HP and Apple

It looks like a BondiBlue hPod ...I'm getting Frankenstein associations here ... I'm very curious about the price etc. but it won't come out until summer, so that's still some months away. Who nows what Apple will do in the meanwhile, and hence what the specs will be for the hPod and iPod. Maybe we will se a 4G iPod by then and price drops on the mini's ...
 
This just in from MacOSRumors:

Apple licenses iPod, iTMS to HP: If what we've been hearing on the show floor is any indication, today's announcement will definitely not be the only deal of this sort; apparently there are already several other major names in line for the same arrangement...
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Very interesting!

All of this would tie in beautifully with Reals effort to move over the AAC format. The problem is, their DRM is different to the DRM [FairPlay] used by Apple, but I'm sure they could easily overcome this.

And, better still, Real are working with IBM on making the Real format bigger.

Now, I'm not a Real fan, but there's an old proverb: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And if Apple could cozy up to these guys with a compatible format, this could form a _huge_ impasse to Microsoft's efforts to further Windows Media Player...
 
As unlikely as it is to happen Apple should hop in bed with Sony too. Imagine all Vaio's shipping with iTunes and Sony offering AAC compatible players.

Vaio's are the Macs of the Windows world.
 
Cube said:
As unlikely as it is to happen Apple should hop in bed with Sony too. Imagine all Vaio's shipping with iTunes and Sony offering AAC compatible players.

Vaio's are the Macs of the Windows world.
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Unlikely is right.

As I'm sure everyone knows, Sony are working on their own store, and the music files will feature a proprietary compression technology developed by Sony for Sony products only...
 
If you've read what Sony is up to in online music over the past few years, you know that the behemoth of music (Sony) has _several_ online music projects and is watching several others for _maybe_ joining them, depending on what's looking successful to them. While I don't think that Sony will necessarily just join Apple and be secondary to them, I don't think they're only going to go their separate way...
 
fryke said:
If you've read what Sony is up to in online music over the past few years, you know that the behemoth of music (Sony) has _several_ online music projects and is watching several others for _maybe_ joining them, depending on what's looking successful to them. While I don't think that Sony will necessarily just join Apple and be secondary to them, I don't think they're only going to go their separate way...
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That's reasonable.

Sony are a good example, actually. Right now, they're one of the few technologically innovative companies, yet they're caught between the interests of their music business on one hand and the burgeoning on-line music market on the other.

They just couldn't see a way forward, and as a result, failed to do the one thing they're good at; innovate.

I read one commentator describe Apples iTMS + iPod as something Sony ought to have done, or be doing, but just failed to.

After all, Apple have made the iPod the Walkman of the 21st century, so Sony have to feel a little put out by that. They pioneered a market, and then lost the vision that lead them to create it in the first place.

Let's hope Sony are one of those other companies lining up to go with the iTMS. Apple and Sony already share a great deal of synergy between Apple and Sony - they even share the same technology; Firewire / iLink...
 
Well, Firewire/iLink is an industry standard (IEEE 1394) that everyone else uses as well. It's not like it's a proprietary format that Apple developed and licensed to Sony.
 
Arden said:
Well, Firewire/iLink is an industry standard (IEEE 1394) that everyone else uses as well. It's not like it's a proprietary format that Apple developed and licensed to Sony.
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But when Firewire was developed, Apple got a pretty cold reception. Only Sony came out to back them.

And why was that? Because both Apple and Sony understood the way media was going; wider and faster.

Now it's very different.

Here's a typically abrasive review of the Apple / HP deal...
 
It's exactly that, Arden. Apple invented Firewire and is now charging everyone using it. I think they went down in price a bit, but initially, everyone selling one firewire interface paid a dollar to Apple.
 
I think this is going to be quite big for Apple, it's a sign that the computer industry is taking them seriously about what they're doing with music. It should be good for iPod market share, and maybe even help Mac sales eventually. I didn't think the Register story was that abrasive (for them). We all know that they're not overly keen on any sort of DRM. I think they're missing the point a bit over it (no music sales - no new music) but it's good to have that sort of opposition to DRM, if only to scrutinise it and hope that the more sensible incarnations will succeed i.e. Apple's one.
 
monktus said:
I didn't think the Register story was that abrasive (for them)...
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I've emailed one of the journalists, Andrew Orlowski about his views on DRM. All I get is scathing pseudo-communist rants. I even got called a fascist, which is a new one.

All we get is their vehement opposition but no clue as to what they consider a solution, or a better version of DRM.

I think Apple have made the best of a bad thing, FairPlay is just what is says...
 
Speaking of the DRM.... when we buy an AAC song from iTunes, will iTunes allow us the Convert to MP3... option when we have the MP3 encoder selected?

I am in Australia, so I can't try. This would effectively cancel out the DRM, wouldn't it?
 
Not directly. But we've been through this several times. Yes, you can burn a CD and then reimport to either AAC or MP3, but you'll lose quality on the way.

However, some oppositors are right, when they ask: "And if Apple should choose to integrate ads into the songs, what will the mac zealots say: It's a good compromise?"

We tend to defend Apple a lot. Maybe too much sometimes. I also have the feeling that we're going quite off-topic here...
 
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