Apple Ships Its System Tying Computer to TV

Mar 22, 02:32 PM

Current Headlines: By Clint Swett, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Mar. 22--Months after announcing its first product to wirelessly connect computers and televisions, Apple Inc. finally began shipping its Apple TV to stores and consumers Wednesday.

While the $300 device isn't the first to move videos, photos and music from a computer to the television, it promises to be the simplest.

The unit is aimed at the growing market of consumers who store music, photos and videos on their computers, but don't necessarily want to view them on the small screen.

Using a home's wireless network, Apple TV can stream content from up to six PCs or Macintosh computers to a wide-screen television. In addition, Apple TV will store up to 40 gigabytes (the equivalent of 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs or 25,000 photos) of content for playback on the TV.

But Apple TV isn't for everyone. It requires a wide-screen television that can play either high-definition or enhanced definition programming.

Analysts are divided about the potential success of Apple TV.

In his blog this week, Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg said consumers want to get content from their computers to their televisions but, until Apple TV, it was too difficult. "Apple didn't invent this category of device but they did focus on ... areas that make what they've done stand out among the other players on the market," he wrote. "Yes, other vendors could have done the same but, as with the iPod, they didn't."

But Phillip Swann, who runs TVPredictions.com, wrote Wednesday, "Apple TV will bomb." Writing in his daily e-mail alert, Swann criticized the Apple TV for not enabling consumers to record shows, as a digital video recorder does, or to play DVDs, both functions that many consumers have come to expect. "The company has set the price at $299, but I'm here to tell you that (Apple) will ultimately have trouble giving them away," he wrote.

The Apple TV device is available for sale on the company's Web site, with shipping in three to five business days.

As of Wednesday morning, the Apple TV hadn't arrived at the company's Sacramento store on Arden Way. A sales staffer said she hoped they would be in stock by today.

Videos borrow from Apple

Speaking of Apple, a couple of political spoofs showing up on YouTube demonstrate further what a cultural touchstone the company has become.

One features Apple's famous "1984" Macintosh commercial. But instead of Big Brother lecturing an audience from a giant screen, the creator of the spoof inserted Hillary Clinton's face on the monitor.

Another, from the MadTV comedy show, features an actor imitating Apple founder and CEO Steve Jobs, who is shown unveiling the company's newest product, a wire shelving unit called the iRack.

In not-so-subtle references to the Bush administration's Iraq policies, the ersatz Jobs begins piling some real and some not-so-real Apple gadgets onto the iRack. As audience members protest that the iRack is about to collapse, the Jobs character stubbornly loads more onto the rack, which begins to teeter and emit smoke.

The clip ends with Jobs introducing his latest product, a white athletic shoe called the iRan.

In the case of the Clinton spoof, legal experts say Apple could consider suing over copyright or trademark infringement.

The Cupertino-based Macintosh and iPod maker could argue that viewers would misconstrue that the political ad was done with Apple's blessing, said Erica Klein, an attorney with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

It's not clear how Apple feels about being a vehicle for political satire. Company officials could not be reached for comment.

Ma Bell's wireless roaming

AT&T Inc. recently announced a new plan that allows its current DSL customers to access more than 48,000 wireless hot spots worldwide.

As part of the company's Wi-Fi premier plan, customers can pay $22 a month for wireless access in 79 countries. That includes about 15,000 hot spots in the United States, including more than 8,000 McDonald's restaurant locations.

Broadband customers who don't need the global access can subscribe to a $2 monthly service for 12,000 hot spots in the United States

IRS warns of fake e-mails

It's tax season and phishing season, as well. That's the word from the Internal Revenue Service, which is warning about phishing scams involving fake e-mails -- purportedly from the IRS -- designed to trick people into giving up private financial information.

According to the IRS, the e-mails often claim the recipient is due a tax refund and is urged to provide sensitive information -- which the IRS said can be used for identity theft.

"The IRS does not send out unsolicited e-mails asking for personal information," said IRS Commissioner Mark Everson in a prepared statement. "Don't be taken in by these criminals."

Those who receive such an e-mail are urged to forward it to: phishing@irs.gov.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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