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Official Apple Media Event 9/1/10 Announcements and DIscussion Thread (1 Viewer)

Ronald Epstein

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APPLE SEPTEMBER 1 MEDIA EVENT

Official Discussion Thread

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

230,000 New IOS Activations per day

6.5 Billion Apps downloaded App Store

 

iOS 4.1

 

* Bug fixes

* HD Video Upload over WiFi

* TV Show Rentals
* High Dynamic Range Photos produces better photos

* Game Center: Allows Multi-Player Games

Releases Next Week

 

iOS 4.2

 

* Brings everything to the iPad

* Wireless Printing

* Air Play streams audio, video and photos over WiFi

Free Update in November for iPhone, iPad and IPod Touch

 

[SIZE= 18px]iPods[/SIZE]

 

All new designs for every single model

iPod Shuffle: With buttons, voice-over and playlists. 15 hour Battery life. 5 colors. $49

iPod Nano: 46% Smaller 42% wider, multi-touch, wearable with clip. Voice-over, FM Radio. 24 hour battery life. 6 colors. $149 (8GB) $179 (16GB)

iPod Touch: Thinner. LED Retina Display. Apple A4 Chip. iOS4.1. Game Center. Front Facing Camera with Facetime. Rear Camera with HD recording. 40 hours music playback. $229 (8GB) $299 (32GB) $399 (64GB)

Available next week

 

[SIZE= 18px]iTunes 10[/SIZE]

 

* New logo now that iTunes is exceeding CD sales

* Hybrid View for album art

* Ping: Music Social Network. Follow and be Followed

* Custom songs and album charts

* Ping also available on iPhone

Available Today

 

[SIZE= 18px]Apple TV[/SIZE]

 

* New smaller design. FIts in palm of hand. Power supply built in. HDMI and Ethernet plugs. WiFi capable.

* Movies, TV shows & Music

* All Rentals No Purchases. No storage

* Stream photos and videos from computer without cable

* Stunning Photo slideshows

* $4.99 HD movies day and date with DVD. Gets cheaper as time goes on.

* 99 cent TV rental shows (Commercial Free)

* ABC and FOX offering shows initially

* Netflix streaming capability

* YouTube content

*flickr photos

* Internet Radio Staions and MobileMe content

$99 Available in 4 weeks

 

 

 
 

Ronald Epstein

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On the Apple site now. Despite being at work on a low

WiFi connection the streaming quality is very good.

 

Beatles music playing right now. Wonder what that means?
 

mattCR

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New Nano & Shuffle priced like winners. Nice feature set.
New Ipod Touch is in a bit of a pinch; pricing puts them as a real divide with iPad/iPhone..

Need to make sure I can opt out of "Ping".. I don't want any of my friends knowing what I buy/purchase, kind of find that creepy.. I hate that whole trend of everyone having to know everything I do.. I prefer not... waiting for privacy setting options..

 

Edit: and Apple reads my mind.. approval settings for PING and Opt-Out
 

mattCR

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ATV.
 

 

"It's all rentals and you don't store anything on it -- you just rent them."
 

 

Epic, Mega Fail (IMHO). No storage (you can stream from a PC, which I assume most will do, so that's misleading), but a "Rental Only" format. This thing will get subsidized. It's basically RoKu. Doesn't Hulu, and only ABC/Fox are on board.. and only limited programming (no backlog) .. so it's like a dumbed down Hulu you pay $.99 to rent a show.

 

Rent-only method basically rules out anyone without very HighSpeed internet (DSL basic and other customers go away)

 

Nice looking interface.

Maybe this is aimed at a different market then any I can think of. Limited TV offerings + Youtube to your TV, no ability to store content, only rent content or stream from a PC (somewhere else) some content, and locked format support (in other words, you aren't seeing MKV come to this anytime soon) .. since it's a rent-only and resettable, hacks to alter content feeds via DLNA and UPNP will be worthless. 720P? 1080P?

 

Rentals non-transferrable (ATV only on the pricing) bonded to machine.. nice pic @ Engadget "ATV Only"
 

EricW

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so how does the new touch camera system work? if i just want to take a photo, i'd have to just use the front-facing camera, which means i wouldn't be able to see what i was shooting? or just shoot HD video and take a screen cap? (which would have inferior PQ)

 

i assume the iphone 4 has front+back photo capability?
 

EricW

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check that... according to gizmodo, back camera can take photos (only 960x724 pixels though)

 

http://gizmodo.com/5627599/the-complete-guide-to-the-new-ipod-touch
 

mattCR

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Apple confirms.. ATV is 720P only. No bitstream output.

 

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv?mco=MTM3NTM1Nzk

 

 

I can't figure out who this product appeals to except apple enthusiasts who have to own everything Apple. Netflix isn't a killer app. You can get that with bluray players. ABC and Fox offering limited programming on Rental basis is not good when you can get HuluPlus for $10 on a PS3/XBOX and then it's unlimited. 720P with no bitstream and 160kbps top audio output is old school.

 

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/apple_tv?mco=MTM3NTM1Nzk

 

Can stream from Itunes in Itunes formats, so M4V/M4P and MJPEG AVI (oldtime), no DIVX, XVID, MKV, etc. formats. No portable connection formats. No UPNP. No DLNA. Can't store anything. Bitrate of your local network better hold up, or quality will suck. Buffer is low (they don't state memory but estimate is 512MB)

 

I'm interest in a pitch that puts this ahead of any Bluray player you can buy that has netflix for $119 anywhere.. now.
 

Dennis*G

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My stream from home quit twice on me. Well, first time it went back to the beginning of the conference where attendee where walking in about 25 minutes into Steves talk, then about 55 minutes in it started to hic-up for me (20mb connection)

So I just ended there.

The 720 only for 5 dollar rental is very disappointing, I still do not see apple tv as a big seller for them. Would rather have netflix and hili and get way more for my money.

Not sure I like the new nano. That's a small screen, I thought the previous nano screen was just right.

New touches should be a huge success, but a 128 version would have been great.

What about a white phone!!!!
 

Ronald Epstein

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Very sad to see there were no updates announced for

iLife. Was certain there would be.

 

I can see why Jobs is not a big Blu-ray fan. Obviously

he is hoping that his $99 Apple TV and the concept of

low rental prices without ownership will win the buying

public over.
 

...and you know what? With iTunes downloads now

just about surpassing CD sales, the same kind of goons

who don't care about CD quality audio aren't going to

care about 1080p vs. 720p content.

 

....that's not to say that Apple TV is going to make it

into the large population of homes. I just don't see that

happening. However, there are lots of other movie

delivery devices and services out there from Amazon,

Hulu, Netflx and Google that makes me wonder what

the future of disc media will be. Jobs certainly feels

that Apple TV and the streaming of content (over

ownership) is a a viable gamble over Blu-ray.
 

Carlo_M

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As one who bemoaned the "death" of physical music sales, I completely understood it. For the "average Joe" who doesn't critically listen, a 256kbps AAC sounds just as good as a CD.

 

However with most households having less than the needed bandwidth to do successful 720p streaming, I don't see that streaming video is anywhere near poised to take over. People *will* care about the lesser quality of streaming video when it constantly hiccups/pixellates/freezes while watching a movie. Maybe in Jobs' household, where he likely has a T3 line to the world and can stream multiple 1080p content seamlessly his ideas work, but for the vast majority of American who can't even get a seamless 360p YouTube experience, I don't see how acceptable streaming video can be poised to take over physical media.
 

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

...and you know what? With iTunes downloads now

just about surpassing CD sales, the same kind of goons

who don't care about CD quality audio aren't going to

care about 1080p vs. 720p content.
 

mattCR

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I think for those who are truly fans of quality HD experience need to hope this does not work. I say this because, even as an avid Bluray collector, if you buy into the "people don't care about DTS, they dont' care about HD-Audio, they don't care about extras, they don't care about bitrate, they are OK with low-bitrate 720P with low-bitrate audio" then interest in releasing limited titles on Bluray will die.

 

I just look at ATV and think: argh. While Bluray players come out with Amazon on Demand (now 99 cents) and they also offer Hulu (sometihng ATV doesn't) and VUDU which walmart backs.. you get those as "counter options" in a bluray player you can go buy at the store right now for $129 at your nearby walmart.

 

Would ATV take off. Maybe. I assume there are enough "I must have Apple!" people out there to buy quite a few.
 

I felt sad when MP3s and Itunes started to eat away at the CD/SACD market, and the SACD market is basically a wasteland now.

Consumers are OK with giving up on quality. But here at almost exactly the same price point, they have a choice between: higher quality content vs. lower quality content.

 

Will Apple's brand name win out? After all, Amazon pointed out that Fox/ABC cut them the exact same deal, so ATV has no exclusive content that won't be available through Amazon on the TV front. And while Itunes is a celeb, BD players with Amazon can also play.. you know, Bluray. At higher definition with higher quality audio and video.

 

While BD players race to come out with 3D Bluray and the sets fill the market; Microsoft ushers out Cablecard systems and first certified BD-3D drivers for Windows Media Center, as well as DTS-HD decoder plans, Apple comes out with 720P and support for AC3 bitrate that is less then DVDs.

 

Maybe they've hit it. Maybe consumers will bolt on spending the $20 upfront money. *shrug* As a home theater fan, it's hard to root for the things that promote lower quality and root for the demise of high quality.
 

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For the "average Joe" who doesn't critically listen, a 256kbps AAC sounds just as good as a CD.
 

That's just the thing. The "average Joe" thinks that but I can easily tell 256kbps download

from a CD recording. Easily. Just listen to all the muffling when music hits high notes at

that bitrate. It's horrible. Can't stand listening to anything under 350kbps which is why I

rarely listen to satellite radio anymore on anything bigger than a boom box.

 

...but you know what? People just don't hear it nor care.

 

And I can't really argue streaming with you, Carlo. I have never streamed a movie on my

television. Done it on my computer with no problem, but never a 720p or 1080p film.
However, I sort of felt that these streaming boxes have been around for so many years

and remain quite popular so people certainly can't be having too many problems with

hiccups at 720p. I mean, aren't those devices at least outputting at that bitrate?
 

mattCR

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Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein

 

 

That's just the thing. The "average Joe" thinks that but I can easily tell 256kbps download

from a CD recording. Easily. Just listen to all the muffling when music hits high notes at

that bitrate. It's horrible. Can't stand listening to anything under 350kbps which is why I

rarely listen to satellite radio anymore on anything bigger than a boom box.

 

...but you know what? People just don't hear it nor care.

 

And I can't really argue streaming with you, Carlo. I have never streamed a movie on my

television. Done it on my computer with no problem, but never a 720p or 1080p film.
However, I sort of felt that these streaming boxes have been around for so many years

and remain quite popular so people certainly can't be having too many problems with

hiccups at 720p. I mean, aren't those devices at least outputting at that bitrate?

At a 100mb connection, the fastest (if you have no other network device running anywhere in your house, so let's say no internet, etc.) you're going to get is 100/8=12.5Mb. Most re-compressed 720P is actually done at a much, much lower bitrate for streaming over the net.. way, way lower. (closer to 1-2mb). Whereas Bluray is anywhere from 25-50Mb.

 

Not a knock on anything, just information. :)
 

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You're worried about streaming movies over the internet? The gigs up: the world is watching on-demand movies from their cable provider. And these are low-bitrate "HD" movies that macroblock during playback in fast-motion scenes. And my parents rent them. I watch them when visiting family because they're easier than going to Blockbuster. So something like iTunes streaming is only playing catch up with bog-standard cable TV and Netflix.

 

The previous AppleTV was a joke: $229 with $2.99 TV episodes. It was an overpriced toy with ridiculously priced media, and a pathetic selection.

 

Now, at $99 it's cheap enough to buy to give it a go, even if you're not certain if it's what you want. With 48-hr rentals, they've fixed the parents-with-kids problem: watch half the movie the first night, and then the movie evaporates and the movie is never finished. With $0.99 TV rentals, it's cheaper than buying the DVD set a year after the show runs. And for catching a missed episode, easier than scrounging it up (legally or otherwise) online and getting it on the TV with a mess of cables to the laptop. And if you want to buy a Netflix box, this is priced reasonably just for that.

 

It's not a slamdunk. The selection doesn't look any better than last week. But it's now priced to be attractive.

 

iPods: nano is very interesting. Looking forward to playing with one at the Apple Store. Did they get rid of video? Interesting step backwards.

 

Shuffle: never been a fan, but this one actually looks usable.

 

Touch: Wow! Full featured. This is an amazing complement to the iPhone, and will help get those RetinaDisplay apps going! Does it have a speaker and mic to work as a Wifi Skype-phone?
 

Ronald Epstein

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I would imagine the Touch has a microphone and speaker.

After all, wouldn't be worth putting HD movie recording in it

without audio input, that is, unless they want to encourage

the public to film Charlie Chaplin silents.
 

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