Apple TV Big Screen - Freedom from Cables and your Cable Company?
Apple TV….iTV…. Apple’s Big Screen - My One Sided Thoughts
Originally posted as comments to Monday Note’s An Apple TV Set In Our Future
Here’s what i’m betting on:
Dave Mansueto
Posted September 6, 2011 at 5:35 am | Permalink
I think Comcast would be lucky to get an hdmi port. Apple may rather have them demoted to just another app on an iOS tv.
As far as tv upgrade cycles- are we really ever going to make it past 1080p? The 120/240hz refresh rates are already pushed to 11 (it always surprises me that Apple leaves the smooth motion tech on in their stores). 3D seems to be caught in that “bag of hurt” bin. What other technology can Apple bring to the table to disrupt the industry besides liberating the consumer from their cable company the way it is doing with mobile carriers?
So that seems to pose a problem for the improvements in iOS hardware with yearly updates. But if most of the processing power needed for things like gaming happens on your iPhone or iPad with AirPlay transmission, then they just need to get rid of that tiny bit of delay in AirPlay and get other companies to support it like they did with the iPod docks. It becomes just another badge of compatibility on other companies boxes.
I think the reality is that there will always be more iPhones and iPads sold to consumers every year. But a big, beautiful, best in class LCD display with little to no border and running apple tv’s iOS would sell well to Apple fans. To set it up all you’d have to do is plug in the power chord. One thunderbolt port could go to an optional breakout box for hdmi ports and optical audio. They love dropping legacy ports, so you gotta figure VGA and analog won’t likely make the cut. The preferred setup would have all connections be handled via wifi and AirPlay. An A5 processor could be enough horsepower to run the Apple TV OS for years to come if they follow the direction of the stp Apple TV 2 with no multitasking in most use cases. Of course it would be app store enabled. You gotta figure the time is finally right for all the living in the future home automation stuff, and Apple is sure poised well to be the OS of choice. I’d say 50/50 that it’s got a FaceTime camera.
Bottom line though, freedom from cables and your cable company. They’ll get you again in five years for the 3d that doesn’t suck.
Dave Mansueto
Posted September 7, 2011 at 6:04 pm | Permalink
(Originally a response to @solipsism)
Interesting thought there with the Apple TV gaining an hdmi in. But I would think that Apple doesn’t want to enable the cable companies that much. If Apple did go into physical screens, they would most likely still be producing stand alone boxes like we have now. But it definitely makes sense that the current UI would support an hdmi-in menu item for cable and game consoles in a full TV otherwise that could be a deal breaker for people.
Netflix reported awhile back that the Apple TV 2 had surpassed the iPad in streams. I’m not sure if that has changed since the iPad 2 but Netflix has replaced “channel surfing” for many of my friends in their 20′s and 30′s.
The only puzzle piece that still seems to be missing is things like American Idol, programs that really only work as a live streaming spectacle. MLB.tv seems to prove that it is not a technical hurdle however, and true interactive programming stands to be supercharged if they just took that leap of faith. I watched the Sons of Anarchy premiere like everybody else last night, it was surprisingly on my Apple TV, so they are getting faster with the release of major studio content. Sure, I’m a fanboy, early adopter… but there just aren’t that many things missing from the experience any more. Apple just needs that magic thing that takes the experience of their “TV” to a whole new level.
A physical TV with FaceTime sure does seem like the type of thing Apple would consider to be a game changer… Plus it would make for great commercials. Access to that camera for app developers would open up all sorts of interesting possibilities whether it’s using the camera as an input a la kinect, or using it for more social applications incorporating video chat like playing games with friends and family in other cities. Charades comes to mind.
Dave Mansueto
Posted September 7, 2011 at 7:21 pm | Permalink
(Originally a response to @solipsism)
Re your PS: absolutely agree. And while you watch tv, you’re most likely sitting there with your iPad, iPhone, smartphone in hand. It used to be your tv guide, then laptop and now it’s this personal screen. Apple has been inching towards the tv in a similar way that that iTunes took baby steps first with the ipod, then the store. That’s where I think Google TV really misses. People want that second screen, and they want the two screens to talk to each other. So far I think Apple is doing the best job flirting with closing the loop.
The reality of external inputs can be as you suggested made part of the Apple TV menu, living near netflix, vimeo and YouTube. I just would bet that the concession is only on the TV via hdmi-in on a thunderbolt breakout box, and left off the stb Apple TV… although I wouldn’t bet a lot. I do see your point about not having to switch inputs as a reason to build an in to the apple tv stb, but I think they would have done that already with Apple TV 2. Maybe they could accomplish that via dongles, or the same breakout box shared with the TV if they add thunderbolt to the stb Apple TV. I would think that’s the only way coax could get anywhere close to these devices.
