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…

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Akamai Network Ready to Stream HD to iPhone

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]

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iPhone 3GS Can Play Back 720p, 1080p Source Videos?

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!

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iPhone 3G 3 Chipset 720p Recording, Real-time Video Conferencing Capable?

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!

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US Networks, HD TV Shows Now Available via iTunes Canada!

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.

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Got iTunes HD? And an Old Display? — NO HD FOR YOU!

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.

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Apple Releases HD Movie Purchases in iTunes

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!

The Next Big Thing. The Paradigm Shift. The Mobile Computing Platform. All of these monickers have been applied to the iPhone, it’s multi-touch interface and it’s mobile OS X implementation. Rightly so. While other companies have fragmented their mobile strategies among many different form factors, from different manufacturers, some even running different versions of the OS itself, Apple has remained remarkably consistent and ingeniously integrated.

The result? What worked on the original iPhone 2G and iPod Touch also works flawlessly on the second generation iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. Four devices spanning tens of millions of users, all with unprecedented unity and utility.

Apple accomplished this via 2008 revisions that were relatively minor in terms of the platform, yet simultaneously crucial in terms of the feature set. The iPhone really needed 3G and GPS to be competitive internationally, and to a lesser extent the iPod Touch really needed external volume and speakers to cross over into serious entertainment and gaming.

This gave consumers an utterly painless upgrade path, and removed from developers the burden of having to worry about whether any specific device might have a touchscreen or not, a keyboard or not, a trackball or not, etc. If you have an iPhone 2G as opposed to 3G, your internet experience is the same, just slower. If you don’t have GPS, your location services are the same, just less precise. This is one of the less discussed but most important advantages of the current iPhone roadmap.

But what’s next? What similar revision can Apple do in 2009 to further expand the iPhone platform without breaking compatibility at the same time?

Simple. HD. High Definition video.

The current iPhone and iPod Touch line features what was a very impressive 480×320 screen, and Apple has shown they can deliver that screen at a whopping 202dpi on the last generation iPod Nano.

back at Macworld 2008 (one year after introducing the original iPhone 2G), Apple announced HD movie rentals for the Apple TV and this September, they announced HD TV Shows. The world is moving inexorably towards HD and Apple and iTunes are pretty much keeping pace with it. Not only that, they’re laying the pipes. Gizmodo even revealed that the exiting iPhone can already handle HD signals “just fine”.

Competitively speaking, RIM is launching a slightly higher resolution screen on their Blackberry Storm, at 480×360, and at the small sizes of handset displays, every pixel matters.

Meanwhile, the HTC Touch HD is flaunting a massive 800×480p screen, and though it may not be hitting North American shores any time soon, HTC is clearly readying even more high density handsets, likely for both Windows Mobile and Google’s Android.

Of course, these devices are plagued with either outdated OS or fragmented hardware, which will be limiting factors going forward, but they serve to send Apple a powerful message as to where the technology is going, and what Apple can do to continue leading the way.

Announced with pre-requisite BOOM! by Steve Jobs on stage at Macworld 2009 — or WWDC in June — with an 800×480p display at 202dpi-like density would move the platform forward an could do so in the same, unified way as the iPhone 3G.

Resolution independence in the iPhone SDK — the same type talked about for years in Mac OS X — and simple things like using vector/PDF icons, buttons, and other GUI elements, rather than non-scalable bitmaps could keep development focused and users from worrying which device what App might work on. If you have an iPhone 3G (or 2G) your visual experience is the same, just lower resolution than the HD. (i.e. the same icon takes up the same physical space on your Home screen, just isn’t rendered with as many physical pixels on the screen).

The only problem? HD is BIG. It takes up space. Even with H.264 compression, the size quickly adds up and the storage space rapidly disappears. The solution to this is one many people expect to see anyway: 32GB. The iPod Touch already has this option by virtue of having twice the NAND chip slots as the iPhone (since the iPod Touch doesn’t need to save space for cellular or Blue Tooth radios). Double capacity NAND chips exist, however, and Apple will switch to them as soon as pricing and availability make it reasonable to do so. (Yes, that would also mean a 64GB iPod Touch — more capacity than the original Apple TV shipped with!)

Add to this a better spatial speaker system and some form of virtualized surround sound out, combined with 720p video out through the already existing component cables available from Apple, and you have a compelling, and amazingly portable, HD offering as well. Scratch that. Add 802.11n WiFi and streaming to and from iTunes and the Apple TV, and you have a KILLER HD offering. (One that wouldn’t even be bound by on-device storage any more.)

Along with the necessary 3.0 firmware update to enable all this HD goodness, 2009 could be another spectacular — if evolutionary — year for the iPhone.

It makes sense technological, and it’s becoming increasingly important competitively. That’s why TiPb is predicting an 802.11n streaming, 32GB iPhone HD, running firmware 3.0, of course, in 2009.

I know I want one. What about you?

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TiPb Predicts: iPhone HD in 2009?

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?

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Attack of the iClones: HTC Touch HD Edition

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?

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Watch Out: iTunes SD Shows May Overwrite HD Versions

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.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

iTunes HD: is it or isn’t it? Plus: SD Included!