Apple working on networked LCD TVs?

[Aranince]

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/natelanxon/0,139102300,49299275,00.htm

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours here at the office with Valleywag's most cherished and adored tech celebrity, Jason Calacanis. Love him or hate him, the bloke's got contacts, and he confirmed to me that he knew first-hand that Apple was working on a networked television.

These LCD HDTVs will be fully networked, with the ability to stream all your iTunes content from your Mac or PC. In fact, Calacanis told me they'll function like a standard TV with an Apple TV box, only without the need for the box.

In many ways, this isn't surprising news, as Apple already produces a stunning 30-inch display for the Mac. So picture that -- only thinner -- in a bedroom, streaming iTunes movie rentals over 802.11n, controlled with the Remote app on an iPod touch or iPhone.

Apple has really gone to town with the iTunes Store, securing movie downloads, rentals and a massive archive of TV shows, new and old. Why would it sit back while movie fans go out and buy some generic HDTV to connect up to their PC to watch this content, when it already has the means to provide a complete package itself?

TVs are a huge market. What better way to extend the iTunes Store than by providing an elegant TV that seamlessly integrates with its movie and TV offerings? Apple Computer Inc dropped the 'Computer' for a reason, and I have no reason to doubt that this has been on the roadmap ever since.

Sounds awesome!

 

[SilverRubicon]

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/natelanxon/0,139102300,49299275,00.htm



Sounds awesome!

Awesome as in "Jason Calacanis is an awesome moron!"

 

[basesloaded190]

i guess we can dream can't we?

 

[QuarterSwede]

Unless iTunes goes DRM-free, I can't really see this being successful.

The majority of people don't even know what DRM is. That isn't going to stop it from being successful.

 

[Aranince]

You're better off buying a Media-Centre PC, downloading DRM-free stuff off of that (Or playing a DVD/Blu-Ray disc through it), and then playing that through a HDTV in my opinion.

Unless iTunes goes DRM-free, I can't really see this being successful. Also, Apple need to stop overpricing their products

DRM isn't going to do anything to stop the TV from being functional. Same way AppleTV and your iPod works now with DRM.

 

[ipedro]

Interesting, I predicted in the AppleTV Marketing Push + Advertising + New Name? thread that this would be an excellent strategy to make the tv concept more widespread:

In order to propagate TV, Apple should include a simplified TV system in all of its Cinema Displays and should approach partners with the concept. While I'm not an engineer, I can imagine that if they can fit all the functionality of TV into an iPod touch and a device as small as an iPod nano, one can argue that Apple can build an TV chip the size of a nano, add 8GB of memory for effective streaming and include it in popular widescreen TVs.

Not only should Apple include the technology in their own Cinema Displays, but they should license the chip to other manufacturers. At this point, the mainstream consumer doesn't understand digital distribution and is embedded in the traditional TV philosophy. Delivering tv to them as a trojan horse seems to be the most effective way at introducing the technology to that mainstream.

I look forward to this being unveiled – likely at MacWorld. The Cinema Displays are waaaay overdue for an update, and an integrated tv and iSight and LED backlighting are all features that I expect to see.

 

[jmorrow76]

I think this would be a great idea. Who wants to have a tv stand to hold all of the components for a mounted tv? If everything were integrated it would make the whole package allot sweeter.

 

[sammich]

This is gonna be brilliant. It's gonna be a MacTV Pro, carved out of of a single block of aluminium and cost about $3000 for a 42" version.

While it would be nice, I think actual TV sets might be a very risky market for Apple to get into. The AppleTV has a very tiny following, and it works with any TV. But buying an entirely new TV just to get AppleTV functionality might be even smaller. But who knows, I'd like it to work. I'd like Apple to put in a massive HD for it, dual-HDTV tuners, recording obviously and make it hackable so we can stick perian on there and watch good 'ol mkv.

 

[Superman07]

If Apple were to do this - and it does sound smart - I think they would offer it as an option through one or two new monitors. For example, a regular 23", or a 23" for x more with this built in capability. However, to be really successful I think they'd need to have partnerships setup with some tv manufactures to have it launch through them as well.

Imagine if Apple also took this time to capitalize on the Netflix API that was released!