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New Apple Digital Device?

I don't think i would want something like that...

however!

A PDA sized remote for my powerbook would be great. Something with a brilliant looking LCD screen... with a touch screen pen. That way I could set my powerbook across the room and access by itunes, browse the web, and do everything that my computer can do - but in the palm of my hand. Have the thing run on bluetooth so I can be fairly far away and have it still work. It could be small because it would not require that much memory or processing speed, or a keyboard or anything... it would leave the thinking all up to the powerbook and just transfer data from it, like the video signal and everything.

Basically, a wireless display that allows me to do everything I can in front of the computer - but able to be held in one hand.

Or just fit a powerbook into a pda.

-ko
 
Elgato EyeHome is the "iBox"

I've had the Elgato EyeHome for about a week now and it is really amazing for a 1.0 product. The box is about half the size of a snow iBook and is essentially a web cleint that interfaces via Rendevous over Ethernet with the EyeHome server software running off any Mac on your local network. It has a very intuitive, easy to navigate interface that can display
  1. TV programs recorded with Elgato's EyeTV
  2. Any other movies in your movie folder (like ripped DVDs or home-made movies)
  3. All your iTunes music and playlists, MP3 or M4a
  4. Your iPhoto Library and albums
  5. Web based internet content (ie a simple web browser) including a selection of internet radio
    [/list=1]
    I've been kind of used to having my iTunes and iPhotos available via the TiVo Home Media Option but EyeHome does this better in a few key areas, such as AAC support and playing music with slideshows. But the unexpected and surprising thing for me, and this is to the naysayers of the "Personally I'd find something like that completely useless" type comments...the EyeHome has done for video what my iPod did for my music...makes it all easily accessible, all together, and readily available. I don't think you can really imagine what this is like or appreciate it until you've used it...much like you can't really understand the appeal of the iPod until you've held it and played with it.

    We have stacks of home videos on VHS and DVD, but never really watch them. We're never really sitting around thinking "Gee I'd like to watch my sister's wedding" or "Hey, let's watch the baby's first steps" and even if you did, hunting through the pile of tapes and discs, putting it in the machine, fastforwarding to the part you want to see...just kind of a pain. I've copied over most of my family iDVDs (the EyeHome can read VOB files) and now we've had a great time watching these videos, clicking through them much like you can jump song to song or album to album with the iPod. The kids love it! And I've ripped a few DVDs into 600MB avis in my Movies folder and now they can instantly start up Finding Nemo or The Lion King without having to mess with the DVD or player. The only limitation is the size of your hard drive

    What I expect from Apple after using the EyeHome is an advancement of the iPod with an advanced dock that has a video output and a remote. Creating an entirely new "Digital Lifestyle Device" for this purpose seems redundant, when with a larger hard drive and the capability to output a video signal (which the FireWire interface already has), the iPod could essentially become a "portable" EyeHome. Sync it up with all your iTunes, iPhotos, and iDVD files, dock it to your TV/stereo or take it to Grandma's and plug it into her TV, and there's all your stuff. No need for an itty bitty color screen on the iPod, just let it output to whatever TV you are near...watch iPhoto slide shows, movies, iTunes with full screen visualizer...this is where I expect Apple to enter the advanced media player market, not with a separate device. And when the kids go off to college and want a copy of their family photo album, buy them an iPod, sync it up, and they've got their life's story in the palm of their hand.

    While it does not yet have all the shine and polish of a typical Apple-branded product, the EyeHome works as advertised out of the box and is really revolutionary in the same way as the original iPod...one of those products that seems so obvious you can't believe nobody had already made it, and you wonder how you managed without it. Elgato customer support seems very dedicated to upgrading and improving the software based on user feedback so I imagine after a few more 1.x iterations the EyeHome is going to be absolutely fantastic.
 
Re: Replacement for DVD

Originally posted by Corpus_Callosum
What Apple is doing is obvious. There is a market opportunity that is opening because of HDTV.

More specifically, DVDs are low resolution when compared to HDTV. There are no HD-DVD players, no HD-DVD videos and nothing even being talked about.

So along comes Apple with an HD Set Top Box (iPod for your home theater), MPEG-4 Movie Store (Protected MP4 downloads to the HD Set Top Box) and an entirely new market niche is carved out. What is the niche? It's Apple's standard niche of early adopters and video/audiophiles. It's the people who are willing to put up $1000 to have a device that can store 100 HD movies (perhaps more with a swappable drive module or something). It's the perfect opportunity, after all, who is their competition for digitial distribution of HD movie content?
Click to expand...

Originally posted by wordmunger
Now THERE's an idea! Basically it's a home fileserver that interfaces with both home A/V equipment and home computers. If it had a big enough capacity (in the 200-gig range) and was reasonably priced (<$500), this thing could be HUGE. Even bigger than the iPod, imho.

If it's too hard to make one that cheap, I'd suggest an upgradeable one--a base 80-gig model with no wi-fi for $399, and the tricked-out 500-gig airport extreme gigabit ethernet model with Superdrive and iPod dock for $999.
Click to expand...

These are not incompatible ideas. You could even use an iPod as additional storage, allowing one (via the iPod) to take downloaded HD Movies on the road and play them on other users' HD Set Tops (e.g. like bringing a DVD to a friend's house). The HD-Movie store / iTunes-Music store would probably be accessible via the remote for the Set-Top, so it should be possible to purchase music and movies using the device.

You could probably use the Superdrive to burn MPEG-4 HD Video that is playable on other HD Set Tops (perhaps with DRM to appease the MPAA?)...

Interesting... Hell, I'm getting excited - I want one of these!
 
Originally posted by dashiel
you're in luck check this out. i don't think it's been covered much, but after years of increasing performance gaps between apple and intel, apple has released a chip and mobo that is very competitive with intel... and not in just that "photoshop bake off" nonsense.
Click to expand...

cheeky cheeky

yeah well that doesnt cut it anymore...i want something to kick my butt then wipe my face all over the floor!

os x is the strongest part of apple's aresenal imo, so they should spread it around more by releasing new computers that people can experience the power of os x on
 
Re: to booshtukka and other SKY+ folk

Originally posted by jacg
I just wish there was a wi-fi add-on for my SKY+ (HD satellite receiver) so I can download MPEG programmes to my laptop for viewing later (or stream to any other wi-fi device in the house I guess).
Click to expand...

Just a hack of the proprietary Sky software and serial cable would do me!
 
pffft

It can't just be a wireless iTunes box. I have a $3 cable to hook my iPod to my stereo. I have a $12 50' headphone cable for my computer. People won't abandon the value proposition for a white fruity logo.
 
OK, I'm no tech wiz, but couldn't something like that be built in a next generation Mac ?
I want less gadgets/products on my desk, not more.
 
What i want to do is carry everything my powerbook has to offer in one hand. It seems obvious to use a 'newton' type bluetooth enabled pda to be an extention of the powerbook, as a remote control to all the capabilities and power that the powerbooks have. It would be great to write down notes on a pda and have them typed out on the powerbook on the fly... and it's totally possible.

-ko
 
the only way this would be cool, is if i could broadcast quicktime movies to my TV.

other then that...

just forget it.
 
I think a home server is a great idea. It needs to have a built-in ADSL card & Airport, be completely silent with no fan so you can have it on all the time in the living room, have a pre-configured firewall, and the ability to be run headless with a great admin app for your Mac. This would enable multiple Macs to share a single broadband connection and share iTunes, iPhotos etc.

We currently have a Linux home server from Hush:

http://www.hushpc.net/

It's really cool, but you need to know plenty about Linux to set one up securely (lucky my partner is good at this sort of thing). A plug & play Mac OS X one would be cool.
 
How about a set top box for video and audio using the Motorola UWB chipset for 1 gigabit per second transfer rate with 30 to 60 feet range? 802.15.3 streaming.
 
I've always wanted a set top box from apple, I'd love to stream iTunes to my Bose stereo system, it would be amazing, and i'm sure so well designed too.
 
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