The (probable) new Apple TV
Engadget is releasing info on Apple’s possible new Apple TV unit and, for the first time, I’m pretty pumped about the little unit.
More details here: http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/28/the-next-apple-tv-revealed-cloud-storage-and-iphone-os-on-tap/
Read more for my take on it.
I think Apple may finally have a unit that I’ll end up picking up. Kev V’s Apple TV definitely got me intrigued, but, already having a laptop and all, it just didn’t seem to offer quite enough to make it worth it. This new one, though… for one, it’s only going to be $100. Two, it’s going to run on the iPhone OS and hardware, so it stands to believe that we may be looking at Apple TV apps at some point in the future. Which makes me wonder if Apple has their eyes on the lucrative video game console market, seeing as they already have the games and store in place.
But lastly, the whole cloud-based storage solution to me is incredibly attractive. I’m tired of buying new hard drives and managing my files. I’d rather just throw them up “in the cloud” and let a real data center handle them. Whether Apple decides to offer this at a reasonable cost (free would be nice) and not pull a Facebook and start trying to sell our data, however, remains to be seen.
Comments
I’m not sure what cloud bases storage is or would be. But I pretty much almost exclusively just stream from my home computer. So at any point I can listen to or watch any of my 1.5 terabytes of music/movies/tv with no issues. For my situation I can’t imagine what this would improve although I’m a fan of the device in general so if it gets more people to buy it then I say good.
Cloud-based storage is essentially hosting your files online. “The Cloud” refers to a massive, decentralized network of storage devices, like Amazon’s S3 hosting.
So, to put this in real world terms, your situation could improve in three big ways, depending on how the details shake out, of course:
1. You wouldnt’ have to worry about backups or anything. It’s all out there in a much more secure form in datacenters and whatnot.
2. HD output to your TV
3. iPhone/iPad/appleTV apps/games on your TV. Maybe. Somehow.
Of course, if it ends up being some sort of subscription model for the cloud hosting, that could suck.