If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Wireless TV Box: Ah, the famous, "One last thing..." Coming in the first quarter of next year, an easy way to see your iTunes/iPod video content on your television, wirelessly. It looks like a flattened Mac mini, and has USB, Ethernet, and 802.11 wireless connectivity, and component video, optical audio, and HDMI ports (so HD capable). Runs a beefed-up, Front Row-like interface, and of course works with the Apple Remote. Still needs a name, but called iTV for now. $299.
[...]
The new hardware piece for TV is intriguing... although a lot of people are already using Mac minis as media managers and media centers, this specialized box looks snazzy, and makes it Apple-style simple to get everything working easily.
But where's the DVR functionality? If Apple's gonna make an iTV, it had better out-TiVo TiVo.
What's missing? How about a disc with the Itunes software. Apple says:
Available as a free download, iTunes makes it easy to browse and buy millions of songs, audiobooks, podcasts, TV shows, movies, and games on the iTunes Store. Plus you can import your own music, manage your whole media library, and sync your iPod with ease.
Kind of a hassle for those without a high speen connection. My current version is 33.4MB. That's a long download for people with dial up.
Or they could load it into the nano itself. It is a data storage device, after all.
Shhhhhhhh....that's the dirty little secret about Ipods. I wonder how many Ipod owners use this function? I use it all the time, moving files from work to home, even backing up my server and using the Ipod to transport it to another computers external drive.
Since my darling wife basically spends any free moment playing Quinn, of course I had to buy her the official, licensed, iPod optimized (i.e. clickwheel playable) Tetris. Very, very snazzy.
Also, the new interface for iTunes is great. Easier iPod management, and the CoverFlow browsing mode is se-xy. My Mac is happily downloading missing cover art right now!
The new alpha navigation system for the new iPods looks really useful... but it doesn't appear as if that'll be added to the current line up of 5G iPods (even though the new iPods are effectively still 5G). My iPod was updated to support the new games, for example, but otherwise it's still spin city to reach the bottom of a list.
Sure, there's no widescreen video iPod (yet), but the price drop that boosts your gigabyte-per-buck? I'll take it. I've read online reports that the new 80GB model has led to a significant price discount on the former top dog, the 60GB, so if you want the space and don't need the latest and greatest, that might be an option.
The new alpha navigation system for the new iPods looks really useful... but it doesn't appear as if that'll be added to the current line up of 5G iPods (even though the new iPods are effectively still 5G). My iPod was updated to support the new games, for example, but otherwise it's still spin city to reach the bottom of a list.
Sometimes, it's good to be wrong. I was just scrolling down my list of artists, grumbling about how long it'd take, when lo and behold, suddenly letters appeared superimposed in the center of my screen and, voila, I was jumping down my library with ease -- one click, one letter, flipping through the alphabet with ease.
I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is the extent of the new browsing system on the newest iPods, but it's still a neat new tweak and one I'm glad to see "passed down" to those with first-generation fifth-generation iPods.
Oh, and by the way, Microsoft didn't release anything, really. Just more pictures and more marketing speak for a device they've been hyping up for weeks. But so far, the Zune is largely imaginary. We're just getting more promises of what it might include. Wireless! Phone functions! "If and when it actually comes out, watch out!" Sounds a lot like Vista two years ago. I think they just wanted to get back in the news after Apple basically took over the tech press last week.
That's MS' operating strategy. Always has been, probably always will be. When they identify a market they want, they start making noises about entering it. Then they wait for everyone else to decide the grass is greener elsewhere, fearing competition from MS. Then they move in with a mediocre product that's only half as nice as what they promised.
Somehow with the iPod out there I don't think it's gonna work this time
In a book titled "iWoz" published this week, Wozniak seeks to tell the engineer's side of the story and set a few things in the record straight.
For him, the day that defined the personal computer was June 29, 1975, the first time he typed a character on a keyboard and saw it show up on the screen right in front of him.
Sounds like an interesting read. Brings back memories of the also interesting "Pirates of Silicone Valley" television program.
On a side note, Steve Jobs is listed at #49 in the Forbes 400 Richest Americans recently published. His net worth at $5.1 billion at age 51. Again Bill Gates is #1 with $53 billion at age 50, and MS cofounder Paul Allen is at #5 with $16 billion at age 53.
I don't see Steve Wozniak anywhere in that Forbes list, but judging from the article above, it probably doesn't bother him one bit.
Wireless TV Box: Ah, the famous, "One last thing..." Coming in the first quarter of next year, an easy way to see your iTunes/iPod video content on your television, wirelessly. It looks like a flattened Mac mini, and has USB, Ethernet, and 802.11 wireless connectivity, and component video, optical audio, and HDMI ports (so HD capable). Runs a beefed-up, Front Row-like interface, and of course works with the Apple Remote. Still needs a name, but called iTV for now. $299.
Wireless TV Box...I think my dad had one of those back in the 60's. Nice unit with these things called "rabbit ears" poking out in all directions to catch a ghostly KGMB TV in Palolo. I believe Zenith made that one then there was the RCA with Colortrac and then Quasar with The works in the Drawer...yeah wireless TV kinda goes way back
Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.
If you've been eyeing one of the new, slimmer, metallic iPod Nano players, check out the new, special-edition "Product Red" iPod. Unlike the red-and-black U2 iPod, where you paid more for a fancy color scheme and U2 song downloads, the 4GB "Product Red" iPod Nano will have the same price as the rest of the colored 4GB iPod Nano line ($199), but $10 of it will go toward the Global Fund to Fight AIDS in Africa.
I love my 5G video iPod, but always thought the Nano line was particularly sexy. I think this sharp red color will sell quite well, and do some good in the process.
Comment