I think I know what Apple will do when they announce their TV's
What I mean is; I think I know what name they'll give their televisions, what service they'll add to them, and what they'll do about the Apple TV box.
Apple are going to produce a TV, that is pretty much guaranteed to happen in the future. Like phones, it fits in with their product line up and its road map, their name change, and their general direction as a company looking forward too much to simply not happen. I personally believe that with certainty.
The obvious issue here is the Apple TV, the box itself and its name. If the Apple TV is called that what will Apple do about this Apple TV box, and what will they name their TV?
I think both products, the TV and the box can coexist. I suspect they'll name their television Apple TV and they'll rename the current Apple TV product. While both products will serve a similar purpose, i.e. connecting your TV to the internet and iTunes, the TV will likely have extra perks the box doesn't have. Like much larger storage capacity and possibly specialized widgets. Along with a more powerful remote perhaps (although by then the touch and the iPhone will likely have their a cool remote app). Not that the current remote doesn't do its job, it does.
If you just bought a new, modern TV Apple will suggest you take a look at the box, and if you really want the latest and greatest, or you don't have a newer TV, Apple will suggest Apple TV (the television). By that time Apple will be making inroads towards announcing their iTunes TV Service, a subscription based service which brings TV shows and some live content (i.e. news, sports) to your Apple TV (or from the box to your existing TV) over the internet for a monthly fee. Yes, IPTV from iTunes. They may even announce both these things in conjunction.
The TV? Black, two screen sizes initially; 30 (something) inches and 40 (something) inches, plasma, sleek, two hard drive options, WiFi, USB connections, HDMI ports, all the bells and whistles. And it'll run the latest version of Apple's TV version of OS X. As for the name that box gets, you name it!
Apple are going to produce a TV, that is pretty much guaranteed to happen in the future. Like phones, it fits in with their product line up and its road map, their name change, and their general direction as a company looking forward too much to simply not happen. I personally believe that with certainty.
The obvious issue here is the Apple TV, the box itself and its name. If the Apple TV is called that what will Apple do about this Apple TV box, and what will they name their TV?
I think both products, the TV and the box can coexist. I suspect they'll name their television Apple TV and they'll rename the current Apple TV product. While both products will serve a similar purpose, i.e. connecting your TV to the internet and iTunes, the TV will likely have extra perks the box doesn't have. Like much larger storage capacity and possibly specialized widgets. Along with a more powerful remote perhaps (although by then the touch and the iPhone will likely have their a cool remote app). Not that the current remote doesn't do its job, it does.
If you just bought a new, modern TV Apple will suggest you take a look at the box, and if you really want the latest and greatest, or you don't have a newer TV, Apple will suggest Apple TV (the television). By that time Apple will be making inroads towards announcing their iTunes TV Service, a subscription based service which brings TV shows and some live content (i.e. news, sports) to your Apple TV (or from the box to your existing TV) over the internet for a monthly fee. Yes, IPTV from iTunes. They may even announce both these things in conjunction.
The TV? Black, two screen sizes initially; 30 (something) inches and 40 (something) inches, plasma, sleek, two hard drive options, WiFi, USB connections, HDMI ports, all the bells and whistles. And it'll run the latest version of Apple's TV version of OS X. As for the name that box gets, you name it!
Comments
I'd suspect the ATV in it's current form would stay relatively the same. For differentiation I'll dub the Apple HDTV as the Apple iSight HD.
Now where the iSight would differ is this.
1. 32" and 47" sizes (LCD)
2. All the full features of ATV integrated right into the set.
3. A 64GB SSD drive would be standard. Card Reader on side.
4. 3 HDMI ports, Firewire, WIFI, Coax, SPDIF, USB & Ethernet(Bonjour)
5. Quasi DVR functionality. No guide but the ability to pause live TV the SSD Storage
6. Time Capsule support.
7. Gaming support....yes. iPhone/iPod Touch games are upscaled to 720 Rez
8- Built in Webcam with zoom and focus on low light performance (iChat Theatre support)
9. Support for Dashcode Widgets (new iTunes IPTV Widgets delivered)
10. Power Management. Can drop the LCD backlight down in levels after a period of time
11. IPTV interface uses Core Animation and nice use of transparency for UI.
12. Nice remote control with small OLED screen (Cover Art etc) configuration through HTML and can be configured remotely.
Thus you have legacy ATV for people with a current HDTV but for new buyers and those early adopters you have the nigh perfect blend of TV and computing. Plop and Apple iSight HD into your home network and suddenly it becomes the center of your Digital Lifestyle in which everything else orbits. Need more storage? Add a Firewire device. Need to hook up that new HD camcorder..plug into the firewire jack. Need to move data off the internal SSD drive? Send it to your Time Capsule.
Intel may provide the chips but I could easily see Apple leveraging their PA Semi purchase to deliver a low cost/low power SoC/motherboard for this product. They wouldn't expect gonzo sales at first but once again Apple would show the world just have creative they are and how unimaginative the current HDTV hegemony is.
sounds pricey
And?.
A 64GB SSD drive would be standard. Card Reader on side.
Not so sure about SSD, when they could throw in a huge hard drive for less then half the cost. As for the card reader, why?
Not so sure about SSD, when they could throw in a huge hard drive for less then half the cost. As for the card reader, why?
Lower heat and no moving parts. I don't think the object would be to mass storage of data but rather enough storage to hold a movie ..music or cache Broadcast TV. A 64GB SSD may be too expensive but I'm thinking Apple wouldn't have a HDTV option until late 2009 and pricing should be significantly cheaper then.
I think a card reader would be an inexpensive and quick way to import not only photos but even music and videos considering how big they're getting. Consumers are used to seeing them now on many display devices.
The built in Webcam seems frivolous but it would be easier to get the family all in front of a larger TV than a smaller computer screen IMO.
Apple are going to produce a TV, that is pretty much guaranteed to happen in the future. Like phones, it fits in with their product line up and its road map, their name change, and their general direction as a company looking forward too much to simply not happen. I personally believe that with certainty.
I don't buy this reasoning at all. Apple doesn't enter existing saturated markets unless they have a vastly superior product. They did that in phones with their incredible talent for software and interface design. How are they going to blow current TV kings out of the water?
I don't buy this reasoning at all. Apple doesn't enter existing saturated markets unless they have a vastly superior product. They did that in phones with their incredible talent for software and interface design. How are they going to blow current TV kings out of the water?
its hard to predict exactly what Apple would do. Did you expect all the features of the iPhone before it came out? I know I didn't.
To me current televisions are where cell phones were prior to the iPhone. Very one dimensional. I think Apple can and will blow that industry up too.
I would expect that an Apple HDTV would have integrated ATV. From there who knows? Maybe the HDTV will be an entire computer with an interface that easily switches from 'tv' to 'computer'. I've thought fro some time that the iMac was looking more and more like a HDTV.
5. Quasi DVR functionality. No guide but the ability to pause live TV the SSD Storage
7. Gaming support....yes. iPhone/iPod Touch games are upscaled to 720 Rez
5 make it so you can pay less not to have as people with cable or satellite DVR boxes will not want to deal with a 2th remote and good DVR + a very basic one.
7 mapping a touch screen to a remove will not work that well.
as for the linking part direct tv HD DRV boxes have that right now with DVR Scheduler that you can Record shows anytime from your PC or mobile phone.
itv is a tv network in the uk.
I agree with Ireland. A TV is coming, I don't doubt that. They make the cinema displays, they make the Apple TV, thats 90% right there. Also, it makes sense due to their current iTunes offerings. Movie rentals, TV shows, etc etc. I don't think people want to have to shell out an extra couple hundred bucks to link their TV with their computer. I think they want to invest in a TV that already links with it. So in that respect, this product would be beyond what is currently out there. Besides, Apple is all about streamlining products anways. They don't even make computer speakers and they're a computer company. I think thats pretty funny. They make iMacs instead. With the speakers built right in. I think they're going to take this approach with TVs. The Apple TV is great, but wouldn't it be neat if it all came in one sha-bang? I think so. As for the name... I thought it was a dead give away when they called it "Apple" TV, that the actually television set would be called iTV? comments... please.
iTV is already a famous Trademark so it can't and won't be that.
iTV is already a famous Trademark so it can't and won't be that.
gotcha... thnx
Of course there will be limitations, there'll probably be a "Starter Pack", a "Pro Pack" and an "All you can eat Pack".
For differentiation I'll dub the Apple HDTV as the Apple iSight HD.
Now where the iSight would differ is this.
7. Gaming support....yes. iPhone/iPod Touch games are upscaled to 720 Rez
Quick remakes/ports/entirely different games are all possible, but simple upscaling, no. The issue is different controls. The PSP can pull off outputting to an external screen (I think?) because the controls remain the same. Even if the remote was an iPod Touch, the control isn't the same when you look at and manipulate different screens. This would need to do pretty well for folks to develop separately for it, the games don't come free from the iPhone ecosystem.
8- Built in Webcam with zoom and focus on low light performance (iChat Theatre support)
I think this is one of the strongest ideas. Not frivolous at all.
12. Nice remote control with small OLED screen (Cover Art etc) configuration through HTML and can be configured remotely.
Cover art? On a remote? Eye candy is what the 52zillion inch screen is for. Remotes need to be simple and legible. Making it complicated, building the necessary graphics and data capacity are all unnecessary hassle, add possible points of failure, increase battery usage and up the build cost. Apple already skimps on most hardware, this would be a really odd place for them to suddenly choose to start spending. And they never let the user configure stuff on appliances - we have seen this again and again. iPod, iPhone, even Front Row.
Need more storage? Add a Firewire device.
This reeks of failure, it needs to be on the network or not be there at all.
Anyway, if there's no good DVR functionality, this whole device is pretty much successful only if aTV is successful. For aTV to be successful, people have to really like the selection, quality and price they are getting from the iTMS. So, the question is, how are aTV and video sales doing? How will they be doing? Will this be an entirely US-centric thing?
You said "nigh perfect blend of TV and computing". Apart from a bad game or two and iChat, I don't really see where the computing part is supposed to come from.
Apple are going to produce a TV, that is pretty much guaranteed to happen in the future.
When is that gong to happen?
When is that gong to happen?
You tell me. If I had to guess "when" I'd say September 2009, though licensing deals could hold that up if they want to announce it in conjunction with some sort of iTunes TV subscription service. Having said that it could happen far sooner if they were to stagger those licensing deals and just let everyone buy the TV from day one. It's really one of those evolve or die things. HP are already building network-capable TV's, it's gonna happen.
When is that gong to happen?
After they produce a tablet PC and a mini-tower.
Cover art? On a remote? Eye candy is what the 52zillion inch screen is for. Remotes need to be simple and legible. Making it complicated, building the necessary graphics and data capacity are all unnecessary hassle, add possible points of failure, increase battery usage and up the build cost. Apple already skimps on most hardware, this would be a really odd place for them to suddenly choose to start spending. And they never let the user configure stuff on appliances - we have seen this again and again. iPod, iPhone, even Front Row.
I'll only reply to this point, but suffice to say I agree with everything you said in that last comment. When I was thinking they might big-up the remote for the TV, I only meant by a little bit, and I certainly didn't mean I thought they'd add a screen to the remote. As you were saying, and I said before that's what the gorgeous screen is for. Core Ani. OS X etc.
After they produce a tablet PC and a mini-tower.
Mini tower is not going to happen, sorry to disappoint you. If anything they'll spruce up the mini a bit, but that's be about it. If you want a Tower get a Mac Pro (they'll say), and it you cannot afford one get an iMac.
Mini tower is not going to happen, sorry to disappoint you. If anything they'll spruce up the mini a bit, but that's be about it. If you want a Tower get a Mac Pro (they'll say), and it you cannot afford one get an iMac.
I was being sarcastic. I don't think either of those things is terribly likely in the near future.
I was being sarcastic. I don't think either of those things is terribly likely in the near future.
The tablet will happen in 2009, possibly Macworld.