“Apple could make [a move] that could well be a game changer: introducing a new version of Apple TV with a built in Blu-ray player,” Saul Hansell writes for The New York Times.
“Separately, neither Apple TV nor Blu-ray players have excited consumers. People have been wary of the fight between Blu-ray and rival HD DVD players, worrying that they will end up owning the disk equivalent of a useless Betamax player. And Apple TV just didn’t seem to have all that many useful things you could do with it,” Hansell writes. “For that matter, online video rentals have been around for several years, by way of Movielink, and also have attracted very few users. The hottest movie download service in fact may be Xbox Live, which makes sense because the game machines are already hooked up to televisions.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hansell has a disconnect here: video rentals via Apple’s market-dominating iTunes many well attract many users. Perhaps the problem with video rentals attracting customers stems more from those offering them and how they’re offering them than from the concept of the video rental model itself?
Hansell continues, “Imagine, however, if Apple introduced this product, say for $399: It plays Blu-ray disks. It lets you buy or rent movies and TV programs from the Internet. It automatically downloads and plays free video (and audio) podcasts. And it brings your iTunes music collection to your living room.”
MacDailyNews Take: Sounds great. Who’s giving Apple the free Blu-ray players? Or, more likely, who’s going to pay Apple to install their Blu-ray players in Apple TVs? $399 for what Hansell describes sounds a bit farfetched right now. And shiny plastic discs, what’s their future, really?
Hansell continues, “This combination of features may be enough of a package that consumers will feel they aren’t taking too much risk buying one. And Apple’s brand may also reassure them. The company is not only the sexiest name in consumer electronics right now, but it also has a respectable track record of being able to negotiate with Hollywood to bring content to its devices. (The first version of Apple TV was a bit of an exception).”
MacDailyNews Take: The problem is with iTunes Store content, not Apple TV, and the fault lies with a skittish Hollywood, not Apple.
Hansell continues, “Apple’s clout might also help tip the now-tied race between Blu-ray and HD DVD.”
MacDailyNews Take: Perhaps Hansell missed the news: HD DVD is the walking dead; there is no “tie” with the superior Blu-ray today and there wasn’t even before Warner yesterday dumped HD DVD to release titles exclusively on Blu-ray.
Hansell continues, “There are two other features of this product I’m imagining I’d like to see, but I think are less likely: streaming video and a commitment to advertiser-supported free video. Apple has focused on video downloads, in part because the quality is better than streaming and they fit into its iTunes model. But the first Apple TV does have streaming for movie trailers. Adding a broader streaming capability would expand programming choices and make the device useful for live and very recent content, like news and sports.”
MacDailyNews Take: Agreed.
Hansell continues, “Such a device could also have a TV tuner, a CableCard slot and act as a digital video recorder. But my guess is that Mr. Jobs would find that this makes it far too complex and he will leave these functions to the cable set top boxes.”
Full article here.
A new blu-ray player is due to debut at CES that is MUCH less expensive..well under $200…so it’s not THAT far fetched that Apple could offer an integrated solution. Unlikely yes…but not beyond the realm of possibility.
Wow, MDN agreed with a journalist!
Interesting and logical. Yet, I can’t imagine Apple doing this.
The AppleTV price just doubled. Besides, what are you to do, record with Blu-Ray the streamed rental movies?
Interesting nevertheless.
OK, the CableCard slot was my idea. And the USB port can handle a tuner. But here is the important thing to me. TV is fine how it is. Add the Blu Ray to the desktop and enable streaming. I would think “n” could handle this. Keep the living room uncluttered.
Blu-Ray makes sense on the MacPro.
Large capacity for backup. 50 Gb. This makes sense for me.
And I think Apple would agree.
When the line of new MacPro debut, I predict they have Blu-Ray.
my 2c: merge the macmini and appleTV into blu-Mac. blu-ray drive, full size hard drive, eye-tv tuner, os x, wifi, bluetooth, hdmi, and some snazzy 1 piece keyboard/pointer.
This completely goes against Steve Jobs’ philosophy of the Apple TV being the DVD player for the 21st century.
Not going to happen.
I don’t think Apple will do this; if they wanted to include disc drives in the Apple TV, why haven’t they done it already with a CD or DVD player? I think far more likely is just that they will start phasing in BluRay drives into Macs, starting with the Mac Pro (instead of Combo vs. SuperDrive, Super vs. UltraDrive?) and push HD movie downloads or rentals from iTunes. The long downloading time shouldn’t matter if the movie can start playing (on the computer OR Apple TV) within a few minutes, as it loads.
Two things I would love to see are 1) DVD or BluRay disc ripping of movies that they have already got on iTunes; they could just make it part of the agreement when a studio agrees to sell content on the iTunes Store. 2) Streaming a DVD from a computer with iTunes to Apple TV. It doesn’t make sense to include two separate disc drives, one in Apple TV and one in your computer, since they already have the technology to stream movies. Why can’t they just stream a playing DVD or BluRay Disc? Again, it may violate some copyright, but if they made it a condition of a movie studio that wishes to sell on iTunes that their movies on disc be streamable to Apple TV, it would be pretty nice. I can dream.
Blu-Ray HD in the AppleTV will enable “Pre Play” of HD content.
Pre Play will enable a customer to purchase content via iTunes and enable Apple to stream the content in low res format for instant access and ship the same content on Blu Ray disks for high quality 1080p viewing.
This is the only business model that makes since at this time, since broadband cannot currently deliver HD in a reasonable time.
You saw it here first!
Blu-Ray player prices need to go down to promote uptake of the technology, so hopefully “pr” is correct with cheaper models coming out at CES.
The concept of a Blu-Ray drive being incorporated into a TV makes sense to me. It would allow one to eliminate their DVD player and replace it with a unit that can play DVDs, Blu-Ray, stream video from their computer and hopefully download purchased or rented content from iTMS.
The price point would be important. $399 wouldn’t be too bad considering one would have two machines in one. Of course this relies on drives being cheap enough to keep the margins healthy.
Yes please.
Having a good DVR independent of the cable company would be great. Currently have to rent it for $12 / month with an expensive digital cable channel package. The DVR certainly does improve the TV experience — 1000 channels, can record 2 programs at once, then watch when convenient and fast-forward thru the commercials.
If Apple can make a device that gives one full control over the TV it would be welcome.
Blue Ray + HDTV = fantastic picture
iTunes content + HDTV = something you apologize for
iTunes content + iPod = fantastic picture + portability
This isn’t the only one…
http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/13/philips-and-lite-on-announce-a-199-blu-ray-drive/
Like the whole idea. Its a ps3. If Sony would put a library on the web. Personly I won’t pay more than one dollar for a tv show or movie. I think songs are a steal for a dollar. I listen to a song dozens of times. Rarely watch a movie or tv show twice.
The Apple TV starts looking more like a mac mini. Certainly adding a DVD player would help the Apple TV, and if Blue Ray players become affordable, that too. I think it might even be reasonable for Apple to shoot for break-even on such a device for a period until component costs come down. Or maybe Apple has already pushed component costs down by buying a million of them. I think if you could get such a device on the market for $399 you’d do well.
My AppleTV works just fine since I’ve hacked it to play .avi files.
Too much emphasis on 1080 quality movies. most will be happy with 720 streamed through ATV.
Maybe ATV will allow us to stream DVD from our laptops. Then we have the option of watching dvd’s and downloaded movies.
Should ATV mirror our laptop screens? Would/is HULU streamed in 720?
That’s a game changer. Access and stream a show through my computer to ATV. Goodbye comcast. rent from iTS through ATV.
Get the licensing out of the way and TV is a new beast.
I’m paying for cable and I feel like I’m paying to watch infomercials.
Putting a Blu-Ray player in an Apple TV makes about as much sense as putting a cd player in an iPod..
Apple TV and iPods are playback devices for digital media stored on a computer..
Blu-ray and CD players are playback devices for physical media.
Once people begin to realize that digital media is the future and physical media is on it’s way out, they will stop writing these ill thought articles.
Apple,
Just get serious about iTunes HD content. It’ll make the choice between HD-DVD or Blu-Ray a moot point.
If people need legacy support, enable the USB port & bundle a browser/player for external DVD drives.
HD vs BlueRay war is over, Warner supports BlueRay only now
Bring on the BlueRay Apple TV!!!!
“MacDailyNews Take: The problem is with iTunes Store content, not Apple TV …”
Wrong. The TV is too tied to iTunes and offers little reason to buy one if you are not an iTunes fanboy. Adding a Blu-Ray player would make it a *buy* for me, while allowing streaming of ANY media would make it a *BUY ONE TODAY!!* decision.
So, will Apple do it? Even though they’re already in the Blu-Ray camp, it’s not likely. They are looking to foment downloads not disc sales, and if they did, it would be horrendously expensive right now so I say “No chance”. I hope I’m wrong.
I like that idea, I would go for it.
BR in ATV, not in MP, because there will not be BR burners for a while I think so forget BR burner in MP.
Adding a DVD player, HD DVD player, Blu-ray player, or DVR functions to Apple TV does not fit with Apple’s strategy.
Apple takes advantage of uncertain market situations to create new products that redefine the market. Here is a perfect situation where Apple can bypass the whole HD DVD versus Blu-ray issue by providing HD content through the huge installed base of iTunes software. Customers can then watch the HD content on many devices, including the computer screen and HDTV screens through Apple TV (or with a direct connection to a Mac). Apple is NOT going to make a move that helps establish Blu-ray as the defacto means of buying or renting HD content.
Blu-Ray and Apple TV are competitors. The Warner backing of Blu-Ray only is recognition that next-gen DVD format has only a limited life before AppleTV like set-top boxes rule the market.
Warner want the format war over with so they and everyone else can roll out products to a market that is treading water. In a marke that is on the edge of recession it could be a welcome source of income.
I expect a real HD AppleTV to be announced and HD rentals from iTunes available post Macworld. Why Apple don’t make use of Apple TV and bittorrent I don’t know. An internet connected box running a bittorrent client would assist in getting the content delivered.