Apple TV

With Apple consolidating its Apple TV offerings this morning down to a single 160GB SKU at a lower $229 price point, we're once again split between Apple axing their "hobby" or giving it a much-needed refresh.

Speaking of Apple TV and the future, MacRumors reports that Apple's "hobby" lost its smaller SKU this morning as the 40GB Apple TV was cut from the Apple Store -- and Apple product lineup -- and the 160GB Apple TV was given a healthy price cut down from $329 to $229 [Apple Store link].

Apple Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Peter Oppenheimer, spoke with analyst Robert Cihara of Caris & Company recently, and according to AppleInsider, revealed the following:

• Apple is still struggling to meet to demand for the iPhone 3GS, and with China coming on board soon, that may be a longer term problem (it was still sold out when I checked a couple of local (Canadian) places last week).

• There's no plans for an Apple TV that would record cable or satellite as it doesn't fit Apple's current business plans (though one may wonder if there is, still and in fact, a plan for the "hobby" Apple TV device?)

New Apple TV's, whether it simply be a small bump to the internals (CPU, storage, etc.) or the mythical, rainbow and unicorn-tear soaked Apple PVR, are the latest rumours circulating in advance of Apple's iTunes and iPod touch special music event, "It's only rock and roll, but we like it", scheduled for September 9.

Since TV's aren't rock and roll, odds are we aren't going to see anything major in that -- admittedly aging -- product SKU, but since they do serve as an iTunes Music conduit, maybe Apple's hobby might just get swept up in the song?

Stalwart Apple analyst Gene Munster is back, this time predicting the iPhone will hit multiple US carriers within an year -- specifically Verizon -- as well as expanded video offerings from iTunes -- including a subscription service akin to satellite or cable, and an updated Apple TV to go with it.

Oh, and flying unicorns.

We joke. Slightly. Of course we want all these things too -- and more -- but we have a feeling that that's all there is to some of these analyst reports -- a bit of logical deduction combined with what any of us would want:

Went into the App Store and what did I see, why an updated Remote app for iTunes and AppleTV! One of the first apps in the App Store at launch, the latest update for Remote [free - iTunes link] turbo charges the cool factor with support for gesture-based Apple TV control. Very slick:

TiPb predicted an iPhone HD way back on October 10, and while not everyone -- even here -- agrees that we'll see it, rumors continue to point that maybe, just maybe we will.

The latest comes via PhoneNews which reports that the Apple AV Cables, component and composite versions of which were launched last year alongside the iPhone 3G, are being cleared to make room for a consolidated cable. What's more, this new cables, alongside an "iPhone HD" would support 720p or 1080i out (for your TV, not on the device itself).

Hot on the heels of the premium "App Store Plus" (TM Erica Sadun) $19.99 rumor we helped propogate yesterday, in his (its?) weekly column, the Macalope pulls a follow-up rumor out of his rear port (actually makes it up on the spot) for a concept that's actually pretty darn intriguing:

I typically choose to keep 10 episodes of any video podcast I subscribe to in iTunes. Back with version 1.0 of the Apple Remote App for the iPhone, when I would choose to play the latest episode of a show, the Apple TV would stubbornly start playing the oldest episode (sometimes oldest unwatched, sometimes just oldest) instead. "New" status seemed to have no effect.

Epic YES! Since the moment the original iPhone came out with its WiFi goodness, I've been begging asking for a way to use the iPhone to control the similarly connected iTunes, Front Row, and Apple TV. And now Apple has answered! (Er... except for Front Row, see below). And not only for the iPhone. While I'll use that term exclusively below, everything here also applies to the iPod Touch.

Remote is FREE, and available either via iTunes (picture above) or right from your iPhone 3G via the App Store. It's not hard to find, currently dominating the Top Free Apps charts. If you're not sure how to use App Store yet, check out Brian's excellent overview to get you started.

I chose to download directly from the iPhone so I could test out the 3G experience. It was fast. (However, when I later synced back with iTunes -- my first time post App download -- I was asked to re-authenticate my MacBook with the iTunes Store before it would sync the App for backup).

How did it work? Read on!