“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.
What would be really nice is adding Safari and leveraging your iPod Touch or iPhone as your remote keyboard/mouse for Apple TV! That would be truly leveraging your device set. It would also be nice to stream legally owned content to the Touch and iPhone…
I’d just like it if they could figure out playing Music Video playlists, somehow they can’t figure out how to go to the next music video after it finishes one.
•More cowbell….
I believe that the next iteration of Apple TV will be a TV screen itself, with the Apple TV device built in. This move could explain the original choice of the name “Apple TV” to begin with. Additionally, this new internet savvy TV could receive both software and firmware updates for years to come, keeping it current with new advancements in video delivery technology.
Stay tuned for more good information!
If only more US iTunes stores would carry TV-shows and films.
Heck, why can’t we watch American made TV-shows and movies on the Belgian iTunes store? Can’t they just pay the authors using the US royalty mechanism?
I’ve had an ATV since day one and love it, so much so that I cancelled my cable tv. I have my entire 350+ movie collection available to watch now at the press of a button without shuffling thru DVD’s.
That being said, I think this is all DESPITE apple’s lackluster marketing and updates for the unit. Why not open up the USB port to allow extra storage? The list goes on and on.
Its clear that apple is solely focused on Iphone and MobileMe and has left appletv users behind
The Apple TV has Wi-Fi 802.11N no less
You can use the iPhone and iPod touch as the Apple TV’s remote, Go to the App Store and download Apple’s Free Program.
There is two features I’d like to see added to the Apple TV
1) continues playing (one after the other) of Music Videos and other short format videos (i.e. Podcasts)
2) the ability to add an external HDD to the USB port on the unit already.
I wonder just what fiasco’s tomorrow will bring to us Apple users? Especially if they release stuff all at once like July 11th.
iPhone software 2.1, but re-activation take hours? iPhone stop working?
iTunes. but music doesn’t play?
10.5.5. Computers crash?
ApleTV? Who knows.
Let’s hope Apple learned extremely valuable lessons from July 11th? If not then Apple should name their “updates” Service Packs then.
And how many of us are going to wait for others to update so we can read about problems before we jump in to update our iPhones and computers? Something I never hesitated about before. But will wait from now on.
This guy has to be joking, right?
When the industry and consumer preference is moving AWAY from DVDs and physical media TO MORE on-DEMAND content, his number one item on the list is a Blu-ray player?
I would advise against such a move and await the inclusion of an iTunes movie streaming service such as NetFlix and Roku have begun to offer. I would not see this coming to fruition tomorrow, though – as this would imply a major product transition for Apple – one that’s still a few months (maybe a year and a half?) away.
What kind of an analyst is this?
I have an AppleTV, and I love it. I definitely want Safari, iChat, and a keyboard to be added though. What I definitely don’t want is an expensive blu-ray player. And I am just perplexed by the constant calls for Apple to add a tv tuner. What the hell for? Don’t you people already have a tv tuner? Doesn’t everyone? Why would you need one more? Is there any HDTV set sold on the planet that doesn’t come with an integrated tv tuner? Is there any cable or satellite service on the planet that doesn’t have a tv tuner integrated into its box?
And as for a DVR, doesn’t everybody who wants one of those already have a Tivo or a DVR supplied by their cable or satellite company? Why on earth should Apple add something that everybody already has?
Only one must have for AppleTV 3.0 is a SDK. That would open up everything else.
What’s wrong with the current model with the addition of ATV Flash?
Although I would love to see these things happen, I am almost completely sure most will never happen. Apple is betting the future is in HD downloads *not* discs, therefore there will be no Blu-Ray player offered in the AppleTV. Apple is also supporting iTunes distribution meaning there will never be an NTSC tuner included nor DVR capabilities that would compete with or negate much of the need for their offerings – just the way they have never included an FM radio in iPods.
Smart Remotes WILL happen and already have – kind of a no-brainer prediction.
Over-the-air HDTV tuner in an AppleTV? Why? Is the author aware that only 3% of those who own an HDTV set are using it to pull in over-the-air broadcasts? I do it, but it only works because I live in a major metropolitan area. If I lived just a few miles farther out of town, my hdtv antenna would be unusable.
Over-the-air HDTV doesn’t work like analog. With analog, the signal can be fuzzy, but you can still watch it. With digital, unless you get an absolutely perfect signal, you can’t watch it…it will be blacking out, skipping, have extremely distorted audio and video.
No one, I repeat, NO ONE, who is on the fence about an Apple TV would buy one because it had an integrated over-the-air HDTV tuner.
What an amazing bunch of crap. Who the heck is this guy and has he ever seen an ATV before, let alone used one? How can you make a mistake like forgetting that it has had WiFi since day one? Why does everything have to have a Blu-Ray player in it? Why would you want a 500GB drive in the thing? My ATV runs all day, every day and has nothing but my photo collection on the HD. Not once have I experienced a problem streaming iTunes content over my network. Just buy a Blu-Ray player if it means that much to you.
Why would you want any form of backup for your ATV? The ATV is technically a second copy of content on your computer anyway.
Of all the rubbish you can read on the internet everyday, this article sticks its head out above the crowd and screams “I’m more rubbish than any of you!”
I don’t get the Time Machine request? Isn’t that doubling up? If it’s on ATV, it’s on iTunes, which SHOULD be backed up…
What about the mac mini? I say Apple should replace the Apple TV with a mac mini, except without a disk drive, with an Apple TV version of Front Row, and able to use the external SuperDrive like the MacBook air. They should also replace the current mac mini with a slightly larger consumer desktop that you can actually open and upgrade parts.
You guys who want to play your music videos continuously, just put them in a playlist.
Jeepers, I would settle for an iTunes-like visualizer for the ATV. No way in hell they’re going to add all that other shit.
Add subtitles and closed captioning support. That’s what stopping me from buying one.
ok?
so basically this guy wants a blu-ray/dvd/cd player,
an HD (500GB or 1TB),
Wi-Fi capable,
an internet device,
keyboard use,
a tuner,
and a DVR fuction?
all of this to me looks almost like a Mac with a TV monitor and EyeTV. maybe we should throw in full OSX to make it perfect!
How about just a decent size HD, streaming videos, streaming music, and a way to browse YouTube…. oh wait… this sounds like the TV…. maybe we should just update it with… the stuff it already has? maybe some software changes that people want, but I think all of this is just ridiculous.
Yeah, and let me guess… Lower the price to $199 too, right?
Apple TV can’t compete with bluray until it can output 1080P with uncompressed audio. DVD and Bluray aren’t going away in a few years. There are too many sheep that are scared of tec in the world, to have what they are comfortable with go away.
I don’t know about any of you, but this guy is looking for something akin to the second coming! Not that there’s anything wrong with his wish list – I hope we see half of what he’s asking for.
i’ve been using my appletv every weekend and it is just unbelievable what i can do with it. i am surprised that i don’t miss the .divx filetype although it would be nice to have.
please no blueray disc drive. only 2 requests really:
AN ON/OFF SWITCH!
An S-VIDEO CONNECTION.
How bout video conferencing from your couch? Families can visit that way. Internet capability is a must. You want this gadget to do it all, check weather, news headlines, etc. People don’t like to get up and use the computer for everything. It’s a lazy world!
I got my wish today!!
“more TV shows and HD TV shows” from my earlier post. Ok, didn’t get cheaper pricing for HD shows that have a time limit but its a great start. Delighted that NBC are back. I’m very close to looking at the prospect of ditching Time Warner Cable TV for this! Have to work out how much I’d spend buying the shows.
How much space does a video take up on a BluRay disc?
How much space does that same video take up when downloaded as “HD” from iTunes Store?
Why is the disc version so much larger (10x?) than the downloaded version? Both are the same compression (mpeg4).
For all of you who say the downloaded videos are good enough, it is the same as saying 128k MP3’s are good enough for your music.