Desperate times call for desperate measures, the walled garden is finally crumbling, this is good for consumers.
Nope, that isn't what that means. The walled garden is in full effect, and more devices are supporting it. This is third-party hardware supporting MFI, just as iPod docks have for many, many years.
Apple is transitioning from a premium products company to a services everywhere company. And with this and Apple Music on Echo devices they’re admitting Apple TV and HomePod are overpriced. I fully expect to see a cheap Apple TV dongle this spring, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the HomePod goes the way of the iPod HiFi and we never see a second generation.
Nonsense. After reading the review here I bought the $400 Sonos Beam. I did A:B testing of it next to the $350 HomePod, and guess what? The Beam sucked. The HP notably has more oomph, and surprisingly was also clearer to the contrary of what was written. It sounded better for music and movies on two dozen items I tested it on, as well as my SO's ears during single-blind testing.
The HP is a great speaker for the price point it's in. Despite the negative-nancy-narrative that you've had from Day 1, I don't expect them to discontinue it. The mic and speaker tech is just too impressive.
Apple is transitioning from a premium products company to a services everywhere company. And with this and Apple Music on Echo devices they’re admitting Apple TV and HomePod are overpriced. I fully expect to see a cheap Apple TV dongle this spring, I also wouldn’t be surprised if the HomePod goes the way of the iPod HiFi and we never see a second generation. I do wonder what these moves mean for Siri. Apple Music doesn’t use Siri on Echo devices and I’m guessing this new Samsung iTunes app won’t have it either. So is Apple treating Siri as just a feature of Apple’s OSes instead of a service itself? Honestly if the company is moving to a services model and making those services cross platform they might as well do it with Siri as well. Treat Siri as it’s own product/service instead of an OS feature.
Apple isn't admitting anything, so stop with the bullshit.
Echo devices sound like complete garbage compared to the HomePod, so why are you even comparing them? HomePod sales should be compared to Sonos or Bose, not the Echo. Apple TV isn't overpriced for what you get. If you only stream content it's overkill. But if you want to play games or run other Apps it's far more powerful than anything else on the market.
And your assertion that Apple is "transitioning to a services company" is also wrong. Apple is transitioning into a premium hardware AND services company. Their hardware sales aren't going anywhere and will be a $200 billion cash cow every year for many years to come. It's now going to be joined by a very profitable services company as well.
Nailed it. I'm at a loss how the pearl-clutchers who have read this site for this long can still remain utterly clueless to Apple's secret sauce and why they are successful. It boggles the mind.
If my memory is not lying the last time I remember an Apple software running a non Apple device was on a Motorola phone and the experience was ... terribile. I think that what distinguish Apple from other companies in the consumer market is the capacity to give a consistent experience through different devices and this unique features comes from the fact that Apple at the really end is the only that product both hardware and software.
I don't know, but my feeling is not positive about this movement.
iTunes on PC.
Unfortunately, that doesn't invalidate his point. iTunes on Windows is a somewhat less than mind-blowingly positive experience...
Especially since they took away app management. Frankly, Windows explorer is a better content manager than iTunes on Windows.
It will be interested get to see whether Apple is able to regulate the experience, I.e. minimum requirements regarding processor and implementation for AirPlay equipped sets. I know if I were trying to run any Apple TV apps on my Sony 900E, the sluggish processor would make the experience less than optimal. As amazing as the picture on that set is, it’s seriously underpowered, which is one of the reasons I don’t use any built-in apps. The Amazon Prime app actually stutters when doing 4K HDR when I press the volume button, to say nothing of adjusting the picture.
Why are you conflating AirPlay with “trying to run any Apple TV apps” on a tv that doesn’t run tvOS?
I’ve been advocating that Apple license Airplay video to TV manufacturers for a long time. The goal here is to get more people to use the Apple ecosystem, which invariably leads to other hardware sales. Apple TV is incredibly popular with people who don’t have smart TVs, but that is a tiny minority of TV owners anymore.
Given Apple’s superior privacy and security policies compared to all other smart TVs, not to mention the superior interface -– this is a major bit of news that I think will lead to much more Apple hardware adoption, even (perhaps) at the cost of the Apple TV set top box itself.
How does being able to play iTunes content on other people’s hardware lead to more hardware sales for Apple? To me this is Tim Cook telling the executive team they need to push harder and move faster on services.
Samsung, like Google, knows that Apple has the best and most lucrative ecosystem in the world. Why wouldn't they want iTunes/AirPlay on their TVs?
So Samsung is worthy of Apple’s services now?
Why not? Apple brought Apple Music to Android. How is this any different?
Besides, Samsung has failed miserably in their attempt to be like Apple with their own ecosystem, so why not hook up with a profitable one?
Ah so basically anything Apple does is good simply because Apple is doing it. If Apple wants to throw its services on everyone else’s hardware fine. But it’s going to be a lot harder for Apple to sell premium hardware when someone can get their services on competitors (most likely cheaper) hardware. Anyway I suspect the 4K Apple TV box won’t be around much longer. Apple willl stick an iTunes (or whatever they call it in the future) app on every TV and probably Android too.
It seems a number of readers may not have been around when Apple put iTunes on Windows computers and the then negative comments by many Apple fans. It did sell a ton of hardware and content–i.e. iPods, and music. That was a huge development that changed the music business and Apple. That enabled subsequent revenue/profits funding development that led to today’s Apple, and the iPhone in particular.
Q: “iTunes movies and TV shows, and AirPlay 2 compatibility” on Samsung, Sony (both announced) and later LG and others to come, has you wondering how that would expand hardware sales and possibly negate some hardware sales.
A: It’s my opinion that folks will want an Apple TV controller (a stand-alone new one to be brought to market) for interfacing with Apple TV embedded on new TVs to navigate iTunes movies and TV shows. Or a keyboard input device. Either way, a hardware sale. Revenue with high margin — check!
I hate, hate, hate current TV box text entry letter by letter—Give me a keyboard! Like on my iPhone or iPad—i.e. the “Apple TV App” software on a hardware controller: an iOS or TV OS device that fits in my pocket. Voice recognition doesn’t always work well, with Bixby at the back of the pack, and non-existent on Sony. Siri doesn’t always work well. So give me a keyboard that fits in my pocket that I always have. And that convenience will likely have to be an Apple keyboard device e.g. iPhone, to work with embedded AppleTV in non-Apple TV sets.
A: Don’t forget content sales, both original AND sell-through. Revenue with higher margin — check!
Apple is a design company—a better description than only one of the following: hardware, software, services or content company. Apple is all those because of a focus on design. Services and content are expanding much faster than hardware. Services alone would be a Fortune 100 company. In my opinion, Apple has been planning this for a long time and are prepared to scale to the needs of this expansion to other platforms of access to content. Plus a little hardware to boot.
Comments
The HP is a great speaker for the price point it's in. Despite the negative-nancy-narrative that you've had from Day 1, I don't expect them to discontinue it. The mic and speaker tech is just too impressive.
You don’t say.
Q: “iTunes movies and TV shows, and AirPlay 2 compatibility” on Samsung, Sony (both announced) and later LG and others to come, has you wondering how that would expand hardware sales and possibly negate some hardware sales.
A: It’s my opinion that folks will want an Apple TV controller (a stand-alone new one to be brought to market) for interfacing with Apple TV embedded on new TVs to navigate iTunes movies and TV shows. Or a keyboard input device. Either way, a hardware sale. Revenue with high margin — check!
I hate, hate, hate current TV box text entry letter by letter—Give me a keyboard! Like on my iPhone or iPad—i.e. the “Apple TV App” software on a hardware controller: an iOS or TV OS device that fits in my pocket. Voice recognition doesn’t always work well, with Bixby at the back of the pack, and non-existent on Sony. Siri doesn’t always work well.
So give me a keyboard that fits in my pocket that I always have. And that convenience will likely have to be an Apple keyboard device e.g. iPhone, to work with embedded AppleTV in non-Apple TV sets.
A: Don’t forget content sales, both original AND sell-through. Revenue with higher margin — check!
Apple is a design company—a better description than only one of the following: hardware, software, services or content company.
Apple is all those because of a focus on design.
Services and content are expanding much faster than hardware. Services alone would be a Fortune 100 company.
In my opinion, Apple has been planning this for a long time and are prepared to scale to the needs of this expansion to other platforms of access to content. Plus a little hardware to boot.