Tim Cook hints that Apple plans to redefine the television set - Page 3

I have to laugh at you a little.  That image is actually of the current Apple Thunderbolt display with a photoshop'd image of the Apple TV home screen on it.

Silly rabbit.

 

Edit: What's interesting is that AI never posts the photo of the minimalist TV that Apple shows on their own website for Apple TV:

 

 

Edited by antkm1 - 12/6/12 at 10:29am

 

The image they always use for these stories annoys me to no end. It's possibly the worst attempt at "perspective" that I've ever seen.

No kidding!

I think the "magic" of what we will see will be how much we DON'T see.

 

I expect a voice controlled interface LIKE Siri -- but the real magic will be the same that people take for granted now with iTunes; 95% sweat licensing and 5% on software.

 

All the middle-men out there like restrictions and hoops -- and for good reason. Any device that revolutionizes entertainment and fixes "what is wrong" is by necessity, going to break a lot of the old paradigms and profit models -- because it will be User-centric, just like that evil "walled garden" of the iPhone that few are trying to escape.

 

I'm pretty sure I have a good idea on how it would work (might even require a certain Kinect-like device), but really, it all probably depends a lot more on nailing down licensing and keeping ISPs from throttling it. The only sure thing is, it's going to be OBVIOUS immediately after everyone is shocked.

yes, it boggles the mind.  I guess someone at AI thinks this is what Apple Television should look like, yet on Apple's own website they show you (albeit a generic image) an image of what Apple think s a TV looks like.  Yes it's a generic, nondescript TV that bares a striking resemblance to an older Panasonic Pro-series monitor from the early 2000's

 

 and it's not aluminum with rounded corners...but it's what Apple's Website shows.

You bash me in one post then agree with me in the next one. That is pretty much all I was saying. And the thunderbolt display does like like a chinless iMac with a black bezel. It certainly doesn't look like a 55" future Apple TV and I pray they would never use that stand on a TV but I would imagine anyone buying an expensive Apple TV would also buy a motorized wall mount that you can swivel or tilt with your iPhone or iPad. 

 

What WOULD, is what I'm getting at. A screen with a bezel and a stand (nothing more) doesn't look like a TV? What WOULD look like a TV to you?

One that looks larger than 27" for a start. All we can do is guess, but I would hope this would be closer to the mark.

 

 

Edited by gwmac - 12/6/12 at 11:26am

 

I seriously don't believe that you're not saying this in jest. It's unfathomable. Therefore I'll just say, "You got me," and we'll leave it at that.

No wonder Apple's stock has been dropping, those in the know have shorted it so it would be less expensive to buy as Apple's TV set near. LOL!

I can't see how it will be an actual "set."  It'd be priced way too high, my opinion.  More like, it's an updated STB with all the functions of DVR, unbundled channels, and perhaps a larger thunderbolt display.  I *think* Apple could produce this in the $1k range, give or take, even with their margins.

well, i will hold my purchase for a new TV set. in current market, i can only see sony's xbr set has the best color uniformity. 

Here's my pathetic contribution:

 

 

You might be right. We're were wrong about the iPad price, and people never choose the base model, anyway.

 

I am an advocate of absolutely hating everything that I do. That I do. I don't like it when other people get down on themselves.

 

I just gotta ask: how do you intend on controlling it with a current Apple Remote? Or is that not part of the edits that you've done; more just a layout mockup?

You wanna have some fun with remote designs?

 

EDIT: Here's what I see as the simplest possible remote to control either an Apple HDTV or an Apple TV+TV.

 

Power would handle power for either the TV or both the TV and Apple TV. Circle's for navigation, button in the center is for accepting. Menu brings up the menu (or takes you back to the menu; probably that) wherever you are in the UI. Volume rocker handles volume. 

 

Maybe Power would be in the center, but then you still have the volume rocker asymmetry, so I put it on the other side.

 

Doesn't need a number pad, doesn't need those four colored buttons (whatever those are supposed to do on a Blu-ray player…).

Nine buttons to bring you the best television experience you've ever had. And the simplest one since the days of just ABC, NBC, and CBS.

Edited by Tallest Skil - 12/6/12 at 1:36pm

 

Cheers. Nah I'm not being hard on myself. I just know I'm no PS wizard.

 

No, I doubt their actual TV remote will be the regular Apple remote, but I expect something very simple.

 

Dump the ugly table and that's a nice set up.

Doesn't need a pause button.

 

Hmm? How do you pause videos, then? And the button serves as a confirmation when not in media, so it should stick around.

"Tim Cook hints that Apple plans to redefine the television set" is misleading.
A better headline would be "...redefine the TV experience"

If a future Apple Television has a remote then it's a FAIL.

 

Siri or nothing - otherwise what exactly is "redefined"?

 

You'd better be joking.

I hope it's a totally different form factor

Well then put one on your mockup.

How can one make a TV and change the form factor? Going back to 4:3 instead of 16:9?

 

… Right in the middle of the selectors. Just like the current model.

 

2.39:1 TVs. But I think he meant something different than the ratio.

The Apple Television will come out. There will be law suits over its technological abilities. Also there will be some sort of gate issue Like antenna gate crap and we will comment that Apple is Doomed. BFD.

Yes I meant something different. Form factor was the wrong terminology. Oop. I was thinking like something different to the standard box, some kind of different technology in projection. Not sure, this was my first post and a stupid one at that.

If you are talking about the Apple TV remote, the pause button is located where you put the volume control.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC377LL/A/apple-remote

I hope that most of that is sarcasm. The only people who might wait are the ones that read these boards.  I haven't looked at the television market. If you want to know what is coming, look at trade shows and tech articles. It's possible that new stuff is already in development. I've been unsure about the idea of an Apple television. The positive aspect there is that it would give them a presence in another market. Right now they have an extremely low stake in television. They have nothing to cannibalize, as the current Apple TV is trivial relative to other products. Lower power requirements would possibly solve a few engineering problems there. The issue of trying to stabilize color at higher temperatures when energy spent to do so can cause more heat presents a greater problem in larger displays. I haven't read up enough on IGZO, but I'm kind of wondering how long before backlighting goes away. It would solve the issue of backlight bleed and possibly uniformity with a lessened requirement to solve the problem through panel blocking and reduced contrast.

So how would or could Apple change the form factor of TVs? Can't deviate much from what's already out there. There were no guidelines to design the iPod and iPhone. They were able to start with a blank slate and make something unique, that's not the case with TVs.
Edited by dasanman69 - 12/6/12 at 6:06pm

I don't think it will have a DVR function though. If you can watch any programme on demand then why would you need it?

When Cook says that watching TV is like going back in time 30 or 40 years, I think he is referring to the fact that everyone is still tied to TV schedules.

Sorry Apple, but you obviously missed the boat. The time to release consumer electronics is BEFORE Christmas. 

 

Massive deadline fail

If the AppleTV box were to have DVR capability, it would need a means of storage. I can't see Apple putting a disk drive (back) in there; I can see it being an SSD, but a reasonable size, say at least 256 GB, would add significant $$$ to the cost. The price on SSDs could come down significantly, of course; or they could get a good price on volume (and that might in turn help put bigger SSDs in Macs ).

On the other hand, I don't see any prospective content providers/studios being happy with users being able to record what they like at their ( the users') leisure, unless they (the providers) can possibly prevent it. Otherwise, why did Apple remove the recording medium from the AppleTV box in the first place (other than cutting the cost of the device, of course)? They (the providers) would come up with some way of upsetting the users' experience, rather in the way that they do at the moment with warning ads and screens re copying at every conceivable opportunity, or forcing the users to pay for unwanted TV bundles, for example (and both of those drive me right up the wall).

It just seems (to me) to be the way that the content providers tick. And at the moment I can't see how Apple could get around them (which doesn't mean that they haven't of course - I'm not Apple, and I lack their imagination).
Edited by AlexN - 12/6/12 at 10:18pm

Maybe 3D holography . I think we're a long way away from that, though...
Edited by AlexN - 12/6/12 at 10:19pm

 

Please don't. Loewe design is awful. I don't know about other people like but to me, they are stuck in the 70s in term of design feel and look.

 

Ouch. Asymmetrical placement. Not wise.

A television? Lordy, what will they think of next!

 

Yep, have you used one of the new ones? The silver thing handles that. Yes, Apple literally has two buttons on the Apple Remote that have identical functions. They did it for the sole purpose of symmetry, despite easily being able to just put the Menu button in the center instead.

 

Sure it is. The requirement for the iPod was that there be a screen. The requirement for the iPhone was that there be a screen. 

 

Stripped down to its essence, what does a TV require?

 

… Better be sarcasm.

 

There's nothing that can be done about that.

One thing that is feasible and they could make is this : a 3D screen with dual cameras (à-la kinect) to detect the position of people in the room and precisely of their eyes. 3D icons that spring out of the screen and the user can just 'touch' the icon to activate. The cameras would detect the position of the finger, of the eyes, and calculate which button was pressed.