“Speculation has been rampant on the Internet that Apple will introduce a new version of its Mac mini, Apple’s little $500 multimedia computer, with a built-in digital video recorder at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco next month,” Daisy Whitney reports for TV Week. “Industry experts consider DVR capability the logical next step for Apple, given that its video iPod has become a game changer for portable television content in the less than two months that it’s been on the market. Apple has already joined with both NBC and ABC to deliver content to the device and is said to be in talks with most major content providers. Now the iPod is viewed as one of the critical new distribution platforms for TV content. The question is whether Apple can extend its brand magic to the home entertainment space. That’s a wide-open area, and if Apple can indeed offer DVR capability and a well-integrated video experience, it could capture a leading position in the home entertainment market as it’s done with music.”
“But Apple’s dominance in the digital music and media space does not guarantee a successful DVR strategy, said Bruce Leichtman, president of Leichtman Research Group. ‘Consumers have demonstrated that they like DVR as a feature within the cable or DBS set-top boxes,’ he said. ‘With the rollouts from DBS and cable operators continuing, and Tivo’s strong brand in the business, there is limited market opportunity for Apple in the DVR business. One should not believe that the company’s recent success with the iPod has any connection to its potential in the DVR business.’ The success might not translate for one simple reason: iTunes works on both Macintosh- and Windows-based computers, analysts said. On the other hand, an Apple DVR, by its nature, would likely live within an Apple computer, said Steve Hoffenberg, director of electronic media research at Lyra Research.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This speculation is based upon the Think Secret reports from November 29, 2005 and December 02, 2005 which described rumors of Apple’s ‘Kaleidoscope’ code-named Mac mini digital hub DVR / Front Row 2.0 project and new content distribution system rumored for debut in January at Macworld Expo. Nobody has said Apple would sell the new box as a “Mac.” If such an “iHub” device exisits (potentially employing Intel’s “Robson” NAND flash technology for a Mac OS X-based “instant-on” appliance) along with a content distribution system, we’d expect that Apple would market it much differently than they would a new Mac model. These are all rumors, so take them with many grains of salt.
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