ThinkEquity analyst Jonathan Hoopes stated "Apple TV is an ideal conduit for multiple services including DVR, paid-for content, gaming, or advertising."

"Apple TV can, in our opinion, be easily turned into a DVR with little or no hardware modification and a software upgrade," he wrote. "We think Apple's brand, established distribution, marketing power, over 100 million total iPod unit shipments, and 22 million active Mac users would create more than enough energy to propel an AppleTV TiVo-like service to a higher subscription base than TiVo's current 4.4 million users."

"Whereas Netflix brought 'Blockbuster' to your mailbox, we believe AppleTV will bring Hollywood to your living room," he told clients. "Moreover, we think this device is well-positioned to quickly overtake Netflix as broadband Internet access becomes more ubiquitous and the Internet becomes the de-facto channel for content delivery."

Source: AppleInsider

Apple released iTunes 7.1 and Quicktime 7.1.5 today, delivering bug fixes as well as a full screen Cover Flow option and updated sorting options.

Using iTunes 7.1, you can now enjoy your favorite iTunes movies, TV shows, music, and more from the comfort of your living room with Apple TV. iTunes 7.1 also supports a new full screen Cover Flow and improved sorting options to let you decide how iTunes should sort your favorite artists, albums, and songs.

Mac and Windows users can grab the latest version here.

Apple announced today that their Apple TV will be delayed until the middle of March 2007. A spokeswoman stated that "Wrapping up Apple TV is taking a few weeks longer than we projected, and we now expect to begin shipments mid-March".

Apple may be ready to get back into the sub-notebook market after discontinuing their PowerBook Duo line. AppleInsider reports that the new ultra-thin MacBook will be "lighter and more compact than any other Mac portable Apple has put forth in recent years" as well as features not available in current MacBook offerings such as onboard NAND flash for faster boot times. To get the smallest size possible, Apple may also be leaving out an optical drive from the notebooks.

The sub-notebooks will also help boost Apple's sales in the Japanese market where micro technology is extremely popular. Apple's Tim Cook in a recent press conference stated "..we're not pleased with our performance there and we've got a number of activities underway to attempt to improve them."

Source: AppleInsider

In a recent interview with Wired Greg Canessa of Xbox Live Arcade fame, had some interesting things to say about the future Apple TV product. Canessa is now the vice president of video game platforms for PopCap Games, when asked what he would be doing for PopCap in his new position he said "taking the stable of franchises and games out of PopCap's studio and adapting, customizing it for different platforms -- adding multiplayer, new play modes, HD, customizing the user interface and display for Zune, ipod, Apple TV, Nintendo DS, PSP."

Currently Apple made no announcements that games will be released for the Apple TV and specifically states that iPod games will not work on the Apple TV.

Source: AppleInsider

Apple plans to bring its recent anti-Vista campaign to all Apple retail stores. Set to start this Saturday, the campaign will include in-store displays and employee shirts touting the advantages of Mac OS X over Windows Vista. Similar to the Apple's current 'Get a Mac' television ads, the in-store materials will also focus on the confusion from the many different Vista versions and the fact that Mac OS X has had many of the 'new' Vista features for years.

Source: AppleInsider

Apple.com today posted an article by Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs titled "Thoughts on Music" which essentially details Apple's current stand on DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected music. Jobs explains that if it were up to Apple they would make music availble DRM free, because DRM as it stands today is easily broken and is not effective at all in protecting music.

Steve Jobs also argues that the "big four" music companies sell the majority of their music via CD sales which has no copy protection at all. And allowing their music to also be DRM free online would open up even more avenues of revenue from companies interested in selling music online.

Apple today released four new color versions of its iPod shuffle line. Specs and price are still the same, coming in at $79 for a 1GB device. The new colors include pink, green, blue and orange and also includes the existing silver color.

All colors are shipping immediately from the online Apple Store.

Apple will reportedly offer Boot Camp to current Tiger users for $29 upon its final release later this year.

The final version of Boot Camp is expected to be included with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which will allow users to boot into both Mac OS X as well as Microsoft's Windows operating systems including the new Vista. Boot Camp is currently still in a public beta stage and available for free until September, 2007 or the release of a new version according to its terms.

Source: MacScoop

Apple announced today the availability of updated MacBooks that include the newer Intel Core 2 Duo processors with speeds up to 2GHz.

Apple today unveiled its new line of MacBook consumer notebooks that now include Intel Core 2 Duo processors. Just one-inch thin, the new MacBooks are up to 25 percent faster than the previous generation and feature a built-in iSight video camera for on-the-go video conferencing, Apple's MagSafe Power Adapter that safely disconnects when under strain, and iLife '06, Apple's award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications.

The new MacBooks are available on Apple's online store with an estimated shipping time of 1-3 business days in the following configurations:

• 13.3" White, 1.83GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB HD, $1099
• 13.3" White, 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB HD, $1299
• 13.3" Black, 2.0GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, $1499

AMD announced today the availability of the ATI Radeon X1900 G5 Mac Edition for the Power Mac G5 Quad and Power Mac G5 Dual. "Programs like Apple's Final Cut Studio, Aperture and Motion really come to life with this card," said Ron Paley, president, Carbon Computing and Carbon Sound & Picture.

The new card is priced at $349 and comes with 256MB of VRAM and two DVI ports capable of running two 30" Apple Cinema HD displays.

"The ATI Radeon X1900 G5 Mac is the fastest graphics processor upgrade available for Power Mac G5 Quad and Power Mac G5 Dual systems," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager, Graphics Products Group, AMD.

Source: Moneycontrol

Apple announced today that it's MacBook Pro line would be upgraded to Intel Core 2 Duo processors.

All MacBook Pro models now offer double the memory and greater storage capacity than the previous generation, as well as a FireWire® 800 port for connecting to high-speed peripherals.

The new MacBooks are available for purchase now on the Apple Online Store and are expected to start shipping next week in the following configurations.

• 15", 2.16GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, $1999.
• 15", 2.33GHz, 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, $2499.
• 17", 2.33GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, $2799.

Apple today announced the availability of a 4GB iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition available now. The nano is priced at $199 and $10 of each purchase goes directly towards the Global Fund to fight AIDS. The features are identical to the other current iPod nanos.

To learn more about the Global Fund and (RED) check out JoinRed.com

Wal-Mart is apparently worried about the recently released iTunes Movie Store and how Apple's sales will cut into DVD sales. Wal-Mart is one of the largest DVD retailers in the industry and "studio executives say Wal-Mart has overtly threatened to retaliate if they go into business with Apple."

At the moment Apple has only signed a deal with Disney to sell their movies on iTunes, but is in talks with other movie studios to expand the range of titles available. Apple sells movies for $9.99-$14.99 which is less than DVD's at Wal-Mart.

"We all want to be in the Apple business," one executive is quoted as saying. Disney recently sold 125,000 iTunes downloads in its first week, and the positive reaction will lead to more interest from other movie studios, which Wal-Mart does not like.

Source: NY Post

Walt Disney's Chief Executive Robert Iger said on Tuesday the company has sold 125,000 movie downloads through Apple's iTunes online music store during the first week.

Iger also stated the movie sales were worth $1 million in revenue for Disney, who offered up 75 movies for download. Iger also expects the service to generate $50 million in added revenue for Disney during the first year.

Source: Reuters

According to Newsweek, Apple and Google are in talks over supplying video content to Apple's iTV.

Is it possible that when iTV ships next year, you may also be able to choose a menu item called Google Video, and then zip through the best of the thousands of user-submitted videos on the search giant's service? Google's consumer product chief, Marissa Mayer, tells me that indeed, the two companies are engaged in talks.

This is interesting because it also brings up the question of what other content Apple could include with iTV, which will feature wi-fi and enable internet access for content.

Apple has once again sent out a simple invitation to the press about a special event being held in Cologne, Germany. This time it seems that the event will focus on Apple's Aperture professional photo processing application.

The event is being held a day before the Photokina tradeshow, which focuses on the global imaging market. Apple, as well as Adobe, Canon, Nikon and many others will be featured at the show being held on Sept. 25th.

Source: Macworld

Along with new iPod announcements, Apple also released a new version of iTunes for Windows and OS X. The big feature is of course the new iTunes Store featuring movie downloads from Walt Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax, around 70 titles in total. Movies will be available in 640x480 resulotion for a price of $9.99 for most titles. New releases will be priced at $14.99 and pre-orders at $12.99. Along with this Apple has also added on screen video controls for watching movies, video podcasts, tv shows and other video content.

iTunes 7 also features a slightly refined interface and a new "Cover Flow" view that allows you to flip through your album covers. And if you don't have album art on your music collection, not to worry, iTunes will now grab album art from the iTunes Store and add them to your existing music.

You can also purchase iPod games from the iTunes Store for $4.99 however you can only play them on a fifth generation iPod. When you connect an iPod, iTunes 7 will now display an informative bar that tells you how much space you are using on your iPod, and what it is being used for. One big feature request has also made it into iTunes 7, gapless playback, which also extends to the new iPods and allows songs and albums to play continuously without a pause.

Apple held their planned event today, announcing brand new iPods across the board along with a new version of iTunes and a sneak peek at upcoming products.

The iPod Shuffle was updated with an even smaller design and also functions as a clip for wearability. It will be available in October in a 1GB model for $79.

Apple also updated the iPod nano with a smaller size and an anodized aluminum exterior and a 40% brighter display. Available in 2GB ($149), 4GB ($199) and 8GB ($249) models with 5 different colors and up to 24 hours of battery life. Apple is once again taking advantage of the popular black color and only offers the black iPod nano on the 8GB model, the 2GB version is available in silver only while the 4GB model is available in silver, pink, blue, and green.

Lastly Apple also updated its regular iPod line with a 60% brighter display and longer battery life along with the ability to play games which you can download from the new iTunes Store. The new iPods are available in 30GB ($249) and 80GB ($349) models.

Apple also previewed their long rumored set top box, tentatively called iTV. It features an interface similar to Front Row and will include USB 2.0, Ethernet, 802.11 "wireless component video", optical audio and HDMI ports, and regular RCA stereo audio ports. It will be available in 2007 for a price of $299 and works with iTunes on Windows and Macs.