Interesting announcements from Apple today. I love watching the rumor sites before the announcements to see the kind of things people dream up and wish for. For all those waiting for iTunes Movies you will have to wait for a iPod they release that Steve believes people will watch movies on. One will have to come before the other.
On to the news clearly the Mac Mini is a step in the direction for the Living Room. Apple as they approach the living room has to consider the TV factor. Right now to get TV on that device we would rely on a third party like EL Gato. The downfall to that is that we have to use Titan TV with El Gato and the desire would be to use Front Row to navigate channels and watch TV. To be honest with you I am the most excited about seeing what Apple comes up with for a guide user interface. TO DATE the Moxi Digeo UI is the best by far and in my opinion should start to show up on those stupid Home Theatre PC's instead of Media Center. Howeve the TV issues is a big deal for Apple and still has some rights issues that need to be corrected. Cable Card has a long way to go before it is accepted by mass consumers. Cable Card is still very shaky technology and has a very high failure rate while at the same time cable companies don't want to give them to. The odds are not in the favor of PC OEM's looking to get a great user experience around Cable Card. So true to Apple form not to rush a technology they will take their time with the living room. Unless they do something with PS3 which would be huge.
The Hi-Fi is interesting, all though curious that they started to step on the toes of their accessory partners but really not that surprising. Obviously this product will give people a great sound experience but the issue still is with Home Theatre's growing in consumers home and iPod stereo connectivity fairly simple. For $349 I think this product is a little bit of a stretch for the mass consumer market.
In the next few weeks i'm going to post a article on my blog and at CSinsights.com about why Apple is going to clean up in the digital home where PC companies will fail.
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