Interviews with Digital Media Thought Leaders
The iDeal iPod
Podcast Audio | Posted by Phil Leigh on February 26, 2009
Suppose the iPod Touch had a fully functioning browser along with Bluetooth connectivity.
Such a device could connect to a flat-panel TV and display HD video on the TV screen. The on-board WiFi of the Touch would connect to the home network and thence to the Internet. Thus users could watch any Internet Video instead of only those at websites providing applications at the Apps Store. Bluetooth would enable a remote keyboard and mouse to provide a lean-back viewing experience 15 – 20 feet distant from the TV screen.
While today’s iPod Touch has Apple’s Safari browser it will not play Flash content. Thus, watching YouTube via the Touch requires the use of the YouTube app. A fully functioning browser with the Flash plug-in would enable videos from nearly all websites including Hulu, YouTube, and Inside Digital Media.
Apple already provides High Definition cables to connect the Touch to a flat-panel TV. The kit includes a power supply so that the Touch can be powered from wall sockets when displaying video on the TV. However, the experience would be better if an HDMI socket were included on the Touch.
Additionally, today’s Touch uses the dot-11g standard for WiFi. If it were to instead use dot-11n the experience would approximate that of a hard-wired connection.
Even in the absence of a fully functioning browser, consumers are likely to discover that the Touch will display an ever-growing number of Internet Videos on the TV. That’s because popular websites, like YouTube, are developing apps for the Apps Store. Additionally, many video websites that don’t yet have an application at the Apps Store are available as podcasts via iTunes. One example is Inside Digital Media.
While today’s Touch fails to offer Bluetooth specific appliances are available for it from a number of vendors such as Motorola’s wireless headphones. Additionally, hacks enabling Apple’s standard Bluetooth keyboard to work with the Touch are available.
The alert reader will recognize that the preceding analysis also applies to the iPhone. Also if the iPod Touch had a microphone it could be used with Skype as a cordless phone. But that’s another story and a good one.
Consider three future scenarios.
First, TV shows become widely available as advertising-supported videos for free download from iTunes.
Second, popular ad-supported websites with TV shows and movies, like Hulu, develop apps for Apple’s Apps store.
Third, Apple updates the Touch to become the iDeal iPod as described above thereby enabling users to watch any Internet Video and surf the Web without restrictions.
In all three scenarios consumers can use the iPod Touch to watch TV shows and movies on their flat-panel TVs without requiring Cable or Satellite service.
This is Third Generation Television. For more information visit www.insidedigitalmedia.com
Categories: Podcast Audio
Tags: Apple, digital-media, Digital-Video, Future-of-Television, Hollywood-Studios, Internet-video, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, podcast, podcasting, television, WiFi, YouTube
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