Could Apple TV become iHD in 2012?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
if Apple gets serious about HD TV in 2012 I was think it would be a good time to ditch the Apple TV name and go with something like iHD on the new devices.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    More probably to be called iTV if so.
  • Reply 2 of 39
    "iHD" sounds like it has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with television.



    What's wrong with "Apple TV" whether it's a little box you plug into any TV imaginable (going to happen) or an HDTV itself (stupidest idea ever)?



    It makes sense both ways.
  • Reply 3 of 39
    HD sounds like High Definition TV to me , and iTV is already in use.
  • Reply 4 of 39
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Microsoft may own the trademark for iHD



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDi_(interactivity)
  • Reply 5 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Microsoft may own the trademark for iHD



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDi_(interactivity)



    I saw that previously as well, but M$ stopped calling it iHD and now calls it HDi instead (why would they change it?). After reading the Jobs biography and how friendly Jobs and Gates came towards each other in the end, I would not be surprised if Gates gave him the OK to eventually use iHD on iOS/TV related devices since M$ is using the Xbox brand in that space.
  • Reply 6 of 39
    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/1...in-television/



    I was going to start a thread about this after reading this article, but I figured I post it here. According to the article, an Apple TV (or whatever they decide to call it) is likely in 2012, if not 2013.



    Now I had assumed that an "iTV" hardware/software would be integrated into an actual HDTV produced by Apple. I would think that would be the most efficient and innovative product. Ideally, my iTV would have the following:



    -Integrated blu-ray player

    -Wi-fi for connecting to wireless networks for streaming and playing downloaded content (Netflix, iTunes, YouTube, etc.) as well as for internet access.

    -Compatibility with most HDTV providers without use of an outside cable box

    -Recording of TV content, both HD and SD, using a simple and concise system (being able to record new episodes of your favorite shows)

    -A detailed and organized TVGuide system, that allows you to know when your favorite shows/movies are playing

    -Ability to instantly play extra features from TV shows. A lot of shows, like 'The Office' offer "webisodes" or extra content posted on the shows' website. It would be cool to instantly access that extra content after you've watched the most recent episode.

    -A revolutionary new remote control. This could be the coolest feature. There has yet to be a truly simple, It could potentially be a small iPad touchscreen, with features like viewing a TVGuide list and touching the show/movie you want to either watch or record without taking up the TV screen. The remote might be the key to accessing that online content that TV shows offer.



    I can't wait to see what Apple comes up with!
  • Reply 7 of 39
    Welcome.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CommonSense84 View Post


    Now I had assumed that an "iTV" hardware/software would be integrated into an actual HDTV produced by Apple. I would think that would be the most efficient and innovative product. Ideally, my iTV would have the following:



    -Integrated blu-ray player



    Bag of hurt. Absolutely wouldn't happen.



    Quote:

    -Wi-fi for connecting to wireless networks for streaming and playing downloaded content (Netflix, iTunes, YouTube, etc.) as well as for internet access.



    Well, yeah. It would have to.



    Quote:

    -Compatibility with most HDTV providers without use of an outside cable box



    Providers? Oh, the telecoms. It would just work with all of them, not 'most'.



    Quote:

    -Recording of TV content, both HD and SD, using a simple and concise system (being able to record new episodes of your favorite shows)



    The interface for that certainly needs reinvented. The solutions I've seen are absolutely disgusting.



    Quote:

    -A detailed and organized TVGuide system, that allows you to know when your favorite shows/movies are playing



    You're not thinking paradigm-shifting enough.



    Quote:

    -Ability to instantly play extra features from TV shows. A lot of shows, like 'The Office' offer "webisodes" or extra content posted on the shows' website. It would be cool to instantly access that extra content after you've watched the most recent episode.



    You're starting to think paradigm-shifting enough.
  • Reply 8 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Welcome.

    Bag of hurt. Absolutely wouldn't happen.

    :



    How come?
  • Reply 9 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by CommonSense84 View Post


    How come?



    The same reason Macs will never ship with Blu-ray drives. OS-level DRM. Discs are also dead. As evidenced by Apple stores relegating their boxed software to two shelves down from two entire bookcases when the stores opened. Eventually (long before the end of next year) they'll stop selling them entirely.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    mactacmactac Posts: 316member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    The same reason Macs will never ship with Blu-ray drives. OS-level DRM. Discs are also dead.



    I guess that's why people are standing in line at every Walmart, grocery store and convenience store waiting to rent movies from RedBox. Not everyone can afford high speed internet. It is also not available in all areas. Plus it can actually be easier to simply pick a movie to rent while you are already at the store. Walking out the door, BANG there's RedBox, grab a movie and pop it in.



    Plus some people just like to physically handle things. Kind of like making love to your partner instead of just looking at pictures on a screen and pretending.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTac View Post


    Plus some people just like to physically handle things. Kind of like making love to your partner instead of just looking at pictures on a screen and pretending.



    Well, you go ahead there and make love to your bag of hurt. No one's stopping you from sticking to how the 1990s told you to do things.
  • Reply 12 of 39
    I really hope that Apple goes with the iHD name because anything that uses the term "tv" seems like it belongs in the 1950's. If you're going to reinvent the large screen in the house, you might as well start with a new name.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    mactacmactac Posts: 316member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Well, you go ahead there and make love to your bag of hurt. No one's stopping you from sticking to how the 1990s told you to do things.



    What's so bad about owning a physical copy of something?
  • Reply 14 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTac View Post


    What's so bad about owning a physical copy of something?



    Absolutely nothing. I personally prefer physical copies over being assured that I've bought it via a little thing that says 'downloaded' on some server thousands of miles away.



    Spinning discs, though, are archaic tech. And Blu-ray's DRM is stupid as frick.
  • Reply 15 of 39
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    iTV is already taken, so I guess it'll be iTV then
  • Reply 16 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Commodification View Post


    if Apple gets serious about HD TV in 2012 I was think it would be a good time to ditch the Apple TV name and go with something like iHD on the new devices.



    I think it will not be a TV, it will be far more than that - a real paradigm shift. TV will be just one of the apps on this device. I think the name will be iView or iScreen or something else that is much more about the format than just one app. ITV will be reserved for the streaming video service that Apple will deliver from their new content deals.
  • Reply 17 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JONOROM View Post


    I think it will not be a TV, it will be far more than that - a real paradigm shift. TV will be just one of the apps on this device. I think the name will be iView or iScreen or something else that is much more about the format than just one app. ITV will be reserved for the streaming video service that Apple will deliver from their new content deals.



    If Apple didn't call it the iHD, than maybe they would call it something like iGenius as a statement indicating this is no dumb TV like you had before. This device would be the true marriage of the computer and the TV and it will give birth to our new (even smarter) 'Big Sister' who goes by the name Siri.
  • Reply 18 of 39
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    The same reason Macs will never ship with Blu-ray drives. OS-level DRM. Discs are also dead. As evidenced by Apple stores relegating their boxed software to two shelves down from two entire bookcases when the stores opened. Eventually (long before the end of next year) they'll stop selling them entirely.



    Software is one thing. There is no difference between buying a boxed version of iWork or downloading it over the App Store that gives you access to all your computers.



    But physical media is completely different. I could almost guarantee we will never see a Blu-Ray player in an iMac, but in an Apple TV set- if it was not included, that would be a deal killer for me- and I have every Apple everything known to man (see sig). Because here are the facts- a Blu-Ray movie just for video and sound is around 20-30gb (even though the disc is 25 or 50). Movies like Avatar w/ no special features or commentary- the video and sound comprise the entire 50gb. So you are looking at a hard drive of enormous size to house your movies. And of course, you couldn't stream a file that size for years (maybe a decade), because the infrastructure doesn't exist. So while yes, you can wifi stream 1080p- in order to do that, you would have to download the file, then stream it via wifi. And like I said, for true quality, you can only have 40-100 movies downloaded on a 2tb drive (if thats all it has).



    So if Apple makes a 1080p TV- who gives a crap, because you won't watch anything in 1080p. Then I will have to attach a Blu-Ray player to the Apple TV in order to take advantage of the 1080p- taking away the beauty and simplicity that an Apple TV would provide.





    Blu-Rays are awesome. While getting up and putting a disc in takes time, as well as renting or buying the movie, the quality is worth more than the convenience to me. On a comedy or whatever, quality won't matter, and streaming a movie would be fine, but when you throw in Avatar, Saving private Ryan, etc, I don't want low definition. If you're rocking a 32" with a Home Theatre in a Box sound system- then who cares if its blu ray with 1080p and True HD/Dolby DTS 7.1 or streaming 720p with Dolby Digital 5.1 at best- you won't tell the difference anyways- but for those who have a dedicated media room or a nice setup and want to experience movies in the best possible manner- there is no comparison.
  • Reply 19 of 39
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Andysol View Post


    I could almost guarantee we will never see a Blu-Ray player in an iMac, but in an Apple TV set- if it was not included, that would be a deal killer for me-



    Yep. Exactly. That's reason number six I don't believe Apple will waste their time with an HDTV.



    Quote:

    and I have every Apple everything known to man (see sig).



    Ooh, do you have a Pippin? An Apple Interactive Television Box? Ooh! Do you have the Macintosh TV?



    Quote:

    Because here are the facts- a Blu-Ray movie just for video and sound is around 20-30gb (even though the disc is 25 or 50). Movies like Avatar w/ no special features or commentary- the video and sound comprise the entire 50gb.



    Someday I'll manage to plug in my Mac Pro to a 1080p TV and compare directly Blu-ray disc playback to my 1080p 4GB rips of movies. Until then, 4GB is perfectly fine and the quality remains amazing.



    Quote:

    And like I said, for true quality, you can only have 40-100 movies downloaded on a 2tb drive (if thats all it has).



    "True" quality? Blu-ray is incredibly compressed. I don't have much of a means of comparison, as I said, but my 4GB 1080p Blu-ray and HD DVD rips look great at even higher than 1080p playback.
  • Reply 20 of 39
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Someday I'll manage to plug in my Mac Pro to a 1080p TV and compare directly Blu-ray disc playback to my 1080p 4GB rips of movies. Until then, 4GB is perfectly fine and the quality remains amazing.



    "True" quality? Blu-ray is incredibly compressed. I don't have much of a means of comparison, as I said, but my 4GB 1080p Blu-ray and HD DVD rips look great at even higher than 1080p playback.



    Your 4GB rip isn't near the quality of a Blu-Ray. And while Blu-Ray's video is compressed, the sound rarely is. Trust me... your 4GB "HD rip" would be insanely noticeable on 110"- and nowhere near the video or audio quality as a Blu-Ray. And on a 50" or so, if you were close enough (8 feet away or so), you would be able to noticeably tell as well. 4GB is DVD quality (DVDs are compressed below 4.7gb- the size of a DVD)... sorry to break it to you. Argue all you want that "you" can't tell the difference, but it all depends on your setup. And if your setup was decent, you would notice.



    And as far as your "comparison" you don't have- Take 25GB-50GB, and divide it by 4GB. It's that times less compressed. So a 40GB Blu-Ray that doesn't have special features compressed down to 4GB is 10x more compressed. Pretty easy math.



    And while you hook your TV up to do a, I'm sure, very "scientific" experiment. Use this chart to determine the distance to view a 1080p TV and be able to tell the difference:







    So if you have a 32" TV, you need to be 5 feet close to see the difference, etc. So on my 100" projector screen w/ 1080p projector, I have to be within 20 feet to start noticing the difference. I'm about 12-13 feet back, and it is glorious. And 720p HD whether it be through Apple TV (which I have since moved to my Den), Cable, etc, is EXTREMELY noticeable.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Ooh, do you have a Pippin? An Apple Interactive Television Box? Ooh! Do you have the Macintosh TV?



    You're a moderator.... you. Seriously?
Sign In or Register to comment.