“It’s long been the PC industry’s dream, to take center stage in the vast home entertainment market. Success, however, has been elusive,” Matthew Fordahl reports for The Associated Press. “And so the industry will launch in 2006 its most aggressive effort yet to persuade people to buy computers for wrangling the expanding universe of digital content. Leading the charge are longtime PC collaborators Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp., both of which are promising better support for high-definition programming and an improved ability to send video, still pictures and music throughout the home and to portable gadgets. Macintosh maker Apple Computer Inc. is also widely expected to join the fray and, perhaps, do for entertainment computers what it did for digital music players when it unleashed the iPod in 2001.”
Fordahl reports, “Most companies haven’t taken close enough notice of the what’s behind Apple’s iPod success, says Rob Enderle, an analyst at the Enderle Group research firm. ‘Most of the technology products being thrown at the home market aren’t particularly attractive or well priced, and ease of use isn’t anywhere in their description,’ he said. ‘Until that gets fixed, we’re going to have some serious problems.’
“Intel’s answer is Viiv, a hardware and quality assurance platform that’s expected to be launched in the first part of the year. As Intel did with its Centrino brand for notebooks and Wi-Fi hot spots, it will make sure Viiv-stickered PCs, gadgets, services and content play well with one another… Apple — the leading seller of music players, online music and video — also has its own flavor of DRM that it hasn’t shared with anyone. ‘In as much as Apple is successful, it’s a fly in the ointment for everybody else,’ Kay said. At the same time, there’s growing speculation that Apple will make a run for the living room. In October, it launched new iMac G5 computers with a simply designed program called Front Row that can be controlled from a distance with a six-button remote control. The computer doesn’t support live video, and the iMac’s all-in-one design doesn’t make it an obvious choice for living rooms outside of dorms and studio apartments. But Apple does have a small, inexpensive computer, the Mac Mini, which would blend well in an entertainment center. The Cupertino company also is switching to Intel chips in 2006 — a move that could help bring down Mac prices. It’s not known whether it will participate in Viiv, and neither company is commenting on the plans, if any.”
Full article here.
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Related articles:
Hedge fund manager Cody Willard: ‘Apple could become more valuable than Microsoft sometime in 2007’ – December 15, 2005
Intel’s Yonah demo shows TiVo-like features buoying rumors of Apple Mac mini digital hub with DVR – December 14, 2005
Intel: no comment on Apple participating in ‘Viiv’ entertainment platform – November 30, 2005
RUMOR: Apple to employ Intel’s ‘Robson’ NAND flash tech to create ‘instant-on’ Macs – November 22, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ultimate goal: ‘to take back the computer business from Microsoft’ – June 16, 2005
Apple and Microsoft battle for control of future living rooms – June 01, 2005
Apple’s shift to Intel really all about Hollywood, owning the living room, and Transitive – June 05, 2005
With Mac mini Apple CEO Jobs attacks the Achilles heel of Windows dominance: the living room – January 14, 2005
Apple Computer will own the living room, not Microsoft – January 10, 2005
Can Apple crack the living-room conundrum before Microsoft? – December 30, 2004
NY Times: Can Steve Jobs put Apple in the center of your living room? – March 23, 2004
It was a happy conicidence maybe – but I agree it was not why Apple switched to Intel…
…and I’d just like to add that Rob Enderle, no matter how nice or intelligently he may now choose to write about Apple, is, and always will be, a complete cretin and a plonker..and one day I’d really like to meet him!
>>From: loosecannon
I would like to see a way to go from HDCP to Component video.
I have a DVD player that upconverts to HDTV but my plasma TV that I got 2 years ago doesn’t have DVI inputs, only VGA and component. I have been told that a converter to go from HDCP (DVI-D with HDCP) to *any* analog medium is illegal, screwing us all.<<
Loosecannon, I’m not sure what you are trying to do here? If your DVD player upconverts to HD, it must use a DVI or HDMI connection. Since your plasma doesn’t have those connections, you must be using an analog connection, so you are not getting any upconversion. Plus, is your plasma even HiDef? If it’s 2yrs old and doesn’t have a DVI connection, it sounds to me like it’s ED format, and not HD. If that’s the case, then what’s the big deal? Just go composite to your plasma display as you currently are. You’re not going to see a better picture.
Spark, licensing fairplay drm would be the last thing Apple would do to win the livingroom war. Apple’s secret sauce is its ability to deliver content seamlessly to the user, thru iTMS. If Apple licensed fairplay to both providers of content and hardware makers, how does that help Apple win the livingroom war? Other stores could sell content to hardware that Apple didn’t make?!? Licensing fairplay is not going to be the next big thing, and it’s not going to make up for all the revenue lost from iTMS or Apple’s media player thingy.
KenC, Yes the DVD player uses a DVI but my plasma does not. Currently, I can only watch HiDef through the component via my HDTV cable box since they fortunately allow analog. MacDude was acting like there is a way to go from DVI to analog which there is not. An yes my Panasonic 42″ supports 1080i and 720p.
Guys:
Apple won’t be invloved in ViiV. According to Intel, part of the ViiV spec is Windows Media Center Edition. From ArsTechnica:
“All PCs based on Intel Viiv technology will ship with a remote control, the Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition operating system and media software that lets consumers interact with their PC in the same way they operate a TV.”
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051123-5617.html
Unless Intel changes their spec (maybe a Mac-only version of Viiv) or Apple starts using MS OS’s, don’t expect to see the living room mini sporting the ViiV logo.