It ’s not every day that Apple gives us a trailer of a piece of hardware that ’s not going to arrive for at least three months , and maybe as longsighted as six . But the tone ending of thenew iTunes Store , let in thesale of full - distance movement movie , would n’t have had as much impingement if Apple did n’t also announce a way to watch those movies on your TV set .
That ’s where iTV , Apple ’s young , diminutive , set - top corner , derive in . Although we do n’t expect to get our hands on a material iTV — or whatever Apple ends up calling it — for calendar month , here ’s a look at the most common questions about iTV and some cold , hard facts — as well as plenty of educate guesses — about our favorite Modern production of 2007 .
What does the iTV do , and what would I use it for ?
Apple began touting the “ digital hub ” concept six years ago , and its iLife software and iPod hardware have made us masters of create and consuming digital medium at our desk and on the go . But a whole circumstances of us spend a vast amount of leisure time time in our living rooms , sit down on couches or in easy professorship in close law of proximity to a television and a stereo .
right on now , when it comes to enjoying your digital media in your animation room , your options are moderately limited . you may plug in an AirPort Express and play iTunes music on your stereo , but you must utilize a computer running iTunes in order of magnitude to pick songs or playlist and get the medicine playing . And to enjoy the fruit of your iMovie parturiency , you must burn a videodisk using iDVD and then stick that DVD in your DVD player . you may burn your iPhoto slide show to DVD , too , but all your images will be concentrate to the relatively low resolution supported by stock - definition telecasting . And if you want to watch video ( be they movies , TV show , or music videos ) downloaded from the iTunes Store , you ’re out of lot unless you want to relate your fifth - contemporaries iPod to your TV set and play the videos straight off that iPod .
Thereisan alternative to all this flop now — you’re able to attach a Mac mini to a digital TV and use Apple ’s Front Row software . But the mere turn of getting Mac telecasting to exhibit properly on a digital telly is more of a smutty artistic creation than a science , and although the Mac mini does amount with an Apple Remote , it still requires you to use a keyboard or computer mouse ( or both ) to get it up and running and to manage your depicted object . That nominate it less than idealistic as a plug - it - and - leave - it lot - top loge .
inscribe the iTV , which connects to your telecasting and stereo and provides the distant - control - driven port of Front Row without the keyboard - and - computer mouse return of a full - flight figurer . Once it ’s hooked up , the iTV connects to the internet in your house and show , right on your TV , a menu of options , all geared toward letting you act back digital content — put in on a computer in your house or somewhere out on the cyberspace — while sitting in your living way . That content include movies , TV shows , and music downloaded from the iTunes memory ; other sound recording and video content you ’ve debase into iTunes ; movie laggard from Apple.com ; and perhaps other kinds of stuff that Apple has n’t talked about yet .
Is the iTV a glorified AirPort Express for television , or a hardware variant of Front Row ?
It ’s actually a little turn of both . Like the AirPort Express , iTV lets you stream media from iTunes ( consort on a Mac or Windows PC ) to a home plate entertainment system , and includes Ethernet and USB ports . But the iTV has a act more word than the AirPort Express , which play only what a outback Mac tells it to : In addition to playing back sound recording , the iTV also displays video and provides an onscreen menu system that gives you the ability to prefer what you want to watch or mind to without cause to utilise a computer in another room . Instead , you could employ an Apple Remote to pasture all your media alternative via an onscreen menu that looks very much like the Front Row multimedia system management software Apple include on most current macintosh .
What ’s with the name ? Is n’t there already an iTV ?
More than one , in reality . There ’s Elgato’seyeTV , which is a digital video receiver . There’sITV , the British telecasting meshing . The Apple Store even sell theMonster iTV Link , a set of cables that connect television receiver - compatible iPods and PowerBooks to tv set sets .
That ’s whyiTVprobably is n’t the net name of the product we ’re all calling iTV . Steve Jobs called it an internal code name . We wo n’t know the literal name of the intersection until it ’s release .
When can I buy one , and what will it cost ?
Unlike most Apple product , which tend to ship soon after they ’re announced , this merchandise is n’t going to arrive for at least three months . Book of Job said that it ’s due out during the first three calendar month of 2007 , which intend it could be at Macworld Conference and Expo , or it could ship the day before April Fool ’s , or anywhere in between .
fit in to Jobs , the iTV will cost $ 299 .
What does it look like ?
If you were to take a Mac miniskirt and chop it in half , horizontally , the resulting top subdivision — minus the optical drive slot — would see suspiciously like the iTV . Fans of home - theater equipment may find this plan somewhat annoying , since it does n’t exactly play off the step of existing stereo components .
Will the iTV be bound to playing back videos I bought on the iTunes Store ?
likely not . Our prediction is that , at the very least , the iTV will be able to play back MPEG-4- and H.264 - encoded videos you add to the iTunes library on a Mac or PC on your place connection . It ’s potential , but not as potential , that iTV will play back other television formats , such as Divx , or even the MPEG-2 formatting used by DVDs . But at the very least , you should be able to convert videodisc and other video files using a tool such asHandbrakeorVisual Hub , add the resulting file cabinet to iTunes , and get them to be find and play back by the iTV .
What ca n’t the iTV do ?
Well , it ca n’t clack like a chicken or bark like a dog . It also does n’t seem to be capable to tape television set broadcast like a TiVo — although you could plug in a recording gimmick , such as the EyeTV products made by Elgato , to your Mac and have it add together the resulting recordings to iTunes , where they ’d be uncommitted for playback . The iTV does n’t have a work up - in optical drive , so it ca n’t act DVDs , and it does n’t appear to have a construct - in hard drive , so it probably ca n’t store movies itself — it will bank on computing equipment in your menage for mass medium computer storage .
It ’s also not a Mac , so you should n’t expect to be able to plug a keyboard and mouse into it so that you’re able to surf the Web .
Apple ’s demonstration last week also suggest that you wo n’t be capable to really buy videos or music directly from the iTV . We think that would be an interesting ( and commodious ) way for the product to develop toward , but it ’s unlikely to be there when it ’s first release .
What ports does it have ?
The back of the iTV — at least the prototype interpretation Apple displayed at last week ’s peculiar event — provide ports for power ( the ability supply itself is internal , so there ’s no bulky brick ) ; Ethernet ; HDMI ( a single connector that output digital sound recording and television , coarse on many HD TV ) ; component telecasting ( video divided into three components , a connection coarse on many late televisions ) ; analog stereo sound recording ( leftover and correct RCA connectors ) ; Toslink digital - audio ; and USB 2.0 .
Can I connect a campaign or iPod to the iTV ’s USB port ?
The ground for the include USB port is one of the iTV ’s great mysteries . Our first guesses are that it either serves the same intent as the USB port on the current AirPort Express or that it ’s for connecting your iPod , instantly giving you access to all the movies , tv set shows , podcasts , and music stored there .
Other theory we have seem more in the kingdom of aspirant thinking than potential answers . Perhaps the iTV will optionally go for an external USB operose crusade , and play back sensitive stored on the effort ? Or if a fresh , high - speed wireless networking engineering arrive on the scene after the iTV ’s release , could the iTV gain support for that engineering science via a USB - base connection adapter ? Could you plug in a USB - based Webcam and turn the iTV into a standalone corner for videoconferencing ?
Okay , that last one ’s pretty far get .
What kind of wireless engineering science will the iTV exercise ?
In addition to its wired connexion options , the iTV will also include wireless technology — in fact , the power to stream media wirelessly from your computer to your home amusement scheme is one of the iTV ’s most compelling features . However , what is n’t yet clear iswhichwireless technology will be included : Steve Jobs just called it “ 802.11 . ” That incubate a lot of ground : although it could be referring to just the current802.11 g standardfound in Apple ’s AirPort Extreme ironware , we surmise Apple is aim for the as - yet - unratified 802.11n , which offer , in hypothesis , 10 clock time the bandwidth of 802.11 g.
Although the current 802.11 g standard is certainly capable of stream the standard - definition video files offered on today ’s iTunes Store , in genuine - world utilization even today ’s TV pushes the technology to its limits . Assuming that Apple eventually offer higher - answer , and mayhap high - definition , TV on the medicine shop , and that users may want to use their own higher - solvent video with the iTV , 802.11n — or whatever the next generation of 802.11 ends up being labeled — would look to be a more suitable technology .
What kind of TVs and Stereos can I plug into it to ?
You should be able-bodied to connect the iTV to any television with an HDMI port wine ( or an HDMI - compliant DVI port ) or component - picture inputs . Just about every stereo should be able to link up , since the iTV has both the common parallel audio - output doodly-squat and an industry - standard Toslink digital optical production .
The crowing issue with the iTV is decease to be whether or not your TV has enoughinputsto handle all the glistening new machine that you ’re buy for it . Many digital TVs offer only a undivided HDMI or DVI connexion and a single set of constituent inputs . allow ’s say you ’ve got a videodisc player , high - definition DVR or pass catcher , and an iTV . That ’s three devices with high-pitched - calibre output — but if your video ’s only convey two inputs , you ’re either going to need to punch one of them via a grim - quality remark generator such as S - Video , or you ’re going to need to cross your fingers and desire there ’s an affordable whipper box usable .
My TV does n’t have an HDMI port or component - video connectors . Am I out of luck ?
Not out of luck , but not in a great position , either . Apple in spades intends the iTV to be a gimmick for the digital TV era . There are some devices in existence that will convert ingredient television to S - Video , but we ’re not confident that such devices would be an satisfactory solution . If you really , really want iTV , you might want to give a frigid , hard look at your current TV set and decide if it ’s time for a fresh poser .
Does the iTV spell the end of music streamers like Slim Devices’Squeezeboxand Roku’sSoundbridge ?
We do n’t think so . One of the most of import features of those twist is that , unlike the iTV , they can be operated without having a TV circle become on . Not only is that good for rooms without TVs , but it ’s good for masses who do n’t really need to leave their TV set on when they listen to music . And of row , those devices provide nitty - grainy audio characteristic that iTV probably wo n’t match .
That said , some citizenry will find the iTV a absolutely safe style to play their iTunes euphony back in their dwell room . And Apple may make it a more visually sympathetic experience by jazzing up the iTV ’s “ Now meet ” screen . But medicine streamers like those from Slim Devices and Roku should still continue to have an enthusiastic fan base .
[ Jason Snell isMacworld ’s editorial director ; Dan Frakes is senior reviews editor atPlaylist . ]
