Apple TV

http://www.t3.com/news/jonathan-ive-working-on-50-inch-apple-itv-unit

Must admit with the whole consumer loyalty thing they gave going I can see why they might be doing this.    

NB Most people in the UK do not have 50" TV sets at the moment so this could be an attractive upgrade proposition.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

(hopefully the above is just a rather poor mock up)

All the regular sources are saying that none of the usual supply-line indicators suggest Apple is prepping for such a product.

Supposedly the big issue for Apple remains with securing a deal on content that makes it worthwhile for them. i.e They want something that will kill the SmartTVs of Samsung and LG.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-03/apple-tv-CES/52364952/1

Apple usually looks at the market, sees what's broken, fixes it, makes a bundle.

I don't really see what is so broken about TV sets. How is Apple going to charge a premium for this?

I feel like a lot of people would have to replace their existing LCD TVs with this, not buy it as a second TV. How many would want to throw away all that money they spent for their TV? It's different with the iPhone and iPad because Apple either tapped into a new industry (most consumers didn't have smartphones) or fixed an existing one (tablet pcs didn't catch on). As Ray says, the TV market isn't really "broken" and I doubt the "smart" part of the Apple TV will be anything more than yet another device to complement the MacBook, iPhone, iPad circle. At least with the Xbox, you get services like Netflix, xFinity/Verizon, YouTube, Hulu, news stations, etc. Some set top providers provide "smart" functionality like email, ondemand tv shows, music, and modern TVs make it really simple to hookup a laptop (I think Sony TVs offer iLink hookup).

Actually, I think TVs today are broken.

1. The remote most of us use has many issues, chief among them being their very existance. Voice and/or gesture control can solve this issue. There's some usability quirks with the new XBox/Kinnect implementation, but this highlights very well the direction we should be moving. Siri control of your TV is nearly the same, and probably what most people want anyway.

2. Not so much the TV itself, but the way content is distributed right now needs to change, yesterday. All content should be "on demand". Further, pricing has gotten way out of control. The prices most people pay for cable is not really in line with what they watch.

Both Apple and Microsoft can fix the first problem. Obviously Microsoft is moving to do so, both with the Xbox and with Kinnect enabled TVs rumored for the future. The second problem is harder, but both Microsoft and Apple are trying already, Apple with iTunes/AppleTV and Microsoft with the ZuneMarket/Xbox.

You don't have to replace your existing TV. Secondary devices can be purchased instead. Today's regular TVs are often made into "Smart TVs" through the use of a Blu-Ray player with streaming capabilities. The Xbox and the AppleTV set top box can be used with existing TVs to access what Microsoft and Apple have to offer. The rumored Apple TV and Kinnect enabled TVs just provide the functionality in a single unit, which will appeal to many people.

well one thing is possible:  if they make deals with the cable networks ....

right now there are iPad apps for HBO and one of the local cable offer an on-demend app for users to watch a bunch of shows.   they could make a set that would have cable hookup options and a better on screen guide and some other stuff.   cable company might like it if it was done right.

sony, microsoft and apple  all have a chance to do this but will they ?   get rid of the set top box that is really just a guide and a fancy decoder of the signals.   let the consumer buy that part and the cable co reduces costs of having to deal with that.

consumer wins by having the device they want and it does other stuff (like play games etc..)

lot of possibility in that area i thini if they get the price and features right.

This is akin to building a new car with triangular shaped opening to the gas tank because you don't like the current gas stations. The car still runs on gas and the petroleum companies still refine the oil to make the gas. You're just changing the distribution system for the gas. This is just plain silly.

That anology is borked. Consumers could care less about the shape of their gas tank opening, so of course changing that is just plain silly. In the case of TV, however, consumers really do care about the distribution. Long before we had the capability to do on demand consumers were not happy that they had to pay outrageous prices to get 200 channels of cable when all they really wanted was to watch a few dozen of their favorite shows that aired on 4-10 channels. They also found it so inconvenient to deal with air times that the whole VCR/DVR industry boomed. Even those solutions are not ideal, however, as the consumer has to record the show. What happens if a show moves time slots or is preempted? You miss your show. What do you do when the office is buzzing about some show you'd never heard of? It's too late to record it.

In the case of TV, a change to the distribution model would be a tremendous benefit to consumers, and they will race to spend money for devices that get them onto that distribution system. So it's not silly in the slightest. Many of us have already bought into this, "cutting the cable" and doing IPTV and getting content in other ways. The problem today is in finding content. The content providers need to be persuaded to use the new distribution systems. If Apple, Microsoft or anyone else can help convince them, I'm all for it.

1 hour ago, figuerres wrote

 get rid of the set top box that is really just a guide and a fancy decoder of the signals.   let the consumer buy that part and the cable co reduces costs of having to deal with that.

consumer wins by having the device they want and it does other stuff (like play games etc..)

lot of possibility in that area i thini if they get the price and features right.

They already tried that with CableCard. How many TVs do you see with that built-in?

While "smart" TVs might be the hot thing this year, I don't see them catching on. People like to watch TV, not interact with it. The most common configuration is watching TV and using a smartphone/tablet/laptop on the couch. Combining those into one device doesn't work. Apple will probably contract with one of the big TV makers to have the Apple TV software installed. It will be minorly successful, like the Apple TV boxes you can buy today.

14 minutes ago, wkempf wrote

That anology is borked. Consumers could care less about the shape of their gas tank opening, so of course changing that is just plain silly.

The shape is for the manufacturer of the car to prevent you from using the traditional fuel station in order to control the distribution of the fuel that goes into the vehicle.

I can see that browsing channels on my iPhone or iPad, then selecting a programming for watching on my big TV now (or setting for recording in the future) would be a 'nice to have' feature.

A nice library of content on demand is always nice - especially if the UI for all content is integrated from the perspective of content type in addition to channels (a bit like media centre now).

Personally I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to use my Windows 8 slate to do something similar using media centre (ie all selection on the slate, all viewing (optionally) on the TV.

Hopefully we will start to see some stuff like this next week at CES

@cbae: Really? So you'd prefer to have a panel with a separate tuner component? You can do that today, but the vast majority of us prefer our TVs with built in tuners. In the world of IPTV most of us will prefer TVs that have the networking built-in, rather than having to find room somewhere for a set top box to provide this. Your car anology still doesn't jive with what we're discussing.

@Ian2: We have this today with the Xbox and a WP7. I can search for and select content on my phone and then play it on my large screen TV via the Xbox.

24 minutes ago, wkempf wrote

@cbae: Really? So you'd prefer to have a panel with a separate tuner component?

Yes.

You can do that today,

Exactly! That's why I don't need this.

but the vast majority of us prefer our TVs with built in tuners. In the world of IPTV most of us will prefer TVs that have the networking built-in, rather than having to find room somewhere for a set top box to provide this.

You don't speak for the vast majority of consumers, so don't claim that you do. People don't want the universal display device being tied to something proprietary anymore than they want another hole in their heads. The primary complaint people have about TV is the cost. That's it. If your complaint is only about how many things are attached to your TV, then one set-top box that does everything--DVR, game console, internet access, etc. is a better way to go. You don't need to cram it all into the display housing. I want to be able to change the components independently of each other, and I certainly don't want to haul a 60 inch display through the mall so that some retard at the Genius Bar can send it into Apple for repairs just because there's some stupid firmware problem. A giant thing like a TV display should be as trouble-free as possible and you don't do that by stuffing more circuitry into it.

Your car anology still doesn't jive with what we're discussing.

Yes, it does. You're just not getting it. Apple is trying to change the fuel distribution system by designing a different car with a proprietary opening to the fuel tank when all that needs to change is how the gas stations operate or how much they charge.

35 minutes ago, wkempf wrote

@Ian2: We have this today with the Xbox and a WP7. I can search for and select content on my phone and then play it on my large screen TV via the Xbox.

Exactly. That's why this Apple TV is unnecessary.

@cbae: On this side of the pond, rumor has it they are bidding for Premier League TV rights.

If this happened, I can see it taking-off (or should that be kicking-off), I think they are just testing the water, after the recent and ongoing News Corporation debacle, I think they could do it, and again would have created something from seemingly nothing.

4 minutes ago, blowdart wrote

Well my TV has apps. Netflix, Hulu and an awful implementation of Amazon videos. I much prefer that than having to start up the xbox, and have the fan noise whirring away.

Samsung makes set-top boxes (i.e. Blu-ray players) that have apps and can be left always on. If Microsoft licensed the Xbox platform to third parties, these set-top boxes could be game consoles too. Why shove it all into the  display housing itself? If I really wanted a clean look, I'd rather have the display built into the wall, in which case I sure as hell don't want any more reason to have to pull it out for repairs.