Home Entertainment Unit Market spaces

geobegeobe
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I think the reason Apple has taken its time with the home entertainment units are because there are 3 market spaces.



1) Recording TV (Tivo)

2) Playing internet/tv prerecorded content

Streamed or downloaded - (Akimbo)

http://www.businessweek.com/technolo...n_id=rss_techn



3) Buying, organizing and playing Purchased Movies.

(Apple iHome DVR) similar to what iTunes has done for Music.



Once it is determined how to handle all three of these areas, they would need to figure out how to interact with the Mac Desktop. Maybe an Airport Express A/V.





I hope they have all three of these market spaces in mind as they build the product and interface.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    I think 2 and 3 are almost the same.



    The real questions in my mind are architectural. How fat/thin is the box? EyeHome/HD1000 is really thin, Akimbo is medium, and Windows MCE is fat (a whole computer). How much role does the computer play?



    Also, there may not be a box at all if Apple decides to focus on DVD burning. (I doubt this, because it would either be really bandwidth-intensive or processor-intensive.)
  • Reply 2 of 3
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    The hardware for a HEU(Home Entertainment Unit) has to be affordable meaning it should have as least amount of chips as it can.



    I think these devices are coming but I also realize that we need more movement in AVS encoder/decoder technology. The space savigns of AVS will be a boon for saving hd space but there's a substantial cost in hardware processing power to do so.



    I'm wondering how much Cell processors will sell for. They could handle much of the heavy lifting if they can provide the grunt.



    HDMI outputs will handle both the video and audio outputs. You can integrate wireless right into the supporting chipsets. The expensive cost my be adding a Vacuum Fluorescent Display like in the Roku Labs Soundbridge. I like the idea of seeing a bright display of tag info from across the living room.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    I think it's fair to say that a Cell will cost more than a Sigma Designs or Alphamosaic chip.



    If the device has TV out I don't see the need for any fancy display on the box itself. (I know it's nice to be able to turn off the TV when just listening to music, but how much is that feature worth?)



    In other news, CenterStage is getting later and later.
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