Apple exec Tim Cook talks Apple TV, A4 processor, more - Page 3

Yes, and since the Dashboard will overlay the current open app, it will prevent further interaction with it until it is dismissed, guaranteeing that the processor won't be clogged with heavy apps.

Do it Apple. Just for the fun of making naysayers eat their words

AppleTv, the 3 1/2 year old "hobby"- how pathetic sounding is that? Why does Cook even bother trying to explain it?

I've owned the Appletv for two years (and cancelled cable for that long) and I LOVE the thing. I think the reason Apple keeps shouting "Hobby! Hobby!" is because many of its users burn their DVDs and other "grey areas". They don't want to tick off content owners. It's been rumored that Apple has sold around 6 million of these things. That's not massive, but more than many other consumer devices in the market. The Appletv also has a tricky advertising/marketing issue. Owning the Appletv basically means not having TV commercials, so can you really use tv commercials to sell it? I've only seen web ads on their homepage for stuff like Father's Day and a semi-hidden display in a retail store.

What's wrong wit the menu system on Front Row?

Dude - I know it's your first post and welcome but if you read the article it's called a "Hobby" because its sales LAG.

Makes no sense.

Using touch input on iPhone/iPod touch games makes sense because you are looking at the playing screen. Using a touch-based device like the iPhone/iPod touch as an input controller while watching another screen makes zero sense.

That's why a touch-based tablet won't replace a regular computer. You can't accurate provide input commands with a touchscreen unless you're looking at the screen. You aren't going to be able to type 120 wpm on the iPad.

The remote app works VERY well with the Appletv, especially gestures.

Lag compared to what? It's not a console and it's not a full htpc. So you have to compare it to media extenders which is a market that it does pretty well in.

Moreover, the App Store has a free Remote app that downloads to both iPhones and the iPod touch. We're running different iTunes libraries on two different computers and we have one Airport Express feeding the aux audio input on a JVC radio in the den and another for a Bose radio in the bedroom. The Remote app is registered with both computers, so we can select either iTunes library for the source audio. Sound can be directed anywhere - to any combination of computers and remote speakers. Your IPhone or touch can change iTunes playback volume, though we have to use the radio remotes to select the aux inputs, change volume on the radios or turn them on and off. (They're remotes that transmit infrared and RF and don't connect to our wireless network.)

In addition to your iTunes library, you can also play any podcasts or radio stations. I'm in the Midwest, but in the mornings I enjoy WQXR, the classical FM station in New York.

It's a cheaper approach to multi-room music than some of the new alternatives out there. Bose has a couple wireless solutions in the $500-$600 range - per room. For each room, it'll set you back $100 for an Airport Express plus the cost of a stereo mini-jack audio cord, and you can hook it up to any pair of remote speakers or a radio with an auxiliary audio input.

Funny. I almost was going to post a similar reply about Apple and auto (personal transit) industry. There are so many other markets for Apple to innovate in. It doesn't need the couch potato market if it doesn't want it.

Which one?

philip

On an equal measure I think the living room will be tackled first but the auto-industry would be nice, but I have my doubts about it working under the current Apple.

For starters, Apple either has to make standalone car stereo that likely fits a single DIN first and foremost, but that doesn't seem to offer much usability.

Second, the higher-end vehicles, where Apple usually first sells to, have an integrated system. This will continue to trickle down to less expensive cars. Apple would have to work with auto-makers to make this a reality. That would be great, especially if it had WiFi you could set up that would sync with your home's main iTunes Library when you got home. Or a passenger order driving songs or movies for kids while on a trip over the car's 3G?

Of course, Apple worked with BMW to get the iPod dock connector in cars and specific playlists tie into the radio, but this is a much larger undertaking and the licensing of their OS.

I have owned an AppleTV for about 2 years, and overall I am happy with it. I have not bought a lot of movies or TV shows on iTunes, but then again I have not downloaded pirated material either. It is a good "replacement" for a DVD player, which by my experience have quality issues.

My biggest complaint about Apple's approach to AppleTV is that they should be able to do a lot more with it to get content that is "freely" available online now (like hulu) and works for computers into the living room. I'm sure that Apple has enough web savvy programers to get the Flash player working on it and I imagine develop their own "hulu" or "BBC" player that ties into the existing streams. They could probably do the same with NBC, CBS, and ABC's web sites.

Two minor annoyances are the remote and the lack of "iTunes" DVD streaming from your MAC. On the remote it would be great to be able to program my TV's volume control into it. If it really bothered me I could get a universal remote and program the AppleTV into it, but the remotes that I know of that can do that are too expensive for me to bother with at the moment.

The last thing I would like to see is less of a focus in the interface on the iTunes Store, but they addressed this to a degree in the latest UI update.

Apple TV gets beat up by all the critics.

But people have to realize that Apple TV is only a 'hobby' from Apple's perspective.

Analysts say Apple may have sold around 7 million Apple TVs.
Amazon sold maybe 2-3 million Kindles, but Kindles are treated as a major 'hit' while Apple TV is a big flop.
Apple TV is small just in relation to Apple products like iPods (250 million sold) not in reference to other people.

A number of posts here mentioned Netflix and Xbox as the big winners (the great wonders of movie distribution!) but we have to keep perspective.

Netflix last quarter made net profit of 30 million dollars.
Apple as whole made 3.38 BILLION (that's 3380 million!). Of course compared to massive profits of Apple's other products Apple considers Apple TV a hobby, but to think that the other guys are raking in money in movie distribution is inaccurate.

as for Xbox, it's been a big money loser for many quarters, with a billion dollars in warranty claims. Msfts Entertainment and Devices which holds Zune, downloads and games amongst other things considers itself lucky if it doesn't lose money.

The reason it is a hobby is spelled out quite clearly by Cook...


Digital downloads (the form AppleTV supports) is a very very small market.

People tend to be set top-phobic so I can see why the Apple TV is a hobby. It's hard to convince the mainstream to go out and buy another box to hookup to their TV and deal with connecting it to their home audio system, switching video inputs when needed, etc. It's just too much for most people when they probably already have a gaming console(s), DVD player, cable/satellite set top, etc. I suspect the Apple TV software will find its way into TVs directly and bypass the set top. The only question is if Apple will make the TV or will partner with other companies.

I have a dog called Linus?

.................. no wait

he was talking about Linux

................... wasn't he?

I used to own a Popcorn Hour and eventually swapped it for an Apple TV. It's a technically very impressive device with fantastic codec support. However, the user interface is terrible. It's slow and ugly. Support for music was also a joke. The Popcorn Hour is a great device if you've got the time and enthusiasm to tinker with it. However, as a consumer device, it's terrible.

What I'd love to see is the Apple TV opened up to 3rd party developers. A BBC iPlayer app would be a dream come true.

a thief calling others names
really now
los gatos zero
'world one
>>
Mr Tim Cook Rocks
The part about the touch was very cool .

G
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Sounds Good to me .
Maybe the IPAD will BECOME a MOBILE ATV ??

OSX isn't scalable. Apple just scales the GUI.

The Xbox 360 has been profitable for a long time now and the reliability problems with the console have been resolved. Microsoft have made their investment back and then some. The future is looking bright, with high subscription numbers and a long hardware cycle predicted.

Yep, that's all about precious motion content. By the way, why not manage those Pixar folks to be just a little bit busier, eh?
Market-tschmarket. Gimme a projector, being good enough to show in 3D, figure out the software to show the things in 3D and you have my money; simple as that.

It's not even a flagship/feature product. AppleTV is not even part of an important market or segment. Yet.

Aside from that, there's OS X/iPhone OS, Macs, iPods, iPhones, everything a person could want.

The AppleTV is small potatoes compared to Apple's entire lineup. What *is* pathetic is throwing away a decade of mobile development and half-assing *that* segment, which is clearly not a hobby by any means. I think you know who I'm talking about.

... apart from love.

Well I noticed my Applee TV and main server media resources that I keep to have home networked center are rather hobby to Apple and taken not so seriously for long time.

Hence, I am currently serious about getting one of Asus AspireRevo PC's and building XMBC or Boxee center which was already proven concept (I did it personally with some old PC and Linux based software).


I guess some will even convert Apple TV to XBMC or Boxee... especially as Apple does not have many interesting offers on their movie rentals as I can see day after day... for last two years using Apple TV.

worst post this week

It looks like a break even at best:

Absolutely. Personally I don't think we need to see 200 channels of what's on now, what's on next, and after that... the time of broadcast should no longer exist. Access any show, not just what the channel decided to put on this week.

Of course, the definition of "better service" differs for different people.


The AppleTV doesn't have to mean no TV ads/commercials.

At worst, Apple should be able to download you a copy of the latest "Lost" and show the precise same ads that were shown with "Lost" on your local channel. That's virtually a PVR, but with precise start and end of the show - and your local TV channel would lose nothing because you're really still a viewer of their ads.

At best, the latest "Lost" would have fewer ads but highly customised to your interests/needs. Also very localised to the shopping centres you go to etc. You could chose to "remove" the ads by paying 50c. And you could watch any episode of Lost, not just this weeks (just watch them all in order, in your own time).

So commercials could easily be a part of the AppleTV.


Yes I think that's part of it, and Apple does nothing to help burning DVDs or playing pirated downloads - which might have greatly increased the appeal of AppleTV when it was first released! At some stage they have to think they're not really seeing the love returned though.

I wonder if Apple might at some point give up trying to play nicely, and offer a product to convert your DVDs to online iTunes. Or a DVR which allows people to subscribe to the latest "24" season without paying anything for it. I doubt they will...

I don't see Microsoft's Games division on that graph. It's been lumped in with a lot of loss-making ventures (such as the so-far disastrous smartphone department), obscuring its recent good performance. If you can provide figures for the Games division only then please do.

Microsoft has at least 17 million Xbox Live gold subscribers. That's a billion dollars of revenue a year alone, without factoring in profits from games and accessories. Even the console itself is now sold at a profit.

Remember, we're in a long console cycle here. The last generation of consoles provided one winner and two losers because there wasn't long enough to recoup initial R&D costs. This generation is already 4 1/2 years old and there's no new hardware on the horizon from any of the big players. That only going to help profits.


Any tips on how I could improve my posts?

How do you know where it's been lumped in? If game sales are lumped in anywhere, it would be with Xbox revenues. Microsoft, like the other game console makers, sell their hardware at break-even prices at best, in order to lock owners into the game software, so if you looked at hardware revenues alone it would very likely read as a net loss. Microsoft's sunk costs on Xbox are gigantic. From the very start of the project it was observed that it would optimistically take them many years to break even, which has turned out to be the case.

Perhaps if the publishing industry likes what happens on the iPad this year, broadcasters will take a risk next year? Long shot!


Yes, a single area of focus is very effective for Apple - but getting apps developed for the AppleTV could be HUGE for the device


I think the ARM CPU is a good bet. However, I'm starting to think it's possible Apple will quietly release a new AppleTV (with ARM chip and iPhone OS) that's APPEARS to be identical to the old one, for now. They'll play it down as an efficient, cheaper replacement.

Then when they're ready with a swath of new features, including app development/iPhone integration/content deals etc, they can release them all together with a bang.


Content is king, I think we all agree. And Apple knows it (and knew it when it was first released too!).

I think they could make some interesting News programs for the aTV - such that it's all interactive, with us watching a brief highlights of the news and selecting which to watch more of, including links to longer articles and related pieces.

iPhone integration could be interesting. Not as a controller really - more as a partner device. For example - browse photos on your iPhone while sitting with the family, and "flick" photos onto the TV. Duke box playlists from the iPhone (or can that be done already?). Browse movie rental lists on the iPhone and flick the trailer to the AppleTV.

Apps of course. Including a web browser.

I'd like to play an aerial dogfight (F.A.S.T) with a friend, iPhone vs iPhone, while the AppleTV showed an overview of our game for others to watch (perhaps zoom in on us in any mad manouevres, or follow missiles we launch?)... it would make it a more social experience.

If you are in the US and want to use iPlayer on the Mac there are a couple options. The first is the unofficial iPlayer Dashbaord widget for BBC Radio. That reduces the processor load tremendously since it's only grabbing the Flash audio, not the Flash. The 2nd is using a VPN in the UK so iPlayer for video thinks you are local.



I'm not so sure. They're selling each on in the black now, but they were so far in the red for so long that I doubt they've gotten back in black for the project.

ATV - I've been saying forever it seems that the ATV OS needs to implement Apps and all the other Apps that the iPHone and iPad will soon have. Seems like a logical next step in its development.

Apple product line and Windows Switchers. Yes, i like the idea of the all-in-one, but the wastefullness of trashing a CPU AND a monitor drives me nuts. Sure the Mac Mini is there but it's nowhere near as powerful as the iMac. Please Apple make a Mac like the Mini that is as powerfull as the iMac. I know the Cube failed but it was release in the middle of a horrible time in the country/world and people weren't buy computers in droves then. I think the Cube would have succeeded if the timing were better.

xbox lost msft so much money that 60 months of top scale profit would only even out the disaster

xbox has halo and cod series
that has kept xbox alive
your posts are always good
i only meant the content of a single post
ok


peace


ps xbox makes a ton of moolah for bill gates on cod series and halo series

Microsoft's Games division is part of the larger Entertainment & Devices division. This isn't a secret.


Nintendo makes money on hardware. Microsoft just about does better than break-even on hardware. Sony still loses money. That's just on the consoles, obviously. Accessories are a very lucritive business for all three.


Yes, it took a while (3 years, IIRC) but those sunk costs have now been recovered. Without an Xbox 360+1 on the horizon, the Xbox 360 is now a very profitable business for Microsoft. One of its few successes outside of Windows+Office.

I can't help but disagree with this. As I mentioned previously, the remote app is amazing when it comes to gestures and is actually faster than the gum pack remote and any paired remote I have used with it. If Apple shared the API's used to make this app, it would NOT be hard for a game developer to create casual games for use on the Appletv. For example, Dig-Dug has the option to leave the "controller" button off completely use only finger gestures. Game developers could then have basic gestures: drag one finger to walk, drag two to run, flick up to jump, flick down to duck, etc. They then could have specialized gestures just for the game that a player can unlock like double finger swirl for death attack, etc. Yes, a person would need an iphone/ipad/ipod touch, but this could simply be added value in the ecosystem and even give Apple the option to advertise on television without threatening its relationships with content owners.

I'd like to see the actual financials for this, because I suspect that it's been marginally profitable at best over the life of the product. Let's put it this way, if Apple released new products that required many years to recover their costs and begin showing a profit, I think the overwhelming opinion would be that they'd failed.

I see Vudu, Netflix, Hulu, etc., moving further into the TV space as actually helping Apple because it sets up the same business model that Apple applied to the iPod and iPhone -- go into an existing market with better hardware, a simple UI, and some cool factor, and grow market share and the market simultaneously.

The big challenge is not the IT; it's getting the licensing for a TV plan that fits what Apple would want to offer in a TV content product --

* a big selection of current shows,
* availability of current episodes the same night the episode airs on broadcast and cable,
* a reasonable viewing window for current-season episodes,
* availability of sports, news and other live content, and
* a package price that is competitive with cable and satellite.

If Vudu, Netflix, Hulu, etc., are out there pushing for the same licensing, that's great. Apple needs the momentum. Even without much of a licensing advantage over the others, Apple can compete on additional content outlets (iPhones, iPads, etc.), brand, ease of use, etc.

Personally, I think the network affiliates are the sticking point and nothing significant will happen until the Comcast-NBCU deal closes.

"Cook said the company doesn't want to overextend itself, and noted that the company's entire line of products could fit on one table. The only other high-revenue, publicly traded companies that could likely say that would be oil companies"

That would be one messy table.