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Considering that the trendy white iPod HiFi is no more, it's no surprise to see another company filling the void with a rectangular iPod speaker station of its own. The iStuff Domino 2.1 sports an eerily familiar layout, 30 total watts of amplification, a pair of two-inch wide-range drivers coupled with two three-inch magnetically shielded fiberglass cone subwoofers, an S-Video output, USB connector, 3.5-millimeter auxiliary input and RCA stereo outs. Furthermore, this unit claims to play nice with the newest family of iPods, comes with a wireless remote and can be snapped up right now for £99.99 ($204).
For those who look at their PowerBook, iBook or MacBook Pro and long for a Blu-ray optical drive, FastMac's got you covered. Of course, some Macs were already on its list of compatible machines, but the firm is now announcing that the trio of aforementioned systems have joined the fray alongside the iMac and Mac mini. The slimline drive writes to BD-RE at 2x, DVD±RW at 8x and CD-R/W at 8x, and provides up to 50GB of storage on a single disc. The unit is slated to ship within 30 days and is available for pre-order as we speak for a stiff $999.99.
Since the Apple TV was announced and included the so called requirement for an HDTV, we've been waiting for Apple to add HD content to the iTunes store. But here we are ten months later and the only HD available via iTunes is in the form of HD Podcasts. Apple got our hopes up a few weeks ago when they sent us this Podcast Spotlight, which highlighted HD. The latest rumor is now proclaiming that we can expect to see HD from Apple soon, and as much as we want to believe it, we're not so sure. The sticking point for us, is the iPods. You see, none of them support HD, so if Apple made shows and movies available in HD, they'd only play on your computer or the Apple TV. The biggest advantage that Apple has over other download services is portability and HD would limit that. What would really be lame, is if Apple started selling HD movies, but required you to pay twice if you wanted to play it both in HD on your Apple TV and on your iPod. What they'll do is anyone's guess, but we'd still like to see some HD from Apple -- even though it wouldn't include discrete surround sound.
If you're having a flash of déjà vu, fret not, as this device certainly isn't the first from Meridian to output 1080p content from your iPod. Unveiled today, the iRIS universal dock for iPod claims to pump out your stored videos in resolutions as high as 1080p via HDMI, all thanks to the "high-end video upconversion processing." Of course, we're admittedly skeptical about how well this thing truly walks the talk, but nevertheless, users who opt for component outs instead of HDMI can purportedly witness 720p / 1080i content straight from their Pod. Notably, the Qdeo technology is said to "further incorporate advanced DSP for per-pixel, motion-adaptive video processing that corrects both color and contrast losses," and while there's no word on whether this thing plays nice with the new family of iPods, users will enjoy the coaxial / optical audio outputs, headphone and line-level outs, and the HDMI input for external sources. We know you're intrigued, so look for this bad boy to land in November for $379.
While we loved the Apple TV, we're still annoyed at the lack of HD downloads from the iTunes store. No doubt iTunes will never be a replacement for HD DVD or Blu-ray; if the lack of true surround sound isn't enough of a killer, the maximum bit-rate is. That being said, we'd still like to have some HD downloads, and it looks like we might see them next week. One of the current problems with Apple TV HD files is that they don't play on the iPod, so Apple would have to sell multiple versions of the same file, a new iPod could resolve this. The other possible piece of the puzzle that has recently changed is that Apple's partner Akamai just upgraded their infrastructure to support HD downloads. Either way, we'll have to wait till next week to find out.
We tried to resist, honest, but it's just impossible to turn a blind eye to the similarities here. Onkyo's CBX-Z10 and CBX-Z20 iPod-friendly CD players do manage to include ten-watts of amplification, video output, a headphone jack, the firm's Acoustic Drive speaker technology, a CD player, and an obligatory iPod dock, but what's not listed in the specs that you still get (for better or worse) is the eerie resemblance to Bose's Wave Radio. Furthermore, the Z10 looks to come dressed in white while the Z20 dons a black motif, and aside from "improved audio quality" from the latter, they each look to be identical. Priced at ¥43,000 ($361) and ¥50,000 ($420), respectively, these two units are even priced like a Bose, but at least Onkyo bothers to tell you the frequency range of the drivers within.
We just love when two great products come together; and now the best HDTV software for the Mac and our favorite HD network enabled tuner work together. As much as we loved the HDHomeRun when we reviewed it, the lack of software support was a real drag and while Linux, XP and Vista all have great support now, Mac fans were left with a few decent home grown applications that weren't that feature rich. But now you can install EyeTV on any Mac on your network, connect the HDHomeRun in your closet or behind your TV and enjoy clear-QAM or ATSC HD; and because it uses UDP, it even works great over an 802.11G network. You can pick up the bundle from Elgato.com for $199, or if you already have an HDHomeRun, the EyeTV software is available for download in single and multiple licenses.
We're still not happy with Apple since they haven't released any HD content for the AppleTV yet, but at least they continue to show that they get the importance of widescreen. You might be saying, big deal, who doesn't? But the answer would be plenty of companies, -- including TiVo. You see, unlike when watching widescreen video on YouTube the Apple TV doesn't insert black bars on the top and bottom, so while the quality is still worse than HD, at least it is optimized for widescreen TVs. We don't know about anyone else, but for us, the only thing worse than watching SD on our HDTVs is widescreen SD with black bars on all four sides.
While Philips' latest universal remote lacks the genius design seen in the prototype book iteration, it's tough to deny the utility here. This universal remote may not sport the most luxurious button layout, but it does manage to control up to six devices and play nice with your iPod; moreover, the SJM3151's built-in LCD screen touts the ability to mimicyourplayer'sscreen, so you can sneak a peek at what's on deck without squinting to see the faraway dock. Interestingly, this remote not only packs the infrared abilities we've come to expect, but it also speaks ZigBee in order to transmit signals "up to 300 feet." Of course, this multifaceted device won't run you cheap, as interested buyers will be asked to cough up $180 to procure one when it lands this fall.
Yesterday when Steve showed us 10 of his favorite new Leopard features, he left out at least a couple we were a little more than interested in: HD DVD and Blu-ray support. While Tiger does have support for HD DVD and Blu-ray drives, it's not able to play back Hollywood movies from either format. Someone at MacRumors has discovered that the new DVD Movie Player.app in Leopard now includes preferences for both HD DVD and Blu-ray. Sure, Tiger included a preference pane for "HD", but this was for discs with H.264 encoded HD video created in Apple's DVD Studio Pro -- or the like. Of course, this isn't the only thing needed to add next-gen Hollywood movies to Leopard, but we're hoping Apple can pile on the rest before October, like AACS, HDCP, VC1 and of course an actual drive shipped with a new Mac.
Apple is known for high profit margins on its consumer electronics, but according iSuppli Apple is only making $62 (or about 20%) on each Apple TV. As you'd guess, the most expensive component is a slimmed down version of Intel's Pentium M processor at about $40, and the cheapest is the $0.75 RealTek audio chip. The new 160GB version's margin is much nicer at more than 30%, but only because Apple charges a $100 premium for an option that only costs an extra $36 to make. Hobby indeed. Of course the obvious reason is that Apple plans to make up the cash selling content, and maybe even more importantly: to get into your living room. While this seems like a great plan and all, we can't help but get stuck on the fact there still isn't any HD content from Apple for a device that supposedly requires an HDTV.
Apple recently started selling an Apple TV with a 160gb hard drive, which makes us say; about time! But at the same time this got us thinking, why would you possibly need this much space in an Apple TV for, other than HD video? Sure DVDs can be as much as 9GB, but not when compressed with H.264 (especially with Dolby PLII audio). Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but it seems that everyone is pretty disappointed with the quality of the movies from iTunes. We know the Apple TV is capable of good quality -- not great -- HD video, but when will Apple bring us more HD is the question.
As if the Apple TV hasn't been hacked up enough in its infancy, Alan Quatermain is keeping the fun rolling with the unleashing of his BackRow software development kit. The completed SDK includes headers for the BackRow framework, iPhotoAccess framework, and QuartzComposer frameworks, which are reportedly all that's necessary in order to build and run your appliance plug-ins and the BackRow Test application. Additionally, you'll find a project template for Xcode, which "creates the Info.plist with the required elements, Appliance and ApplianceController classes, and links in the appropriate frameworks (Foundation and BackRow) for you." Of course, the possibilities are far too numerous to cover in this space, so do yourself a favor and hit the read link if you've managed to hold back your trigger finger 'til now for a detailed account at what the SDK entails.
There's iPod sound systems, and then there's Bluetooth streaming music stations, but GEAR4 is looking to meld both worlds together with its new HouseParty Blu. The multifaceted speaker station allows dock-connecting iPods to flank the top and recharge its battery while cranking out the jams, and moreover, it doesn't shun the elegant A2DP audio streaming capabilities of your BT-enabled music phone in the process. As with most portable sound systems, this one also includes a 3.5-millimeter auxiliary input for every other music source in the world, and specs wise, you'll find a pair of stereo drivers, 30-watts of amplification, touch-sensitive backlit buttons, and a wireless remote. So if you've been keeping an eye for a noise maker that would natively play nice with your Pod and mobile, you can snap up GEAR4's latest for a reasonable £79.99 ($159) right now.
Despite the rumor mill's best efforts at pinning Apple down to a "true" media center offering, Apple has seemed content to offer up handy ways to browse you computer's library via Front Row and Apple TV, but not so interested in really going head to head with Windows Media Center Edition or other similar apps. That all might be changing, but it's still a long shot: Apple applied for a patent in 2005, which was just published today, that refers to a media center comprised of a "module controller" and various "media components" working together in glorious harmony. The most optimistic reading of the patent points a sort of modular utopia, where various media components plug into a central hub, letting pretty much anything connected to the network control and display media -- fan faves like the iPhone and Apple TV come quickly to mind. Apple still isn't too explicit about actual inputs, such as DVD, HDTV and HD discs, but we'll keep hoping it figures out the fact that iTunes media purchases don't quite cut it for quenching the average consumer's media thirst.
Considering that the trendy white iPod HiFi is no more, it's no surprise to see another company filling the void with a rectangular iPod speaker station of its own. The iStuff Domino 2.1 sports an eerily familiar layout, 30 total watts of amplification, a pair of two-inch wide-range drivers coupled with two three-inch magnetically shielded fiberglass cone subwoofers, an S-Video output, USB connector, 3.5-millimeter auxiliary input and RCA stereo outs. Furthermore, this unit claims to play nice with the newest family of iPods, comes with a wireless remote and can be snapped up right now for £99.99 ($204).
