Apple held a special event for the press today. Most of the event was about iPods; prettier colours, bigger capacities, you know the drill. For the really interesting stuff, you had to sit out the whole thing: Apple gave us a sneak peek of a product coming in 2007. In Q1 2007, Apple will release a settop box, half the size of the Mac Mini, to which you can stream content. It has a built-in power supply, USB, ethernet, 802.11 ‘wireless component video’, optical audio, HDMI ports, and old RCA stereo audio ports. It sports a Front Row-like interface, and can be controlled using the Apple remote. Its codename is ‘iTV’; a different name will be chosen. It will work with iTunes on Macs and PCs, and it will cost USD 299. Update: Eugenia and I both blogged about the product announcements. Eugenia loves the gapless playback, and I miss adherence to industry standards.
This I want to see.
To think MS already has a device like this (the XBox360.) Too bad MS won’t make good of it. :rolleyes:
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.
IIRC that feature is only available to users with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition. Home and Pro users are outta luck.
Did you know that Windows Vista is going to include Media Center?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/forhome/mediacenter….
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
Apple infringe the Burst.com patents, they should take a licence before streaming..
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/060105/0105456.html
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’ve wanted one of these from Apple for years. Looking forward to it! I wonder if one will be able to stream a DVD from, say, a laptop to this thing… It’d be nice not to have to have an actual DVD player anymore. 🙂
Has anyone else jumped the gun and installed itunes 7?
… I don’t like it. Waste of visual space especially with the left side bar, they arent using the standard apple widgets (scroll bars, etc) – looks almost like a java app. *shrugs* there are more things that I am not crazy about, but I was curious if anyone else had similar feelings
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
It looks interesting but I’ve got a modded xbox that basically does this and much more.
The price seems a bit steep for what you get but I’m sure it will perform quite well and will be a good addition for people who want this functionlity from apple.
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”).
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.
“If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing….”
— Steve Jobs, Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996
“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…)
From the screenshot and the price this looks like just a TV version of an iPod. If this has TiVo or DVR like capabilities, I’d be all over this. I’m not sure an iPod that hooks up to the TV is enough for me though.
All the storage and recording (EyeTV) is done on your Mac; iTV just displays stuff.
One thing that appeals about this is the lack of noise it seems to offer. I assume that this will not need a fan, and there wouldn’t even be noise from a spinning disc.
The XBox360 for example is quite a noisy device, significantly louder than my PC. I wouldn’t be happy with that running in my living room while I’m watching a film or listening to music.
I know a lot of people will think I’m making a fuss about nothing, but I spent quite a lot on decent AV hardware so that there wouldn’t be any audible hiss or distortion. I definitely don’t want to have to listen to fans and drives during quiet sections of a film or album.
Keeping the computer running in another room and using a settop box to connect it to the TV seems like a good option. With Apple making it I’d expect it to work well and be easy to use, although I wonder if it’ll end up working better with Apple hardware than when connected with a PC.
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.
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.
I like the “near-DVD-quality” remarks. It’s like Alfa Romeo saying their cars are “near BMW quality”
.
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.
To me the real interesting thing would be the actual complexity of the process of browsing/playing videos and other media from the iTV. IF (and it’s a big if) the browsing is as seamless as it should be both on Macs and PCs, allowing you to play almost everything you want from your bed, well that could lead the unit to a very bright future. An internal HD and recording capabilities, if confirmed, would eventually transform the thing into a very succesful product. But I guess is too early to speculate onto those things. One thing that I found quite interesting is the USB 2.0 port. Sure it’s probably been used to stream media from an ipod or the like but if we’re lucky enough maybe we’ll see something more interesting. (But everything depends on the operating system of the iTV… any clue?)
Anyway I was already planning to ditch my divx player for something more flexible, and this iThing might just be the answer. We’ll see.
Edited 2006-09-12 19:18
Is this the unique device that Apple couldn’t create with PPC that they hinted about coming in the future when they started the PPC->Intel transition at WWDC 2005 all those monthes ago?
this is so overhyped
the new media extenders for MCE will be smaller and they will support the xaml based extensions like the 360 and vista now support… and will allow for tv and video recording….
then we have this iTV thing that works with… iTunes… wow … so i can purchase Apple branded movies and tv shows to watch for a fee… or i can record my own tv shows with a mediacenter and then watch them for free.
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
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.
I can’t believe they are charging $300 for that.
I’m doing all the same stuff right now using Xbox Media Center for < $100. And that even does HD video. Granted, this hardware will be able to support HD, but 640×480 on itunes Movies really doesn’t cut it.
And in my opinion, XBMC’s interface is prettier:
http://www.chokemaniac.net/gfx/gallery/pm3_screenshots/screenshots0…
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
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.
maybe offtopic:
I’ve never seen such a ugly programm than iTunes! This iTunes is the worst iTunes ever!
steve haven’t you seen that before you released that!?
Steve Jobs: “Please, don’t give up on us now. We promise to be cool again next year!”
“Well, the war is finally over: and the mobile phone has emerged as the winner on two key fronts. For most buyers it will be the device of choice for playing music and taking photographs. I have been trying out some of the latest mobile phones and there has been a big increase in the quality and quantity of the tracks they play, while mobile phone cameras – especially with the release of 3- and 5-megapixel models, such as the Nokia N80 and the LG KG920 – are now as good as the standard digital cameras of a couple of years ago.
There will always be lots of people wanting dedicated cameras or iPods, but the majority of people in future will opt to have all these functions on one device rather than two or three. They already are. It is no coincidence that in the first quarter, when Apple suffered a sharp drop in iPod sales (blaming it, implausibly, on seasonal factors), the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said that half of all digital music sold in 2005 went directly to mobile phones (including ringtones).
The decline of iPod sales continued in the second quarter, while sales of music-enabled mobile phones soared.”
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/opinion/story/0,,1856486,00.html
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.
If I could rip DVDs like I rip CDs in to iTunes, I’d grab the iTV in a hot second.
If I could buy shows on a schedule, and I could get everything I wanted (specifically motorcycle racing content), I’d drop DirecTV in a hot second, and buy this iTV thing.
But the beauty now is simply that Apple is getting the impetus going to get more and more content online.
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.
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!
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.
Yeah it may be cool and it may have Front Row but $299 for this kind of device is alittle high. The DSM-520 is $249 play movies from CinemaNow, Movielink and Amazon meaning Windows Media Video and it’s Hi-Def too. I think D-Link may drop the price for the Holidays… Apple doesn’t drop prices too often comparibly.
It can stream Rentals and Buys, that’s the difference.
Edited 2006-09-12 21:59
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.
not 802.11b or g, just 802.11
I wonder if this indicates a 802.11n upgrade b4 the first quater of 2007 (lauch of the iTV)
Airport ‘Slightly More’ Extreme!!
So I buy shome movies/TV shows from iTunes, and instead of just being able to burn them to DVD, 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.
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.
It’s taken Apple this long to reveal a Media Extender client. I mean they’ve been out on the market for quite some time in general from Linksys to D-Link to Buffalo. I’m glad Apple is finally going to release the iTV. Know why? Because then that will encourage all the other companies to further invest in Windows Media DRM A/V based media extenders and thus flood the market, with probably cheaper versions or cut prices on existing devices. Apple didn’t do the Media Center or media extender first, but they do help drive the market for the Win/PC 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?
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…
Wow, you Apple fans will rant about anything. I mean is gapless playback not a fairly basic feature?
Amarok has had it for a while now (dunno how long, ‘cos I did’t find it that big of a deal).
I just had a (hopefully not prescient) vision of some sort of Microsoft set top box: “Hello! It looks like you’re trying to watch X Factor Omnibus! Would you like some help?”
I’ve got TiVo and my wife’s sister and her husband have Windows Media Center. There is absolutely no way I’m changing to Media Center.
Apple’s iTV (or whatever it is going to be called). What it does is wirelessly or over the wire plays things out of iTunes off a Windows or Mac. It has no hard drive from what I can tell. This is ok if everything you have is already stored in iTunes on your computer and you aren’t interested in live TV.
iTunes/iTV and Media Center = 3 out of 10
TiVo = 9.7 out of 10
Not even close.
iTunes – The ability to combine tracks into one “song” so you don’t have gaps between songs or tracks that are expected to be like one song has been in iTunes for at least the last three years. This was super easy to do and I did this with all my songs that were supposed to be gapless. In the meantime, the woman whos husband didn’t buy an iPod before just because of this … sure missed out on listening to a lot of other great music on a very user friendly device.