With the handout of the newiPodand upgraded iMac on Wednesday , Apple took what one analyst call “ a first step ” into the video market . Meanwhile , Apple executive touted the release as a one - two puncher of ironware and software package that will allow users to enjoy the same experience with picture on their Mac and iPod as they get with music .
“ It ’s an Apple experience , ” Greg Joswiak , Apple ’s frailty president of worldwide product merchandising for iPod , toldMacCentral . “ The integration , the hardware , the software ; every point has been suppose about . ”
The new iPod features real - time decoding of MPEG 4 and H.264 video at 30 physique per 2d ( FPS ) . Currentlyyou can buy television shows and video from the iTunes Music Storeto play on the iPod , but some had hoped to be able to run DVD moving picture , as well .
That has n’t happened yet , but psychoanalyst see Apple ’s scheme of elevate the iPod to also play video as a way of getting into the marketplace .
“ It ’s a first step , ” said NPD analyst Ross Rubin . “ It makes common sense to move into a Modern market by jumping from a market - go production like the iPod . ”
While Apple ’s initial maraud into video peer its initial steps with music downloads , there ’s one stern dispute . When Apple first launch the iTunes Music Store to sell 99 - penny medicine downloads , it did so with the backing of the major music labels . However , in set in motion the capability to download telecasting programs , Apple did so with only one major mesh — Walter Elias Disney - owned ABC .
“ We only state one connection , ” Joswiak order . “ You see that we have the top two shows on television , as well as the top show on the Disney Channel . We could n’t really start off with a well foot forward . This is just the beginning . ”
Wednesday ’s iMac update also brought the going of a novel software program program called Front Row . Front Row interact with the remote control that now ships with the iMac . The software can verify DVD and iMovie playback , and gives users a way of life of watch QuickTime moving picture trailer , as well as euphony videos and TV shows purchased from the iTunes Music Store using iTunes 6 .
“ There are two stories in this market , ” Rubin say . “ The first is the ‘ student residence way ’ software , which gives users the opportunity to enjoy media using their computing machine from across the room . The second is take in more desegregation with the television — that would be the next step for Apple . ”
While the medium microcomputer idea has been around for some fourth dimension , Apple ’s Joswiak suppose that users would notice a difference with the way the company has implement its solution .
“ The concept is one that people get — the ability to revel your music , photos and video recording from anywhere in your way , ” Joswiak added . “ It ’s all in the effectuation and execution . you’re able to see the Apple details — it ’s an experience unlike anything else that exists . ”
Front Row will only be uncommitted as part of the iMac , Apple say . The caller has no architectural plan to make it usable in other Macs or as a standalone software .
“ At this prison term it ’s only on the iMac as part of the integrated computer hardware software solution , ” said David Moody , Apple ’s vice United States President of Worldwide Mac Product Marketing . “ The goal was to make it as dewy-eyed as potential right out of the corner . ”
While the company is trying to match its musical successes with its new crusade in video , executives insist that the iPod remains mainly about music . “ medicine is front and center on the iPod , ” Joswiak say . “ What we ’ve done is make the experience even well , the mathematical product is small , it has 50 percent more capacity , it is 30 percentage slender , it ’s the same price , and you get this great video capableness . In a distinctive Apple way , we did n’t just provide the capability on the computer hardware and then say ‘ stand for yourself ’ on find the content . We did the pure solution . ”
