Today we're going to talk about the AppleTV and iTunes.

Leo describes the AppleTV as an iPod for video and Alex says that the AppleTV is more expensive than he planned when taking into account the price of the unit itself and a TV that worked with it. Scott points out the irony of a special effects guy like Alex not owning a television and not owning a car to go with his GPS unit (what's up with that, Alex?).

Leo thinks Alex is the exact target of the AppleTV because of how much content he watches on his Mac anyway. For Alex, he set up the AppleTV and it immediately picked up all the computers on the network and their shared iTunes libraries. Leo and Alex points out that not necessarily everything can move from iTunes to the AppleTV but it's rare. Alex points out that there is an export in Quicktime Pro for the AppleTV and it looks fantastic, even better than the 720p trailers you can grab from Apple.

Scott wishes it could sync directly with iPhoto. Leo points out that it's not 100% obvious what it's copying. Scott wants the editing abilities along with it. Alex wishes he could just use it without going back to iTunes. Leo says the most interesting hacks include booting it from an external USB drive.

Leo points out that it was hacked faster than any set top box he had ever seen and Apple hasn't done much to prevent it. Alex predicts we'll be buying content directly through the AppleTV directly. Leo points out that it could be a problem for people who have authorized the maximum 5 computers if you also, at some point, have to authorize the AppleTV as well. Leo also points out that the AppleTV is only a Pentium M, not a Core Duo like the newer Minis.

Leo doesn't like how hot it gets. Scott says they put a pan of Jiffy Pop on it and got a few kernels of popped corn.

Alex says he would also have liked to have 1080p instead of 720p HD.

Leo points out that whatever the quality of the box, content producers should be just producing the best quality possible because it will make them stand out next to the lower quality HD broadcasts or the content you can purchase from the iTunes store. Alex agrees and points out that because a lot of the stuff they produce is compressed less than the commercial stuff, it ends up looking much better.

Leo just wishes it looked a little better overall.

Scott points out that since every Mac comes with iMovie HD, everyone can produce content for the AppleTV. Alex agrees. Leo points out that Apple has been slowly closing the circle. First they created the iLife Suite which created and stored the content. Now the circle is closed because now you can extend the iLife content you have beyond your computer.

We're going to hop into a listener question for now. A listener wants to know about using a Sony HD camera with iMovie. Scott points out that one of the problems with the HDV format is that it isn't a specific standard. You have to read up on whether the camera you want to purchase is compatible with iMovie because, unlike regular DV cameras, HD cams aren't necessarily compatible. Check with your camcorder's manufacturer to make sure the camera is supported in iMovie.

Leo thinks that an upcoming upgrade to Leopard is going to bring a new version of iLife as well and he thinks it's going to be impressive. Alex thinks we'll see Leopard by the end of June. Leo points out that customers are in an interesting conundrum. If Apple gives a date for Leopard's release, people will stop buying Tiger and wait. If they don't, people still may not buy Tiger because they're not sure when it's going to be obsolete.

Scott advises listeners that if they're going to make a hardware purchase to wait until Leo does lest they be shackled with a G4 cube two days before production is halted on it.

Scott predicts that the iPhone, Leopard, and iLife Suite will all come out on the same day. Leo disagrees but he points out that the iPhone has put Apple in a new category of perception among non Apple users, and along with the AppleTV has made Apple into a convergence company. Scott notes that 1,000,000 people have given Cingular their e-mail address to be notified when the iPhone is coming. Scott points out that CTIA, the iPhone was all that was discussed by everybody there.

Leo points out that Apple hack sites are hoping the iPhone is as easy to hack and install 3rd party apps on as the AppleTV because Apple did nothing to stop people from hacking the AppleTV. Alex points out that this is similar to the way Apple didn't release a spec for the iMovie plugin format, and how developers had to work around it which gave developers the ability to make changes, but left Apple to not have to support any of it. Leo suspects Apple is a bit two-faced and they're telling Cingular no third-party apps while winking and nodding at the hackers out there telling them to do what you want and we won't stop you.

More than half the folks at GMT plan to buy one.

Interesting tidbit: The Ken Burns effect built into iMovie and iPhoto was a deal worked out with Apple and Ken Burns.

Scott thinks it'll be interesting to see if you can kludge all the new Apple devices together. In an ideal world, you can find content on your iPhone, then click a button and have it sent to your iTunes and synced to your AppleTV.

Alex points out that this closes a lot of holes in that he can produce content for a specific targeted device and optimize content for each device.

Scott sees the iPhone as more of a media device, while Leo thinks that all the media stuff is extra but the iPhone is all about making a better phone. Leo notes that the media functions have been around for awhile, but the true selling point is that it's going to be a better overall experience.

Scott thinks a new iMac is on the way because it's the oldest product in the product line.

That's a wrap for this week!

This episode was sponsored by Rogue Amoeba and ShieldZone .

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail newsletter.

The next show lands on April 20, 2007. For more information email us at info@ilifezone.com.

Thanks to Libsyn for hosting services.

Thanks also to Vincent Ferrari for the shownotes!

Subscribe free of charge to the iLifeZone podcast at the iTunes Store

Technorati Tags: ilifezone , ilife , macintosh , macbook , mac
apple