“Does Steve Jobs have a surprise in store for the analysts and reporters gathering in San Francisco for ‘Let’s Rock’ — the dog-and-pony show Tuesday at which Apple is widely expected to unveil the next generation of iPods? Peter S. Magnusson hopes he does — and what he’s wishing for is a new Apple TV,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt writes for Fortune,
“The Swedish-born entrepreneur (and founder of Virtutech) points out in a thoughtful post that the upcoming holiday buying season is a perfect opportunity for Apple to overhaul the set-top box that even Jobs admits has been less than a runaway hit — and Tuesday would be a perfect opportunity to unveil the new device,” Elmer-DeWitt writes.
Elmer-DeWitt writes, “Apple TV [could] stage a fresh assault on the living room — especially if Apple throws in a few more goodies that Magnusson spelled out in a wish list posted on Sunday:”
• Blu-ray disc player; of course one that can also play DVDs and CDs
• ATSC tuner (ver-the-air digital TV)
• 500G hard drive (1T optional)
• WiFi
• DVR capability added to iTunes 8.0
• Time Capsule functionality, in other words, Time Machine backup
• Full Safari browser and support for (optional) keyboard
• Various new and improved options for Internet video
• Support for using the iPhone or the iPod touch as smart remotes
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “JES42” and “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
Sounds like he wants everything AND the kitchen sink…
Very thoughtful list. Almost makes me want to buy a TV so I can buy an Apple TV if those things were true.
I don’t see Apple ever including a Tuner since they’re not going to make radically different versions for all the various different countries of the world. If anything they should allow you to plug in an elgato unit, or similar.
You can already use iPhone as remote for AppleTV?
It will be the ‘one more thing’ no-one knows about yet…
I pinpointed the Apple TV for a potential surprise and hoped the analysts wouldn’t catch on. Can’t we have any surprises anymore?
I agree with Macaday.
Not at a September event. If AppleTV is even mentioned, it’s as any iTunes changes affect it. Key changes to the AppleTV product (if they happen) will be at a MacWorld Expo or its own event.
Why would anyone need an over the air tuner in an AppleTV? Your TV likely already has one, or you have satellite or cable service and therefore don’t need a tuner.
This request for Blu-Ray is really getting old. In order to add Blu-Ray, Apple would have to double the costs of AppleTV. And then Blu-Ray competes with AppleTV for movie rentals, so again, why would Apple want to add a competitor?
Why do you need a 1TB drive for backup on your AppleTV? Just back up wirelessly to another Mac/Time Capsule.
The Safari browser is the best request. However, making that work easily with the standard AppleTV remote won’t be easy. Many people won’t have an iPhone/iPod Touch to be their remote for AppleTV, so they would need something else.
Realistically, I think AppleTV is still a bit ahead of practicality. HD movies are too large to be downloaded easily in most areas due to limits of bandwidth or high-speed limitations, and the movie studios are placing large restrictions on the movies. I think the general public and the available technology simply aren’t quite ready for AppleTV-like products and services yet.
unlimited TV show rentals for $15 a month.
unlimited movie rentals for $15 a month in partnership with Netflix.
that alone would make me question my need for DirecTV.
I thought it already had support for iPhone and Touch as remote?
Why not add in DVD-ripping, like Glaser’s RealNetworks announced yesterday?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/technology/08dvd.html?ref=technology
@ bizlaw: The tv needs a big hard drive not for back-up, but so I can keep a good library of stuff I don’t intend to erase like pr0n at a finger’s reach.
Historical perspective from Wikipedia:
“Apple TV was first announced at a special press event in San Francisco, California on September 12, 2006, where Apple CEO Steve Jobs also announced enhanced fifth generation iPods, the addition of films to the iTunes Store and the release of version 7 of iTunes. The final product name was not announced at the event, but was instead referred to by its codename iTV.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_tv
Could history repeat itself two years later? (Albeit updated for 2008.)
Sure, how about a Mac Mini that play BD/DVD/CD, plus has 4GB ram, a 1 TB HD, full 5.1 in/outs, 4 sets of RCA inputs/outputs, ATSC, HDMI, plain old coax, Gig ethernet, XT2900 video card, and only uses 1 watt of power when on? Sure they can do that!
Totally unrealistic. Maybe a loaded regular Mac with Eye TV and some other software could handle it. But not all that in a MacTV/Mini.
I think the Apple TV is perfect as it is, I can watch HD movies instantly. The only requests I have are studio based… more TV shows and HD TV shows. I’d like a cheaper price for seasons and have them expire (as HD content takes up space).
The only other thing would be the ability to play DVDs on my computer and have them come up on Apple TV like Front Row.
If I want to use the internet, I’d rather use my computer.
DVD, Blueray, etc. will all be gone in a few years – digital is the way to go.
1. WiFi – Already supported
2. iPhone as a remote – Already supported
3. Tuner – WHY?
4. BluRay – No thank you – already have one, and it goes against the whole point of AppleTV – digital downloads… which will be the way most of us get our HD content in the future.
I WOULD like to see bluetooth support added so I can use my wirelesss keyboard and mouse.
iWill –
A real diff. between announcing a surprise new product (as iTV was in 2006) at an iPod/iTunes event versus major refreshes of the line.
I believe Jobs has described three legs to the stool to be Computers (Macs) / Pocket media (iTunes&iPod;/iPhone) / Home media (Apple TV), so I’d expect that “leg” to either get its own events or be folded into a major media event.
Then again, maybe it’s still too gimpy of a leg to hold its own.
Panny / labcomdave –
You’re both right of course about Blu-Ray being kind of not the point of Apple TV, but until the content side is ready (and as long as ISPs are starting to limit residential data!) then Apple TV could be a very strong product if positioned to REPLACE any & all other boxes you have attached to your TV. No more DVD player, no more TiVo, no more stereo (iTunes streams audio), and with an improved content library, no more NetFlix. Wean people off getting NEW DVDs but support playback of what they already have.
Agreed, some way of wirelessly streaming DVDs from your computer to the AppleTV would be fine, too. But the goal for AppleTV can and should be to REPLACE everything else that’s attached to the TV.
If Dell can upgrade it’s computers to a BlueRay drive for $250, Apple should be able to make that option available as well.
1. HD Tuner. Meh?
2. Full app store capability—why not?
3. Safari—yeehaw!
4. TB drive? Not sure about that, but 40 gigs is extremely lame. Seems like they should have the same laptop drives available for AppleTV as they have for their laptops.
An Apple TV with Bluetooth keyboard and HD monitor would make a great casual gamer, websurfing and email machine. Or use the iPhone/iPod touch as your input device.
Sorry all but the AppleTV won’t get updated till macworld 09. Yes thats a guess….but a very good guess.
TV should be melded with the Mac mini.
THAT’S what TV should have been all along.
I’d even buy one.
Don’t add Blu-Ray. That would drive the price up $200 or more. As for Time Capsule back up, you already have that option from your Mac or PC. The safari browser would be a nice feature, along with a larger hard drive; 250gb or 500gb. 99.999% of people would not need 1tb.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. Mr Jobs and his team will have quite a surprise for you tomorrow.
i would just like to see them add support for hulu.
Oh yeah, make the optical drive an upsampling one with Faroudja circuitry.
I’d rather have a separate, full-featured Blu-ray player. The new Sony BDP-550 is due to be released soon.