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Posts Tagged ‘Apple TV’

Analyst Eightball: Apple TV To Become Games Console

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 by Tim Barribeau

Michael Pachter has come out saying that the Apple TV will transition to the app store, which will make it a game console of sorts. It’s an interesting idea, and one with some merits but some major hurdles, and assumes the device will shift to iPhone OS at some point in the future. The most obvious issue is the interface, as going from a touch based interface to a remote would be extremely problematic. I also think that Apple would only view games as an added bonus on the platform, as they’re probably still slightly sore after the 90s Pippin debacle.

Is Apple TV going to be a “game console”? Nope. Will it be a piece of hardware that plays games? That seems far more likely—assuming it ever converts to iPhone OS.

[via TUAW]

Apple To Sell iPad At Best Buy And Other Store-In-Stores

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 by Tim Barribeau

Yesterday, Apple COO Tim Cook talked to Goldman Sachs. He talked a lot about what Apple was up to. If you want to read the entire conversation, you can see a transcript here, but let us provide a summary of some of the more interesting statements.

Cook said he’d been using an iPad for six months, and “the experience is just absolutely incredible”. He thinks that the iPad will replace netbooks in peoples hearts, and that he’s not worried about it cannibalizing Apple’s other sales. The iPad will be sold directly to begin with, before moving to store-in-stores like Best Buy, and Apple Premium Resellers internationally.

He also talked about using a single carrier model for the iPhone in the USA, which he said allows more concentrated innovation, and more features, which would be difficult to arrange with multiple carriers. In some countries the advantage to multiple carriers is more sales.

For any Apple TV fans, Cook said that they still view Apple TV as a “hobby”, and they have no interest in going into the TV market.

CBS Will Cut iTunes Prices For Some Shows

Friday, February 19th, 2010 by Tim Barribeau

MediaMemo is reporting that CBS will be attempting to lower the prices of some of its iTunes content down to $0.99, a move which Apple was recently pushing for. CEO Les Moonves said “There are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents,” though the details have yet to be entirely worked out. Moonves made the comment during CBS’s earnings call on February 17.

While this is hardly concrete information, it does show that Apple holds some sway over the television networks, and the cut price content may be on the way. There were rumors that Apple was pushing for the $0.99 episodes because they couldn’t find backers for a subscription model.

Apple Moving To $1 TV Shows?

Thursday, February 11th, 2010 by Tim Barribeau

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is shifting to charging $1 for TV shows, half of its current $2 per episode rate. Apparently, Cupertino plans to trial this lower price point in April, when the iPad debuts. This is for standard definition shows, and there’s no word if the usually $3 HD episodes will likewise get a discount.

“If you move five times the volume [of sales] at half the price, it’s a good idea,” one digital media strategist at a big US media conglomerate said. “The argument for holding the line gets bad quickly.”

As recently as December, we’ve been hearing rumors that Apple is looking to move to a subscription model for iTunes TV shows, a shift that hasn’t eventuated.

In vaguely related news, Apple TV has been updated to 3.0.2, though no new features have been listed, or reason for the update given.

CBS and Disney Join Forces With Apple for iTunes Subscription

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 by Tim Barribeau

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that CBS and Disney might be hopping on board the Apple train, to get their TV shows on iTunes on a subscription basis. Concrete deals at this point are non-existent, but it sounds as if the service would be a flat monthly fee, for certain TV shows on demand. The problem is, we don’t know how much they might cost, what sort of variety of shows their would be, what sort of back catalog you would get, etc. WSJ also believes that Apple is pushing a change in iTunes prior to the Apple Tablet announcement.

The other major hurdle facing Apple as they attempt to take the cable market the way they did music, is the issue of live sport. For many users, sports is the only thing keeping them on a cable plan, and without that Apple won’t be able to dominate the market

[via AppleInsider]

Apple Pitching $30/Month iTunes TV

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 by Tim Barribeau

According to MediaMemo, Apple has been shopping around TV studios, trying to drum up support for a $30 per month TV over iTunes service. Apparently, this would be entirely separate from the recently updated Apple TV, but rather part of iTunes, an extension of its current abilities (iTunes X maybe?).

If this report is true, the service would be the equivalent to cable TV. However, what’s not discussed is if the content would be provided as a channel with specific viewing times, like standard cable,; if you’d need to save specific shows, like TiVo; or if the shows would be stored in the cloud, and shown on demand, like Hulu.

As of yet, this is still a rumor, but one which is potentially very interesting. This would mean Apple moving into a substantial new market, and one that would make many cable providers very unhappy. These same companies are also often ISPs, which are a group Apple would not want to annoy.

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Apple TV 3.0 Has Landed

Thursday, October 29th, 2009 by Tim Barribeau

Confirming this morning’s rumors, Apple TV 3.0 just launched. It’s a free download, and Apple have significantly changed the look and feel of Apple TV, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a change in what it can and can’t do. As predicted, it can now handle iTunes Extras and LP, as well as Genius mixes and internet radio station playlists. The new interface looks like that of the Sony Playstation 3 and PSP, but Apple is claiming it’s faster and easier to use.Any Apple TV users here? What are your thoughts on the update? The new interface?

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Apple TV 3.0 On The Way

Thursday, October 29th, 2009 by Tim Barribeau

If you try and buy something over iTunes today, and you’ll be greeted by a slightly different terms & conditions, one that warns of an incoming upgrade for the Apple TV. The updated T&C note that you can use iTunes LPs and iTunes Extras on your Apple TV, if you have version 3.0 of the software.

The last single digit upgrade for Apple TV, 2.0, was two years ago. This seems like a relatively minor update to go up an entire version number, so maybe we’ll actually see some crazy new features when the update drops.

[via MacRumors]

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