Macworld: News: Apple previews iTV home theater playback box

Apple plans on adding yet another twist to entertainment/movies/television/computing - and the whole digital multimedia thing within 6 months.

The as-yet-unamed future product will have the ability to stream A/V (audio-video) directly from the Mac to a modern digital high-def. (HDTV) television system.

It will come out in the first quarter of 2007. They way Apple has been more than beating their own promises for the past couple of years, that could translate to in stores at Christmas. But we will see, if you will pardon the pun.

Macworld: News: Apple previews iTV home theater playback box:

esembling a squat Mac Mini, the iTV will use wireless networking to stream movies and TV shows from iTunes to a television. The power supply is built right in to the unit; it also features USB 2.0, Ethernet, High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) plug, component video, analog audio and optical audio interfaces.

Apple's inclusion of 3D graphics menus is very interesting.

Not because it is a gee-whiz feature but because of what significance it could hold.

Apple has a lot of 3D and artistic talent. Not just programming but artistry, creativity, and production. Apple's CEO has been owning and somewhat running a 3D video graphics TV commercials-cum-movies house for the past 2 decades.

Think he might transfer some of his momentum/skill with managing that technology into consumer products for the home - or even business - environment?

I do.

TVs are more than just things for watching commercials, movies, DVDs, canned news broadcasts - and the occasional documentary.

They are media portals.

They have simple controls, IR remotes, impressively large screens, and generally sit in locals people relax in and even congregate/socialize in. In essence, it is a gawk box.

Apple or someone like them could spin that gawk box into something a lot more captivating, a lot more informative, a lot more realtime, and a lot more personalized.

Whoever does that, basically can steer what shows up on that box by leading it around by the nose. I am not talking about control per se but I am definitely talking about Influence.

Customizable content, the norm on computers for the past half dozen years on computers, has definitely been lacking or at least extremely weak on computers.

TiVo certainly created a foothold for it, indirectly, by letting you inform your TV what you wanted to watch - and let it manage the acquisition, relinquishment, and cataloging of said programs.

But shows are just one kind of media. And prerecorded shows are hardly current information, by definition.

A huge screen can certainly be a great way to watch news broadcasts and movies and sitcoms - the way we have for the past fifty to hundred years.

However, I think TiVo proves we can do more than watch. We can tailor what our TV captures to our needs, have it presented - and discarded - according to our own schedule/availability/desires, and stop/rewind it in an instant.

Apple is a computer company, as their name says. They are not just movie and music moguls.

I think Apple or 3^rd parties will bring a lot more to Apple's upcoming TV product than meets the eye. And I think it will offer a lot in the form of 3D graphics visualizations - both aesthetic and informational.

They have the technology.

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