are moving the "number one rated" show from it's Saturday line-up to Wednesday.The same day as the new Apple "Pro" event..

Maybe a little Front Row will be introduced with one or all the rumored pro Macs.