For those of you struck blind by the beauty of the iPhone, Apple also had another major announcement today. Steve Jobs at Macworld this morning finally debuted Apple’s iTV unit, now dubbed Apple TV. Jobs did a masterful job of selling the impact of the new device, designed to route multimedia content to TV sets (widescreen digital TVs, that is), but even he seemed to softpedal Apple TV in favor of iPhone.
Apple TV has a 40GB hard drive capable of storing up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each and delivers high-definition 720p output. Content can be syncrhonized via iTunes and Apple TV can auto-sync content from one computer and can stream content from up to five additional computers. It will hit the shelves next month with a price tag of $299.
But, the response to Apple TV has been underwhelming, perhaps because the iPhone has sucked the oxygen away from any other Apple announcements (such as the fact that Apple is changing its formal name from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc. in recognition of the growing role of consumer electronics and content at the company). It doesn’t help that at least a half-dozen other tech suppliers have announced devices that perform functions similar to Apple TV.
Moreover, the output of 720p is almost retrograde given that the HD gold standard right now is 1080p. (720p allows for 720 lines of vertical resolution, progressively scanned —i.e. from top to bottom — while 1080p allows for 1080 lines of vertical resolution, progressively scanned).
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 6:56 PM | Print | Comments (1)
Yes, the iPhone is here (and like Ryan at Engadget I am wondering how Apple can use the nameCisco and Apple apparently worked out a deal regarding Cisco’s trademarked “iPhone”) and it’s a barn-burner, a beautiful device that is a gadget-lover’s dream and yet will appeal to the mass market in a way that no other portable device or phone can. Steve Jobs just finished unveiling the new phone at Macworld, along with announcing the iTV unit, now dubbed Apple TV, and Apple hasn’t released any material on the web yet.
But Engadget’s live coverage of the Jobs’ event is enough to get me salivating. Jobs dubbed the iPhone Apple’s third breakthrough, behind the Mac and the iPod, and he isn’t exaggerating.
—It has a touch screen that uses a patented technology Apple has developed called Multi-Touch.
—It runs OS X, which enables desktop-like applications and networking.
—It syncs with iTunes; “iTunes is going to sync all your media to your iPhone — but also a ton of data. Contacts, calendars, photos, notes, bookmarks, email accounts…”
—It’s got at big screen, 3.5 inches, and a very thin form factor.
—It’s got a 2 megapixel camera built-in.
—It’s got three built-in advanced sensors; one for shutting off the touch screen when you bring the iPhone to your ear, one for automatically adjusting brightness and one for sensing whether you’re in landscape or portrait mode.
—It’s driven by big shiny icons.
—It’s got visual voice mail so that you can pick which message to listen to (no more slogging through messages to get to the one message you want).
—It’s a GSM+EDGE phone with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
—It’s got a QWERTY keyboard on-screen and promises to deliver all the email functionality of a Blackberry.
—It uses a Safari browser, offers Google Maps, Yahoo! Go and One Search, and cool photo features.
The price of the iPhone is $499 for a 4 GB model and $599 for an 8 GB model. Cingular (now AT&T) is the phone company partner — it’s not an MVNO relationship — and the two companies will begin selling the device in their stores starting around mid-June, in the U.S., and later in other regions of the world. Cingular and Apple have entered into an exclusive multi-year relationship.
Without a doubt, the iPhone is a truly innovative product. Apple has once again pulled out a lot of design stops — the photos from the demo depict high-quality layout and image display, even for web surfing.
I realize my raves are based on descriptions and photos of a scripted Apple presentation, and that the real world performance might not match the puffery. However, even Ryan noted that something remarkable seemed to be going in during the performance.
People are rapt, everyone is actually literally leaning forward and on the edge of their seat. We’ve never seen a presentation like this before.
Update: Here’s the official Apple press release regarding the iPhone and here’s the iPhone web site.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 2:27 PM | Print | Comments (0)Just a general note of frustration about the overabundance of high-profile events occurring simultaneously. Not only is CES, the four-day, 150,000-attendee tech and entertainment blow-out fest, taking place today, but also MacWorld kicks into gear with several big announcements (iTV, iPhone) rumored to be on the agenda.
On top of that, Citigroup is holding its 17th Annual Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference today and tomorrow (also in Las Vegas - easier on the chieftains that way) which will feature agenda-setting presentations from all the poobahs of the telco, tech, cable and entertainment businesses.
I always get a kick out of the fact that people in the communications industries are, well, communicators — love to talk, love to meet, love to consume and share information — and this is a week when everybody in the broader business of delivering information and entertainment is clearly talking, meeting, consuming and sharing at what may be an unprecedented level.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 10:39 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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