Filed under: Hardware, iTS, Rumors, Video, iMac
Apple to introduce iTunes Movie Store, new iMac, iPod nano, and video streaming device?
Wow, that's a long title. Blame it on AppleInsider, who believes most -- if not all -- of those yummy goodies will be delivered to us in a nice wrapped package by The Jobs himself at next week's supposed media event. According to the rumor peddler, at the yet-unconfirmed September 12th event Jobs will take the wraps off...drumroll please:- An $9.99-a-pop movie download service with films from at least one major studio. The idea is that the rest will see how Freakin' Amazing it is and follow suit -- a la TV shows.
- A new 23" iMac that we reported on earlier.
- A new non-scratch metal iPod nano with "at least double the storage capacity of today's models."
- What they believe is a new Airport Express-like device designed to stream video content from your Mac to your TV/home entertainment system. AI says "it's arguably been one of the most closely guarded secrets at Apple since the evolution of the first iPod digital music player."
I'm most interested in that streaming device. This isn't in the article, but imagine: plug your Airport Express to a TV and be greeted by a Front Row-like interface that streams videos/music/photos directly from your Mac, controllable by the included Apple Remote. Pipe dream? Maybe. But I guess we'll find out next week.
Check out the article for more in-depth information and AI's standard "it could be pushed back a little" disclaimer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
David Chartier said 7:48PM on 9-04-2006
I.would.kill for a video streaming AirPort Express. We own two, and it would be killer to be able to pack one of those up for the road and know it can stream *everything.*
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Kesey said 8:07PM on 9-04-2006
You can get a non-intel Mac mini pretty cheap. Personally, I don't see the point of a streaming device when you could just use a cheap Mac mini. Perhaps if it's
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Kesey said 8:08PM on 9-04-2006
Perhaps if it's under $100. (my comment above got cutoff)
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Bruce Anderson said 8:41PM on 9-04-2006
Oh, come on. If they're going to intro a movie store you know perfectly well they're going to do it in LA at some huge special event, not at the Apple Expo in Paris.
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Dan Pourhadi said 8:45PM on 9-04-2006
Bruce Anderson -- the article does not say it will be at Apple Expo Paris. It will be somewhere in California, then streamed to the rest of the world.
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michel said 9:06PM on 9-04-2006
paris got some huge announcements some years ago
iMac for example.
and Paris is a big famous city , did you forget that ?
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DerekJ said 9:09PM on 9-04-2006
Well, the announcement is supposed to come from Cali, and umm...old mac mini's don't have front-row unless you yourself install it (a viable option for the well versed)
But isn't a video-streaming box a little overdue from Cupertino?
Haven't our PC buddies had it for quite a while now???
Gimme a break!
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Mike said 9:20PM on 9-04-2006
Apple devs. should start reading this and getting ideas. That means YOU lone Apple employee that's reading this right now and knows what will be released!!!
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starwxrwx said 9:37PM on 9-04-2006
A video-streaming Airport express would save me having to buy a mac mini! If only it came with a remote (possibly non-IR so it can be plugged into the wall out of sight...)
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Tom said 11:24PM on 9-04-2006
Is it just me or would a video streaming device be a bit of a letdown, especially next to the idea of a media center mac? A couple points.
First, these movies better damn well be at least DVD resolution or the whole thing will be worthless. Does anyone really want to pair the technology of wirelessly streaming video with aging VHS quality resolutions like the current TV show downloads? Apple's got to leverage their use of the h.264 codec here and deliver 720x480 at a bare minimum or it's going to be 2 video generations behind right out of the gate.
Second, there would obviously have to be an RF remote that can travel into the other room where your mac is sitting. And a little IR blaster dongle would not be Apple's style. I honestly don't know why the current Macs all use IR anyway, what with both Bluetooth and Airports in every Mac (save the Mac Pros).
On a competitive level, Apple needs to pay close attention to what Microsoft is doing with Vista. All late jokes aside, I think it's important that M$ is phasing out MCE and wrapping into the better home editions. Apple's got such a huge head start with their iApps, they'd be stupid not to take it all one step further and bury M$ before it can catch up. Front Row alone is not going to do it. I think they need full blown DVR-like living room software/hardware.
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Quix said 11:27PM on 9-04-2006
I've been waiting for this ever since infamous Slashdot poster and suspected Apple mole "AsSeenOnTV" said "forget about the Mac mini, think Airport Express" concerning the subject of home media centers (and this was a long time ago). And it makes perfect sense. Why should you need a PC next to your TV when you can just send the data there from wherever in the house your PC happens to be? Answer: you shouldn't!
Add a simple Airport Express AV to every TV in my home, and voila! I have perfect play-anywhere media management.
I yearn for the day when I can dump my cable TV service ($$$$) and my TiVo service ($) and my Netflix subscription ($$) and just buy whatever I want on iTunes and watch it on any TV in my home. Or on my iPod. Or on my laptop. Or my desktop computer.
Just make the quality good (i.e. NOT 320x240) and the price fair (i.e. NOT $1.99 for every episode), Apple, and you truly will change the world.
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Paolo Passeri said 12:24AM on 9-05-2006
The Video/Photo/Music Airport Express is just the begining...I think if this product is really released the natural course would be to add wi-fi to the ipod so it can become your whole house remote (think Sonos with Video)...This way Apple would use their best selling product as the gateway to whole house entertainment.
I really think Apple is not worried about PVR, that would kill their own business (Music Store -> TV Shows), their smarter than that. Watch it if you can, if not buy it from the store. As Quix said, if only the quality would get better, that would be, at least for me, the perfect solution...!
Come on Apple, DO IT!
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Jason said 12:26AM on 9-05-2006
After streaming music and photos from my PowerBook to my Xbox 360 -- my first streaming experience -- I've absolutely fallen in love. It makes so much sense to organize my media on my computer and watch it through a dedicated piece of equipment (in this case, the Airport Express Video).
My dream? Airport Express form factor, HDMI, up to 1080p, up to 7.1. Clearly these specs won't be coming from this 9/12 event, but it's an exciting start towards a dream product of mine :)
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Jason said 12:26AM on 9-05-2006
im hoping for new isight with ir and better resolution. and update on aperture maybe 2.0, any news updates from the adobe camp would be nice as well.
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Jason said 12:38AM on 9-05-2006
jason, what are you using to connect your powerbook to xbox 360? know of anything free? this is the whole reason i leave my pc on when i use my 360, i was going to buy connect 360 but now its 20 dollars.
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jason said 1:30AM on 9-05-2006
Merom MacBook Pros, with the introduction of a 13" Pro version - aluminum, backlit, better videocard, thinner?
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JT said 4:31AM on 9-05-2006
My biggest concern is the Airport Express "AV" to be limited in the content it streams. I wouldn't be suprised if it could only stream quicktime content and exclude any divx/xvid flavor... that would suck real bad IMHO.
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Adam Booth said 6:26AM on 9-05-2006
wow! so you're (the u.s.) probably getting movie downloads and we (the u.k. and rest of world) haven't even got tv shows.
it's hard to get excited about when it's probable that it won't show up here for the forseeable.
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afa said 7:13AM on 9-05-2006
Adam, most countries in the world don't even have the Music Store.
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Chris Murphy said 8:47AM on 9-05-2006
How long has it been since we have seen a significant upgrade/change to the iPod? I'm not talking about the Nano, or The Shuffle... the big 60G iPod.
I currently own a 10G 2nd generation iPod (it still works great but lacks features), and I want to move up to a new iPod with a larger hard drive so I can get ALL of my music on it, but I don't want to make a purchase until the new iPod comes out. I would like my iPod to be state-of-the-art for at least a few weeks, and the rumor of a wide screen is something I would love to have.
Of course, I made that decision about 10 months ago...
Let's hope they get the bugs worked out before Christmas.
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