Also Sony gave lots of PS3′s away with high end HD television sets. I think alot of those people never would have bought any gamestation. I understand and believe the majority of PS3 owners are gamers, but then again a few years ago most GSM user where calling/texting on their devices.

A lot of good marketing techniques are being used to makes sure the PS3 is your media center. But this is easier for Sony and Microsoft (with their xbox360) then for lets say Nintendo. Why? Simple, they expanded their core bussiness. I think  
Ofcourse
So my point is, Apple should take look at Sony’s efforts and see how they struggle for domination of the livingroom. Then only try to dive into that market when they can innovate.

Sorry my English stinks.

I believe it will probably take 10 years for this to happen and they have big hurdles such as getting TV and movie publishers to agree to low prices on the iTunes store that would undermine their retail prices. then Apple needs a killer product that links to their massive iTunes eco system to something that probably needs to be a TV set. but current TV set profit margins are so slim it makes it very hard for Apple to launch a competitive TV set on the market. The current Apple TV works well at a low price but the user interface is not revolutionary or magical and the content is not there for more appealing prices.

They’ve already learned from the 1st gen Apple TV that downloading video content and managing hard drive space is not what consumers want. I think their massive data centre is probably the first step to providing the adequate infrastructure for streaming content and having a permanent media library in the cloud for current and future devices.

I’m not sure if you can argue the size of the ecosystem as reason to say the next iteration is going to be good since it was huge on the previous version.  You can argue that if they get it right, the impact of them getting it right is going to be magnified by several orders of magnitude because of the extremely large size of their ecosystem. 

iCloud has the potential to be huge.  Especially if Apple manages to make it completely seamless to the user.  It just works and the user doesn’t care where the data is coming from or how it is getting to them.  That goal is definitely within reach of Apple’s development team and has the potential to make Apple TV work that much better in ways it previously could not.  Hopefully, they get it right on the first try.  

So much of my Android phone is in the cloud and I love it being there.  I love that I can switch to a new phone from a new manufacturer and so much of my data is automagically there on the new phone when I sign in without hooking it any other hardware.  I would love for Google to provide a service to get that to 100% of my data with no additional steps take by me.  There are 3rd party tools to essentially do that but they aren’t automagical thus out of the realm of the average user unless someone a bit more advanced is guiding them.  I think Apple can get that perfected with iCloud.

Since you bring up the integration aspects of iOS, OSX and Apple TV, I don’t think that ultimately Apple or Google is going to be the winner here.  I think it’s going to be Microsoft.  Provided one thing goes right: Windows 8.  If there is mass consumer acceptance of Windows 8, you have a potential for a phone, tablet, netbook, notebook, HTPC, console and desktop to all use the exact same interface that is very easy to learn.  I am a huge Metro UI fan.  I love that style of design.  I would have no problem switching to a Mango WP7 phone if someone would actually put out some killer hardware for it.  But back to the main point, you learn one interface and you know how to use every form factor out there.  What Microsoft is doing is a huge gamble, but it also has the biggest payoff.  If nobody likes Windows 8, they are so utterly screwed until they can get it right. 

I’ve often found it’s not what you say but how you say it is what makes someone sound like a fanboy.  It’s just really hard to not sound like you are writing a love letter when you love the stuff you are writing about.  Plus, trying to remain extremely objective without any kind of passion, is pretty damn boring to write and to read.  It’s a balancing process.  One I’ve been trying to work on myself.

Thanks for replying, I had a feeling you would bring some insight into your previous comment based on your blog entries of your site.  You raise some valid points that are worth considering.

And if anyone wants to consider me a fanboy, please go read Bill Palmer’s entries on BeatWeek. Then go back and read my stuff.

I’m not sure if you can argue the size of the ecosystem as reason to say the next iteration is going to be good since it was huge on the previous version.  You can argue that if they get it right, the impact of them getting it right is going to be magnified by several orders of magnitude because of the extremely large size of their ecosystem. 

iCloud has the potential to be huge.  Especially if Apple manages to make it completely seamless to the user.  It just works and the user doesn’t care where the data is coming from or how it is getting to them.  That goal is definitely within reach of Apple’s development team and has the potential to make Apple TV work that much better in ways it previously could not.  Hopefully, they get it right on the first try.  

So much of my Android phone is in the cloud and I love it being there.  I love that I can switch to a new phone from a new manufacturer and so much of my data is automagically there on the new phone when I sign in without hooking it any other hardware.  I would love for Google to provide a service to get that to 100% of my data with no additional steps take by me.  There are 3rd party tools to essentially do that but they aren’t automagical thus out of the realm of the average user unless someone a bit more advanced is guiding them.  I think Apple can get that perfected with iCloud.

Since you bring up the integration aspects of iOS, OSX and Apple TV, I don’t think that ultimately Apple or Google is going to be the winner here.  I think it’s going to be Microsoft.  Provided one thing goes right: Windows 8.  If there is mass consumer acceptance of Windows 8, you have a potential for a phone, tablet, netbook, notebook, HTPC, console and desktop to all use the exact same interface that is very easy to learn.  I am a huge Metro UI fan.  I love that style of design.  I would have no problem switching to a Mango WP7 phone if someone would actually put out some killer hardware for it.  But back to the main point, you learn one interface and you know how to use every form factor out there.  What Microsoft is doing is a huge gamble, but it also has the biggest payoff.  If nobody likes Windows 8, they are so utterly screwed until they can get it right. 

I’ve often found it’s not what you say but how you say it is what makes someone sound like a fanboy.  It’s just really hard to not sound like you are writing a love letter when you love the stuff you are writing about.  Plus, trying to remain extremely objective without any kind of passion, is pretty damn boring to write and to read.  It’s a balancing process.  One I’ve been trying to work on myself.

Thanks for replying, I had a feeling you would bring some insight into your previous comment based on your blog entries of your site.  You raise some valid points that are worth considering.

And if anyone wants to consider me a fanboy, please go read Bill Palmer’s entries on BeatWeek. Then go back and read my stuff.

I’m not sure if you can argue the size of the ecosystem as reason to say the next iteration is going to be good since it was huge on the previous version.  You can argue that if they get it right, the impact of them getting it right is going to be magnified by several orders of magnitude because of the extremely large size of their ecosystem. 

iCloud has the potential to be huge.  Especially if Apple manages to make it completely seamless to the user.  It just works and the user doesn’t care where the data is coming from or how it is getting to them.  That goal is definitely within reach of Apple’s development team and has the potential to make Apple TV work that much better in ways it previously could not.  Hopefully, they get it right on the first try.  

So much of my Android phone is in the cloud and I love it being there.  I love that I can switch to a new phone from a new manufacturer and so much of my data is automagically there on the new phone when I sign in without hooking it any other hardware.  I would love for Google to provide a service to get that to 100% of my data with no additional steps take by me.  There are 3rd party tools to essentially do that but they aren’t automagical thus out of the realm of the average user unless someone a bit more advanced is guiding them.  I think Apple can get that perfected with iCloud.

Since you bring up the integration aspects of iOS, OSX and Apple TV, I don’t think that ultimately Apple or Google is going to be the winner here.  I think it’s going to be Microsoft.  Provided one thing goes right: Windows 8.  If there is mass consumer acceptance of Windows 8, you have a potential for a phone, tablet, netbook, notebook, HTPC, console and desktop to all use the exact same interface that is very easy to learn.  I am a huge Metro UI fan.  I love that style of design.  I would have no problem switching to a Mango WP7 phone if someone would actually put out some killer hardware for it.  But back to the main point, you learn one interface and you know how to use every form factor out there.  What Microsoft is doing is a huge gamble, but it also has the biggest payoff.  If nobody likes Windows 8, they are so utterly screwed until they can get it right. 

I’ve often found it’s not what you say but how you say it is what makes someone sound like a fanboy.  It’s just really hard to not sound like you are writing a love letter when you love the stuff you are writing about.  Plus, trying to remain extremely objective without any kind of passion, is pretty damn boring to write and to read.  It’s a balancing process.  One I’ve been trying to work on myself.

Thanks for replying, I had a feeling you would bring some insight into your previous comment based on your blog entries of your site.  You raise some valid points that are worth considering.

And if anyone wants to consider me a fanboy, please go read Bill Palmer’s entries on BeatWeek. Then go back and read my stuff.

Apple’s success rate is certainly something to look at as VedX mentioned, and their success rate has been attributed largely to one thing, and that is the magnitude of their ecosystem. You can argue about the quality of an ecosystem, but you can’t debate the size, and Apple has the largest, and most thriving ecosystem of them all. They have the largest and most quality one stop app catalog, and their library of media content is more than sufficient for everyone in their target consumer demographic. 

An ecosystem is nothing without the users, and despite their mobile market share being below that of Android in the United States, the loyalty that Apple users have to their brand is second to none. I know many people with Androids, but half of them don’t actually know that Google is the company behind the operating system that runs on their phones, and some don’t even know that their phone is an Android, let alone what an Android is. As far as I can see, a large number of Android consumers buy their phone because they see it there, they try it and it works – at least this is the case here in Australia, it could be different in the United States. Having said that, if Android didn’t have the OEM scale that is has right now there is absolutely no way Android would be ahead of iOS. 

Back on topic, due to the fact that every single iPhone user knows that what they’re carrying is an iPhone and the distinct simplicity of iOS gives the phone character and familiarity (unlike Android’s tailored aesthetic across different phones), seeing a similar iOS like interface ported onto a television is extremely inviting. And I know that it’s not certain that Apple will iOS the television but I’m 99% sure they will, after all, they’re iOS-ing everything including the Mac. Television is a logical next step. 

Lastly, I believe that they’re going to bring really really strong product integration with iOS and OS X with the use of iCloud. Apple had the opportunity to see how Google TV didn’t entirely succeed and that was because all they ultimately tried doing was put an internet browser and some apps on a television. All that was achievable through Google TV could have been done in a much easier manner with a tablet. So Apple has seen how not do smart television, they can improve upon what Google started with.

I know I’m probably sounding like an Apple fanboy right now, but I’m just being realistic. If there’s anyone that I think has all that it takes to succeed in TV, it’s Apple. 

PS: Bang & Olufsen don’t make mass market products. Apple does.

If they want to emulate anyone, it has to be B&O – they produce extremely expensive, high-end, design-led, but sometimes quirky consumer products, which appeal to a simiar fan base as Apple products.

Blind Apple hater.  Really?  I’m not a fan of the iPhone 4.  I am a fan of the iPad 2.  Brilliant move by Apple.  There is a reason it is smashing everyone else on the market.  I think the iPhone 5 has the potential to be a fantastic product if they can add a 4″ screen based on all the present rumors.  That 3.5″ screen is way too small for my tastes.  I absolutely love the trackpad on MacBook Pros.  I also wish more companies did higher quality screens like the MacBook Pros.  1366×768 is NOT ideal for every situation.  It’s actually crippling in some cases.  I do think they cost too much though and they usually don’t have the number of ports I would like.  I think it is a mistake to not include USB 3.0.  If I did buy one I would run Windows 7 on it.  OSX is really really good but I still prefer 7.  I think the latest MacBook Air is really well done with the new Intel CPUs.  Yep.  Totally sounds like blind hatred to me.  Most of my problem with Apple stems from them wanting to charge 30% for all in app purchases including subscriptions.  I think that is a ridiculous amount to ask.  I also do not like their heavy reliance on software and design patents.  Patent used to be a shield.  You get as many as you can so nobody would mess with you.  Apple is getting as many as they can so they can kill as many competitors as possible through the court system.  I don’t think that is a road the tech industry should be heading down.  I don’t think it will be good for the companies or consumers.  It will however be fantastic for lawyers though.

And above all, unlike what some people believe, especially PC guys don’t care even the smallest bit about brandnames. If my computer’s hard disc crashes, then there’s at least 10 brands I can pick from to replace that hard disc. Apple users are limitted, but PC guys are really open-minded when it comes to brands. You’ll never hear them judging a company before trying out their stuff.

And secondly, Apple have all the elements for living room success that Sony have, but rather need to implement it. They have all the media content they need for distribution in the iTunes Store, which they’ve had for  longer and with more success than Sony’s Qriocity, PSN, or ‘Sony Entertainment Network’ as it is called now. They don’t make TVs, and it’s really hard to judge if they will. Television sets definitely doesn’t seem like the kind of business Apple would like to get into but neither did phones, but they came in and revolutionised the industry.

I do believe that Apple is going to invest in the living room by leveraging the iTunes consumer base they already have. Don, I think you’re jumping the gun here by implying that Apple doesn’t see the value of the living room. I believe they do and are just taking their time to perfect the product before bringing it to market so they have a really solid and fully-baked product at launch that maintains and lives up to the hype. It’s not who does it first but who makes the biggest splash. 

I thought this was going to be about learning from the history of sony – which once stood at the pinacle of the market as apple does today.
But then most people who go on about how no company has ever done what apple has done with ipad/iphone seem to totally forget something called a walkman ever existed.
But that is kind of the point – years on nobody does remember that.
And sony – once the proud and clear market leader, is a bit of a ‘meh’ player in the living room space actually.
I’d go to something like panasonic or samsung for general quality there these days actually.

As for tv – you are right about that.
Apple has failed to realize that the screens are the thing – which is odd because they actually mention it from time to time.
Google knows it now I think – which is partly why they gobbled up motorola in my opinion.
Once they hit a headwall with content providers blocking google-tv, and all that potential data and ad revenue in all those living rooms – then it was time for plan B.
Make the boxes already in the middle and insert yourself into that space.
I think we’ll see this happen.

the other screen apple missed and nobody esle is on?
the wrist-watch.
which is odd seeing how crazy everything went for the last nano, which could only barely be squoze into compliance.
If apple actually designed somethign similar to be used as a watch – with an app store – then bam!
Another winning product.

Let’s see what happens.