gslusher's Profile

The iPod-compatible video should look as good as a video CD, as those are recorded at the same resolution, but with a less-faithful compression (MPEG-2). Please remember that "normal" TV is only 640 x 480, more or less. Blow that up to full-screen on your iMac and it will look pretty bad, too.

I suspect that Front Row is just the proverbial camel's nose under the tent--an indication, no, more of a teaser, of what is to come. Here's a scenario: You and your friends/family sit down in your living room and you pick up the simple Apple remote. Push one button and your 50-inch plasma TV turns on and shows the Front Row interface, which now includes cable/satellite TV and AM/FM radio. You pick an option, like "Watch TV," "Listen to Music," "Play DVD," "Listen to Radio," "Display photos." You get another screen that lets you pick a channel, song, previously recorded TV show (did I mention that the Mac includes a DVR?), whatever. One button, and you're enjoying the entertainment of your choice. The phone rings--you hear a soft alert from your home theater speakers. You push one button and pick up a Bluetooth headset or use the built-in microphone and the home theater speakers. The music, DVD or TV show (live or recorded) pauses, unless you want your guests/family to not be disturbed: then, the phone call just uses the headset. You get another soft alert sound, maybe an icon in the corner of the screen--someone wants to chat on AV. If you want to take the call, push a button and a small iChat AV window opens up in a corner of the TV. (It could take the whole screen, if you choose, or be like PIP.) The iSight next to the TV pans to point toward the Bluetooth headset. You can chat while the others watch the video, listen to music, etc. If you want more privacy, just flip up the 9-inch LCD screen attached to your Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad and the chat image appears there and disappears from the TV screen. One of your guests asks a trivia question about the movie or TV show. Push a button, the movie/TV show pauses and you go back to Front Row. Cycle over to the "Web" function and you're immediately in a browser. Use the Bluetooth keyboard to search for the answer via Google. When you're finished arguing about the answer, push a key and you're back to the movie. A bit later, a critical email or fax that you've been waiting for comes in. The system gently tells you it's arrived. Again, one button goes to Email or Fax, whether on the TV screen or your miniature LCD, or, it could play a voice/video message. The movie/TV show is over and some folks want to play a video game. Back to Front Row, choose the Game function and it connects to your PS2, xBox, or whatever is current. Each player picks up a wireless controller and you go out and hunt the bad guys, accompanied by 5.1 (or better) audio. This can go on and on, of course. There's no reason that a Mac couldn't do all these functions--and do them well. The DVD player and DVR would be built in. The music, photo, and video libraries might be on a server in another room (the thin client concept) and streamed when required. The Mac could drive a USB 2 IR emitter that is placed in front of your components (receiver, cable box, even a DVD player/recorder) and controls them. (The Harmony Remotes, now from Logitech, already do this: you specify your components and how they are connected on their website and it programs the remote. Push one button to Watch TV, Watch DVD, Listen to Music, etc.) Eventually, those controls might be via Bluetooth, as well.