Apple Tv

Apple Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate coming at WWDC? Make a nifty Apple TV controller?

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Jun 7, 2010 a 9:15 am

Could WWDC 2010 finally bring the Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate -- essentially a large, flat surface with iPhone/iPad-like capacitive multitouch input -- to the Mac? Whether it will support the full range of gestures that the iPhone and iPad do, or the currently more limited range supported by the Magic Mouse and new Mac Book Pro trackpads is unknown.

Rumors of the Magic Trackpad/Magic Slate date as far back as the Magic Mouse last October, and while this leak (if real) means we might actually see it soon, it would also mean Apple takes time away from their even more iPhone-centric WWDC 2010 to focus on Mac peripherals it today. And if they do, will new Mac Mini, Mac Pro, and MacBook Air come with it?

And before anyone asks -- no idea if it will pair via Bluetooth to an iPad or iPhone running iPhone OS 4. But it sure would make a nifty lower-cost next generation Apple TV controller...

A couple more pics after the break!

[Engadget]

Apple to debut Safari 5, Xcode 4, Apple TV on iPad, and more pre-WWDC crazy

By Rene Ritchie, Sunday, Jun 6, 2010 a 12:20 pm

I'm sitting here at the airport waiting for my flight (or the first leg of my flight rather, grrrr!) to San Francisco for WWDC 2010 and catching up on the latest, greatest, coolest, and craziest rumors to hit the web -- namely Safari 5, a new version of Xcode, and more.

Safari on the iPhone and iPad is typically ahead of the curve when it comes to supporting Apple's version of (still emerging) HTML5 and CSS3 standards, and their Nitro Javascript engine, but desktop Safari typically leads the way in terms of cool features like local RSS, Top Sites, etc. According to Macgenerations Safari 5 looks to increase that lead:

Steve Jobs at D8 video: on Apple TV, Google TV, and TV in general

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Jun 2, 2010 a 7:42 am

Steve Jobs, spe thinks TV is a hard go-to-market strategy since they give everyone a heavily subsidized set-top box, which makes it hard to sell them another one -- ask Apple TV, ask Roku, as Google in a few months.

Adding boxes and UIs doesn't work. To change that you need to go back to square one, tear up the box, and redesign it with a consistent UI across functions, and get it to consumer in a way they'll pay for. No way to do that yet.

Apple chose to prioritize phone over TV, tablet over TV, but it didn't matter since they couldn't get TV to market. Not a problem with vision or technology, just going to market.

Also, cable companies are regional, and there's no global standard like GSM is for phones. It's vulcanized.

iPad live podcast #6 - Flight delay

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, May 31, 2010 a 10:28 pm

NOTE: iPad Live! now has its own RSS and iTunes feeds! Subscribe now via the links above.

iiPhone international launch... with delayed deliveries, will the iPad replace your desktop, Apple TV to get iPhone OS and $99 price tag, B&N eReader, Wired, OmniGraffle and the rest of the week's news and apps. Listen in!

Want to make us new theme music and win fabulous prizes?

iPad Live! needs your help, check out our theme music contest for your chance to win over $200 in prizes!

Next Apple TV to adopt iPhone OS, cloud storage, $99 price

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, May 28, 2010 a 11:21 am

If rumors are to be believed, the next Apple TV is going to adopt the iPhone OS, eschew local drives for cloud storage, and hit a $99 price point.

TiPb's been wondering out loud about putting the iPhone OS on the Apple TV for a while now, so obviously we're excited to hear that may be on the table. Sure, figuring out how to translate the current multitouch input methods of the iPad and iPhone to something that works on a 60" from 10' away but having Safari and apps and games on the platform will be more than worth the effort.

If Google TV runs off iPad-like chipset, could Apple TV?

By Rene Ritchie, Tuesday, May 25, 2010 a 11:14 am

TiPb's wondered out loud before about the prospect of the Apple TV joining the iPhone OS family and providing a better overall package than the current no browser, no apps, no pretty much anything exciting product that hasn't seen a hardware update since... almost ever.

iTunes LP was Record Labels' Idea?

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010 a 9:06 am

GigaOm is reporting that, contrary to speculation that Steve Jobs wanted to return us to a more analog time when we bought new albums and sank back for ours drinking in every liner note and detail, iTunes LP was actually the record labels' idea:

I’m told by an industry source who preferred to remain anonymous that iTunes LP wasn’t Apple’s idea in the first place. Rather, it’s the result of the same renegotiations between Apple and the major record labels that yielded DRM-free songs and flexible pricing early last year, a concession by Cupertino to make a gesture in favor of album sales as consumers increasingly show a preference for digital singles.

More iPhone OS on Mac and Apple TV Talk

By Rene Ritchie, Friday, Feb 26, 2010 a 11:48 am

A little while ago TiPb asked if the Apple TV should be switched over to the iPhone OS, but what about the Mac? Coincidentally, a recent Apple job offering was discovered by ComputerWorld that hinted Apple was seriously considering pushing the iPhone OS from phone, MP3-player iPod touch, and tablet iPad to further devices:

Should Apple TV Switch to the iPhone OS?

By Rene Ritchie, Monday, Feb 22, 2010 a 1:02 pm

Should Apple TV switch to the iPhone OS? The Apple TV was introduced in late 2006 but debuted alongside the iPhone at the Macworld 2007 keynote. Since then, the iPhone has become a huge, mainstream success and the Apple TV... well it reamins just a "hobby".

Technically, Apple TV is included under Apple's iTunes + iPod offerings, and it's been referred to as a big iPod for your TV. While low end iPods continue to run their embedded OS, the iPod touch and upcoming iPad run versions of the iPhone OS, Apple TV, by stark contrast, originally used a special version of Mac OS X Tiger. Though it has been updated to 2.x and 3.x over the years (and gotten a price cut to boot!), it remains in a sort of no-mans land, with more functionality than an iPod nano but far less than a proper Mac OS X machine like the Mac Mini.

The set-top box market is nebulous at best, but Apple chose to engage it -- much as it has the equally nebulous tablet market with the iPad, so we wonder if they wouldn't do better engaging it on the same terms -- with the iPhone OS and its 150,000 apps.

Apple Releases Apple TV 3.0.2 Update

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Feb 10, 2010 a 7:49 pm

Apple has released a software update for the Apple TV, bringing their set-top box up to version 3.0.2. No word yet on what it includes -- and I won't be able to test mine until Sunday -- so if you find anything, let us know.

(9to5mac suggests it's to tie in the new wave of photo-related updates)