Apple game rentals; Safari anti-phishing; Blu-ray notebook drives

[AppleInsider]

A recently published patent filing from Apple Inc. hints at the possibility of game rentals and a more advanced games management component of the iTunes Store. Meanwhile, readers question the disappearance of Safari's anti-phishing measures. And the power-draw of today's Blu-ray drives has thus far translated into slow adoption by notebook manufacturers.

Apple gaming patent

While the verdict is still out on whether Apple is serious about gaming on the Mac, the company has been stepping up its efforts in the handheld department. As of this week, there were 20 games available on its iTunes Store for use with the latest line of iPods, in addition to a dozen others reserved exclusively for the old fifth-genration iPod classics.

These numbers are expected to swell rapidly following the release of the iPhone and iPod touch software developers kit next week, which should yield the first of a new breed of games designed exclusively for the company's touch-screen based handheld devices. As such, Apple appears to be applying some resources towards an integrated games management component of its iTunes Store.

A recently published patent filing from the company points to a method that would automatically determine which games on the iTunes Store are compatible with iPods or iPhones tied to a customer's iTunes software. It would also determine, and automatically updated, games that had previously been purchased by a user should incremental updates to those titles become available. Subsequently, the same methods would provide a foundation for "game rentals" or subscriptions, such as those that have become common on mobile phones from wireless carriers.

"One aspect of the invention pertains to acquiring compatible game software for a portable electronic device by way of an electronic download from a server device to a client device. Subsequently, the game software is provided from the client device to the portable electronic device," wrote Christopher Wysocki, a Los Gatos-based Apple employee. "The acquisition of the game software can be through on-line purchase or rental from the server device, which can host an on-line media store. Another aspect of the invention pertains to acquiring updates to game software that has previously been acquired and provided to a portable electronic device. Game software updates for a plurality of different hardware platforms are available from a server device. A client device associated with the portable electronic device can interact with the server device to obtain any game software updates that correspond to the hardware platform utilized by the portable electronic device associated with the client device."

Still other aspects of Wysocki's invention is that a client device can provide "automated backup storage for game play data produced on an associated portable electronic device" and that "game performance data associated with a user's performance of a game on a portable electronic device can be provided to a game server by way of a client device associated with the portable electronic device."

Whither Safari's anti-phishing measures?

A warning issued Thursday by PayPal chief security officer Michael Barrett against using Apple's iPhone with the e-commerce site has drawn considerable discussion on the AppleInsider forums, with some readers recalling that plans once called for Safari 3.0 to incorporate anti-phishing measures.

The technology, which appeared briefly in versions of Safari 3.0 beta issued as part of pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard last fall, tapped Google's AntiTrust database to automatically detect and alert surfers of "phishy" or deceitful website URLs. Had the feature not been pulled, it's likely that it would have been carried over to the mobile version of the Apple browser.



Nevertheless, readers note that despite its absence, the groundwork and resource files for the technology are still visible by viewing the package contents of the most recent Safari distribution, making it seem likely that the feature will resurface at some point.

Power-hungry Blu-ray notebook drives

Watching high-def Blu-ray movies on your notebook may become a reality later this year, but likely at the expense of battery life.

Wired reports that if the first-generation of Blu-ray equipped notebooks are any indication, users might not get more than halfway through their movie before running out of juice completely.

Still, Dell next month is expected to introduce a sub-$1000 Blu-ray equipped notebook which will take advantage of recent advancements that aim to aid in power usage by offloading some of the decode process onto other system hardware, namely the graphics processing unit.

While Apple has yet to offer Blu-ray drives on its Mac line, that is expected to change in the not too distant future. AppleInsider has heard, but not yet confirmed, that the Cupertino-based company is actively courting Sony to obtain Blu-ray drives for its MacBook Pro line.

According to one tipster, Apple had hoped to offer a Blu-ray option alongside its just-released Penryn-based MacBook Pros, but Sony has faced some quality issues pertaining to the slot-loading mechanism and laser in the SuperDrives. Apple was reportedly offered Blu-ray Combo drives in the meantime, which it turned down.

Amazon joins MacBook rebate party

Finally, Amazon.com is the latest authorized Apple reseller to begin offering rebates on the Mac maker's complete line of notebooks. It's offering $50 rebates on all version of the MacBook Air, $75 - $100 in rebates on all Penryn-based 13-inch MacBook models, and $150 rebates on all Penryn-based MacBook Pros.

The deals are similar to those that Mac Mall began offering earlier in the week, but may represent the best overall deal given that Amazon does not charge sales tax. Mac Mall, however, does charge tax but alternatively throws in rebates for a free Epson printer and a copy of Parallels Desktop 3.0.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[guest]

This power sucking still does not explain why Apple does not support BluRay at all. They could have a drive in the Mac Pros as BTO for a while now. I was looking into using the Lacie Firewire External BluRay drive on my MBP, but according to all info I could find it won't play movies because of Leopard's lack of BluRay support.

[rain]

After the lashing yesterday, I'd better say something positive...

 rocks! Woooooot!

Don't believe any reviews or posts that are negative about Apple in any way... cuz those jerks own shares in Microsoft.

[rain]

Originally Posted by guest

This power sucking still does not explain why Apple does not support BluRay at all. They could have a drive in the Mac Pros as BTO for a while now. I was looking into using the Lacie Firewire External BluRay drive on my MBP, but according to all info I could find it won't play movies because of Leopard's lack of BluRay support.

I hear ya man... I've been trying to hold out on buying another Mac Pro for that reason, but I don't think I can wait another few months.
Anyone have any idea when 10.5.3 might be rolling out? Maybe BR then?
My guess is they won't update the Mac Pro's until mid April/May. Or, the week after I buy one.

[zanshin]

I imagine the Blu-Ray drive -- when offered and OS supported -- will be a CTO option that we'll be able to buy as a part # and slide right into a "current" Mac Pro behind optical bay door # 2. As for power-sucking in laptops not being a valid reason for withholding BR support, Apple is probably hedging bets until demand justifies it, just like most companies do. With "3% of the total PC market" you need to play by more cautionary rules.

[pmjoe]

I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in the Mac mini. That with Front Row would be a nice setup in the home theater.

[IAmMacUser]

Originally Posted by pmjoe

I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in the Mac mini. That with Front Row would be a nice setup in the home theater.

If the mini could cope with it, they never update it..poor lil guy

[mdriftmeyer]

Let's get off making the laptop crowd happy before they release BluRay drives.

Focus on the Desktop crowd first who don't have these "issues."

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by pmjoe

I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in the Mac mini. That with Front Row would be a nice setup in the home theater.

That sorta destroys the whole idea of the @TV...

[jamiec]

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Focus on the Desktop crowd first who don't have these "issues."

I don't know what you're talking about. I haven't had any issues ever since this laptop burned off my nads.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by guest

This power sucking still does not explain why Apple does not support BluRay at all. They could have a drive in the Mac Pros as BTO for a while now. I was looking into using the Lacie Firewire External BluRay drive on my MBP, but according to all info I could find it won't play movies because of Leopard's lack of BluRay support.

It's more than just Leopard supporting it. You have to have an HDCP (aka hi-def DRM) compliant video card and display. Copy protection is no longer handled just in software like it is for DVDs. You have to have compliant hardware, too.

Anybody know if any shipping Mac has a video card that support HDCP? What monitors are available that support it?

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by pmjoe

I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in the Mac mini. That with Front Row would be a nice setup in the home theater.

Front Row won't even output the digital audio for DVDs (DVD Player will, FrontRow will not from everything I've read). And I think they'd have to seriously upgrade the video card. I'm not sure there's any integrated video chipset that could handle decoding blu-ray's high-bandwidth data stream (and be HDCP compliant).

Other than that, I love the idea!

[flydoggie]

Who would be dumb enough to buy a blu-ray drive to watch movies on a laptop. There is zero difference between a standard DVD and HD on a screen that small.

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by MsNly

That sorta destroys the whole idea of the @TV...

I can see it still working with @TV if you have a Blu-ray recorder and DVR functionality in the @TV. Then that way, you can off load your HD content from both the iTunes store as well as from HDTV broadcasts onto your Blu-ray discs via your built-in Blu-ray recording (BR) drive.

To me, that would be the ultimate home theatre experience...it would have everything...and Apple has the savvy to make it work seamlessly.

[guest]

Originally Posted by flydoggie

Who would be dumb enough to buy a blu-ray drive to watch movies on a laptop. There is zero difference between a standard DVD and HD on a screen that small.

Originally Posted by Wiggin

It's more than just Leopard supporting it. You have to have an HDCP (aka hi-def DRM) compliant video card and display. Copy protection is no longer handled just in software like it is for DVDs. You have to have compliant hardware, too.

Anybody know if any shipping Mac has a video card that support HDCP? What monitors are available that support it?

I have high res 17" MBP, and the GeForce 8600M is HDCP compliant by spec. Arguing wether HD looks like DVD on that screen is like comparing 128kb vs 256kb MP3.

[marzetta7]

Originally Posted by guest

This power sucking still does not explain why Apple does not support BluRay at all. They could have a drive in the Mac Pros as BTO for a while now. I was looking into using the Lacie Firewire External BluRay drive on my MBP, but according to all info I could find it won't play movies because of Leopard's lack of BluRay support.

Apple is on the Board of Directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association, so they most certainly support Blu-ray. Moreover, considering that Blu-ray has won the format war with rival HD DVD, I think you'll finally see Apple put their high-def drive offerings into high gear.

There were many variables keeping Apple from putting Blu-ray drives in their hardware until now--price to the end consumer, the looming format war (which is now over), their offerings from VOD standpoint, supporting hardware (graphic cards), Blu-ray profile implementation (2.0 is where they want to be), etc. Granted, all these are or are in the process of getting sorted out, so I'm optimistic that we'll be seening some Blu-macs soon!

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by MsNly

That sorta destroys the whole idea of the @TV...

I don't think so. Mac mini already has a DVD player, does that destroy the whole idea of AppleTV? Most of Apple's rentals aren't available as HD.

Originally Posted by flydoggie

There is zero difference between a standard DVD and HD on a screen that small.

You're simply wrong on that, unless you mean watching the movie across the room. At arm's length, HD is definitely better than DVD, even on a notebook screen. I tried this for myself when I first bought my 15" Core Duo Mac.

[Wiggin]

Originally Posted by flydoggie

Who would be dumb enough to buy a blu-ray drive to watch movies on a laptop. There is zero difference between a standard DVD and HD on a screen that small.

Not necessarily true. Totally dependent on how far away you are. As long as you are sitting within about 4 feet from the screen you'll benefit from having content with better than DVD resolution. And you'd be able to see the full 1080p from about 3 feet away. So if it's sitting on your lap or airline tray, you'll definitely be able to see the extra resolution.

I'm extrapolating from this graph: http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

Also, if you have a compliant video out connection and TV, you always have the option of hooking up an external display.

[tcl]

...not wither.

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

It's more than just Leopard supporting it. You have to have an HDCP (aka hi-def DRM) compliant video card and display. Copy protection is no longer handled just in software like it is for DVDs. You have to have compliant hardware, too.

Anybody know if any shipping Mac has a video card that support HDCP? What monitors are available that support it?

All currently shipping iMacs and the Mac Pro do via the ATI Radeon HD 2400 and 2600 graphics cards.

[8CoreWhore]

I'm tired of the reading speed bump. "Cupertino-based company". It's Apple, okay? Sheesh!

[wheelhot]

Hmm, can someone tell me why is everybody giving discounts on the penryn MB and MBP?

[lanky_nathan]

"wither" <> "wHither"

[dontlookleft]

WARNING:Last time I tried to obtain three rebates from MacMall I didn't receive any of them.

I wanted to show this warning on the other post, but there wasn't any option.

[YipYipYipee]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

Front Row won't even output the digital audio for DVDs (DVD Player will, FrontRow will not from everything I've read). And I think they'd have to seriously upgrade the video card. I'm not sure there's any integrated video chipset that could handle decoding blu-ray's high-bandwidth data stream (and be HDCP compliant).

Other than that, I love the idea!

The Centrino 2 (aka Montevina) chipset will supposedly deal with the concerns you mentioned. Should be most beneficial for MacBook, iMac and Mac mini products.

YipYipYipee

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by Wiggin

So if it's sitting on your lap or airline tray, you'll definitely be able to see the extra resolution.

Lot of money to pay to see only half a movie, if you are lucky.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by pmjoe

I'd like to see a Blu-ray drive in the Mac mini. That with Front Row would be a nice setup in the home theater.

So you would be willing to pay double for a Mac Mini with Blu-ray?

Why not get an external drive http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/m...roduct_Count=1

P.S. For those with a Mac Pro or Power Mac… http://www.mcetech.com/blu-ray/ and http://www.google.com/search?client=...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

[ascii]

Game studios will be bigger than movie studios one day. It makes sense for Apple to get involved both as a store and a platform.

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I don't think so. Mac mini already has a DVD player, does that destroy the whole idea of AppleTV? Most of Apple's rentals aren't available as HD.

Yes, but it destroys Apple's rental service to use the Mini. And the mini is a computer, which is not specifically designed as is the @TV.

I think the mini will be one of the last computers to get blu-ray, because the base model still has combo drive.

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by ascii

Game studios will be bigger than movie studios one day. It makes sense for Apple to get involved both as a store and a platform.

I agree, games last longer than movies.

[teckstud]

I don't want to hear anymore that Apple leads the industry in technology. There is no reason not to have Blu-ray drives by now. Just like glossy, flat screens which Apple was the last to add to their line , they now appear last in blu-ray. Why have an application called iMovieHD if you can't burn it to a blu-ray disc?

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by flydoggie

Who would be dumb enough to buy a blu-ray drive to watch movies on a laptop. There is zero difference between a standard DVD and HD on a screen that small.

That's a lame excuse for Apple's incompetence.

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I don't want to hear anymore that Apple leads the industry in technology. There is no reason not to have Blu-ray drives by now. Just like glossy, flat screens which Apple was the last to add to their line , they now appear last in blu-ray. Why have an application called iMovieHD if you can't burn it to a blu-ray disc?

I really don't think that there are very many that cares what you think. However, I must say I am very impressed to have seen such zealousness in your recent posts as listed below. Obvious Steve is waiting for you to make up your mind, less he disappoints you.

__________________________________________________ _____________

Lest you have forgotten Teckstud, the following are your exact words…
Porn HD DVD will kill Blu-Ray like Porn VHS killed Beta.

Steve Jobs is the majority Disney stockholder and Disney is exclusively Blu-Ray. Gee I wonder why Apple's gone Blu-Ray?

Porn industry is going for the cheaper of the 2 formats- HD DVD. Blu-ray may be questionably better but more expensive per disc.
And Disney will no way allow porn to be sold along with Peter Pan.

WRONG- Porn is going for the cheap. Blu-ray is more expensive to reproduce- everyone knows this except apparently you. DVD plants can be retrofitted to manufacture HD DVD discs. Blu Ray need new plants created from scratch. How could you not know this?

Not correct- the porn DVD industry is huge. Is is not only internet. They are sold in the millions. Put down the pipe yourself.

All HD DVD players have access to the internet- all of them. Blu-ray players do not. Know what you are speaking about before you put your foot in your mouth.

Sorry bud but try watching picture in picture on the PS3- can't! HD DVD people watch it all the time- it's a real cinema machine not a gaming device that happens to play movie discs. Foot in your mouth! And just because a PS3 can do what you state why can't all blu ray machines do it too? OUCH!!!

Blu-ray will never happen unless you want a $4,000 laptop! HDDVD has aleady won. Toshiba laptops already have them. Plus the porn industry has chosen HD DVD- need I say more?

1.)BS_ Sony BLU-Ray laptop= $3,000. And if Sony is $3,000 them Mac would be at least $4,000 or more. What brands are you talking about?

2.)"not really true"? It's either true or false. And it is true that the porn industry has chosen HD DVD because the HD DVDs s are easier to produce and the drives are cheaper as well.
NOw I grant you that Bl-ray may be better format but then so was Beta over VHS. And VHS won because of many reasons but #1 was VHS Porn.

[Hattig]

Originally Posted by Abster2core

Lest you have forgotten…
Porn HD DVD will kill Blu-Ray like Porn VHS killed Beta.

Porn is available on BluRay. Sony won't replicate porn BluRay media in their facilities, mostly because they do not wish to have an issue with porn getting mixed up with Disney films. However that is the extent of the problem, other BluRay facilities are happy to press porn BluRays.

[welcomb]

Okay, but as they said it will only be 1h battery life
Second there is no native decoding support (Centrino 2 - Montevina and Penryn v2) add it to the processors
Third, there is no HDMI/DisplayPort (which both support HDCP but not DVI) so there is no point in releasing it yet
(all of these were said before but still)
So i doubt they were ready to release it yet, but with Montevina for sure

Lastly unless 10.5.3 adds Disc Player (successor to DVD Player) and Apple releases Final Cut Studio 2.5 (including Disc Studio pro 5, the successor the DVD Studio pro 4) and also release an FCE and iMovie update (a big one for each), the software side is still in the air

By summer they can have the software ready (also it makes more sense to release for MacPro first)

[Abster2core]

Originally Posted by Hattig

Porn is available on BluRay. Sony won't replicate porn BluRay media in their facilities, mostly because they do not wish to have an issue with porn getting mixed up with Disney films. However that is the extent of the problem, other BluRay facilities are happy to press porn BluRays.

Tell Teckstud. Those are quotes from his blog.

[gjas15]

Originally Posted by welcomb

Okay, but as they said it will only be 1h battery life
Second there is no native decoding support (Centrino 2 - Montevina and Penryn v2) add it to the processors
Third, there is no HDMI/DisplayPort (which both support HDCP but not DVI) so there is no point in releasing it yet
(all of these were said before but still)
So i doubt they were ready to release it yet, but with Montevina for sure

Lastly unless 10.5.3 adds Disc Player (successor to DVD Player) and Apple releases Final Cut Studio 2.5 (including Disc Studio pro 5, the successor the DVD Studio pro 4) and also release an FCE and iMovie update (a big one for each), the software side is still in the air

By summer they can have the software ready (also it makes more sense to release for MacPro first)

You may want to do a little research before posting...

MBP w/8600m GT supports NVIDIA's PUREVIDEO tech a.k.a. hardware HD video decoding ( doesn't take all the load off the CPU but a good chunk of it. ) . HDMI is not required for HDCP it is also supported over DVI. Even though the 8600m GT is HDCP compliant I don't think Apple has implemented it. Whether this can be fixed with a firmware update remains to be seen. This has been proven to work by people that have purchased a LG GGC-H20L BLU-RAY HD-DVD Reader, putting it in an external case, booting into windows, and playing blu-ray and/or hd dvds on their tv's. I was actually going to get one before hd dvd was killed. Now I'll just get a plain blu-ray reader. If apple would just add the software support in the OS I could eliminate booting into the dark side. This will work until the image constraint token is activated. Stupid Hollywood.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by welcomb

Okay, but as they said it will only be 1h battery life
Second there is no native decoding support (Centrino 2 - Montevina and Penryn v2) add it to the processors
Third, there is no HDMI/DisplayPort (which both support HDCP but not DVI) so there is no point in releasing it yet
(all of these were said before but still)
So i doubt they were ready to release it yet, but with Montevina for sure

Lastly unless 10.5.3 adds Disc Player (successor to DVD Player) and Apple releases Final Cut Studio 2.5 (including Disc Studio pro 5, the successor the DVD Studio pro 4) and also release an FCE and iMovie update (a big one for each), the software side is still in the air

By summer they can have the software ready (also it makes more sense to release for MacPro first)

As stated, DVI does support HDCP, but you make some excellent points and, IMO, some worthy predictions. Montevina will the first iteration that makes adding a BTO Blu-ray logical.

I also think the long awaited Cinema Display upgrades with iSight and IR sensor on the USB bus will take affect near the release of these new machines. I also think Apple will drop the clunky ported DVI for DisplayPort.

According to Wikipedia, "[DisplayPort] Video signal is not compatible with DVI or HDMI, but the specification will allow pass-through of these signals." They are also part of the UDI group (which doesn't seem to support HDCP) and last year Samsung and Intel backed out. It seems UDI is not the successor.

[alienzed]

Apple got it Right™ with the Macbook Air. Optical media is on it's way out... Sony's bloated Blu-Ray will not last more than another 3 or 4 years before being replaced with an even bigger and 'better' (worse) optical media format. When will the industry learn that most customers just want the content and in the long run won't pay for horribly designed new media to put it on. Wireless is the new way for everything. Like Apple droped the floppy drive, Apple will drop the optical drive and the industry will follow.
I personally hate having huge spindles full of stuff I'll never look through, with technologies like BitTorrent, you could download a movie in the same time it would take you to find it in your physical media collection! Who's with me!?

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by alienzed

Apple got it Right™ with the Macbook Air. Optical media is on it's way out... Sony's bloated Blu-Ray will not last more than another 3 or 4 years before being replaced with an even bigger and 'better' (worse) optical media format. When will the industry learn that most customers just want the content and in the long run won't pay for horribly designed new media to put it on. Wireless is the new way for everything. Like Apple droped the floppy drive, Apple will drop the optical drive and the industry will follow.
I personally hate having huge spindles full of stuff I'll never look through, with technologies like BitTorrent, you could download a movie in the same time it would take you to find it in your physical media collection! Who's with me!?

You make a lot of sense but people often are stuck in a linear thought process which means they view Blu-ray as the natural succession to the lineage. CD-->DVD---Blu-ray. However many fail to realize that which each new successor the Internet grows more and more functional and access to the internet becomes faster and more pervasive. What consumers will eventually do is begin to store more of their lives on the Internet where they will have access across the Globe. What's a Blu-ray disc going to do for me if I have to access data away from the drive?

Google will be a player here. Rumors abound regarding their online HD storage. You're right I have 4 spindles of 200 discs and I think about the management of these discs and storage requirements and it doesn't make sense from an efficiency standpoint IMO.

That being said when the price is right go ahead and add Blu-ray but but I don't think the hardware is ready yet and a Blu-ray player to me is superfluos as its main benefit is recording to me.