New Time Capsules to Run iOS on A4/A5 Processors?

[WickedStealthy]

I doubt it will be for me.

What about a AE+ which has some small SSD in it for caching and where you can hook up some thunderbolt enclosre or attach it via gigabit to a decent NAS system.

Of course full iTunes streaming + syncing ....

I think I'm dreaming

 

[diamond.g]

That was exactly the thought that occurred to me. One of the biggest complaints about ATV is you need a running iTunes to serve up media from your own network. I'd have thought that it would be fairly trivial to stick an HDMI port on that thing and get a nice video out, giving you an ATV with a stonking big local disk for media storage and backups.

Does anyone else think it is a dumb idea to have your router/firewall serve that purpose (the HDMI bit)? So now instead of having an ATV that can be moved around or turned off, I now have my router/firewall that had to be right where my cable/dsl modem is and can't be turned off serve that purpose. Who has their cable/dsl modem in their living room anyways?

 

[OllyW]

Does Apple fully support Time Machine over Air Disk in this manner, and does it work just as well as Time Capsule?

I've been using it for a long time and have never had any problems.

 

[hitekalex]

I'd like to see the reverse. Give them the complete AppleTV treatment. Tiny $99 black boxes, no onboard storage. Put a bunch of USB ports on the back, all compatible with external hard drives or printers. Kill the Airport Extreme (or Time Capsule, depending on which name Apple wishes to keep.)

Not sure how what you described is different from already existing Airport Extreme.

 

[fat jez]

Who has their cable/dsl modem in their living room anyways?

Me for one, right underneath my TV in the same rack.

 

[rajid]

Backup in the iCloud?

I can see it now. If they have the power of iOS in the Time Capsule device, then it wouldn't be hard at all to introduce another level into Time Machine backups. For a set cost/year, you could have automated backups into the iCloud, thus providing not only completely automated backups, but *off-site* automated backups, the gold standard of backups!

 

[Benjamins]

Bring it on, I knew this is going to happen sooner or later.

Cooler more power efficient Airport Extremes.

 

[gramirez2012]

Does Apple fully support Time Machine over Air Disk in this manner, and does it work just as well as Time Capsule?

I have tried it several times, but after a couple of weeks the backup image always became corrupt, so it would have create a whole new backup. Apple does not support it as far as I know.

Who has their cable/dsl modem in their living room anyways?

I do.

 

[Cougarcat]

Not sure how what you described is different from already existing Airport Extreme.

The current AE has a single USB port, and obviously has no A5 processor w/ iOS. Also, it is not aggressively priced like the AppleTV. And as gramirez says, I don't think Apple officially supports time machine over Air Disk.

But you're right, what I described is more similar to a current AE than TC.

 

[diamond.g]

Me for one, right underneath my TV in the same rack.

Interesting, I keep mine in the theater room. I guess the next question is could iOS handle the load (of being a router and firewall) and be a media server as well?

 

[david77]

This could be big.

I know at least one person who considered an iPad as her only computer at home but she gave up on that idea because of the need to sync it with a full computer.

If a time-capsule really could sync/update/backup an iPad then I can think of 3 or 4 people I'd suggest an 'iPad-Time Capsule-Bluetooth Keyboard-Apple TV' home system to. *

As iOS grows there will be more and more people who fit that profile.


* These are people who currently own a single Macbook and only use 1/10th of its potential. So yes, that sort of customer does exist.

I fall into this group, and yes it would be huge for the home setup.

 

[Lesser Evets]

I would love this. But is the A5 fast enough to do routing, serving iTunes, harddisk I/O and HD movie decoding at the same time?

The NAS space is very interesting, it is what all the geeks rave about. Apple has the vision and ability to bring the power of NAS to the masses.

Not sure, but I'd hope they figured it out and can make it work. It is probably a stretch to hope the A5 can do such function at this time. Besides, you price up the bits and pieces on sale at the moment and you get something that would be $400+ for 1TB disk, a base station, and an AppleTV. That's a chunk of money. If it was $299, and it worked as all three, it'd be a decent piece of tech.

We'll see soon, assuming they are releasing a new TM/ATV/AEBS, etc.

Who has their cable/dsl modem in their living room anyways?

I used to, now it is the kitchen next to the living room door. I'd rather have it in the living room, but there's no reason to move it at this time. A computer component along with all the other home electronics beneath the TV makes perfect sense, especially since the PS3 communicates constantly with my AirPort Base Station.

 

[ebow]

I'm struggling to get why Time Capsule would need to run iOS or have any real interface for that matter. You access its functions and capabilities via hardware that runs Mac OS X or iOS, not directly.

 

[C00rDiNaT0r]

Interesting.. If they use it as a cache, that means you get a copy of the data in case the iCloud goes down right?

In the ideal world where wireless internet access is as fast as thunderbolt, and unlimited data plans, we wouldn't need much internal storage if we have one of these time capsules!

 

[Žalgiris]

I fall into this group, and yes it would be huge for the home setup.

I think removing a Mac or PC that you currently need for syncing would be great for all of us in general.

 

[jsoto]

Great. Now we have time capsule rumors!

Seriously though, next week will be quite interesting.

I second that!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Of all of the stuff flying around to be revealed at this event, this one seems the most interesting to me. I think iCloud is a mess regardless of what Apple builds into it because the links to it are controlled by AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, etc. I think Lion continues to look surprisingly thin in "wow" features, including rumored features.

But this is really interesting. I too would love to see that centralized iTunes server (NAS) built to a "just works" Apple spec and also doubling as a "pro" TV. Centralize the home media library there and stream it from there to all the computers and iDevices in the house. Play that content on your TV without having to have any computers on. Etc.

Maybe even replicate some of the functionality of pogoplug http://www.pogoplug.com/ so you have your own personal cloud stocked with whatever you want to access on the go. Note that this could be a way for non-iTunes-purchased content to be seamlessly merged with iCloud (iTunes purchased content) when you are on the go.

If there was one bit of pseudo-mainstream hardware missing from the Apple lineup (headless minitower excluded), some kind of "it just works" easily expandable home NAS would be it (IMO). I hope to see this announced next week.

 

[TallManNY]

Aren't you guys all talking about AppleTV 1 when you say you want the TC hard drive attached to AppleTV 2? I have Apple TV 1 and it looks quite a bit like the AEBS and TC. Except for heat issues, it would be easy to stack them and it would look nice. Seems like a step back for Apple, but it might happen at the $299 price point.

I'm sure these will have Thunderbolt connections as Apple doesn't typically go halfway when it is trying to propagate a standard. There will be no significant price point difference between USB 3 and Thunderbolt by next year in any case.

In any case, the Thunderbolt connection might be able to drive video out (at least if the thing can get jailbroken), so that would give you your back to the future AppleTV1.

 

[mikechan1234]

Apple TV with game coming soon.

Perhaps when Apple buys Nintendo in a few years, this will be the new wii?

Can apple even afford nintendo? I don't think so

 

[Laird Knox]

I too would like to see them move to a lone box that handles, tomorrow, what three boxes handles today.
Maybe that is one reason they priced TV2 at $99 so the bitching & moaning would be a tad less when the "one box to rule them all" is released (and priced at $299).

Except if I want an Apple TV on three screens I don't really need three router/NAS/media center devices.

 

[Cougarcat]

Aren't you guys all talking about AppleTV 1 when you say you want the TC hard drive attached to AppleTV 2? I have Apple TV 1 and it looks quite a bit like the AEBS and TC. Except for heat issues, it would be easy to stack them and it would look nice. Seems like a step back for Apple, but it might happen at the $299 price point.

What I meant by an AppleTV (2)-like device was a wireless router similarly priced with no onboard storage, just USB ports, and the AppleTV processor to handle the new stuff. Bring your own HDs.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

I still have and use TV 1. I like the local storage. I've always wished for an Apple-endorsed way to significantly increase the storage to hold my entire collection of media (I know there are hacks for the USB port).

It would seem like a step back in terms of box size but it would also be a new product in many ways. And I think if it does becomes a central store of all iTunes media, it makes a lot of sense for it to be stored on a device intended to play that media anytime of day or night. Store it there and let the computers & iDevices access that central library from that one source.

I have been close to laying out pretty good coin for Drobo and I'm on the verge of buying unraid. It would be good for Apple to deliver their version of a NAS.

 

[Nomadski]

Making TC compatible with xbox 360 would be a step forward...

Apple *Its Microsofts fault*

Microsoft *Its Apples fault*

6 years (?) after launch of 360 and the two still wont talk.

I returned my TC and went back to the AE, but even that with the latest firmware wont back up without errors via over the air TM from a Macbook to a QNAP NAS, so I have to use an earlier firmware.

Hopefully they will add extra functionality to the AE, in which case Ill upgrade. The TC is a bit redundant to my needs.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Except if I want an Apple TV on three screens I don't really need three router/NAS/media center devices.

One "pro" model (as imagined above) and 2 "thin clients" like the $99 version offered now. The clients can stream from the centralized storage in the "pro" model.

 

[Technoguy3]

I can't believe everyone here is acting as is the new Time Capsule will have local storage. A couple million iTunes songs does not a 500,000 sq. ft. data center make.