Submitted by “Dan Warne reckons Apple is about to deftly round-house kick Microsoft’s media center strategy for six. First Apple leaves a mysterious header on the Mac Mini motherboard for a non-existent iPod dock connector. Then it brings out media center software and a video iPod at the same time. Then it recruits the head of TV recording company ElGato. When you put the pieces together, it ain’t pretty for Microsoft.” Elsewhere, the new iMac is not Apple’s first attempt at entering your living room.
Dan Warner is extremely late with his hypothesis. Robert Cringley came to the same conclusion right after the Mac Mini was released.
(Cringley in January ’05)
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20050120.html
There has been plenty of speculation that a Mac Mini would make a perfect media center. It’s just that now, the pieces are actually falling into place.
Makes a lot of sense. The continuing migration into a media oriented consumer electronics company. Yes they will sell a lot more Minis, no they will not be used on the desk. Its a great market for Apple because the underlying OS is irrelevant as long as it works. You don’t have that entry barrier of, its not Windows, any more than you do with a DVD recorder. There’s no reason it should be.
Where the article may be way over egging it is the view that MS will be particularly harmed or worried by it. MS probably feels, there’s time, and wait until price competition hits in a big way. They will come in and clean up then.
In the end it comes down to the ease of use of the media front end.
I haven’t used either Front Row or whatever the media front end in WXP MCE is. The screen shots of Front Row look quite simple to use, and obvious to boot – nice large imagery and text, however the functionality is certainly not comparable currently, with the obvious omission of tv tuning, tv recording, etc. Once these come, will the interface be so clean?
However they are attacking the problem from different angles. Apple has perfected audio now in the iPod and on the computer, and presumably with Front Row, on the media centre. Now Apple is playing around with video, and will presumably perfect this over the next couple of years, adding in more functionality without cluttering the interface, keeping it easy to use. Then after this, I expect broadcast (TV, VOD, etc) management (recording, timeshifting, integration with iPod, schedule display, other standard features) to get a look in.
By 2010 Apple will have a full media management solution throughout their product range. With the primary video store on the internet – hopefully upgraded by then to full HD – they will be able to offer a product that is well designed, easy to use and far more integrated than Microsoft’s offering.
Of course Microsoft are attacking all fronts at once. By 2010 they’ll have probably achieved everything that Apple will have, with a different interface of course.
I’m sure that a consumer buying a product utilising either solution will be more than adequate come 2010.
Well as I see it, there is really no point in having a computer that can record video as a PVR. The processing power required for such a process is pretty hefty.
So you have a choice, you can either use your computer whilst it is recording and it will be dog slow (most of the capability of the machine will be given over to encoding etc.) or you can use the machine at a respectable speed, but the resultant cost of this is poor video (skips, poor encoding quality etc.)
It makes far more sense to have a seperate machine for PVR functions, and if so, why bother buying a full-fledged PC for this task? It would be a lot cheaper to have a box designed for this purpose.
As far as I concerned, Front Row is simply a very nice option for Students and Teenagers, those who already regularly watch video and listen to music on the computer in their room
My PC records from media center all the time while im doing something like playing WoW.
This is on a P4 640, nothing incredible.
Well as I see it, there is really no point in having a computer that can record video as a PVR. The processing power required for such a process is pretty hefty.
No it isn’t, because the encoding is done in hardware.
Actually, I think with dual core you could get some sort of middle ground to what you’re talking too. Dedicate a core to the encoding thread and just make sure it’s getting its memory requests in time.
My tivo has a 200 Mhz MIPS processor. That’s hardly “hefty”.
It encodes, decodes and plays back the video just fine. Contrary to popular belief, a correctly engineered product will not need a powerful box, it will just need to be done correctly. Microsoft hasn’t figured this part out yet…
The Elgato guy has become head of Apple Germany, a part of the company that is, at best, totally ignored by anyone else (if not ridiculed for being so confused and disoriented). They don’t even manage to advertise the iTMS.
Moreover, he has worked for Apple before, and is well-known for leading other Mac software companies (Roxio); and he is a German, making him the obvious choice for the position. I don’t believe this decision has to do with media centers.
We are all waiting for a media center contender from Apple.
Anyhow because this Frontrow is only a full screen UI of the Ilife .. I do no tink Apple did a smart thing.
This FrontRow is not recording !!!!
MHO is that they should have waited to have recording … this is a dumb move.
Could you repeat that in english for me, buddy?
abeyance
Heck, my AMD 3500+ (nVidia 6600GT gfx) can’t play H.264 well in 1080i (720p works fine). If the mac mini is going into the living rooms, it needs special chips to play video (1.. 2.. 3.. and about there someone suggested the Cell:P). Maybe the next incarnation with iNTEL CPUs can manage that (since putting in expensive GFX cards won’t do, they cost more than the Mac Mini does after all).
What I would like to see is a 1920×1080 iMac that is about 42+” big. Imaging _combining_ TV and Computer, completely, in your living room. That my friends, would be way more cool than any iMac/Mac mini before it.
[i]Heck, my AMD 3500+ (nVidia 6600GT gfx) can’t play H.264 well in 1080i (720p works fine).
It should be able to play 1080i (wmv) have you tested this: http://www.wmvhd.com/ ?
Where did you get H.264 1080i content?
Since they had enough time to integrate Quicktime.com Movie Trailers into Front Row, I would’ve assumed that they interfaced it with iTunes aswell. Listen to 30 second clips, buy, and transfer to iPod, all from the comfort of your couch. The job for Front Row will be easier for Apple, then it was for Microsoft, as they only haft to support their own hardware. Front Row does look nice, but it’s still lacking compared to Media Center.
It is obvious that the Mac Mini was never designed to be a media center.
It has a crappy GPU, no TV out, uses a notebook hard drive, and can’t even play back HD content. It’s just an inexpensive way for PC users to get to use Macs. Anything more and well, you’re just dreaming.
Btw, 1080i content is available on Apple’s HD gallery.
I seriously doubt Apple will be able to do much to MCE, MS is already on their 2nd gen MCE product and the interface works great. I’d be hesitant to spend double the price on something just because it has the Apple marque on it.
When did OsNews become a rumor site?
The article writer is embarrassingly clueless. The Mini’s GPU doesn’t even handle some of the standard graphic filters in OS X! Now it is a powerhouse media center? He also fails to mention MCE Extender for the Xbox 360 which from, what I’ve read, is getting excellent (albiet first look) mentions. By the middle of next year there will be far more Xbox 360’s in circulation than there are (even underpowered) minis. With extener it provides a much more powerful and complete solution than the pretty but weakened Front Row.
Also he is wrong that “With Microsoft, we get chunky ’portable’ players that can’t fit in your pocket and cost around $1,000.” His information is years old. Now, you can get an excellent PVP for about the same price as the under-featured V iPod and while they aren’t as small as the V iPod they also have screens on which you can, you know, actually see something.
>>The article writer is embarrassingly clueless. The Mini’s GPU doesn’t even handle some of the standard graphic filters in OS X! Now it is a powerhouse media center?
He’s talking about FUTURE versions of the Mac mini, not the current generation. The next generation Mac mini will be the first Mac to sport Intel processors when it is released next summer, and I’m sure there will be a bunch of new bells & whistles when it appears. Just because Apple doesn’t talk about products until they’re ready to ship doesn’t mean those products aren’t in the pipeline. A media center Mac mini is obvious to anyone who has been paying attention.
Shortsighted people are always putting Microsoft ahead of Apple because Microsoft talks a big game (“this is what we’ll release three years from now!”) while Apple actually plays one. It’s just like all the people who, when 10.3 was released, were comparing it to Longhorn based on Microsoft’s powerpoint slides and vaporware announcements. Then when 10.4 was released, they were comparing it to Longhorn, again based on Microsoft’s powerpoint slides and vaporware announcements. Then the whole “new from the ground up” Longhorn idea was scrapped and MS announced that they would instead release an update to Windows Server 2003 (aka Vista), and that’s the one that’s actually going to be coming out and competing with the NEXT Apple OS, OS X 10.5.
And Vista isn’t going to have any of the whizzbang features Gates and Ballmer have been blathering about since 2001. It’s just a better theme and some eye candy on Windows Server 2003. You could do that now! It’s all smoke and mirrors from Microsoft, and all shipping products from Apple. Microsoft has since its very beginning been based on selling products that don’t (and my never) exist, going all the way back to their MS-DOS licensing deal with IBM, which was signed BEFORE they purchased QDOS from Seattle Computing.
The article is badly off if it thinks the mac mini is going to be some sort of multimedia power house. I have one (and not the cheapest one either) its performance under Tiger is so slow as to be unusable other than for basic surfing and mail functions.
As for future versions the problem will be heat from better GPU as well as fitting some decent multimedia cards in such a small box. It simply not going to happen any day soon.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I’ve got a Mac mini and I do tons of video editing, photoshop editing, music composing, as well as XCode programming and web development…and it’s driving a 23″ Apple Cinema Display. If your Mac mini is slow, you really ought to upgrade its RAM. I’ve got 1GB in mine and it flies. I know that the default 256MB in the old configuration made the units unbearably slow. Now it comes with 512MB by default which is better, but if you really want to take advantage of iLife and other pro apps you’ll be amazed at what the Mac mini can do with a gig.
Shortsighted people are always putting Microsoft ahead of Apple because Microsoft talks a big game (“this is what we’ll release three years from now!”) while Apple actually plays one.
In this department MS IS ahead of apple and has been for oh at least 2-3 years now.
By the time the ‘media’ mini ships I’ll be using an xbox 360 going on likely 6 months as a media center.
Hell I use a modded xbox now to do most of what both Apple and MS are trying to develop for mass consumption.
It’s just like all the people who, when 10.3 was released, were comparing it to Longhorn based on Microsoft’s powerpoint slides and vaporware announcements.
Longhorn is closer to reality then Copland that Apple talked about for years, and never did ship btw.
Of course apple never talks about anything before its finished if you forget that one. *shrugs*
Then the whole “new from the ground up” Longhorn idea was scrapped
I never heard that longhorn would a complete rewrite. I heard it would sport a completely new presentation layer and security subsystem, which it does.
And Vista isn’t going to have any of the whizzbang features Gates and Ballmer have been blathering about since 2001. It’s just a better theme and some eye candy on Windows Server 2003.
Please describe in detail one of the major features in the longhorn beta right now. Once you can do that I might buy that you have a clue what you are talking about.
“Dan Warne reckons Apple is about to deftly round-house kick Microsoft’s media center strategy for six.”
Er, what?
Scoring six points as a sporting metaphor usually comes from cricket (he knocked it for six, etc etc). The only other major sport I can think of where you commonly score six points on a single play is football (U.S.). In neither of those cases can you possibly legally score the points with any form of leg contact. Let alone a roundhouse kick. Ah, nice to see the school of absurdly florid journalism is alive and kicking.
It’s always been a rumor site, run by ppl who are anti-microsoft and very pro apple(Of course they like linux also but only when it isn’t in apple’s way).
There are already HTPCs that have small form factors available. Here is a review of one:
http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=2568
On the contrary, this would actually be really great news for MS. Their MediaPC division probably isn’t making a lot of money because too much of the marketing is on educating the consumers to this technology and why it’s even necessary. With Apple in the picture, that burden can be shared. If it affects anyone, companies such as Tivo would be hurt since no doubt adding a tuner and tv recording features is only a heartbeat away.
Xbox 360 has the ability to have full on Media Center and can even connect with IPOD and it plays games and DVD Movies in progressive mode. It also has visualizers for music and Media Center is built right in to the Xbox 360 and if you get the more expensive one it even comes with a remote.
The price will drop further by Christmas next year.
Microsoft is far ahead of apple and with the price drop and the upgrade of the software automatically, you will get new versions of Media Center/Xbox Live, I think this is a real smart move for Microsoft.
>”The price will drop further by Christmas next year.”
Actualy, Microsoft has said that there will be variable pricing for the next gen xbox.
>”Microsoft is far ahead of apple and with the price drop and the upgrade of the software automatically, you will get new versions of Media Center/Xbox Live”
Microsoft’s variable pricing negates that argument. The variable pricing will be something like this: just a game box will be $300. Game box with media center will probably be $500. And the same thing with larger hard drive and extra performance… probably $750.
Apple hasn’t really released a media center yet. The new iMac is not a media center… its a computer that happens to have some enhanced media capeabilities.
…except that, on that front, Microsoft is the underdog, and Sony will not give in without a fight. It looks as if the PS3 will outperform the Xbox360 as far as gaming is concerned, and Sony’s long experience in consumer electronics (including distribution) is a definite plus for them.
The Xbox never overtook the PS2 despite being a more powerful machine, I don’t expect the Xbox360 to overtake the PS3 either.