Huge internet content backbone Akamai is introducing their new on-demand, streaming HD Network, along with support for… the iPhone. Says Macworld:
Akamai worked with Apple to make HD Network video run on the iPhone using the standard H.264 format. The iPhone 3.0 software upgrade, introduced in June, added support for live video. Content providers can use the HD Network to deliver programs for the iPhone through the Safari Web browser or an application offered on the App Store. The videos can play on the phone’s video player, as YouTube videos do now.
We’ve heard about iPhone 3.0’s HTTP Live Streaming capabilities before, and if this uptake is real, we’re getting increasingly excited about our iPhone media future…
Can the iPhone 3GS play back 720p and even 1080p source videos, perhaps even output them to an HDTV? Looks like it might, according to WeiPhone.com who claim to have gotten just such functionality working via the FileAid app.
Of course, we’ve heard the iPhone 3GS chipset was capable of recording in 720p before. Hey, this time last year we even heard the older, less-powerful iPhone 3G might be able to handle 1080p.
So, while not surprising, it’s important to remember that the iPhone 3GS has a 320p (480×320 to be exact) display, so actually playing the files on the device — aside from heat and battery life concerns — would result in downscaling to such an extent that it’s pretty much pointless (perhaps why Apple doesn’t surface it as a feature at this point?)
It is interesting to consider, however, that Apple has another music event just a couple weeks away, and that Microsoft is making noise about the Zune HD outputting 720p to an external display. If Apple could flip a switch in iPhone 3.1 and enable 720p or 1080p overkill out via AV cables (better yet — HDMI cable!) then that’s one less checkbox in competitors’ corner, and one more feature for iPhone and iPod touch users to enjoy.
(Of course, bigger video means more storage, like 32GB in an iPhone and 64GB in a presumed third-gen iPhone touch… Hmm… Maybe I was only partially crazy to predict an iPhone HD last year?)
[via iLounge]
Engadget reports — based on the tear-downs we’ve seen — that the iPhone 3G S’ ARM Cortex A8 processor is capable of a wee bit more than Apple has thus far enabled.
Currently running at 600MHz, it actually supports a top clock speed of 833MHz and here are the kickers: 720p video recording and real-time video conferencing.
We’ll likely not see the clock speed ramped up for power-saving reasons, nor the video conferencing due to the lack of front-facing camera. But the 720p video recording?
Apple, flip the switch!
Not sure when they — finally — flipped this switch, but this morning when I fired up iTunes I was greeted with a full on content party — US TV productions from ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and Warner Brothers are now available for Canadians to download in both standard and high definition.
Prices are $3.49 for HD (which includes an SD copy for your iPhone or iPod) and/or $2.49 for SD all by its lonesome.
So, if you don’t mind paying for a-la-carte programming a day later but sans commercials, loves you the HD option, and you live in the True North Strong and Free-ish, apparently this week is Canada Day come early!
Yesterday, Dieter told us Apple had finally pulled the trigger on HD downloads for iTunes. Today, the internets (led by iLounge, via Gizmodo) are up in arms because said downloads are infected with Big Media-enforced DRM to such a degree that they can’t even play on older, non-HDCP (high definition copy protection) compatible devices.
What does this mean? Even if you forked over $2K for a ginormous Apple 30″ Cinema Display, that “cinema” part of the branding will be just plain useless to you except for the very helpful popup you’ll get reading:
This movie cannot be played because a display that is not authorized to play protected movies is connected.
Lovely. We understand Hollywood wants to protect their movies from pirates. We also understand that this type of nonsense doesn’t stop pirates (who run at pretty much a commercial scale nowadays) one bit — it only makes life extremely difficult and financially draining for actual consumers. (Poetically, pirated content plays just fine on older displays, making us wonder if someone deep inside Big Media secretly owns license to the torrents and is actually trying to drive traffic that way…)
Seriously, in what other industries can you get away with this? Sorry, your home is not copy protected, please back your car out and try burning down any non compliant houses before parking again. Sorry, food 2007 is not compatible with fridge 2009, please upgrade your fridge and then try eating again.
Sheesh.
The word has gone out: Apple is now allowing you to do more than just rent movies in HD, they’re letting you buy them. You’re looking at spending a bit extra for the HD version – $19.99 to be precise. They’re pushing preorders for a few movies (Quantum of Solace and Twilight) but there are also a few you can buy right now (Saw V, for example. Sadists rejoice!).
The movies also come with an SD version bundled in for your iPhone and iPod. Which is great and all, but how’s-about Apple provide us with an iPhone that doesn’t need such primitive down-scaled resolutions. iPhone HD looking more likely to anyone? If it comes, we’re still doubting it would be the 720p that these videos come in (our money’s on iPhone HD with 480p), but it would be a sight better. We’re still hoping against hope here, but maybe 2009 could be the true “Year of HD,” …4 years late, but still very welcome.
Without fail, the moment Apple launches a great product or new revision, within moments talk quickly shifts back to “what’s next?!” Last month it was the iPod and iTunes. This month it’s the MacBook. But with Macworld slowly ramping up, and competitors slowly turning iClones into specced out SuperClones, the blogsphere spotlight will inevitably turn back to the iPhone, and just what device they’ll dent our universe with next.
TiPb’s prediction? The iPhone HD.
We’ll tell you why after the break!
Read the rest of this entry »
Confession: My secret, innermost desire for the iPhone 3G was a 420p display. I knew Apple wouldn’t do it yet — there was nothing in their simultaneously released SDK to support any other resolutions — but still… I wants-ded it!
Imagine my fanboy chagrin, then, when HTC goes and not only makes a device in exactly the same dimensions as the iPhone 3G (obvious much?), but slaps a monstrous 800×480 display on the beast! (Not to mention a 5(!) megapixel camera)
The HTC Touch HD (which we’re pretty sure means “Hi Dieter!” — see the afore-linked WMExperts for why…) represents the next expansion of HTC’s Touch brand — something spread so thin Asus’ Eee marketeers are wincing. It may seem questionable to show the HD off this early (it’s not expected to land until 2009, and doesn’t even seem to support US 3G frequencies yet) since, frankly, who’s not gonna put off Osbourne-ing a Touch, Touch Duo, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro, etc. when this baby’s around the bend, but we’re guessing the announcement was aimed more at Apple’s gut than any potential customers’ wallet.
And in that regard — ouch!
Sure, it doesn’t have the Apple/iPod ecosystem behind it and it’s still using TouchFLo 3D to try to hide the UE (user exasperation) that is Windows Mobile 6.1, and multiple layers of OS are never a Good Thing, but this is the first iClone that’s actually got us worried.
Apple, you’ve got almost four months until Macworld 09, and we’ve got three newly urgent words for you: iPhone HD, b’okay?
As we mentioned earlier, when you purchase an HD TV show from iTunes you’re actually getting two copies of the show — one version in HD and another in standard definition for your iPhone. They’re two separate files and, well, apparently they don’t always go great together. Ars Technica is reporting that when iTunes gets around to downloading the SD version, some users are finding that it’s overwriting the HD file.
They recommend turning on “Allow simultaneous downloads” and also offer a sneaky quit-and-restart iTunes trick. If that doesn’t appeal to you, just sit tight, Apple’s aware of the issue and will likely manage to fix it up (here’s a hint, Apple, just append the resolution of the video to the end of the filename).
How about it: are you downloading HD content yet?
We greeted the arrival of HD TV shows for iTunes with as much joy as we greeted the return of the previously nixed NBC content: with great joy.
Part of our joy was a secret hope that since the iPhone can (technically) handle HD content natively, it meant we might someday be able to play HD video direct from the iPhone — albeit through a dreamy-future-video-out capability since playing HD on the iPhone’s screen seems a little pointless. Sure, HD takes up radically more space, but hey, we like options.
Well Gizmodo [via] threw some cold water on all that by pointing out that the HD iTunes streams up might not be all that HD. The issue is roughly that not all HD is created equal — you need to check the resolution (720p or 1080i or whatnot), but you also need to give some thought to the bitrate. It’s basically a function of compression and, well, the more you compress the worse it’s going to look. So while iTunes is offering up HD content, that content is compressed into a size that’s reasonable for most people to download.
AppleInsider points out that Apple’s h.264 encoding is better than most at getting quality video into a compact package. Still, don’t expect your iTunes HD to look like BluRay.
One nice tidbit: When you download HD content from iTunes, it includes a Standard-Def version, which is what gets transferred to your iPhone. Apple probably took a look at the ‘options’ we mentioned we liked and figured we were better off with the SD on our portables. We tend to agree.
