Apple to Announce New Thingamajig...

[mr. sparkle]

[floatr][/floatr]
Byline: New iPod Candy for the Tokyo Masses? Or Will They Still Just Use Cellphones?

It's all just rumors, but they are announcing something tomorrow, sure to be the next Tokyo electronic bling. Me thinks it's gonna be the next gen iPod with loads of functionality: phone, MP3 player, PDA, widescreen movie playback, GPS...ah what the hell. In Japan, ya'll are doing all of that on your cell phone anyway, eh? Wonder if this device will swing or fail inside the Buddha?

http://www.macnn.com/blogs/?p=98

[ichigo partygirl]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/12/technology/apple/?postversion=2006091215

Main Points

Apple is also updating its iPod line, rolling out a new 30-gigabyte version priced at $249 and a new 80-gig model for $349, which will hold up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video.

The company also said it will offer a new, thinner iPod Nano that will feature a 24-hour battery life and more storage capacity, as well as a 1-gig iPod shuffle.

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled its new movie download service Tuesday, becoming the latest company trying to secure a toehold in what could be a rapidly expanding entertainment market.
Under the new movie service, consumers will be able to choose from over 75 movies from Miramax and Walt Disney Co. (Charts) studios - Disney, Pixar and Touchstone - to download from the company's popular iTunes store.

New releases will cost $12.99 when intially and $14.99 later, while older films titles will be $9.99, Apple said.

[Taro Toporific]

Hands-on with the Apple iTV prototype
I've been holding out for something almost like this through the past few generations of minis. Too bad it's not a DVR. That means you need a second box ...

WTFBBQ! There's no DVR functionality?! Those useless morons can keep this iTV road Apple.

[Charles]

I've been holding out for something almost like this through the past few generations of minis. Too bad it's not a DVR. That means you need a second box unless you only want to stream itunes content. And if you have a second box, you might as well just put everything you need in that box and forget the iTV.

You're missing the point. What if your TV is in a different room than your computer? What if you have more than one TV, in different rooms? And DVR functionality is less crucial if you can just download the shows from iTunes.

If you really must have DVR functionality, get a TiVo. I was just reading today about the program tivoserver which will stream your videos from your mac/pc/linux box to your TiVo. It even transcodes your videos if they're in a format that the TiVo doesn't use. I am anxiously awaiting reports on the new Tivo HD, to see if they've hacked it to work with these software servers.

P.S. TiVo not available in Japan.

[Kuang_Grade]

WTFBBQ! There's no DVR functionality?! Those useless morons can keep this iTV road Apple.

Given the oil tankers of cash various other DVR manufacturers have lost in the past (I think Tivo (excluding revenue from lawsuits) has only had one or two barely profitable quarters during its entire existence), I doubt you'll be seeing any DVR type hardware from Apple...And given their push into selling TV shows on itunes, which I suspect are far more profitable for Apple than music downloads on a per download basis, why would Apple create something that competes against that revenue stream? Yeah, Apple wants the mac to be the center of your media universe, but it looks with video, they only want it be center of your PAID media universe (ok, some crappy home movies of your kids too).

Anyone else notice that ITV is missing a composite video plug (ie, you need TV with component or HDMI plugs, which likely rules out 60-70% of all TVs in operation). Granted Apple's demo is more likely to have newer TVs nor is granny likely to be buying an ITV device to use on 15 year old TV, but still that's a pretty bold step...When I first saw it, I thought...hey, this could be handy to stream stuff when I'm in the kitchen, but I guess not since my kitchen TV only has composite inputs.

[GuyJean]

Too bad it's not a DVR. That means you need a second box unless you only want to stream itunes content.

Notice the iTV has the same, stackable footprint as the Mini..

GJ

[kamome]

This iTV thing - can it be used to stream any PC video content to a TV located elsewhere in the house? And do you have to have a Mac computer for it to work?

I've been looking for something that would allow me to view any video content that's on my computer in the living room on my TV that's in the bedroom so I'm not stuck sitting at the desk viewing a DVD or other downloaded/streaming content (and no, it's not for pr0n either).

Is that what this device is for?

[mr. sparkle]

[floatr]
Cover Flow ROCKS[/floatr]....and delivering that content will be iTunes 7. Have you guys checked it out or downloaded it yet?

DAMN it's cool. I like the cover flow mode where you can see all your album covers, like a jukebox. If you don't have the album cover, iTunes will find it for you. That is, IF it's in the iTunes store.

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled its new movie download service Tuesday, becoming the latest company trying to secure a toehold in what could be a rapidly expanding entertainment market.
Under the new movie service, consumers will be able to choose from over 75 movies from Miramax and Walt Disney Co. (Charts) studios - Disney, Pixar and Touchstone - to download from the company's popular iTunes store.

[GomiGirl]

I want one of these but one that has a built in region-free DVD player as well. My DVD player is about to die.

I want to be able to play stuff from my computer (wireless or ethernet) as well as DVD's so I don't have any more boxes than I need.

Any ideas?

[GomiGirl]

The Buffalo one seems to only work with Windows.

Actually they both do..

Need a mac friendly one.

[canman]

I downloaded the new Itunes 7.0 and then updated my ipod and now the damn thing isn't working right. IT keeps turning on and off, and when I have it connected to the computer it says don't disconnet, but it is fully charged so I don't know why it is saying that. I then had to reset it and start over. What a crock of shit these apple guys are. Has anybody else had any problems with their ipods?