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iPS360TV and "The Battle for the Living Room" Part 2 |
Listed in: PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: apple news, Hollywood, iTV, Microsoft, Sony, Steve Jobs
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So, how are we today? Still clutching your pitchforks, waiting for the next wave of attacks on your living room, eh? The Battle for the Living Room chronicles is still under full swing. Three set top boxes - Sony's PS3, Microsoft's 360, and Apple's Apple TV (iTV) - are vying for that oh-so comfortable spot in your living room. Digital download services have been around for quite some time now, but with these three new factions on the battle field, how can one survive through the media format wars?
Indeed there are a lot of interesting elements, features, and other factors involved when comparing these three set top boxes (again, we are stressing that we are viewing these as set top boxes with the "gaming console" aspect stripped out). Some might even say that, what with all the tech specs thrown into the equation, choosing your Living Room King can be a task left for the gods.
We here at QJ aren't gods (aaaw, sadness) but we can still enlighten you! When you're in a war, you'd definitely want to be on the winning side. And as of now, there isn't any clear-cut winner just yet. We can just assess the tipping scales as the battle changes every so often. Time to rip open the reports in the case file!
Hardware Proliferation:
Firstly, you'd have to check out the availability of the device. Even before you think about putting that set top box in your living room, you have to make sure that you can actually manage to find one. The 360 is very much "out there" already - now notching sales figures of 10-million units sold. And although Sony's hasn't shipped that much yet, consider their track record with the PS2. In its lifetime, the 2nd-gen Sony console sold over 100-million units. And of course, there's the PSP. Especially with the video downloading service promised for the handheld, number of units sold could sky rocket. They could catch up with the big MS pretty soon.
Where does this put Apple? The fact that it costs around half the price of the other two chaps means that purchasing one would reel in a lot of buyers. You've also got the popularity of the iPod line and its iTunes. Given that almost everybody and their mayor's pet goldfish has an iPod, accessing media from iPod to iTunes from your Apple TV would be a snap.
With the sheer size of the army alone, Microsoft currently has an upper hand. Sony's got some reinforcements coming, though, and that could eventually turn the tide of the battle. As for Apple, their iPod army can potentially smite everyone's forces silly with their click-wheels.
Hardware Itself:
Aside from the hardware availability let's talk about the device itself. As a stand-alone hub without all the frills and sequins of next-gen Blu-ray discs and HD DVDs, then you might as well take a bite from (the) Apple. It won't put you to sleep, but that US$ 300 price tag will definitely let you sleep easier with the peace of having been able to cut down on your expenses. Do note though that, given the price, you'd have to compromise for its limited flexibility and power.
Take a look at the PS3 and 360. The former has a replaceable HDD, and the rumored "Zephyr" for the latter has a 120GB. Apple TV's 40GB storage looks puny compared to the other two, but as we said, if you want to keep things clean and simple - as all things Apple are tend to be - then this could be your lucky ticket to boob-tube freedom.
There's also been quite a hubbub about IPTV. Microsoft has already confirmed this for their 360, and once again, they're ahead of the game. But who's to say that Sony and Apple aren't going down the same path?
Studio Backing:
One of the other biggest factors to change the tide is how much support a set top box actually has from some studios. Currently, Sony's got the edge here. They've got full support from studios, and the best thing is that the call will be "coming from inside the house." Well, technically. But under the same Sony umbrella, you've got MGM, Sony Pictures, and Sony Pictures Classics, with smashing exclusives like "Casino Royale" and "Spider-Man".
But then, Universal Studios and a couple of other Hollywood biggies are giving Microsoft some loving with HD DVD support. Steve Jobs has his own Apple-Pixar rainbow connection of exclusive movie titles as well. This is how Broken_Hero from our comments puts it: "It will be Interesting... Sony already Has a Large Standing in the Movie Industry, Microsoft has Good Connection."
And the battle wages on:
All factors in, this could be another Hundred Year War, never-ending and always shifting... All we can do now is wait. Apple, Sony, Microsoft. Who will invade your living room? In the end, you will be the one to decide. In the meantime, keep your pitchforks on the ready. You never know when Sony will pull a Microsoft, or Microsoft pull an Apple, or Apple pull a... well, you get the point.
And with this, the next page turns in the Battle for the Living Room chronicles.
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Comments
I foresee Sony having the upper hand in Digital Distribution of Movies. Microsoft isn't a movie company and therefore they have to reach out to others to get content while Sony has more then enough content in house to compete with anything Microsoft can come out with. Apple has support of all major studios except that jobs sets the price on movies, not the studios.
In terms of Music, you cant beat apple, but since people already download music from iTunes, they have no reason to do the same on the apple box. Since listening to the iPod is more of a standard these days then buying a box to listen to them at home.
The Xbox360 is just a gaming console. So far they haven't provided anything for the Xbox360 that makes it something thats a must have for the home. This is what they need to fix.
The market for people who will buy a multimedia center are the upper-class. Microsoft isnt an established name in the home electronics entertainment industry while Sony has pretty much dominated the market for years.
Do a survey and ask people "When you think of Home Entertainment, do you think of Microsoft or Sony?". 90%+ of people will choose Sony because of the fact that Media Center Edition is a term that is a failure in Home Entertainment.
Microsoft needs to release a Xbox360 thats more style friendly if they ever want to make ground in the living room. They need a all black or all silver Xbox360. Currently theres nothing short of voiding your warranty that will make the Xbox360 fit the style of any home electronics.
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MS is a software company and sony is a hardware company. Sony couldn't do IPTV as well as MS. Game over.
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I say Meh!
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Sony couldn't do an IPTV interface, end of story.
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They are a company who are losing ground to other options like MAX OSX and Linux.
OpenOffice, which is a free version of the Office Suite, not only have every option that Microsoft offers, but has more options thats people will generally use.
Microsofts problem is that they continue to rebuild from scratch every time they release a major version of their software.
Linux/Unix and the OSs based on them like BSD/OSX have had the advantage of 30 years of upgrades and fixes. This is why they are superior in efficiency and stability.
There isnt anything windows can do that Linux cant do faster on the same machine. This is why alot of servers are running linux and alot of special effects farms are running linux machines.
To say that Microsoft is a great software company is an exaggeration. Windows Vista, which is soon to be released, has already been criticized by Network Security professionals. Microsoft promised a more stable and secure windows and failed to deliver.
They are a software company that tries to keep everything proprietary. Because of this, they are pretty much the most hated software company in the world. Windows was never, and probably never will be worth buying. This is why so many people would rather spend the time to download and crack it then goto a store and spend 100 bucks on XP.
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It is True,People Only Jump to Windows Becuase they are Unaware of the Alternatives and for the Compatibilty.
Even John Carmack A game Designer of ID Who is Supposed to Support MS Vista for its DX 10...Actually Said that People Will Find themselves Better if they Upgrade to a Mac System than Vista...you can Read the Full Interview at Gameinfromer.Com.
Vista Merely Focused on The Hardware Graphics Side,Without Offering the Promised Security and Stability,I dont see Anyone Paying 1000$ of Upgrades Just so that He can Run DX10 and Some few Games.
MS is Losing the OS market....and that..Mind you,Is a Very Good thing,We Need more Choices,And MS for Decades have Prevented this ;)
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Yes you are right, for some time Apple did the same thing, they almost went under because of this, funny though that they will take one step back with the iPhone (not allowing 3rd party software)...
Sony is making the same mistake with the PSP not allowing 3rd party software, however thay have learned from this mistake and now offers 3rd party software on the PS3...
But what are Microsoft doing?
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In late 2003, Sonic Foundry's media software was purchased by Sony Pictures Digital for a price of $18 million.
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