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Apple DVR patent surfaces...

mbuhmann said:
Bastards! And I just bought an :apple:tv.
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It appears to be describing software. Frankly, if you can use an external DVR with your existing cable box, I see no reason why AppleTV's existing hardware cannot be configured via firmware to do the same.

Maybe it's a bit more complicated than that, but the device will just get cheaper with time anyway... by the time something like this does come out, if Apple didn't scrap the idea, you'll be ready to plunk down the cash as surely as I've purchased 7 Macs, three iPods, an iPhone, an AppleTV and an AirPort Extreme in the past ten years.

What intrigues me most is that hidden in the language and diagrams seems to be the insinuation that iPhone could act as the remote by which you do scheduling on the touchscreen. THAT would be the single most brilliant innovation in the history of DVRs thus far. The biggest problem with DVR's is the user interface, and having to advance through a maze of ergonomically goony menus one damned buttonclick or nonintuitive scroll at a time. To actually touch the menu and use the iPhone's touch "physics" to provide better feedback would make the interface infinitely more useful and elegant.
 
Avatar74 said:
What intrigues me most is that hidden in the language and diagrams seems to be the insinuation that iPhone could act as the remote by which you do scheduling on the touchscreen. THAT would be the single most brilliant innovation in the history of DVRs thus far. The biggest problem with DVR's is the user interface, and having to advance through a maze of ergonomically goony menus one damned buttonclick or nonintuitive scroll at a time. To actually touch the menu and use the iPhone's touch "physics" to provide better feedback would make the interface infinitely more useful and elegant.
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And perhaps the worlds most expensive TV remote.
 
Avatar74 said:
It appears to be describing software. Frankly, if you can use an external DVR with your existing cable box, I see no reason why AppleTV's existing hardware cannot be configured via firmware to do the same.
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Uhh... No inputs.
 
Avatar74 said:
It appears to be describing software. Frankly, if you can use an external DVR with your existing cable box, I see no reason why AppleTV's existing hardware cannot be configured via firmware to do the same.
Click to expand...

It depends. I'm in Chicago and have Comcast for cable. They are trying to compete with TiVo so when Comcast released their HD DVR's they made it so you couldn't hook TiVo up to it or their cable box. The only way to get HD on TiVo currently is to install CableCard's that are provided by the cable company.

So I don't see how :apple:tv would be able to DVR HD content without a hardware update to allow CableCard installations.
 
It's worth pointing out that just because they're applying for a patent doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to actually release the product. furthermore, I would assume if they're only just now applying for the patent that it would be quite some time before the finished product would be available to the public. I wouldn't feel too bad about having already bought an AppleTV or get too excited about this becoming reality in the near future.
 
mchalebk said:
It's worth pointing out that just because they're applying for a patent doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to actually release the product. furthermore, I would assume if they're only just now applying for the patent that it would be quite some time before the finished product would be available to the public. I wouldn't feel too bad about having already bought an AppleTV or get too excited about this becoming reality in the near future.
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This is always assumed when a patent surfaces.
I dont think anyone here thinks this is a done deal, were just fantasizing.... ;)

The fact that apple is thinking along these terms does make it a little more feasible.
 
BaldiMac said:
Uhh... No inputs.
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Ah, that's right... I kept thinking of the HDMI port (because I don't use it) but I don't know if it can be configured as an input by firmware or not.

Either way, now it's just a $229 device. At some point it'll be even cheaper and have more features, potentially the DVR functionality.
 
If this is true then I will definitely be buying an :apple:TV in the future! I am currently paying $20 a month to lease an HD DVR. Exciting news. :p
 
Cave Man said:
Sure it does. USB port.
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True, but I was talking about video inputs. There is no way to input video without additional hardware.

How would a USB port help you turn the current AppleTV into a DVR without additional hardware?
 
BaldiMac said:
True, but I was talking about video inputs. There is no way to input video without additional hardware.

How would a USB port help you turn the current AppleTV into a DVR without additional hardware?
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By adding an extension piece similar to the Elgato Hybrid. It has a tuner on it but plugs into a USB port.
 
mbuhmann said:
The only way to get HD on TiVo currently is to install CableCard's that are provided by the cable company.
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Not exactly. I receive all the local stations in HD without a CableCard from Comcrap on my Tivo HD. I just don't get programming information for those channels *remembers to call Tivo*

AreanFSL said:
I am currently paying $20 a month to lease an HD DVR. Exciting news. :p
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Why lease when you can own a Tivo for about the same?
 
BaldiMac said:
True, but I was talking about video inputs. There is no way to input video without additional hardware.

How would a USB port help you turn the current AppleTV into a DVR without additional hardware?
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Yes, you'd need additional hardware, but the current ATV could take it. Our EyeTV Hybrid does real-time recording already, but it has to be connected to a Mac (and video source, of course).
 
iJED DV said:
By adding an extension piece similar to the Elgato Hybrid. It has a tuner on it but plugs into a USB port.
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Obviously, if you add hardware you can do it. But the question was "without additional hardware".

I think that Apple would add an internal tuner, rather than update firmware to support an "extension piece". It's not their style.

I don't know what Apple would do about CableCards though. They are so poorly implemented that I don't see how Apple would support them.
 
Cave Man said:
Yes, you'd need additional hardware, but the current ATV could take it. Our EyeTV Hybrid does real-time recording already, but it has to be connected to a Mac (and video source, of course).
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The EyeTV Hybrid requires an Intel Core processor and 512 MB of RAM. HD recording requres a dual core processor. The AppleTV runs an underclocked Pentium M with 256 MB of RAM.
 
BaldiMac said:
The EyeTV Hybrid requires an Intel Core processor and 512 MB of RAM. HD recording requres a dual core processor. The AppleTV runs an underclocked Pentium M with 256 MB of RAM.
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I'm sure those guys at Elgato or Apple could fix this. After all, the ATV has a gpu capable of H.264 acceleration. Just pass it along. Or, include an H.264 chip in a revised Hybrid, ala their H.264 accelerator that they already sell. If you're going to add a device, it'd be no problem to make it work with the current ATV.
 
i'm all about backwards compatibility -- if anything :apple: should recognize this. Especially since i just bought an :apple:TV!!
 
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