Will Apple but Tivo what?

Pleaze spl check title of post before submitting.

No, Apple will not buy Tivo. Why when they can make their own device?

Because Tivo has 3 Million subscribers just aching to get rid of that $12.95 monthly fee

Tivo would be the ideal purchase if Apple doesn't want to roll their own. Now that Cable Cards are here Apple has all but the red carpet rollout to get into the Set Top Box DVR device. They should make that move soon.

We should see.

1. DVR based on Quicktime 7 using AVC codecs.
this is going to allow Apple to really bundle in some nice multimedia elements. Excellent audio handling, multiple codec support etc.

2. AAC Protected playback.
A no brainer. Why it's taken this long is an amazement. An assault on eager and waiting fans of digital music should be imminent.


3. Airport and "Bonjour" support.
Easy networking is a must. Eventually I want to see 11n and maybe even Homeplug AV support. TV connections should be HDMI so that protected HDTV content can be displayed.


And maybe future Cell based product.

The Cell chip seems to be a natural for multimedia. Apple doesn't need to have OSX running on Cell but rather making QT a portable framework that runs very well on Cell. This would be the key to crunching AVC and dealing with audio and other codecs appropriately.

Plus Tivos run Linux on a PowerPC so this should be familiar territory for Apple. Double plus the massive Apple R&D should make quick turnaround for new Tivo products.

I never thought of that. They would probably update that OS to a darwinian version of some sort.

I had a "Replay" (which I thought was better than Tivo because of the network ethernet card, and bigger hard drives. - you could trade shows), but using it with my cable system back in the early days was a pain, and I ended up with too many remotes, and half of the features would never work with my cable company. Tivo back then would have been the same. It may still be. I took it back.

On the other hand Tivo is getting hammered financially as cable providers come up with their own recorders for their large captive audience. Does it make sense for Apple to take on this drain?

I have three Tivos and while in many ways they are wonderful they all have one major shortcoming:

They are not made by Apple.

TiVo Inc. shares jumped more than 17 percent on Wednesday, fueled by speculation that Apple might make a try to buy the digital video recorder maker, Reuters is reporting. "What we hear on the street is that Apple is interested in their business and that they are a takeout target," said analyst Steven Kroll Jr. of Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. "TiVo's chief executive, Michael Ramsay, has said the company is not for sale. But with a market capitalization of only $300 million, analysts figure the company might be an easy target, perhaps from consumer electronics makers to media companies looking to bolster their video services."

It wouldn't be a drain for Apple. Tivo's would eventually become yet another product available at 100+ Apple stores across the globe. Apple could bring the guide data into their own network. They could also reduce the price of the monthly fee by half and not break a sweat.

Cable Cards for those that don't know allow you to receive PREMIUM content like HBO/Showtime/etc "without" the need for a cablebox from your Cable Provider. The catch? You don't have on demand services...big whoop.

Thus the "all inclusive" device could handle your music, video files and access your cable service with one remote. It's a bonanza in the waiting for the company that can do it right and affordably. Consumers are sooo ready to get rid of the proliferating remotes that seem to procreate like jackrabbits.

I'm sure Apple has something like this coming. It makes too much sense. The pieces are coming together.

Security-

HDMI supports the FCC mandated copy prohibit flags and MPAA approved encryption. It supports full bandwidth HDTV video and fullbandwidth Audio. Check.

Processing power-

Cell processing is just what we need. Something that is a bit more Multimedia oriented than the general CPU with SIMD. Cell if it can become cheap to fab, will form the backbone of the Multimedia STB.

Software Framework-
Quicktime or linux. We need something flexible and very portable to power the device. Kormac has repeatedly refrenced Quicktime becoming an OS for multimedia devices. QT7 has to be morphing more into a seperate ecosystem that is becoming unbundled from the OS and able to thrive on its own.

Networking-
Rendezvous technology, better wireless technology coming, Homeplug AV and good ole Ethernet will form the tentacles that will weave this device easily into your home network. Consumer right now think of portability as burning a CD and taking it over to the CD player. They haven't yet made the connection that like the passing of sneakernet...eventually it'll make more sense to simply route or stream or send the datafile to the device you want playback on. Beats waiting for an optical drive to burn a disc that you will have to "sneaker" on over.

people people....

It is perfect for Apple to slap TiVo into a Mac mini, and they add the QuickTime Movie Store... it is a conspiracy!

Also, it is a prefect chance for Apple to have TiVo service free is bundled with a .Mac account! And a kick ass codec.... and then Apple will capture the PVR market like it did with the iPod


it is so simple!

And all for a mere $4 per share! Chump change I tell ya! Chump change!