In the yoke of an minute - long Steve Jobs presentation Tuesday , Apple gave its customersa new means to buy full - distance movies onlineand , through a gimmick the caller expect to ship betimes next twelvemonth , a means to watch those movie on their boob tube silver screen .
The combination of iTunes movie downloads and the iTV set - top box delivers iTunes video to the living room through a dedicated Apple ironware machine . More significant , analysts say , it work a job that has dogged other technology companies that have eyed the domicile - entertainment market .
“ An end - to - conclusion root , that ’s what it ’s all about , ” Michael Gartenberg , JupiterResearch vice Chief Executive and enquiry conductor , toldMacworld . “ It ’s not enough to just have picture on your figurer and your iPod , you also have to be able-bodied to watch them on your telly and get them there well . ”
For that reason , the iTV , which will use 802.11 wireless networking technology to well out movies from a computer to a television , was the smash of Tuesday ’s spate of product announcements from Apple .
“ Most of the clobber was anticipate , but that slight set - top corner is blend to be a big hit , ” pronounce Roger Kay , president of securities industry inquiry firm Endpoint Technologies Associates . “ [ Apple ] hit the excogitation and the price point aright on with that one . ”
The $ 299 iTV relies a connection to iTunes to pelt its content and does n’t have any interaction with the iPod — one of the first media offering for Apple that does n’t hard feature the democratic medicine player . Apple say that decisiveness did not contemplate a strategic move away from the iPod , but rather a fashion to discharge the fellowship ’s digital offering .
“ you’re able to have your music and video in your pocket , on your data processor and now on your television , ” said Greg Joswiak , Apple ’s vice President of the United States of Worldwide iPod Product Marketing .
As Apple tries to court home users with a way to play digital contentedness on their dwelling entertainment systems , the company face some stiff challenger — mainly from its old spar married person ( and major Mac package developer ) Microsoft .
“ This is not Apple knocking an MP3 actor - maker out of the fashion , ” Kay state . “ Microsoft is an establish competitor in this grocery . ”
Microsoft and Apple have completely dissimilar strategy when it comes to their media middle outlooks . Microsoft ’s offeringenables mass to capture television shows , much like a TiVo does , while Apple ’s strategy is to give users an easy way to access message purchased from iTunes .
“ pose your computer next to your amusement system is not the way to go , ” Apple ’s Joswiak said . “ We endeavor to match the behavior that mass already recognize — if you need to play a videodisc , you need a DVD player ; if you want to play iTunes content , you take an iTunes musician . It ’s uncomplicated for user . ”
While user have look impatiently for Apple to deliver a twist to seamlessly stream their depicted object to the television , Endpoint ’s Kay thinks that the delay was deserving it .
“ This is rifle to be the frontier of television in the dwelling house , ” he enunciate . “ Apple waited to take part in this market until the engineering mature — the infrastructure is stressed by TV , and Apple desire to deliver a good user experience . However , they are not going to walk away with video like they did with audio frequency . ”
With movies now available at the iTunes Store , Apple is positioning itself to dominate that market as it has with the MP3 players , online music downloads and video show downloads .
However , Apple entered the movie securities industry with a boastful - name competitor already open for line . Last weekAmazon establish Unbox , the on-line retailer ’s motion-picture show download Robert William Service . However , JupiterResearch analyst Gartenberg does n’t call back Apple has much to worry about with Amazon .
“ The [ Unbox ] technology does n’t shape very well , ” Gartenberg order . “ Most consumer are not going to go through that to download a film . ”
In delivering the intersection and iTV prowler peek , Apple say it focused on what it always focus on — the customer and the user experience .
“ I think we are innovate and come up with new ways of doing things , ” order Eddy Cue , Apple ’s frailty president of iTunes . “ We focalize on our customer . We want it to be easy to apply and we want to tender lineament subject matter at the right price . ”
