Real Kato Blog: Apple Watch: AppleTV, DRM-less Music, and Rumors

AppleTV reviews and hacks roll in; Apple and EMI announce sales of DRM-less music, and rumors about upcoming products.

AppleTV. No, I don't have one yet. But I've been closely following the reviews about it. Impressions are generally favorable, with most reviewers commenting on its ease of use and high picture quality. The most noted downsides: it's hot to the touch (the device dissipates heat through via its case, heating the thing well over 100°F), and there's precious little content available for it. The latter is still my main concern. I'd buy this thing if it would either replace my need for Blockbuster, or replace my need for cable/satellite TV. As it is, it's just an additional expense over the more complete entertainment options I already have.

Enterprising hackers have been quick to dive into the AppleTV, getting it to play more media formats (e.g. XviD). And recently, someone was able to put a full installation of Mac OS X on the box, making it potentially the cheapest Mac available at $300. But with only 256MB of non-upgradeable RAM and a 1 GHz Pentium M processor, it makes for a pretty lethargic machine.

It's still a neat toy to have, and the idea of ripping my entire DVD collection onto a server that I can call up from my AppleTV at any time is somewhat appealing. But right now, it's just not something I really need.

A World Without DRM. Could it be? EMI became the first major label to offer music sans DRM. Single tracks will be available without DRM for a premium price, $1.29 instead of the usual $0.99. But you also get 256 kbps AAC encoding, instead of 128 kbps, making the sound virtually indistinguishable from CD quality. And what's more, if you buy a complete album, you pay the same price regardless of which version you get (usually $9.99). This is exactly the kind of thing that will finally convince people to buy their music online instead of purchasing a physical CD. With CD-quality sound and no DRM, there's no reason to keep buying a bunch of plastic discs.

I am almost certain that other labels will quickly follow suit. It'll be interesting to see if the music player market dynamics change much. I have a feeling that they won't. I don't buy the theory that people buy iPods because they are locked into DRM'ed music. People buy iPods because iPods are cool.

Rumors. Word on the street is that upgraded Mac Pros are just around the corner, before or at the same time as the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference in April.

The Apple iPhone is still expected to launch in June, as is Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.

The rest of the rumor mill is strangely silent. Maybe people are sated right now, with the iPhone and Leopard coming out. But I think 2007 still has a few surprises left to come from Apple... and it's just a matter of time before video iPod speculation starts up again.

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