thoughts on the rumor:Apple to manufacture a TV

[sgtpokey]

Any thoughts on the rumor of apple getting into the TV business, as in selling an actual TV? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fas ... _blog.html)

Seems to me that once again Microsoft is first in a potential market, has little success, and then eventually someone else overtakes them with an ecosystem done right just as microsoft gives up on the concept.

We have google making moves with Sage TV and Apple making a potential move by controlling hardware (how very Apple).

Meanwhile, the once forward thinking Media Center seems to be abandoned and written off rather then being re-evaluated and re-imagined. I wish Msoft would get its act together with regards to most everything ... they have great ideas but never seem to "go the last mile" and make something completely gamechanging.

[richard1980]

Just a little clarification: "According to source Apple plans to "blow Netflix and all those other guys away" by bundling Apple TV + iTunes inside physical television sets. According to the source Apple is teaming up with a major supplier (our guess would be Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEO:005930)), to provide the physical televisions, which will be rebranded as Apple television sets."

It's a regular TV that includes iTunes and AppleTV software. It's no different than the TV I am currently staring at that has Netflix and Amazon VOD on it. It's the same thing, just a different service. Hardly a competitor to WMC.

[sgtpokey]

I know that neither Apple nor Google directly have WMC capabilities, but what interests me is how the companies are trying to address and capture the 10' Big Screen experience. If the goal of these players is to control the mobile computing, traditional computing, AND big screen 10' computing experiences, it seems to me Microsoft is lagging in updating their big screen strategy.

What we know right now is Microsoft wants the xbox to be the device for the big screen, 10' experience. I wish they started with WMC in that strategy and not the xbox.

[makryger]

while it's not a direct competitor, more and more you're seeing TVs capable of performing a lot of the functions that the HTPC bundled into one. Netflix, hulu, youtube, local movie files, etc. now can all be accessed on my tv without even turning on the htpc. Really the only thing left was the DVR functionality, but even then, all you need is ATT Uverse, and suddenly you've got a replacement there too. I think Microsoft's last hope for WMC is the embedded version. Otherwise, it just doesnt have the upper hand it once did.

[cw-kid]

"According to source Apple plans to "blow Netflix and all those other guys away" by bundling Apple TV + iTunes inside physical television sets"

I hate iTunes on my laptop never mind my TV! It normally makes it crash, in fact every time I have installed iTunes on any PC it then crashes or hangs as a result, not that I've installed it that many times as I try to avoid it, I certainly wouldn't want iTunes crashing my TV LOL.

Microsoft have some vision but no direction or ability to pull it all together. I don't think Microsoft will ever catch up with Apple in the consumer market place, they always seem to behind now.

[StumpyBloke]

Yeah I'm with you on that Stuart, iTunes is a genuine piece of rubbish...slow, bloaty and unstable...it, not me!!! Lol

[JTScribe]

Will it be 720p only?

hehe.

[richard1980]

how the companies are trying to address and capture the 10' Big Screen experience

I think it really depends how you define "address and capture the 10' big screen experience". IMO, addressing and capturing the 10' experience means providing a solution that meets the user's 10' needs as much as possible. When you think about what people are doing when they are staring at the screen, you don't have many options:

• They are watching TV shows or movies from their TV provider
• They are watching content that comes from a 3rd party source other than their TV provider
• They are playing a video game

Out of those three things, there's only one that really stands out as a dominating reason to have a TV, and that is to simply watch TV shows and movies from the TV provider. That is exactly what Microsoft has to offer, but they aren't dominating anything because nobody is really using the Microsoft solution aside from a small group of enthusiasts. If Microsoft would try to dominate, they could, but they wont. They sit around waiting for someone else to pick up the ball and run with it, but nobody ever does. I don't know if Microsoft is dominating the video game category or not, but I think it's fair to say if they aren't, they are certainly right up there next to whatever company is. And Microsoft has absolutely no form of domination on the 3rd party licensed content. You might as well say they aren't even in competition.

Now let's look at Apple. They have no solution for live TV or video games. All they have is the licensed movies and TV shows. But then they have to compete with Netflix, who is clearly dominating that arena, and Amazon, which I'm sure is not that far off of Netflix' market share. I'd say Apple comes in the back of the pack on this one. Even if this rumor ends up being true, that still won't mean anything for Apple. They aren't bringing anything new to the table, so they'll still have the same problem they currently have. There is a chance for success if they can manage to get their software on many different popular TV's, but let's face it...Apple doesn't play well with others, and pretty much every TV worth having already has Netflix and/or Amazon software on it. So again, Apple is still trying to compete with two larger sources of content.

GoogleTV was a complete flop, and who knows what the future will be; if they decide to implement SageTV and pay for a CableLabs certification, they would likely partner with a hardware vendor and start supplying STB's to the US public that could clearly dominate the market Microsoft refused to take advantage of. While they wouldn't dominate the video game market or the 3rd part content market, they would still dominate the 10' UI because they would have conquered the part of the market that gets the most screen time. Now if they don't get a CableLabs certification, I'd say there's not a chance Google could dominate the 10' UI. Instead, that will be a battle between Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, and Apple for the 3rd party streaming, with Netflix clearly in the lead at this time.

[milli260876]

it will look gorgeous, be bought by millions and will technically be inferior to other options (though the bozos that buy it will be in denial!)

[STC]

Maybe they would just use Samsung or Sony panels(?)

[richard1980]

I'm not sure what they would go after. I don't see how they could hope to compete with any TV that already has Netflix or Amazon, given the amount of content those 2 companies have and how little Apple actually has. If I had to guess, I'd say we'd probably end up with a TV at the regular electronics store that has Netflix on it, and that exact same TV will be at the Apple store without Netflix on it. Instead, it'll have AppleTV. I just don't see Steve Jobs agreeing to have his precious software running alongside any other competing software. Stranger things have happened though.

[sgtpokey]

Microsoft have some vision but no direction or ability to pull it all together. I don't think Microsoft will ever catch up with Apple in the consumer market place, they always seem to behind now.

I'm actually hopeful that Windows 8 will be starting some kind of better unified strategy. I'm also very pleased with Win Phone 7, having replaced my iPhone with it.