iTV

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
The fabled set box top at last makes an appearance, if only in "sneak preview" form. MacRumors live feed at the 10:53 mark



Half the size of a mini.



Something they're calling "component wireless" (802.11N and maybe the reason for the delay?)



HDMI, optical audio, and RCA audio jacks, ethernet, USB. Built in power supply.



Works with what sounds like a pretty spiffed up FrontRow and Apple Remote.



You can access trailers from Apple site, just like regular front row.



$299



Q1 07



Apparently no local drive or storage (flash buffer, maybe), purely a streaming station device-- doesn't sound like it can encode and stream back to your computer for DVR duties, so it looks like Apple is sticking with the "get it from the iTMS" model.



Sounds good to me, although I would have preferred DVR functionality for sure, or at least a way to get stuff back to the computer.



Thoughts? I'm curious what "wireless component" means-- MacRumors mentions that the demo involved showing an HD trailer. I would have thought that if it could do real HD they would have referred to "wireless HD", yes?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by addabox


    Something they're calling "component wireless" (802.11N and why the delay?)



    I'm thinking you called it; the "component wireless" is the delay. I would think at that time they'll release an update, or evolution to the AirPort with the "component wireless", too, and this preview was a way to satisfy everyone that something was in fact happening.



    I hope it will at least connect to a computer to save something. Figure it probably will eventually, then somone will find a way to make a DVR out of it (but not Apple).
  • Reply 2 of 14
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    It's pretty unusual for Apple to preannounce hardware this way, isn't it?



    I'm thinking they would have loved to have this ready for the movie store roll-out, but no go owing to either wireless standard ratification delays or other engineering problems, and they figured they better let everybody know it was coming to drive movie sales.



    I would vastly prefer being able to burn the thing to DVD, probably the studios balked and a heavily DRMed wireless stream was the best Steve could do.



    Still, this scheme means another $300 bucks out of pocket to be able to get a movie out of my computer and onto my TV, which is pretty much a deal killer for me, especially at these prices.



    I guess I'm supposed to get a 24" iMac.
  • Reply 3 of 14
    I'm interested but it's going to have to play nice with other formats and files before I spend $299 on something that is going to clash with my stereo equpment. The white and silver look just isn't CE approved.





    If I can play my Garageband files, iMovie and iPhoto pics in addition to movies, trailers and other stuff then I'll definitely consider grabbing an iTV.
  • Reply 4 of 14
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    As I mentioned in another thread I hope the next rev of the Mini gets the same HDMI and component ports out the back...and the GMA X3000.



    As far as "CE approved" it depends on what gear you have. There are a lot of silverish displays out there now. My HD DVR is silver too. I've been looking at the NAD L73 for the bedroom and its titanium. The ADCOM GFR-700HD that I might replace my aged Denon is sliver and black. Black isn't universal.



    Vinea
  • Reply 5 of 14
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison


    I'm interested but it's going to have to play nice with other formats and files before I spend $299 on something that is going to clash with my stereo equpment. The white and silver look just isn't CE approved.





    If I can play my Garageband files, iMovie and iPhoto pics in addition to movies, trailers and other stuff then I'll definitely consider grabbing an iTV.



    They talk about the upgraded Front Row interface as being this thing's UI, so I would have to assume yes to all those.



    Which means that if your TV is in the vicinity of your stereo we're basically getting that "video Air Tunes with a display" that we've been jonesing for.



    I wonder if it will handle any video content other than H.264 encodes? Guessing not.
  • Reply 6 of 14
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea


    As I mentioned in another thread I hope the next rev of the Mini gets the same HDMI and component ports out the back...and the GMA X3000.



    As far as "CE approved" it depends on what gear you have. There are a lot of silverish displays out there now. My HD DVR is silver too. I've been looking at the NAD L73 for the bedroom and its titanium. The ADCOM GFR-700HD that I might replace my aged Denon is sliver and black. Black isn't universal.



    Vinea



    Yeah, actually I had thought that the current CE trends seems to be variants on "platinum" and black is old school.
  • Reply 7 of 14
    So does the iTV require another Mac to be up and running somewhere in the house? If so, I am not sure what the point is. If, on the other hand, this thing can stream media from a NAS or attached drive, things get more interesting.



    I guess we will have to wait and see what "component wireless" means.
  • Reply 8 of 14
    i'm very skeptical about this. i mean how close to dvd quality will it be? hell they are coming out with high def and they want us to download "close to dvd quality"



    i dunno, i'm not impressed.



    this seems like the most riskiest venture apple has embarked on in a good while.
  • Reply 9 of 14
    xoolxool Posts: 2,460member
    I think the pre-announcement was to tell everyone that Apple will have a complete solution for movies and other content. Just sticking feature films on your iPod with no way to get it to your TV is sort of a dead end, but now we know that things are in the works and just what we want spare those DVR people who want everything everywhere all the time.



    Meanwhile, I'm sure the unit is not ready yet HW/SW wise and that its also waiting on some features in Leopard that could be pushed early as part of iTunes if needed. Nobody would not buy an iPod because this device is coming out, but people might be more likely to buy in to the iTunes podosphere knowing this device is coming in a few months.
  • Reply 10 of 14
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    I didn't hear Steve say "component wireless". Maybe somebody in the audience got a little confused between component video and 802.11 wireless.
  • Reply 11 of 14
    Here's my take...Remember, you heard it here FIRST...



    It's clearly 802.11n; Steve went out of his way not to say b/g, and we all know the bandwidth requirements for streaming HD content would require n. Since it's not yet a finalized standard, Apple held off announcing it.



    A few things to notice:



    HDMI and Component out: HD interfaces. Certainly that helps photos, but it certainly suggests that either HD movies are coming or that Apple is trying to future-proof the device.



    USB 2.0 - Why? Read on.



    Mac Mini form factor.



    Here's how it comes together. This inexpensive box provides 802.11n networking to your home, and streams all the content from your Mac/PC to your home theater at the highest resolution possible, including HD formats. It's a 'dumb' device, with no internal hard-drive; if you want to smarten it up, you stack it under a Mac Mini which you connect via USB. The Mac Mini can provide DVR and other functions (including Blu-Ray playback). Eventually, as bandwidth permits, HD movies are downloadable.



    Of course, you probably already have a Set Top Box (Steve mentioned this, and connecting to it) or perhaps a PS3. Both of which include USB2.0 ports. Hmm. Apple cuts deals with Cable companies and/or Tivo, and/or Sony and offers the Front Row/iTv interface to them - OR - the iTV becomes the input device. Plug in your cable box and the iTV recognizes it and gives you control of it within its interface.



    Something's happening with this device, we definitely didn't get the whole picture today.
  • Reply 12 of 14
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sport73


    Here's my take...Remember, you heard it here FIRST...



    It's clearly 802.11n; Steve went out of his way not to say b/g, and we all know the bandwidth requirements for streaming HD content would require n. Since it's not yet a finalized standard, Apple held off announcing it.



    A few things to notice:



    HDMI and Component out: HD interfaces. Certainly that helps photos, but it certainly suggests that either HD movies are coming or that Apple is trying to future-proof the device.



    USB 2.0 - Why? Read on.



    Mac Mini form factor.



    Here's how it comes together. This inexpensive box provides 802.11n networking to your home, and streams all the content from your Mac/PC to your home theater at the highest resolution possible, including HD formats. It's a 'dumb' device, with no internal hard-drive; if you want to smarten it up, you stack it under a Mac Mini which you connect via USB. The Mac Mini can provide DVR and other functions (including Blu-Ray playback). Eventually, as bandwidth permits, HD movies are downloadable.



    Of course, you probably already have a Set Top Box (Steve mentioned this, and connecting to it) or perhaps a PS3. Both of which include USB2.0 ports. Hmm. Apple cuts deals with Cable companies and/or Tivo, and/or Sony and offers the Front Row/iTv interface to them - OR - the iTV becomes the input device. Plug in your cable box and the iTV recognizes it and gives you control of it within its interface.



    Something's happening with this device, we definitely didn't get the whole picture today.



    A lot of cable boxes come with either FireWire or USB already. Not sure how programable they are. I have read that if you have one with FW then you should be able to hook it up to a Mac and using some developers software from Apple you can set up a DVR. This works will some TV's that have FW as well. Not sure if it is possible to do this through USB.
  • Reply 13 of 14
    addaboxaddabox Posts: 12,665member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sport73


    Here's my take...Remember, you heard it here FIRST...



    It's clearly 802.11n; Steve went out of his way not to say b/g, and we all know the bandwidth requirements for streaming HD content would require n. Since it's not yet a finalized standard, Apple held off announcing it.



    A few things to notice:



    HDMI and Component out: HD interfaces. Certainly that helps photos, but it certainly suggests that either HD movies are coming or that Apple is trying to future-proof the device.



    USB 2.0 - Why? Read on.



    Mac Mini form factor.



    Here's how it comes together. This inexpensive box provides 802.11n networking to your home, and streams all the content from your Mac/PC to your home theater at the highest resolution possible, including HD formats. It's a 'dumb' device, with no internal hard-drive; if you want to smarten it up, you stack it under a Mac Mini which you connect via USB. The Mac Mini can provide DVR and other functions (including Blu-Ray playback). Eventually, as bandwidth permits, HD movies are downloadable.



    Of course, you probably already have a Set Top Box (Steve mentioned this, and connecting to it) or perhaps a PS3. Both of which include USB2.0 ports. Hmm. Apple cuts deals with Cable companies and/or Tivo, and/or Sony and offers the Front Row/iTv interface to them - OR - the iTV becomes the input device. Plug in your cable box and the iTV recognizes it and gives you control of it within its interface.



    Something's happening with this device, we definitely didn't get the whole picture today.



    I hadn't thought about the USB/mini connection but I think you're absolutely right.



    iTV is the dumb streaming box and the mini (with new software) is the DVR engine. If you just want DVR, Mini is enough, if you just want streaming/FrontRow get iTV, or both for full monty.
  • Reply 14 of 14
    iTV is an expensive TV out device for the Mini, and the Mini is a pretty expensive DVR. I don't know why you would or should need an iTV hooked up to a Mini other than via the network connection.



    On the network standard, I'm sure that it is being held up for the new standard coming up. I think they could have done it with the current standard if they had a small HD on board to act as a cache, it would have added some expense but it might have worked out close to the same price when you take into account the lower price of the older WiFi parts compared to the premium price of those that are waiting to be released.
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