|
Posted on 02/11/2006 4:33:05 AM PST by Panerai
Macworld.co.uk reports on Needham & Co analyst comments about what they expect from Apple in the coming months.
While some of the information appears speculative, the analyst claims that a video iPod will indeed arrive soon:
According to our sources, the screen on the video iPod will occupy the entire front of the current iPod with a touch-activated scroll wheel. Assuming the same form factor as the current iPod, this move will increase the size of the screen three-fold. This corresponds to recent rumors that a touch-screen iPod is in the works. This technology would also tie in recently revealed Gesture user-interface patents from Apple. The same analyst also predicted an "actual" video iPod in the first half of this year. While some fan-created video iPod images have recently surfaced, we have received some confirmation that actual prototypes of similar devices have been seen at Apple.
Meanwhile, he revives rumors of the Mac mini home media server:
"Our sources indicate that this product was not finished in time for Macworld" The Mac mini as a digital hub was first rumored back in November 2005. The specs at that time included Front Row 2.0, "TiVo-Killer" DVR, iPod Dock and a 3.5" hard drive. The target date for this media appliance remains in question.
|
Well, I just got a 5G iPod.
But, a DVR Mac Mini? Damnit. That's a must-have.
Shipping in, say, August? In time for the next TV season? Makes sense to me. I shall have to have one.
Hopefully they stretch and put a big, big drive in it (say, 300 Gigs). I've been thinking of using the old P4 I've got sitting around in parts to build a custom DVR system, but perhaps I'll wait.
BTW, in further groundbreaking news, Windows Vista will include an overlay that will pop up on the screen at any time. It will run small programs called "gadgets" that will allow users, with the click of a mouse, to get local weather, flight schedules, or access a dictionary. Gosh, I wonder where they got the idea?
Its painfully obvious where they got a lot of ideas for Vista. It sounds like the Chinese knockoff of OSX.
I have a headache to enter into this equasion, and it goes by four letters: HDTV. I have an Elgato EyeTV HD tuner on my Mac, and even with a 150 GB drive dedicated to recordings, it gets mighty tight.
You always have to decide what to keep, what to pitch, and what to burn to DVD (and whether to burn it as an HD file, or transcode it down to DVD). HD isn't the future, it is the now - once you go HD, you never go back.
I would hope that any media center can translate on-the-fly from MPEG2 (the DV standard, in both many satellite systems and most all forms of HD) to DV or MPEG4 or H.264. These machines would also greatly benefit from HD-DVD or BluRay burners.
I swear, now that I'm into HDTV, I'm working with optical disks just like I used to manage floppies! That won't fly in the consumer marketplace.
Don't wait too long, or you'll run up against the DRM crap when everything goes digital and you won't be able to record or play unless you have MPAA approved hardware/software.
It seems they've got it all worked out with the major players to lock out the small fry and home DIYers.
An article over at Ars Technica titled "CableCard: a primer" will give you some idea if you don't already know.
My Mac mini is already a DVR, via EyeTV. And no DRM crap, which Apple's solution will almost certainly have in order to appease Hollywood.
Yeah. I had to go back, but not by choice. I also have an EyeTV 500, and at my old apartment I could get about 15 HD channels with rabbit ears. But then I had to move and there's too much interference at my new place to get anything. Quite annoying.
I get emails from Buy.com a lot, because I get most of my printer inks from them. They've started carrying 1 terabyte hard drives, both for internal and firewire 800 or usb 2. I wondered who'd need a terabyte of storage, and this could explain it.
I've always thought the reason Gates made the loan to Apple right after Jobs got back was because he didn't want to lose his research division.
There was no "loan to Apple"... Microsoft purchased some preferred Apple stock from Apple under a confidential lawsuit settlement agreement which Apple won. In the settlement, Microsoft agreed to continue developing and supporting Microsoft Office for Mac for an additional five years, to license certain software patents from Apple, and to purchase non-voting stock from Apple.
I do think that Apple is Microsoft's premiere creative research department.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
the analyst claims that a video iPod will indeed arrive soon? Isn't there already a video iPod?
"and even with a 150 GB drive dedicated to recordings, it gets mighty tight" - To store that kind of data, you don't use your computer's hard drive, you get an external one. A 500GB would do.
There's a great number of reasons why people might want a Terrabyte of storage.
Hell, between my notebook and desktop, I've got 400 GB. My roommates, who are working on an Independent film, have about 3 TB worth of storage full of DV stuff.
that's true, it would need a big hard drive, and a fast DVD burner to archive programs off onto. and what would the price point be?
interesting, you capture video onto the Mac via what? SVIDEO? HDMI? and you are saying that this software does not honor macrovision or CGMS-A? how do you get the program guide? is there a tuner included, or does it simply take the output of the cable box.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
