Apple previews iTV set-top device

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Comments

  • Reply 101 of 343
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jbelkin


    Not that I really care as I'm not a Pc user but it does say Mac-Pc so I guess FRONT ROW will be the second Pc app?



    Why? It's not accessing FrontRow on your computer - it has FrontRow built in.
  • Reply 102 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by byamabe


    ...

    Maybe I'll sound like those people that doubted the iPod when it was announced, but one appeal of the iPod was that it made your music collection more portable. The iTunes Store/iTV combo makes your video less portable at a price premium.



    There is a huge difference in the way people are consuming

    music and movies respectively.

    Regarding the movie store: It is not about collecting a huge

    number of movies in order to own them and carry them over to

    one place to another. That doesn't make sense. Imho.



    The huge success of the iPod is based opon the possibility

    to carry your entire music collection from A to B, in order

    to listen them anywhere and everywhere. Movies doesn't

    work that way.



    Btw on topic: What is the difference between the announced Apple TV device

    and the already existing Elgato EyeHome?
  • Reply 103 of 343
    Now all I need is something to store all these Movies on. I have an iBook and the 60 GB drive is maxed out. Hey Apple, how bout making us a nice home network storage server with RAID etc to store all this great content. This would also allow for streaming content even if my computer/ibook is not on the network.
  • Reply 104 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by eAi


    Well, they'd probably have issues calling it iTV in the UK as one of the major TV channels here is called ITV...



    Given the way ITV is going down hill the name may well be free by Spr 07.
  • Reply 105 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mariofreak85


    Hey, $299 to turn any mac into a media center PC is well worth it in my opinion.



    I for one will be buying one.



    It's not a media center, it's a media center extender. It basically streams front row from your Mac to your TV. Similar devices have existed for a couple years now on the PC side. Personally, I like the device, hate the price. PC extenders couldn't sell for $200, I'm very doubtful Apple can sell the same for $300 with no computer DVR capability.
  • Reply 106 of 343
    ~ufo~~ufo~ Posts: 245member
    Well,



    I thought of what I believe to be a great name for the iTV boxen...



    but when I tried to submit it to Apple I read their unsolicited ideas policy



    of course, I'm sure they can't legally maintain the idea is theirs as soon as you submit it but still...



    I wonder if they'll come up with my idea themselves.
  • Reply 107 of 343
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ~ufo~


    Well,



    I thought of what I believe to be a great name for the iTV boxen...



    but when I tried to submit it to Apple I read their unsolicited ideas policy



    of course, I'm sure they can't legally maintain the idea is theirs as soon as you submit it but still...



    I wonder if they'll come up with my idea themselves.



    Well... go on, share it with your buddies... or at least with me
  • Reply 108 of 343
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrtotes


    Given the way ITV is going down hill the name may well be free by Spr 07.



    Oh this is so true! Nobody watches ITV anymore. They've brought back a few favourites for next season though, Cracker etc..



    Their core demographic has moved on.
  • Reply 109 of 343
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ~ufo~


    Well,



    I thought of what I believe to be a great name for the iTV boxen...



    but when I tried to submit it to Apple I read their unsolicited ideas policy



    of course, I'm sure they can't legally maintain the idea is theirs as soon as you submit it but still...



    I wonder if they'll come up with my idea themselves.



    Ideas are cheap, implementation is expensive.
  • Reply 110 of 343
    "With that USB port on the back I'm hoping for the ability to plug a large hard drive in there as I am nervous about the whole streaming thing."



    OR THE USB COULD HAVE ONE OF THOSE TINY LITTLE HD AND TV THINGYS IN IT THOSE SHUFFLE SIZED THINGS WHATEVER THEY ARE CALLED! THAT WOULD BE KILLER!



  • Reply 111 of 343
    Did anyone else notice how many times Steve used the phrase "big flat screen TV"? He said it over, and over, and over. I got the feeling the iTV will be released with an Apple branded "big flat screen TV", or Apple will release a "big flat screen TV" with the iTV's functions built in.



    I'm not sure how smart a move that would be - that market is pretty full of big players, but if Apple built Front Row into it, and it integrated smoothly with your media library, it might be a decent revenue stream. The big manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, et al) make nice SCREENS, but they don't offer the media integration and user experience branding that Apple does.



    - Jasen.
  • Reply 112 of 343
    gargar Posts: 1,201member
    But with an iTV it will...
  • Reply 113 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jasenj1


    Did anyone else notice how many times Steve used the phrase "big flat screen TV"? He said it over, and over, and over. I got the feeling the iTV will be released with an Apple branded "big flat screen TV", or Apple will release a "big flat screen TV" with the iTV's functions built in.



    I'm not sure how smart a move that would be - that market is pretty full of big players, but if Apple built Front Row into it, and it integrated smoothly with your media library, it might be a decent revenue stream. The big manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, et al) make nice SCREENS, but they don't offer the media integration and user experience branding that Apple does.



    - Jasen.



    Yea, I was thinking the same thing. He said it over and over and over even though one's living room viewing device could be a CRT/projector, etc.
  • Reply 114 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jasenj1


    Did anyone else notice how many times Steve used the phrase "big flat screen TV"? He said it over, and over, and over....



    I also notice that. My gut feeling is that whenever this periph is released, content from the iTunes store will be, at least, 1280 pixels wide (by whatever tall to maintain perspective).



    Rhetorical Q: Does the iTV come with adapters for RCA composite or S-video? I have a 7 year-old SD CRT that has only those inputs-as do a lot of people.
  • Reply 115 of 343
    So I was getting ready for work this morning and thinking about the iTV when it hit me that this device may not be about movies 'right now'... All of teh arguments about pricing and the files not being HD, etc... are valid (although I would have thought 9.99 for a CD was ridiculous 3-4 years ago). However, there are a couple of other media types available right now that fit the bill perfectly... Thursday night, 8pm. Oh shoot, I missed Lost again, or I would love to catch up with the last 4 episodes of Lost before the new season starts (project Runway, NFL highlights, whatever). Now you can instantly access that content on your TV whenever you like. The content is there, better quality, fast download and now viewable on a TV set. I think this is the hidden gem here. Add on the abilty to sync the iTV to your stero and stream all of your music to your hoime stereo that may have previously been sitting on your office computer and you have a nice add on for the living room.



    Sure there are DVRs and they will compete, but you can't always find last seasons episode 7 of Lost and what about people who only subscribe to HBO for the Sopranos? Now they can dump HBO and just download Spranos/Six Feet Under/Whatever for a fraction of the price.



    Movies will come and are a huge wow factor, but I think (and this is just my opinion) that the other media is the gem here for the moment.



    Makes sense or am I smoking something?
  • Reply 116 of 343
    Yes, the day will come when everything in your entertainment center will carry the Apple logo. Well, except the set top box. Though I will never part with my paradyme speakers.



    The bottleneck right now is bandwidth. Once we're up to around 30 MBPS or higher then Netflix, Blockbuster, and all the others will be as good as dead. Blockbuster already is though they don't know it yet.
  • Reply 117 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Vox Barbara


    There is a huge difference in the way people are consuming

    music and movies respectively.

    Regarding the movie store: It is not about collecting a huge

    number of movies in order to own them and carry them over to

    one place to another. That doesn't make sense. Imho.



    The huge success of the iPod is based opon the possibility

    to carry your entire music collection from A to B, in order

    to listen them anywhere and everywhere. Movies doesn't

    work that way.



    Btw on topic: What is the difference between the announced Apple TV device

    and the already existing Elgato EyeHome?



    I thought I had no need to carry around all my 400+ CDs of music until the iPod came along. Now I'm thinking yeah, this is neat. I get to enjoy the thousands of $$ that I spent on music much much more. Previously, the CDs sat on the rack because it was too much trouble to keep loading and unloading them on the player.



    This is the genius of Apple. They open up markets by offering you something that you never thought you'd ever need and now you can't live without.



    Carrying all your movies and videos around in your pocket may sound silly right now but I can see commuters latching on to that, or parents contemplating long flights or drives with their kids, or just visiting with friends and watching a movie together. It's just way more convenient. Right now, you have to rummage through your DVD collection and spend time picking what you feel like watching. With your movies in your pocket, you just grab the video iPod on your way out the door. And no large rack of DVDs taking up space and causing an eyesore in your living room.



    Do not underestimate the lure of 'grab and go' convenience to today's harried consumers.



    As to Elgato EyeHome. I have one of those, it's back in its box taking up space. The software was too finicky, it won't stream iTunes purchases, and it's not portable. Now I just slip my iPod in the dock that sits right next to the receiver. And when I need to be somewhere I just grab the iPod and go. I stick it to the aux. jack in the car or listen over earphones. What set up can be even more convenient than that?
  • Reply 118 of 343
    The iTV better support other codecs and higher resolution! If it does then I'd love to buy it, even at $299.
  • Reply 119 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PeePeeSee


    HDMI has an obvious value over component and optical audio cables. That being - ONE cable. Ya know, the reason it was invented... that and copy protection intentions...



    Most home theater users won't see any benefit from HDMI/One cable.. Most connect video direct to the set, and run audio through a reciever then to a 5.1/7.1 set of speakers.. Now, if they try to run the HDMI cable through the reciever w/ HDMI inputs, it's possible, but most everyone I know that's tried this have had issues with the HDMI copy protection scheme (name escapes me at the moment, HDCP?)...



    DVI out with a DVI-> HDMI cable would be fine by me.





    jwd
  • Reply 120 of 343
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solsun


    Plasma? ....nah, they're yesterday's news.... LCD is more like it.



    I respectfully disagree. Compare a fast moving picture side by side between an LCD and Plasma. LCD's just don't have the refresh rate to handle a premium movie watching experience, They get blurry or fuzzy when things are moving too fast.



    If you're going to spend a lot of money on a TV, get a Plasma.
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