Apple's big release
Well, well. We are less than 24 hours from Apple's big product announcement. Of all the different speculation that I have read on engadget.com, macrumors.com appleinsider.com and TUAW.com I hope the annoucement will be something to do with video. A video iPod does not excite me necessarily other than to see how Jonathan Ives and Steve Jobs execute it. I like that they make museum quality pieces (Nano, the Cube, iMac G5, etc.) but for portable devices I wish Jonathan would design a case. What sense does it make to develop a portable device with a buttery soft face?
In terms of tomorrow this is what I want to see.
- video DVR device driven with an upgraded version of iTunes.
- I would like to have the device to do h.264 HD encoding
- 80, 120, 180 gig hard drive configurations
- Firewire 2 connectivity
- USB2 wireless rebroadcast capable
- 2 HDTV tuners
- DVD-R drive
All in a case that can stack on top of a Mini. What do you think? It would be portable at that size, it would replace TiVo, and Apple could feasibly do it with the exception of maybe the USB2 wireless which is not ready for prime time yet. Please don't disappoint us Apple with a bump in iPod capacity. A new 80 gig iPod is not news worthy.
HDTV
Everywhere you look HD is the big item. It is also the big item in terms of price too. I have been holding back for that reason and because most HD technologies are not worth the nose bleed they give. Why spend $8,000 for a system that still has issues with pixelation, and refresh rates? I love the size of the new sets and brightness but lets face it, if while watching a movie you notice that the giant explosion is made up of squares, or if a speeding car smears accross the screen in a car chase, any chance a movie has in immersing us in the story is lost.
People want a bigger, brighter, sharper screen so they can be immersed in what they are watching. It is a given that when an HD image gets distorted I will be irritated. When I spend $8,000 on a TV and I see these sort of problems with the images I am going to feel ripped off. Even a $300 TV does not have these kind of issues. I don't care about DLP, LCD, plasma, etc. it better not have jaggies!
I thought that I had discovered the perfect solution with Samsung's new Slim Fit technology. They had everything I wanted in the HD format:right price, no pixelation, 16:9 aspect ratio, great color and brightness, built in HD tuner, and super contrast ratios. Unfortunately 30" is as big as they get. Why can't Samsung make a 40" CRT? 30" is really laughable. I understand that a 60" is not likely in terms of feasability, but who is in the market for a 30" HDTV? College students?
Luckily there is something on the horizon. SED (
Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) TV. SED mixes the best of both worlds. Take a CRT's front surface abilities of best in class colors, motion, contrast, and add the technology used in thin screen TVs to replace the electron gun. This is what SED promises along with great prices. The first set will be available in the early part of 2006. I might start a count down.
here is more on this great technology. http://www.dealerscope.com/doc/283069189778166.bsp
