05:22
htc
Currently there is a lot of speculation that Steve Jobs’s hobby, the Apple TV, is about to get an overhaul. Most rumours speculate that the box will become more reliant on cloud services, forgoing the internal hard disk for flash memory. But none of that really pushes the device ahead of the crowd, now that some TVs, Bluray players and gaming consoles are getting access to on-demand movies. In fact in 3D Apple is unusually behind the curve.
It would make sense then, that a new version of the Apple TV should get up to speed with 3D. The basic hardware requirement for 3D TVs is a dual HDMI connection, something not terribly difficult to implement. There are already devices, like the Samsung BD-C6900, which can play 3D discs, and also access movie download services like Love Film or Netflix. However there is still a missing piece of the puzzle. None of the services out there offer the ability to download 3D movies.
Here’s where Apple could potentially steal a march on the competition (albeit a short lived advantage), by offering the first downloadable, on-demand 3D movies. One of the biggest drawbacks to the 3D capable hardware out there is the lack of movies available. Meanwhile Disney/Pixar has been racking up lots of 3D movies, so as Disney’s biggest individual shareholder Steve Jobs might well have access to some of the biggest 3D titles for iTunes.
So how likely is this to happen? Well, Steve Jobs is not a fan of discs, still refusing to add Bluray to any Macs. He clearly doesn’t see a future in them. So what of 3D? Well the plethora of 3D coming from Pixar appears to suggest he is comfortable with the idea. I would say that if the next version of the Apple TV doesn’t have a 3D capability it would show an uncharacteristic lack of vision from the Apple founder.
Incidentally an accepted 3D digital download standard could also give a green light to new portable 3D devices. The Carl Zeiss Cinemizer can already display 3D in the side-by-side format. But a lack of standards for 3D has until recently meant that content is thin on the ground. So a 3D standard that’s easily downloaded from iTunes or elsewhere could give the head mounted display industry a great shot in the arm.
It would make sense then, that a new version of the Apple TV should get up to speed with 3D. The basic hardware requirement for 3D TVs is a dual HDMI connection, something not terribly difficult to implement. There are already devices, like the Samsung BD-C6900, which can play 3D discs, and also access movie download services like Love Film or Netflix. However there is still a missing piece of the puzzle. None of the services out there offer the ability to download 3D movies.
Here’s where Apple could potentially steal a march on the competition (albeit a short lived advantage), by offering the first downloadable, on-demand 3D movies. One of the biggest drawbacks to the 3D capable hardware out there is the lack of movies available. Meanwhile Disney/Pixar has been racking up lots of 3D movies, so as Disney’s biggest individual shareholder Steve Jobs might well have access to some of the biggest 3D titles for iTunes.
So how likely is this to happen? Well, Steve Jobs is not a fan of discs, still refusing to add Bluray to any Macs. He clearly doesn’t see a future in them. So what of 3D? Well the plethora of 3D coming from Pixar appears to suggest he is comfortable with the idea. I would say that if the next version of the Apple TV doesn’t have a 3D capability it would show an uncharacteristic lack of vision from the Apple founder.
Incidentally an accepted 3D digital download standard could also give a green light to new portable 3D devices. The Carl Zeiss Cinemizer can already display 3D in the side-by-side format. But a lack of standards for 3D has until recently meant that content is thin on the ground. So a 3D standard that’s easily downloaded from iTunes or elsewhere could give the head mounted display industry a great shot in the arm.
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