What about iTV?

For those who may not have heard the news, Apple is trying really hard to take over your living room. All kidding aside, Steve Jobs announced, during the last keynote presentation, that Apple was hard at work on a new device, codenamed iTV (since the name is already in use by Monster Cable, I doubt the name will stick!) and it was set to revolutionize your living room by bringing Apple smack-dab in the middle!

Of course, since the keynote, where some details about the capabilities of this new device were announced, there has been a lot of speculation about what would and would not be included at launch, scheduled for Q1 of 2007. Here is the shot that was displayed during the presentation:


As you can see, the iTV follows the form factor of the Mac Mini, and from the picture of the rear of the device, we can deduce some of the features:


During his speech, Steve Jobs alluded to some of the functions that will be available on the multimedia device:

• HDMI connector (x1)


• Component Video connectors (x1)


• Audio L/R


• Digital audio (x1)


• Ethernet and 802.11g


• USB 2.0


• And a built-in power supply, eliminating any external power bricks

With this pretty impressive list of features, as well as full integration with iTunes on both the Mac and the PC platform, and an announced retail price of $299, Apple is going to make a dent in the multimedia market, that's sure.

Engadget has posted a hands-on review of a prototype device. As far as I can see, the prototype looks exactly like the device displayed during the keynote. Another hot debate going on is whether the iTV will support any PVR-type functionality, as well as a hard drive. Both topics remain to be seen!