According to one of Engadget's sources, Apple is about to refresh their Apple TV lineup. Apparently, it's capable of full 1080p output, it's going to be based on the iPhone 4 OS, and will have similar internals, such as an A4 processor and 16 GB internal storage. Not much space; that's why they're going to be focusing on cloud-based storage with this iteration. And it's going to be a measly $99. Check out the full article here. I can almost hear spiffyone screaming hallelujah.
I have an Apple TV that also has very limited storage. I like the idea of cloud computing, but I have to wonder how much lag you will get on an internal network.
iPhone OS? Could gaming be far behind? iPad games would probably work well, devs would only have to adapt the controls...
Obviously they would have to be adapted to play either with the remote control or with a separate controller. In this scenario, a game could have an iPhone/iPod Touch version, an iPad version, and an Apple TV version. This is all speculation, of course.
As much as I want to believe it, there's something odd in the timing and in the details. An Engadget 'source' decides to start talking about a new ATV which won't be introduced at WWDC. So presumably this device is months away from release, so why would sources start chattering away about it now? Of course, it's completely coincidental that Google just announced its own platform. Completely. And the part about it running iPhone OS. I call bullshit. Apple knows that using a 3.5" touchscreen phone is a completely experience than using a 50" TV monitor. So the OSes are going to be different. Hell, they were stretching it (literally) with pixel-doubling iPhone apps on the iPad. An appstore specifically for the ATV... now THAT'S interesting.
Well, of course the OS would have to be modified so that it fits a television screen and can be controlled as such. And if it runs the iPhone OS, then the ATV-specific App Store certainly can't be far behind.
A little bit of an update here... Now Apple has applied for a patent to resume media playback on another device. Another new feature of the upgraded ATV, perhaps?
Although I'd rather more "oomph" (like, say, a multicore SoC based on the A4, or the processor iPhone 3Gs), price that thing at $99, get some pretty good apps, and you might have a good deal. Add peripheral support there (like, say, wireless keyboards, etc.) and you may have something that would shake things up even further.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/02/steve-jobs-d8-interview-the-video-highlights/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/01/steve-jobs-on-tv-no-one-wants-to-buy-a-box/
How many people can seriously hope to stream full movies in 1080p over the Internet? Even streaming over LAN suffers from problems with interference and congestion (gigabit ethernet is the notable exception), and when you take into account all of the additional, often unpredictable factors involved in streaming over the Internet, things definitely don't look good. Buffering times are enough of a pain in 5 minute Youtube videos; I can't imagine sitting through a whole 2 hour movie like that. Maybe a few years down the line, but I don't see it happening yet.
You missed the point about the cloud based network. Look it up. It significantly reduces stream times because each device hooked up to the cloud is downloading pieces of what it is that you want to see. From what I understand, think of it like, say, those P2P file sharing networks but on a grander scale where everyone is taking part.
While I agree with Jobs in that there's a problem with getting folks to dish out for a set top box ala Roku, TiVo, etc. to "extend" their television, I think Jobs is, once again, ignoring something that he should NOT be ignoring, and something that, y'know...kinda helped the App Store take off in the first place: I refer, of course, to the apps. Games are part of that. And while Jobs is right that consumers don't rush out to buy Roku boxes or TiVo boxes, they sure as hell buy a TON of Wii, XBox 360 and PS3 game systems, all of which are being extended to offer many of the things that set top boxes were designed to do. Wanna stream movies from a service? Netflix is on Wii, 360 and PS3. There are TV shows available on Sony's PSN and Microsoft's Marketplace, iirc. There's a digital comic book reader on PSN now. So, why not jump into that game market and use that to fuel the set top box strategy? Well, that has issues as well: Apple would be a newcomer, entrenched in a gen that is still firmly taking hold. No, what Apple could do (and IMHO should) is "enter" that game market from a side entrance, with something that isn't really a game system, ala what they did with iPhone. They can issue a new Apple TV that's like an iPhone on steroids...without the screen (as the screen would be your TV set) and, of course, that means a new interface is needed (hello new Apple Remote). In addition, they'd also enter that set top TV/movie digital download set top box market from the side door as well, as it wouldn't be limited as Roku and the rest are to just videos and music. In order to be "different", in order to really maximize the effect of what the product can do, they'd have to not limit it to games like game systems are initially limited, and not limit it to this archaic idea of "TV and movie entertainment options" as most set top boxes are limited. Open it up ala iPhone. Let the 3rd parties have at it. They'll do what they did for iPhone/touch in that they won't limit themselves to one type of software, but many: games, music, entertainment, productivity, creativity. Think about it: the new AppleTV wouldn't be a set top box for movies and music, or a game system, but a cheap entertainment computer, and by that virtue might just bring the "fun" back. Lay back on your couch and quickly edit a photo on your $99 AppleTV device, then switch from that to watching a flick, and from that to playing a game or two.
Why 16 gig flash mem. in a set top box? It's not like they are going to be shaken or bouncing in your pocket. I'd imagine the 120 gig hdd's from the ipod classic would be more appropriate and probably the same price.
