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To think MS already has a device like this (the XBox360.) Too bad MS won't make good of it. :rolleyes:

Could you elaborate more on the "won't make good of it" part? How is this product unlike the stand-alone Media Center extenders or (as you point out) the extender functionality of the 360?

2 things:

IIRC that feature is only available to users with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home and Pro users are outta luck.

And MS doesn't hype it as a feature.

MS just shoot itself in the foot right there and then.

IIRC that feature is only available to users with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home and Pro users are outta luck.

While that's true for XP, it isn't for Vista. MCE will be included in 2 of the 3 SKUs available for home users (Home Premium and Ultimate).

And MS doesn't hype it as a feature.

They've hyped it both in the OEM channel (XP MCE is an OEM-only product until Vista) and as one of the main selling points for the XBOX 360 premium package, especially since the 360 was the first extender to support streaming HD content.

And did you know that most PC users don't EVER upgrade their machine to a newer OS? They just buy a new machine when they feel they need a new one or the one they are using just dies beyond all help.

These people may be running XP and sadly a lot of their machines will not run Vista the way Microsoft wants everyone to see it... no Aero for a lot of people out there.

Many people will probably continue running XP until its EOL comes up and even after it like people with 98. Maybe the included Media Center will push them to buy a new machine so they can actually use the full potential of their Xbox 360.... or maybe not....

Irrelevant. XP has 80% market share. It had 0% five years ago. The fact of the matter is that Vista will have the same market share (or more) within five years, too. I daresay that the market penetration will be far greater than Apple's STB.

strangely, i have helped people around here move from win98 to winxp for years...

IIRC that feature is only available to users with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home and Pro users are outta luck.

Windows Media Player 11 Beta on XP lets you stream video to your 360 without MCE, apparently. I'm yet to try it.

"IIRC that feature is only available to users with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home and Pro users are outta luck."

Windows Media Connect is free for XP users.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=e93a0ba1-1...

And WM 11 has WMC built in.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/def...

MCE 2005 not needed.

Edited 2006-09-13 03:14

Thanks for mod me down but don't you think weird, than the 'iTV' allow movies and TV shows downloaded to a computer THEN play..Who said Apple need a licence ?
Burst.com is not a patent troll : http://www.businessweek.com/@@a3l1kIcQNCD69h0A/magazine/content/06_...

I'm playing with it now. The left column seems like it wastes a lot more space, I agree. But that album flipping view is fantastic. I really like the way it responds, that and free album artwork downloads.

I can't help but be reminded of WMP11 with the long album list view that's included...it's slow like WMP11's too

You can change the width of the left hand column - put the curser on the right side of the scroll bar and it will change so you can make it the width you want. Also, always remember you can hide the Mini-Store by going to the View menu and choosing that.

I just installed it on my Mac here... and didn't like the scroll bars at first (because it was an unexpected change I guess)... but I think that I have grown accustomed to them now and kind of prefer them this way. Of course when you say "standard" Mac widgets, remember that we are about to get a new version of OS X. This could be a hint at some of the new stuff we will be getting.

As for the width of the Source Column.... are you looking for something to complain about? Because if you are, don't complain about the size of it. If you use a screen measurement tool, you will find that the default width for the new one is actually narrower than the default for 6.0.5.

JRM7

I seem to be having issues with iTunes 7... Everything plays fine etc etc unless I start doing something else that uses any real cpu/resources - browsing firefox, talking in trillian. Both things that I've ALWAYS done listening to music in iTunes. I know my 512 mb RAM and Athon XP 2000+ aren't amazing, but with a sound blaster audigy 2 and clean/function XP Pro, I'd guess it would handle things better than this....

I'll play around a bit to see if it's an issue of mine or a bug for more users. Too bad there's no iTunes bugzilla, so I can at least see what issues others are having

not yet.. but this is loved:

Library Backup

A new "Back Up to Disc" menu lets you easily back up your entire iTunes library to CD or DVD.

Edited 2006-09-13 12:14

At last, gapless playback on iTunes and the 80GB iPod! Now my husband will get one (he wouldn't touch it if the iPod wouldn't support gapless playback, mostly because of "The Dark Side of the Moon").
Why can't he just rip it to a single mp3?

Oh that's intelligent.

"Transitioning Apple from a computer company to a media company. It took 10 years, but he appears to be pulling it off."

I wouldn't say a media company, but more likely a consumer electronics company.

I am now awaiting, with baited breath, the announcement of iGameDeck (Pippin II), a 4th entrant into the console wars. (It's fun to speculate, but I seriously doubt that Apple could pull it off...)

Oh, and BTW wrt this particular announce: *YAWN* (...and it is really just a logical extension of whats that audio streaming wireless based gadget that they made several years ago... nice for the people who get all hot and bothered about generic consumer electronics though, I guess...)

All the storage and recording (EyeTV) is done on your Mac; iTV just displays stuff.

It's a bit of a shame that it's only designed to work with iTunes, but that's not exactly surprising. Maybe someone will write an open source alternative that supports the iTV and isn't so resource hungry.

Considering probably everything that goes through it is going to be DRM'd, its going to be a battle. Whenever there is a software update, I'm sure they'll be modifying the DRM scheme again and it will always be a losing battle. Your better bet will probably end up being installing Linux on it, which I'm sure a customized distribution with something like http://www.fluendo.com/elisa">Elisa mythtv" rel="nofollow">http://www.mythtv.org">mythtv for the advanced users.

A well-encoded h.264 VGA video is near-DVD quality indeed. DVDs have nigher resolution, but overall, you are going to get a similar visual experience anyway, especially if your TV is not a huge HDTV.

It will almost certainly be able to play at least quicktime and mpeg2/4 files. What makes you think otherwise?
If it can't play your vaourite format then just have a machine transcode it on the fly like I do for my Haupage MediaMVP. Apple even has the software to do this in Darwin/Quicktime streaming server.

the main selling point for the premium 360?The extender is in the cheap core package and the premium package of the 360 it makes no difference and it supports full HD streaming support

One of -- the premium package included the remote. Though you're right that the extender functionality also existed in the core. If you were using it strictly as an extender, the core was the better buy. If you were using it both for gaming and media, the premium was cheaper than buying the remote, harddrive, woreless controller, etc., seperately.

That's a matter of opinion... The screen shot you linked to looks very ordinary to me, but again, that's just my opinion :-) I do like MC's l&f though...

I think it's great Apple is doing this... 1, it's not a secret up to the launch date, they've given us a bit of a preview, and 2, it really does give us more of an idea where Apple is headed...

Cool...

LOL no the premium 360 doesn't include a remote... the first few thousand that MS sold got a special edition remote control... it doesnt anymore, though the extender works fine with the wireless gamepad

The Premium packages were those few thousand that included the remote. There is no longer a premium package from Microsoft (though retailers use the term "premium" for some of their bundles). The current packages from Microsoft are simply XBOX 360 and XBOX 360 Core.

There's a big difference between music you listen to on your device of choice, and the music that annoys everyone around you everytime you recieve a call. For some inextricable reason, ringtones are a huge market (not to mention expensive) and probably make up the majority of that "digital music" sold in 2005. Would you make a playlist and listen to those ringtones with headphones? Absolutly not. In my opionion, including ringtones in that stat pretty much null and voids it.

> The decline of iPod sales continued in the second quarter, while sales
> of music-enabled mobile phones soared."

People are just buying/replacing their phones and virtually all models on the market are "music-enabled". People are not buying a phone as a music device, but it might just persuade them not to buy a cheap mp3 player if their phone already has the functionality.

Less people are buying new iPods because the market is close to saturated. Almost eveybody who wants one has one. Apple really isn't doing much to compel an upgrade.

>the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said that
>half of all digital music sold in 2005 went directly to mobile phones
>(including ringtones).

If you include ringtones, then you basically make the statistics useless.
Most people don't consider ringtones to be "music" (although they are musical) they certianly don't buy them to listen to.
Ringtone sales do not cut into music sales.

Me: I own a Nokia N70 that can play MP3, WMV, OGG, WAV, PCM, MID, etc and a 4GB iPod Mini. My phone has exactly one MP3, my ringtone (which I did not pay for).
My iPod has approx. 50 iTMS tracks and approx. 200 track from CD. (I have a small music collection).
The camera on my phone was a factor in its purchase. Music support was not.
I bought the iPod after a series of cheap flash-based MP3 players that I found user-unfriendly and limited.

I use handbrake to rip my DVDs into MP4s that iTunes (and my iPod) plays fine. If it's in your iTunes library, then iTV will play it fine.

>>>>>I use handbrake to rip my DVDs into MP4s that iTunes (and my iPod) plays fine. If it's in your iTunes library, then iTV will play it fine.>>>>>

exactly...

i think most of the non apple crowd are missing this point, COMPLETELY... much like the Fair Play DRM controversy.... iTunes works wonderfully with nonDRMed content... and so will "iTV". the reality is apple is NOT locking any one down with their DRM.... cus you choose to buy content from the ITunes store. you are not FORCED to! they do lock you our of WMV content... ( or does MS do that?)

as long as open apps like Handbreak are available... you can use iTunes, iPod... and iTV (and of cource your Macintosh) and have all the audio, and video content you ever could want... and NEVER have a single piece of DRMed content on you system.... (not to mention WMV garbage!!!)

in summry... the "iPod universe is pretty damn "OPEN" to me!

i am sure others will dissagree.... but so what!

The real issue is Apple's behaviour and what it shows.

1) We had the Harmony case. Apple revised the iPod firmware to make it impossible to play music bought on another online store.

2) We had the PyMusique case. Apple changed iTunes to make it impossible to buy from the store using non-Apple software.

3) We have the French DRM case. Apple will not license the DRM to make it possible to play iTunes bought music on other players.

All in all this is not an open system. No matter what hacks you can do, the aim of the company as revealed in its behaviour is to force you to buy linked products. It is in short exactly the approach that MS has taken with Windows, which in another context the Apple enthusiasts complain so bitterly about.

This is why emusic is a better store, and why iRiver is a better player. Though emusic too seems to use proprietary download software, and who knows what it really does? But it is more open and better than iTunes.

Yes, in fact Jobs said "iTV" is probably a temporary name for it.

ITV is the name of a TV station in the UK - I'm sure Apple are aware of this. So I imagine it's pretty certain they'll want a new name!

Ah, but at least this way you'll be able to say "I like to watch iTV" without having to be embarrassed about it...

(With apologies to all the non-Brits reading who have no idea what we're talking about!)

My guesses for the new name are iVision or AppleVision.

I agree, basically a DSM-520. Apple's will probably use proprietary protocols instead of the standard UPNP AV. That means it won't interoperate with anything except Apple products.

The latest version of MythTV (v20) is supposed to support the 520. I haven't tried it yet. Should be great when combined with Firewire HD capture from the cable box.

now I gotta buy a $300 settop box from Apple just to watch the f**king things on my big screen TV? Somebody please tell me how I benefit from this deal.

My best guess is that is the only way Apple can please the MPAA and sell movies from itunes. With the set top box there is still only one copy of the orginal media which is being accessed. If you burn a DVD you have two copies, which is a serious No No for the greedy MPAA.

I think the iTV is a reactionary apporach from Apple rather than a let's make more money selling boxes scheme. Remember it costs millions to build and market a product like the iTV. I would think Apple might find it easier to allow DVD burning.

And the pre-annoucement of a prototype product from Apple says " We know there is this gapping hole in our media strategy but we are working on it.". Something Apple is not known to do.

yea... sort-a like what they did for the MP3 player market, huh...? lucky for creative and samsung that apple came to market with the iPod... cus apple has really driven sales of the Win/PC (WMV and non iPod devices) side of things!!!


>>>>I'm kinda suprised there was no option to purchase/buy a/v content from within the iTV with a click of the button. Aswell as an update to Front Row for such capabilities. Maybe even a Windows version of Front Row?<<<<<<

i am pretty sure, Jobs just dabbled on the capibilities of this device of the future...