The new AppleTV will be similar to how the iPhone and iPad works in that it will offer apps for sale on iTunes and allow developers to create apps for the unit.  An example of some apps could be, an app for Hulu, ABC, CBS, NBC…  An app for games, music, and more.  All on your tv, all controlled and selected by an Apple type of remote.  The less buttons the better, as one would expect from Apple.  It will be powerful enough to have full HD and proabably use a custom arm chip designed by Apple.

I believe it will be more than just a media box.  It will naturally be connected to the internet  and work as a game box as well.  I’m not sure what they might use for game controllers, but it’s most likely not going to be your typical standard controller.  Apple just doesn’t do things that way.  I could also see it having wireless audio streaming to speakers around your house.

This also will give Apple another huge market for there iAds.  Not only does this bring their ads into your house, but right into your living room, bypassing the TV industry.

Of course, you’ll still be able to stream music, video’s and all that iTunes content.  It will have an ethernet connector, an HDMI port and wireless N.  I honestly don’t think they will put a USB connector on the unit so it will be harder to crack.

It may have a hard drive, but I think it will be flash memory instead.   Everything will be on demand and very little will be stored directly on the unit.  This would make it easier for TV broadcasters to go along with in my opinion.

I really think that if they are going to go into the TV market, what better way for them to do it.  They already have the app store for iPhones and the iPad.  They have the experience, developers, and they could easily port the OS to an AppleTV type box.

So, what do you think?  Do you think I’m right on this or do you have a better prediction?

Apple TV Prediction / Rumor

Sony Dash: Personal Internet Viewer In The Age Of iPad

For starters, the Copyright Office’s decision has been pending since December 2008 — although a ruling is expected any time.

During that wait, however, Apple unveiled the iPad — a gadget with the same closed ecosystem of the iPhone that isn’t likely covered in EFF’s request. All of which means that a jailbreaking exemption for the iPad likely cannot be made until late 2011 or 2012, the next time the Copyright Office opens up requests for DMCA exemptions.

“We limited it to phones. This was the only category of devices where this was a problem in 2008,” said Fred von Lohmann, the EFF attorney who wrote the DMCA phone exemption.

The proposal, if approved, clearly would pave the way for third-party apps on the iPhone — hence turning the iPhone into a blank slate to run whatever its owner wishes. More than 3 billion apps have been downloaded from iTunes, and Apple claims sanctioning the hack would be a blow to its financial future.

The iPhone hack is part of the exemption process under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. every three years, the Librarian of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office entertain proposals for exemptions to copyright law. It’s not likely that a ruling in EFF’s favor would include the iPad — which will debut in more than a month — although von Lohmann isn’t “conceding” iPad defeat.

The EFF proposal concerns “Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute lawfully obtained software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications with computer programs on the telephone handset.”

The iPad, at least as we know it now, does not offer phone service from a carrier, but can be used to make and receive calls via the voice over internet protocol.

“In December 2008, we could not know Apple would launch the iPad and impose the same restrictions as the iPhone,” von Lohmann said.

Over the decade, a handful of DMCA exemptions have been granted. They are considered every three years.

“It’s a very glacial process when compared to the pace of technology,” von Lohmann said. “Since it happens every three years, you’re always behind the technology curve.”

Approved DMCA exemptions include circumvention of anti-copying restrictions on DVDs for the purpose of making compilations of portions of those works for educational use in a classroom. another was directed at the blind, allowing the circumvention of an e-book’s shuttered read-aloud function. another allows the circumvention of access controls on CDs to research for security flaws.

But it’s unclear whether regulators would approve the “wireless telephone handset” proposal. The government has repeatedly denied consumer-friendly, fair use changes, such as requests to make backup copies of DVDs or video games, as well as requests for exemptions to enable copying DVDs to laptops and portable devices.

The content industry has lobbied against the jailbreaking proposal alongside Apple, which has sold some 75 million iPhones. while opening up the iPhone’s OS would lead to the pirating of sanctioned iPhone apps, it would create a giant iPhone platform to play and copy infringing content like movies and games.

All the while, almost one out of every 10 iPhones and iPod touches already might be jailbroken, according to Jay Freeman, the operator of underground app store Cydia. Nearly half a million of the gadgets connect to his online store daily.

Even without a DMCA exemption, we expect the same for the iPad, which will run the 140,000 apps available for download in iTunes.

“I think it’s sort of ingrained in the nature of geeks anywhere that somebody is going to hack the iPad,” said Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone developer and a hacker who teaches forensics courses on recovering data from iPhones.

To be sure, if the government sanctioned jailbreaking Apple’s operating system for the iPad or iPhone, jailbreaking would become elevated from the underground to the mainstream with legitimate markets competing against Apple.

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See also:

• Once again, DMCA Protects Online Video Sites
• 10 Years later, Misunderstood DMCA is the Law that Saved the Web …
• DMCA Coupon Flap Ends — Nobody ‘Won’
• Air Force Cyber Command’s new Weapon: DMCA Notices
• YouTube to McCain: you made Your DMCA Bed, Lie in It
• Google, EFF Applaud Veoh DMCA Ruling
• Feds Consider new DMCA Anti-Circumvention Exemptions
• Yahoo Issues Takedown Notice for Spying Price List
• Judge who Signed ‘Torture Memo’ Blasts DMCA Sentence

DMCA Exemption Unlikely for iPad Jailbreak

Is the ad I saw on Facebook about testing the iPad legitimate?

“Microsoft is in a bigger ‘start over’ penalty box than Intel and Nokia, but it really is a start over for all of them,” said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates about the announcements made at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. “Microsoft does have a much steeper road to climb to get back into the game than Nokia/Intel does.”

Intel joined Nokia in unveiling Meego, a Linux-based open operating system to be used in smartphones, netbooks, connected TVs and tablets. Meego combines features from Intel’s Moblin OS and Nokia’s Maemo OS. Devices using Meego are expected to arrive in the second half of 2010.

Meanwhile, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer touted Windows Phone 7 Series software that’s expected to be running on smartphones due out by the 2010 holiday season on a variety of carriers globally, including AT&T in the U.S.

Ballmer said the new version of Microsoft’s operating system for mobile phone will bring “more consistency in the hardware platform and in the user experience” than earlier versions.

In both announcements, it was obvious that the three companies are adjusting to the market success of Apple Inc.’s iPhone and the coming iPad tablet, as well as Google Inc. The search company is behind a host of software applications for a variety of upcoming Android OS smartphones and devices that it helped create in its sponsorship of the Open Handset Alliance.

Gold said that Microsoft has “basically had to nuke its existing OS and start over,” while Intel and Nokia could blend most of the existing code in Moblin and Maemo to create Meego.

Ballmer did not describe Windows Phone 7 Series as a start-over, of course, but implied it comes in reaction to past criticism of Windows Mobile OS and its decline in sales in late 2009.

“We have a chance to make a major impact on the [smartphone] market… (with the new OS),” Ballmer said. “We had to step back and recast.”

Ballmer also didn’t go as far as he did last fall when he told investors that Microsoft had “screwed up with Windows Mobile” and had shuffled its Windows Mobile team to regain lost ground.

Updated user functions in Windows Phone 7 include concepts such as “hubs” that display a page of contacts called “people,” for example. Other hubs will be labeled “office” for note-taking and synchronizing documents with a PC; “games,” for integrating with the Microsoft Xbox live online community; and “music+video” for synchronizing the smartphone with Microsoft’s desktop Zune jukebox and music store software.

Windows Phone 7, Meego OS herald new start for smartphones

What does the Ipad mean for smartphones?

How many mb/gb storage does a movie take up on a new16gb IPad or any other 16gb device?

ST, the French-Italian company, uses the IPAD name in chips sold to mobile phone makers. It stands for Integrated Passive and Active Devices, according to its Web site.

A company believed to be a front for Apple filed for a trademark on the iPad name with the Trade marks and Designs Registration Office of the European Union. It’s application, on Jan. 18, is for rights to the name under a much wider range of classifications than STMicroelectronics. It applied for the right to the iPad name in six classifications, including in two classifications already held by STMicroelectronics, categories 9 and 16. Category 9 deals with electronics and components, while category 16 deals with use of the name in print on everything from boxes and paper to software and computer guides.

When asked about whether his company will seek a deal with Apple or file a lawsuit over the trademark, STMicroelectronics President and CEO Carlo Bozotti said “Our ambition is to have a great customer named Apple.” He declined to comment on any specific action the company might take.

Bozotti is in Taipei meeting with customers and made the comments at a news conference.

ST registered the name IPAD as a trademark in the E.U. on Sep. 14, 2001, and the mark is set to expire on Sept. 1, according to the office’s trademark database.

Another company, Siemens, registered a trademark for the name iPAD in 2007, but in a different classification, motors and engines.

Apple has run into a few trademark difficulties in recent years. Japan’s Fujitsu built a mobile device it has marketed in the U.S. and elsewhere as the iPAD in since 2002, though there is some controversy over whether or not it still owns the U.S. trademark, according to reports.

Apple also ran into a tiff with Cisco Systems, which owned the trademark for the iPhone name. Cisco sued Apple a day after it announced the iPhone in early 2007. The companies eventually settled their dispute and Apple’s iPhone is now one of the most popular smartphones in the world.

Apple unveiled the iPad tablet computer in a highly anticipated conference last month. The device has a 9.7-inch screen and is being sold as a multimedia and Internet device. It will be available in late March.

Apple Allure May Help It Win IPad name in Europe

Feb 3, 2010Paul Ridden

Just a few short weeks ago, questions were raised about whether the much-hyped tablet computer from Apple would ever appear. on January 27th, Apple held a special event to announce that its mysterious device would be available from March and would be called the iPad. does the actual device live up to the hype that preceded it?

Touchscreen but no Camera

As 2009 closed, it was thought that Apple’s tablet computer might feature a bright OLED touchscreen display in a 9.7 inch display with a cheaper but bigger option being made available in LCD at 10.6 inches. the hype was mostly incorrect, although one of the predicted screen sizes is a winner. the iPad features a 9.7 inch, 1024-by-768-pixel resolution (at 132 pixels per inch) LED backlit capacitive multi-touch IPS display with ambient light sensor, accelerometer and a claimed ultra wide 178 degree viewing angle. No OLED.

Whilst the lack of a camera on the rear of the device is not too surprising, the one missing from the front closes off any video conferencing potential, not a big user market but significant nonetheless. As well as a dozen specially designed apps available from Apple’s store, almost all of the existing 140,000 apps previously developed for the iPhone or iPod Touch have been made iPad-ready but Apple’s “one app at a time” usage approach continues, although multi-tasking could well be introduced later.

Apple has billed the 9.56 inch (242.8 mm) by 7.47 inch (189.7 mm) by 0.5 inch (13.4 mm) iPad as a “revolutionary device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more” and it’s true that browsing in landscape orientation should prove a beneficial experience and in-page navigation using the multi-touch display will be both intuitive and enjoyable.

It will be interesting to see if the iPad affects sales of the more expensive digital photo frames allowing, as it does, a huge selection of photos to be displayed while being accompanied by music from an iTunes library. the personal media player market could also suffer, with the iPad offering video playback in H.264 up to 720p/30fps high definition.

Despite many hopes to the contrary, the iPad doesn’t appear to support Adobe Flash which means that some content will still be unavailable for web surfers. however, with HTML5 waiting in the wings to make media content a whole lot easier maybe iPad users won’t suffer for too long.

A Tablet taking Aim at e-Readers

It was when CEO Steve Jobs announced the introduction of the iBooks application that things took an interesting turn, Apple firmly setting its sights on the e-Reader market. With the iPad using an LED backlit screen instead of e-Ink display though, it will be intriguing to see whether digital book readers will sacrifice optical comfort for much improved functionality. however, the application does look the business and makes online bookstore offerings from the likes of Amazon and Barnes & Noble look somewhat dated.

The iPad will be available in 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb flash storage flavors, each being offered with either 802.11n WiFi or both 3G mobile internet via AT&T and WiFi. the latter models will allow 3G activation direct from the device without contract, cancellation being possible at any time. All models feature Bluetooth 2.1 and EDR, a built-in speaker and microphone and will be powered by 1 gigahertz ARM A4 system-on-a-chip technology specially developed by Apple.

Apple claims that the iPad lithium-polymer battery will give ten hours of usage or 30 hours in stand-by. the battery is enclosed however, preventing user replacement when it begins to edge towards end of life, but Apple says that its battery should be good for at least 1000 charge cycles before showing any sign of degradation.

Who will Buy an iPad?

The iPad has latterly been described as an “iPhone on steroids”, a definition that may give an indication of the likely effect it will have on an erstwhile niche market. the iPad is not the most advanced tablet device available and despite Jobs claiming that the “iPad creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before”, it’s not the first. But it is probably destined to be the most popular, much the same as the iPhone is not the most technically advanced smartphone available but is a firm favorite amongst users worldwide.

Apple iPad: the Mystical Tablet PC is Finally Released

Are you excited about the new Apple iPad? will you be getting one as soon as they’re available?

What makes the iPad different from the iPod Touch ?

People with an impeccable track record in matters such as these say the iPhone in below photo, published by gadget blog Engadget in the hours leading up to Apple’s iPad announcement last Wednesday, is a prototype of one of the handsets due to hit the market in roughly five months.

Unfortunately, the quality of the photo leaves much to be desired, and few details on the purported prototype can be determined beyond a very similar likeness to the current iPhone 3G and 3GS casings. the report offers, however, a couple of possible visual difference between the pictured iPhone and current models.

Most obviously, the photographed iPhone appears to lack the iPhone’s traditional aluminum bezel around its front edge, instead appearing to reveal an all-black bezel, although it appears possible that the iPhone is covered by some sort of skin or cover or even that reflections could make the aluminum bezel appear black in this image.

Second, a “whitish blotch” appears to the left of the iPhone’s earpiece in the image, although it is again unclear whether this is an actual feature of the next-generation iPhone or merely a reflection shown in the iPhone’s glass surface. Speculation regarding a hardware feature in that location obviously centers on the possibility of a forward-facing camera.

Evidence of the next-generation iPhone hardware being tested surfaced in late November.

Last-Minute iPad Photo Leak Reportedly Included Image of Prototype …

In praise of the iPad: a contrarian view

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Jan 29th 2010 at 1:30PM

If there has been an editorial theme about the iPad over the last few days, it’s been this: it disappoints. Pundits and consumers alike have been underwhelmed by the name (I mean, seriously, does anyone in the product naming department use feminine hygiene products? how many of these devices are going to be named “Max”?), by the physical design (Can you say “Un-Ives-like Bezel” three times fast?), by the missing features (no camera, no multitasking, still no Flash), and so forth. and yet, despite these seeming flaws, I’m wildly enthusiastic about the tablet. I think part of that enthusiasm is attributable to the fact that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool netbook user… and we are the actual target audience for the device.

Steve Jobs laid out the raison d’etre for the tablet right at the start of his presentation. Apple was going after the part of the market that wanted light computing: more than a phone could deliver and less involved than a laptop demanded. Ergo, the netbook. The list of things in the middle column of his main slide reflected the exact way that netbook users operate: checking the mail, surfing the web, enjoying some media. That’s exactly how my parents use their netbook, how my friends do, how I do. We’re coffee-shop, hotel, and passenger-seat netbook users. to that, you can add city commuters and airline passengers among those who have driven the netbook craze.

Netbooks are great. They are small, they are insanely cheap, and they offer just enough functionality to get a few things done without jumping into serious work that would demand a full-sized screen and keyboard. I know approximately three badzillion netbook users, and with very few exceptions, they are all Windows users.

I emphasize the Windows users part because nearly everyone filling that auditorium on Wednesday and nearly every blog author writing about the tablet is not, in fact, a primary Windows user. Apple events tend to draw Apple people. and for many reasons, I think that the Apple netpad (Isn’t that a much better name than “iPad”?) is a better match for Windows users deciding between an Asus or an Eee or an HP or an Apple unit than it is for people who are living and loving the Apple laptop life.

That’s because the new Apple nettop (and there you have another alternative that they could have considered) is not a laptop and it’s not meant to be one. it doesn’t multitask. it doesn’t run Adobe’s Creative Suite. Hell, it doesn’t even do Flash video. it is, in fact, an oversized iPod touch. and for those of us who love the touch, who really feel that iPhoneOS had brought near-netbook mobility, the iPad takes that promise even closer to where it could be.

The win for netbooks isn’t full computing power. Even though nearly every netbook on the market delivers that power, it’s rarely if ever used except when the netbook is docked to a display and keyboard; to be frank, that’s not the normal way most people use their netbooks. No, it’s about convenience. Users pull them out, use them for a few minutes, and then put them away as they sip their venti mocha lattes. Netbooks are second computers for nearly everyone I know, not primary ones.

When you need to get real, serious work done, there are laptops and there are desktop units. and Apple makes some of the best and sells them at a premium. but the netbook isn’t about providing the same solutions as a laptop. It’s about affordable convenience and mobility.

Almost two years ago, I wrote the following on TUAW:

The computing world is changing. We’re no longer tied to desktops. we move around, we take our computing with us. Holding a computer in the crook of our arms isn’t just a nice idea, it’s practical. When you’re walking through hospital halls, sitting in on a University lecture, attending business meetings, or spec’ing out a project at a construction site, the tablet computer makes sense. if anything, the iPhone which has been pushed far beyond its original design specs, has proven that people want truly mobile computing. No keyboard, no standard screen — true portability.The iPad, with its larger screen, improved multitouch interface, and expanded software delivers on that promise: better movie screen space (especially on the train, in the car, or on the treadmill), better web browsing and e-mail reading, better viewing of photos, charts, and other data. and on top of that, it plays games and offers an eBook reader, not to mention you can use it for business presentations, either on the device itself or by sending video out to component, composite, or VGA-ready screens. and, not for nothing, a four-year-old can use it as easily as an octogenarian can. Literally as well as figuratively.

In comparison to a laptop, anyone who wanted the tablet to be an Air mini is going to be disappointed. but in comparison to a netbook? The iPad is made of win. The iPad delivers enough functionality to make it a a strong competitor to traditional netbooks. there is, however, that missing Flash thing. It’s a big issue for most Windows users I know (possibly because they’re used to the relatively smooth Flash performance on the Windows side, as opposed to the doggedly awful performance on the Mac side), as is the relative dearth of enterprise-ready solutions — problems the iPhone has already weathered for two years. but somehow the iPhone has managed to find its market despite those potential pitfalls. The iPad can as well.

As I wrote in 2008, “Cell phones and tablet computers are all about freeing ourselves.” Free yourself from the table, from the desk, and from the power cord. That’s what the iPad delivers.

Tags: iPad, iPad maxi, IpadMaxi, iPhone, iPod touch, IpodTouch, tablet

• Source
• Print thisWith HP wireless printers,
  you could have printed
  this from any room
  in the house.
  Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly
• Email this
• Share
• Tweet this!
• Comments (199)

In praise of the iPad: a contrarian view

Instead, I agree with CNET’s Ina Fried and Business Insider’s Henry Blodget: this is a consumer electronics device for puttering around the house and leisure time–reading books and Web sites on the couch, showing pictures off to friends, catching up on the latest Web videos. And, yes, listening to music.

The iTunes Music Store looks great on the iPad, but I’d like to see more features for music fans and musicians.

(Credit:James Martin/CNET)

It’s also a golden opportunity for Apple to fix some of the glaring shortcomings in its portable music experience. Here are five things I’d like to see the iPad incorporate, perhaps through the next update to theiPhone OS (which it uses).

Wireless sync. the iPad is not aMac. That means it doesn’t run the full iTunes client, so you can’t share music from another computer over your home network. instead, like aniPod or iPhone, you must physically connect it to the computer on which your music is stored, then wait for the music to travel over the wire. this is, frankly, absurd. If you want me to use the iPad to listen to music in my home, don’t make me walk over to my computer and attach it every time I want to load some new tunes. Wireless sync would also be great for syncing other material like pictures, videos, and apps. how hard can it be? Microsoft’s Zune player has had wireless sync for three iterations and more than two years.

Cloud-based music service. even if the iPad had wireless sync, the most affordable model has only 16GB of storage. this isn’t enough for most music lovers’ digital collections, especially if they’re going to use the iPad for other functions like electronic books and photos. So how about taking that Lala acquisition and using it? instead of having to load music onto the iPad itself, I could sync it from my computer to Lala’s online music locker service, then stream it over the Web directly to my device. Bye-bye, storage limits. Best of all, every time I update my music collection, it’s updated everywhere simultaneously. this is such a no-brainer I’d be stunned if Apple doesn’t make it available shortly after the iPad launches.

Music-sharing with third-party apps. There are some surprisingly sophisticated DJ apps for iPhone, like TouchDJ and DJ Mixer, that let you play two songs at the same time and mix them together like a mulitrack DJ set-up. these apps would be much easier to use on the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen. But they all share one big shortcoming: they can’t just play songs that you’ve already loaded onto your device. instead, you have to re-load songs into the DJ apps, either from a sync application running on your computer or over a Web server. this isn’t the fault of the app designers–it’s a limitation that Apple places on the iPhone and iPod Touch. I hope Apple figures out a way around it soon.

Queuing. I like to play DJ. as one song plays, it sparks associations with other songs. it would be nice to be able to load these other songs into a “now playing” queue. the Zune’s had this feature since its inception, but I can’t do it on the iPod Touch or the iPhone–instead, I have to wait for the current song to end, then start up a new song. (And no, I don’t want to do this with playlists on the computer and then sync those playlists to the device. That misses the entire point of spontaneity.)

Decent speakers (and amp). Naturally, the first thing I did with the iPad was check out its music playback. I could barely hear it, even with the volume maxed out. It’s true that the room was crowded with gadget fans scrambling for their first look at the device, but even so, the speakers sounded no louder than the iPhone’s. But this isn’t a phone. It’s also not a Mac, where music isn’t the primary focus for most users. It’s a consumer electronics device. it would be great if I could set it up in my living room or bedroom without having to attach it to another device. Peripheral makers might complain–iHome does great work creating audio accessories for the iPhone–but if this is truly going to be a new product category, Apple should treat it like one. Alas, I’m going to have to wait for v.2 for this feature.

How to make the iPad a better music device

Why is Apple constantly referring to the iPad as “magical”?