Apple's TuneKit iTunes LP format appears aimed at Apple TV

[AppleInsider]

The iTunes LP album and iTunes Extras movie-enriching bonus material bundles Apple introduced as a new feature of iTunes 9 are built using a new TuneKit JavaScript framework and appear aimed to deliver new big screen content to Apple TV.

The new iTunes interactive media content formats are built using open web standards: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, using a new framework Apple calls TuneKit. The new media authoring framework is referenced repeatedly within the iTunes Extra component files.

Similar to Apple's use of the SproutCore JavaScript framework to build its MobileMe web apps, TuneKit provides media developers with a familiar JavaScript framework for creating interactive bonus materials. TuneKit, like SproutCore, proves that a proprietary middleware runtime plugin such as Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight is simply unnecessary to deliver this kind of interactive media content, thanks in part to rapid advances in JavaScript rendering engine optimization.

Apple's new TuneKit is also much easier to develop for than the complex specifications involved with DVD and Blu-Ray disc authoring, and lacks the "bag of hurt" associated with licensing issues that Steve Jobs a year ago predicted would hold back Blu-Ray adoption.

Apple TV written all over it

Even more interesting is the evidence that Apple developed the new media packages with HDTVs in mind. For starters, the content is designed for a 1280x720 resolution. That means it's too big to play back on Apple's mainstream 13" MacBook Pro without entering full screen mode or scaling down to fit the screen available within the normal iTunes playback window.

The native resolution exactly fits the HDTV output of Apple TV, however, and would even work when scaled down to its standard definition 480p display. It wouldn't work so well the old TVs that only accept S-Video or composite video inputs however, the very type Apple made no efforts to support on Apple TV even though its hardware had the innate capacity to deliver a composite signal.

Even more telling is the discovery that the iTunes content files reference the HTML meta tags "hdtv-fullscreen" and "hdtv-cursor-off." While the content packages currently require iTunes 9 on a Mac or PC for playback, these discoveries not only indicate that support for Apple TV is in the works, but suggest that the content was created specifically for it.

Apple hasn't dramatically updated the Apple TV software since the "Take Two" 2.0 firmware was released at Macworld Expo in January 2008. The next major update is expected to incorporate features of Snow Leopard, including QuickTime X and its HTTP Live Streaming protocol.

[sheff]

I think that only a few people will actually use iTunes LP, as the whole benefit of digital music was the ability to buy only those songs you wanted. This will be mostly for the enthusiasts. This means that apple has a new corporate hobby to indulge, along with apple tv.

[SinisterJoe]

iTunes LP is a neat idea but I don't see it being any major selling point to the iTunes Store. I think if Apple was smart here they would have opened the format and tried to push it as a standard for all digital music distributers. Betting on their own ability to implement it better in the iPod than its competitors can in their products. If it remains some weird iTunes Store exclusive it's really not going to be anything more than a niche feature only available on some cherry picked albums.

[Ensign Pulver]

Even more interesting is the evidence that Apple developed the new media packages with HDTVs in mind. For starters, the content is designed for a 1280x720 resolution. That means it's too big to play back on Apple's mainstream 13" MacBook Pro without entering full screen mode or scaling down to fit the screen available within the normal iTunes playback window.

I'm surprised that full screen mode for the 13" laptops doesn't already exist. Hmmm, what could they be waiting for? Apple TV? Yes, that's obvious, but what other rumored product would be perfect for viewing 1280x720 full screen iTunes LP and iTunes Extras enabled movies?

If you said the tablet, give yourself a cookie.

[bulldogger]

I absolutely hate owning a physical item like CDs and DVDs. I like the concept of having them on my hard drive but I feel somewhat cheated with the price of digital downloads specifically for movies. The quality is awful, it's priced the same as normal DVDs, and there's nothing extra you'd find with a blu-ray or DVD like commentaries. I own an Apple TV and I've only used the thing to transfer movies from my computer to the big screen and also some rentals. The fact that they are developing movies with extras on them for the Apple TV has me very excited. What would be very cool is if these movies were also connected in some way to online features as well.

[saarek]

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

[str1f3]

Originally Posted by saarek

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

I love idea as well. I just wish it could be a little cheaper. The prices seem to be a little high.

[8CoreWhore]

Seems like it's their answer to BD-Live.

[8CoreWhore]

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/09/14/...-model-to-229/

[jacobmx]

Originally Posted by saarek

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

Where do you shop? I don't know any retailers that sell CD's for 10 bucks.

[noirdesir]

Originally Posted by sheff

I think that only a few people will actually use iTunes LP, as the whole benefit of digital music was the ability to buy only those songs you wanted.

That, plus the ability to quickly mix songs from multiple artists/albums (which the Genius feature made very easy and useful, and Shuffle did this also already earlier).
That is why I agree, the iTunes LP will remain a small niche product.

[Rokken]

Originally Posted by saarek

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

I was about to buy their new album from iTunes before you talked about the LP thing. I just found out that the LP version is only available in several countries, and it's sold at the same price as normal version in other countries. I don't know if I should hold out for it or just buy it and call it a day.

[wally007]

how does one justify purchase of Apple TV and its incredible limitations ? I mean if you take a look at XBMC / PLEX ( especially PLEX ) and various plug-ins and incredible interface skins it just boggles my mind someone does not save up couple hundred dollars more and buys mac mini or finds used one on ebay for just a hair more than new appletv.

[spliff monkey]

Originally Posted by sheff

I think that only a few people will actually use iTunes LP, as the whole benefit of digital music was the ability to buy only those songs you wanted. This will be mostly for the enthusiasts. This means that apple has a new corporate hobby to indulge, along with apple tv.

I think you're being tunnel visioned. Why would it be bad to offer more content for those that want it. The "whole benefit of digital music" isn't buying one song at a time. I can think of a million reasons why digital music is better, easier access, better categorizing, easier to travel with large libraries etc. etc. You couldn't be further off base and when the tablet makes it's debut you'll undoubtedly be the fist to say it'll flop as well. "Corporate Hobby" there's no such thing when you are talking about billions of $$$$'s. If it's labeled as a hobby expect it to grow and evolve rapidly. Vanish is another thing.

[spliff monkey]

Originally Posted by wally007

how does one justify purchase of Apple TV and its incredible limitations ? I mean if you take a look at XBMC / PLEX ( especially PLEX ) and various plug-ins and incredible interface skins it just boggles my mind someone does not save up couple hundred dollars more and buys mac mini or finds used one on ebay for just a hair more than new appletv.

The apple T was designed to connect to a TV and the mac-mini wasn't. It's that simple. If you haven't used one then you should go check one out and then get back to me. To say it's "incredibly limited" would be ignoring the point of what it does; deliver media.

I might ask what's the point of connecting an mac-mini up to your TV? Do you really want to surf the web or do work on your TV? Have you tried it? It looks terrible at 50" I can tell you that. I started out with a mac mni when there wasn't an apple TV and honestly it was a drag with screen rez/ line res, frequencies, colors etc etc. I was happy to switch.

Compared to my media server/ apple TV rig it was very clumsy. An mac mini is overkill and gets in the way of simply delivering media with a clean easy to navigate GUI, without the extras you don't need.

[spliff monkey]

Originally Posted by noirdesir

That, plus the ability to quickly mix songs from multiple artists/albums (which the Genius feature made very easy and useful, and Shuffle did this also already earlier).
That is why I agree, the iTunes LP will remain a small niche product.

How does the ability to mix songs change or have anything to do with Itunes LP? The songs are still individual songs and can still be burned as such to a mix CD. You're just buying the album in it's entirety. What are you talking about? and honestly who only buys 1 song always? Don't you ever want to appreciate the music as the artist intended or give the rest of the album more than 30 seconds worth of judgement. If not, then it's more evidence that the world is the way that it is.

[spliff monkey]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/09/14/...-model-to-229/

nice! ATV 2.0. LOL I hope.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by spliff monkey

I think you're being tunnel visioned. Why would it be bad to offer more content for those that want it. The "whole benefit of digital music" isn't buying one song at a time. I can think of a million reasons why digital music is better, easier access, better categorizing, easier to travel with large libraries etc. etc. You couldn't be further off base and when the tablet makes it's debut you'll undoubtedly be the fist to say it'll flop as well. "Corporate Hobby" there's no such thing when you are talking about billions of $$$$'s. If it's labeled as a hobby expect it to grow and evolve rapidly. Vanish is another thing.

I agree with you. I suspect we will shortly have an SJ announcement of a lot more features and services too with updates to ATV and the inevitable tablet not far behind (or possibly it will all come at the same time). This is Apple - the number one music retailer we are talking about here, not some 'niche' company after all!

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/09/14/...-model-to-229/

I was kind of relieved there was no major change, just a capacity upgrade for the same price. So hopefully any major new upgrade in the works is software only and my trusty old first generation ATV won't be obsoleted any time soon. Perhaps older ATVs will be able to add an external drive on the USB with the next update. It always seemed a good place to add a Time Capsule to me, although perhaps a backup occurring while streaming a movie from Apple may be an issue (how about a suppress backup during streaming movies option?).

[PXT]

I was sceptical at first but maybe there is something to iTunes LP. I have got into the habit of buying single tracks and listening to music while I'm on the move, but this has got me thinking about how much I used to enjoy sitting in the living room with an album cover with a couple of friends and just listening to an album. ( Though of course not all albums offer this experience, you have to be picky ).

Another thing with iTunes LP and iTunes Extras is that this may show that Apple is making progress in building the relationships it needs to win the confidence of media providers so that someday we may see major netflix-volumes of movies coming through iTunes and, finally, making the Apple TV reach its potential.

This isn't a game-changer, but the brake may be coming off.

[gimpymw]

Originally Posted by SinisterJoe

iTunes LP is a neat idea but I don't see it being any major selling point to the iTunes Store. I think if Apple was smart here they would have opened the format and tried to push it as a standard for all digital music distributers. Betting on their own ability to implement it better in the iPod than its competitors can in their products. If it remains some weird iTunes Store exclusive it's really not going to be anything more than a niche feature only available on some cherry picked albums.

MildlyBadJoe, iTunes LP is built using Javascript which is basically open and free to be used by anyone. I think Apple was smart to use an open standard rather than pushing a proprietary format.

[techno]

In the next year, expect to see an Apple TV become what the name really implies, a TV. Apple is going to finally complete the "Media Hub" idea with an LG supplied TV that has an Apple TV type of device built in. It will bring your iTunes and iPhoto content to the TV directly. No need for that expensive and beautiful hot plate (AppleTV) any longer. The tablet and iPhone/Touch will be the elegant remote with the full Apple user interface we would expect.

The problem with the current Apple TV is that is is seen as another external device to hook up to our myriad of components in our home audio power outlet hungry system. To boot, it has a very un-Mac-like GUI. We will be able to ditch our DVD player, VCR (yes some still have them), current AppleTV and perhaps our amplifier. I am sure that there will be an option to hook up your old AppleTV to the TV to help grandfather the transition. But with successive updates they will become road kill. Just think of the shelf space, the "eco friendly" advertising due to all of the power cords done away with.

Next, the car market. Apple needs to target the car entertainment system. How long are we going to have to struggle with making our iPhones and iPods connect to the car stereo?

[LighteningKid]

Originally Posted by 8CoreWhore

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/09/14/...-model-to-229/

Personally, I hope they use this opportunity to do something similar to what they did to the iPod Touch this time around - give us a small update in features without a huge bump in capacity so that they can lower the price. I've put off getting into that game because I couldn't justify the cost of a new HDTV or an Apple TV. The HDTV seems like it'll happen in the near future, though, so a cheaper Apple TV would be very nice. While having the 160GB version at $100 less is great, it's probably still way more capacity than I would actually need. If Apple offered the 40GB version at $50-100 less, I'd be a very happy clam.

Now we just have to hope our speculation on the loss of the 40GB version is true.

[GQB]

Originally Posted by saarek

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

While I think the Apple LP idea is clever, its still a finger in the dike now that people have seen the advantage of single-song downloads. The caliber of 90+% of today's recording 'artists' does not justify whole-album downloads. The labels are selling homogenized 'product', hoping that the one hit from the album will sucker kids into buying 11 other garbage cuts.
To those who ask why the big hub-bub about 'Beatles on iTunes', this is your answer. When you bought a Beatles album, you got at least 11 out of 12 great songs by real artists.
The current musicians who can equal that are far and few between.
</oldFartRant>

correction... current 'signed acts' who can equal that. There's a ton of talent out there, but it doesn't fit the corporate play-list model.

[Dick Applebaum]

*

Some random comments:

The LP format is exciting to those of us who fondly remember holding the physical covers, looking at the pictures, lyrics, credits (Oh, that was Emmylou Harris backing up Willie), etc.

I have a friend who is about to publish her first album:

http://www.sheenamelwani.com

Think of iTunes LP from her perspective:
--all the songs are originals, she wrote the music, lyrics and performs them
--there is a whole lot of background content that she wants/needs to get "out there"
--there just isn't a way to do this with a traditional CD or DVD
--The digital LP format is like manna from heaven

What if a bunch of us could sit around the HD TV (AppleTV) and play/watch Sheena's debut album... better yet, each of us, with our iPhone, iPod Touch, iTablet (whatever), could individually peruse the LP content on our own device (and optionally show something we see to the others by displaying it on the large, communal HD TV). It would be like each one had his own copy of the Physical LP cover.

I don't know if the current AppleTV has the heft to do this. I keep all my iTunes and iPhoto content on a separate Mac Mini (with 2 2TB external HDs). Everything is streamed to the AppleTV.


It's been a while but the itlp bundle is quite similar to the DashCode dcproj bundle. So, I suspect that the "tool" that Apple provides (for artists) to create LPs is just a special template for DashCode.

DashCode was/is used primarily to create single-purpose Widgets-- essentially web apps that run on the desktop or can be shared by putting them on a web server such as MobileMe.

Most of the Widgets could be written entirely using "standard" HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These were quite portable as they could run on any platform that supported the "standard". I haven't tried it, but conceptually this means that a simple Widget could run on Windows or Linux.

Through advanced techniques, the developer could access the OS at the command line level. So, you could write a "Power Widget" that ran on the desktop but acted like a web server and data base server. Or maybe parse the iTunes XML file and serve content over the Internet.

Obviously, if you wrote a Widget using the command line level, it would only run on OS X, on Macs. Apple could supply a low-level "missing-link" to allow our "Power Widget" to run on Windows or Linux

If an LP is just a special Widget it can use the afore-mentioned "standard" HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to navigate the content, but it needs some mechanism to actually play the music and video.

That mechanism appears to be iTunes/QuickTime. So, the LP can play on OS X or Windows computers.


It is unclear, but the latest iTunes appears to have some sort of "server" capability built in.

Could iTunes be the "missing link" that allows our "Power Widget" to serve content over WiFi and the Internet-- your own private "iTunes Server"?

Could this "iTunes Server" capability be included in the current AppleTV or a heftier follow-on?

Could you serve your iTunes content within the home (or enterprise) and simultaneously to consumers on the internet, and local or remote mobile WiFi and cell radio devices?


This may sound (pun) a bit far fetched, but it isn't! The technology already exists and apps are available to do all the bits and pieces.


It will take Apple to make it so it is easy, intuitive, and just works.

*

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by wally007

how does one justify purchase of Apple TV and its incredible limitations ? I mean if you take a look at XBMC / PLEX ( especially PLEX ) and various plug-ins and incredible interface skins it just boggles my mind someone does not save up couple hundred dollars more and buys mac mini or finds used one on ebay for just a hair more than new appletv.

You answered your own question.

It costs more, you have to set it up, you have to add the plug-ins and configure those etc. If your into managing your computers all day long fine, but if you're just the average consumer you generally don't want the hassle.

It's the same as Linux vs. Macintosh. One's cheaper, the other is hassle free. To each their own.

[Gazoobee]

Originally Posted by spliff monkey

I think you're being tunnel visioned. Why would it be bad to offer more content for those that want it. The "whole benefit of digital music" isn't buying one song at a time. I can think of a million reasons why digital music is better, easier access, better categorizing, easier to travel with large libraries etc. etc. You couldn't be further off base and when the tablet makes it's debut you'll undoubtedly be the fist to say it'll flop as well. "Corporate Hobby" there's no such thing when you are talking about billions of $$$$'s. If it's labeled as a hobby expect it to grow and evolve rapidly. Vanish is another thing.

I was about to say the same thing.

I think a lot of people are also having tunnel vision here in that they are just thinking of iTunes LP as only some kind of replacement for albums. Of course it's that, but it's also a whole new multimedia container frontier sort of speak.

Already, before most people have even bought one, there is a multimedia comic book in the store that you can buy in this format. If Apple comes out with the tablet and starts selling eBooks in earnest, you can bet that there will be very similar if not identical formats for those. Imagine buying a History text and it has multimedia elements and so forth, or a magazine.

Anyone who remembers back to the dawn of the computing era should know that one of the first uses of computers in general was these kinds of packaged multimedia experiences. Half of the educational software titles in those days (and there were more educational titles than games in those days), were exactly this kind of thing.

When the very first CD's came out, one of the first uses was multimedia "magazines" and most computer magazines of the day had a multimedia edition in a plastic sleeve pasted on the front cover. The industry has been trying to get this kind of delivery mechanism right for years and years and now we have the cloud for delivery and mobile devices for consumption it might actually happen.

Imagine subscribing to whatever your favourite magazine is (that is if anyone reads magazines nowadays), on iTunes and receiving a package similar to this every month. This has so much potential it's scary IMO.

[bazaarsoft]

From iTunes 9 system requirements:

2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor is required to play HD video, an iTunes LP, or iTunes Extras from the iTunes Store

The current AppleTV hardware doesn't come close to this CPU spec, so I'm VERY skeptical that it's targeted to the AppleTV - at least as we know it now.

[Lukeskymac]

Originally Posted by saarek

I just bought the new Muse cd from iTunes, I only got it from iTunes as it's the LP version, I always felt cheated by the price of downloads as I could buy the cd from a shop for the same price, however considering all of the extras in the LP version I feel that I have gotten a fair deal.

I like the extras and feel it boosts the album, well done Apple and of course Muse.

+∞ for referring to Muse

[Lukeskymac]

Originally Posted by bazaarsoft

From iTunes 9 system requirements:



The current AppleTV hardware doesn't come close to this CPU spec, so I'm VERY skeptical that it's targeted to the AppleTV - at least as we know it now.

Who said this is aimed at the current Apple TV?

[Dick Applebaum]

Originally Posted by Gazoobee

I was about to say the same thing.

I think a lot of people are also having tunnel vision here in that they are just thinking of iTunes LP as only some kind of replacement for albums. Of course it's that, but it's also a whole new multimedia container frontier sort of speak.

Already, before most people have even bought one, there is a multimedia comic book in the store that you can buy in this format. If Apple comes out with the tablet and starts selling eBooks in earnest, you can bet that there will be very similar if not identical formats for those. Imagine buying a History text and it has multimedia elements and so forth, or a magazine.

Anyone who remembers back to the dawn of the computing era should know that one of the first uses of computers in general was these kinds of packaged multimedia experiences. Half of the educational software titles in those days (and there were more educational titles than games in those days), were exactly this kind of thing.

When the very first CD's came out, one of the first uses was multimedia "magazines" and most computer magazines of the day had a multimedia edition in a plastic sleeve pasted on the front cover. The industry has been trying to get this kind of delivery mechanism right for years and years and now we have the cloud for delivery and mobile devices for consumption it might actually happen.

Imagine subscribing to whatever your favourite magazine is (that is if anyone reads magazines nowadays), on iTunes and receiving a package similar to this every month. This has so much potential it's scary IMO.

++

Just consider the implications of an interactive LP package of content on your iPhone.

You ar standing in a park, at the kids soccer game. It's halftime, so you want to catch that latest (artist of your choice) album... you tune in, explore, network with friends, rate the songs on the artist's site, research a backup artist... It's all there (some parts on the iPhone, others at home, and others on multiple web sites). It's all interlinked-- you don't need to multi-task, just multi-navigate "there and back, again".

Oh, that "LP Album" isn't a music album at all-- its that course you are taking on "nursing", and all the interactive content and navigating are tailored to that subject.... ad nauseam

[wally007]

Originally Posted by spliff monkey

The apple T was designed to connect to a TV and the mac-mini wasn't. It's that simple. If you haven't used one then you should go check one out and then get back to me. To say it's "incredibly limited" would be ignoring the point of what it does; deliver media.

I might ask what's the point of connecting an mac-mini up to your TV? Do you really want to surf the web or do work on your TV? Have you tried it? It looks terrible at 50" I can tell you that. I started out with a mac mni when there wasn't an apple TV and honestly it was a drag with screen rez/ line res, frequencies, colors etc etc. I was happy to switch.

Compared to my media server/ apple TV rig it was very clumsy. An mac mini is overkill and gets in the way of simply delivering media with a clean easy to navigate GUI, without the extras you don't need.

I did use AppletTV at friends house and by the time i was done showing him AEON skin demo on youtube he was ready to dump it.

I have Mac mini that NEVER exits Full screen Plex on my Pasma in livng room. It took exactly 5 minutes to install Plex and 2 clicks on my remote to install plug-ins. Nothing to set up , just choosing which plug-in i want from the list and click and its there. Plays EVERY video file i throw at it (Newest model plays even 1080 high bit rate rips ).
Movie library presentation cant even be compared to aTV.

Oh and connecting MacMini to quality TV that has 1:1 pixel mapping is no more trouble than connecting aTV to TV.

Still understand there are people who value ease of use and cheaper entry ticket but once someone ( like my friend , who has enough money and is not that crazy into computers ) experiences Plex/XBMC they wouldnt touch aTV with 10 foot pole.

[Dick Applebaum]

Originally Posted by wally007

I did use AppletTV at friends house and by the time i was done showing him AEON skin demo on youtube he was ready to dump it.

I have Mac mini that NEVER exits Full screen Plex on my Pasma in livng room. It took exactly 5 minutes to install Plex and 2 clicks on my remote to install plug-ins. Nothing to set up , just choosing which plug-in i want from the list and click and its there. Plays EVERY video file i throw at it (Newest model plays even 1080 high bit rate rips ).
Movie library presentation cant even be compared to aTV.

Oh and connecting MacMini to quality TV that has 1:1 pixel mapping is no more trouble than connecting aTV to TV.

Still understand there are people who value ease of use and cheaper entry ticket but once someone ( like my friend , who has enough money and is not that crazy into computers ) experiences Plex/XBMC they wouldnt touch aTV with 10 foot pole.

I have both AppleTV and a Mac Mini connected to a HD TV. The Mini is mainly for Eye TV.

I checked the Plex web site and it looks interesting...

What do you use for a remote control?

Is there an iPhone app equivalent the Remote app for AppleTV?

[bazaarsoft]

Originally Posted by Lukeskymac

Who said this is aimed at the current Apple TV?

Nobody - but if this were really targeted at AppleTV, then why would they announce it before offering an AppleTV that could play it? My argument is that it isn't targeted specifically at the AppleTV - it may make a nice addition to AppleTV functionality, but I don't see any conclusive evidence "that the content was created specifically for it" as the article states.

[cincytee]

Originally Posted by techno

We will be able to ditch our DVD player, VCR (yes some still have them),...

Not only do some still have them, but, thanks to digital TV, their recording quality for routine recording is far better than ever before. And it will continue to be the best choice so long as DVRs carry the baggage of ongoing fees.

[DaveGee]

Something I just thought about...

This new LP stuff....

Is it in any way... protected?

What I mean is, could I make my OWN LP for the Albums I have and inject them into iTunes?

Believe it or not 'fan art' is a HUGE thing with the HTPC crowd and the more detailed or interesting the better.

XBMC for example has many different skins, well all of them support 'fan art' in some way shape or form... but some of the skins really get into it they even have 'clear arts' (images without a background) that can be used when you pause a TV show you have in your system.

So..

Pause an episode of Buffy and a little image of buffy gets superimposed on top of the paused picture in the lower right corner of the screen. Or the cast of CIS if you're watching CSI etc etc etc. Just a neat 'on thats cool' feature.

Anyway... I could creative people (not me) trying to 'one up' each other designing their own LP covers. Yes this walks all over copyrights without question... but there are a lot of sites with tv and music 'fan arts' and they seem to be left alone for the most part.

Well I was just curious if with the right knowledge you could roll your own LP?

Anyone?

Dave

[Macerroneous]

Originally Posted by spliff monkey

How does the ability to mix songs change or have anything to do with Itunes LP? The songs are still individual songs and can still be burned as such to a mix CD. You're just buying the album in it's entirety. What are you talking about? and honestly who only buys 1 song always? Don't you ever want to appreciate the music as the artist intended or give the rest of the album more than 30 seconds worth of judgement. If not, then it's more evidence that the world is the way that it is.

Statistically speaking, I think it highly probable that evidence will support that the world is the way that it is.

[wizard69]

It would be nice to find out when the SDK will become available and if Apple intends to open the software up.

Interestingly I see this as an excellent way to deliver other types of content beside fillers for Albums and Movies. Apparently Apple does to with the comic release. I'm wondering how secure the authors IP is and how selectively that IP security can be applied to the various files.

It would be nice to see this blow flash and Silverlight out of the water.


Dave

[Andrew Levi Black]

Originally Posted by bazaarsoft

From iTunes 9 system requirements:

"2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor is required to play HD video, an iTunes LP, or iTunes Extras from the iTunes Store"

The current AppleTV hardware doesn't come close to this CPU spec, so I'm VERY skeptical that it's targeted to the AppleTV - at least as we know it now.

No, that's the requirements for iTunes 9. The existing Apple TV can already play HD video, and there is no extra demands placed on it to execute a few basic JavaScripts via WebKit. These are not high powered presentations, they are simple HDTV-sized interactive but content packages of mostly static material.

Why iTunes requires a 2GHz Core2 Duo to run iTunes 9 is another issue. Seems excessive.

[Project2501]

Originally Posted by bazaarsoft

Nobody - but if this were really targeted at AppleTV, then why would they announce it before offering an AppleTV that could play it? My argument is that it isn't targeted specifically at the AppleTV - it may make a nice addition to AppleTV functionality, but I don't see any conclusive evidence "that the content was created specifically for it" as the article states.

You do realize that working with html and JavaScript doesn't hog those resources, but encoding HD video does, those requirements are for general purpose processors. With dedicated hardware encoder, appleTV could get by with much less. As Andrew said AppleTV can already encode HD, just not 1080p yet, but hardware to make it happen is already in use in new laptops. The Itunes LP is apparently standard HTML, so I cant see why it couldn't point to a HTTPVideo stream. The HTTP stream can easily scale for older AppleTV. And as it happens, this technology is also already in use by Apple. See, the pieces do already fit!