According to an article posted on Chud.com, MGM Studios is planning on producing a live action film version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. MGM’s planned budget for the film will be in the $150-200 million (USD) range, and MGM chairman Harry Sloan is said to be hoping Peter Jackson will come back to make it. The article also makes mention that the story may be told in 2 installments.
While nothing would make me happier than to know this is all in fact true, part of me wonders how they could manage to stretch a book that is less than half the length of just one of the LOTR trilogy books into two movies. Whereas in LOTR they had to cut a lot out to get the story to fit into three 3-1/2 hour movies, they’d almost have to make up a few new scenes to pack into a The Hobbit double feature, just to act as filler. I think trying to make the Hobbit into two movies will make the pacing seem completely inconsistent with LOTR at the very least, and at most, it will make for two movies that have lots of slow moments. The only way I could see them pull it off is if they made each movie no more than 2 hours long, but some fans of the LOTR might be a bit disappointed, being accustomed to the extra-long movies of the LOTR Trilogy.
I think MGM has a guaranteed winner on their hands with this, regardless of whether they get Peter Jackson on board or not, but without Jackson, I worry that it’ll get butchered. The last thing I want to see is a crappy Hollywood-ized version of the Hobbit, and after the cinematic masterpiece that was the LOTR, viewers expectations are going to be pretty high. In any case, if this news is true, here’s one Tolkien fan that will be going to see it opening night. 
September 11th, 2006
Tom’s Hardware has posted detailed benchmarks and comparisons of the upcoming Intel Core 2 Quadro quad-core cpu vs. the Core 2 Duo/Extreme, Pentium Extreme Edition and AMD Athlon 64 FX. In addition to the benchmarks, they have some interesting observations about the state of the x86 CPU war between Intel and AMD.
While the unreleased Intel quad-core chip has a very promising showing in the application, media and math scores, it doesn’t appear to be the optimal choice for gamers, most likely due to the penchant for game developers to only optimize for a maximum of two cores. Regardless, the chip shows some very impressive performance scores which will no doubt only get better over time as applications and games get written to take advantage of more than two cores. One thing is for certain, Intel is hitting AMD back where it hurts and AMD is going to have to work hard to try and regain the performance crown since ceding it to Intel.
Tom’s Hardware thinks that Intel won’t be able to squeeze any more cores into the package using the current dual-core dies, and provides some insight on how Intel will progress from here:
It is thus safe to say that Intel has reached its limit with dual dies and four cores with 65-nm production. A slimmed-down version with 2 MB temporary storage each would make four chips feasible, but then the maximum power dissipation of over 200 W would no longer be economically justifiable. We are confident that the next step will be to get four processors on a single die with shared L2 cache.
But that is just the beginning. The conversion to 45-nanometer production technology is slated for mid-2007, and starting in 2009, thanks to EUV lithography, Intel plans to manufacture 32-nanometer devices, at which point - if everything works as envisioned - the company could have a two-year technology edge over most other chipmakers.
It’s good to see competition is alive and well in the microprocessor space. It’s amazing how much Intel has changed from a few short years ago when they were happy to focus on incremental increases in clock frequency to boost performance. Many recall the initial Pentium 4’s which were outperformed by the older Pentium III chips at the same clock speeds, and saw it as proof that Intel was losing it’s ability to innovate. With the shift to the Core architecture, Intel has proven that you can teach an old dog new tricks. The days of single digit performance improvements appear to be behind us:
For me, working with one of the first quad core systems was amazing. No matter how many applications you run at the same time, the system reacts to user commands quickly. Some applications require half the time to finish tasks. To me, it’s like being catapulted a year into the future and is unlike the past few years when computing power increased only marginally. Intel pumped out 30% more performance with Core 2 Duo and will double that again with Core 2 Quadro soon.
I have to say, I’ve been very impressed with the Intel Core Duo in my MacBook Pro. I don’t ever remember seeing such a noticeable performance boost when upgrading from one computer to another, mind you I kind of skipped a generation on the Mac side, having never owned a PowerPC G5 based machine since they never did build a PowerBook G5. But the fact that I am using a notebook makes the performance that much more impressive. If Tom’s Hardware is to be believed, it won’t be the last time I feel that way.
So where is AMD’s response to the Intel Core 2 Quadro? The article closes off with a sneak peak of AMD’s 4×4 platform as provided by AMD themselves, who were unable to provide any release details, but Tom’s Hardware expects them “…sooner than later.†Meanwhile, Intel is expected to throw down the Core 2 Quadro gauntlet around October of this year with a pricetag of $1,000 US for the top-end 2.66GHz part. With Apple choosing to go Xeon in the Mac Pro, and notebook-class Merom Core 2 Duo in the new iMac, it has yet to be seen what plans Apple has for the Core 2 Quadro, if at all. A quad-core headless iMac would be on many Mac geeks Christmas lists if it were to materialize. Maybe in the form of a cube?
September 11th, 2006
I just read this Engadget post about what could be the ultimate road warrior device made by a Japanese company named Thanko. The NB-mate is apparently a USB 2.0 powered hub, that can be used to power/charge USB based devices. It’s also a AA battery recharger and portable speaker system. To top it all off, when unplugged, if you load it up with 4 AA batteries, it will actually run your USB powered devices off the AA batteries!
If there is an Ultimate Road Warrior Gadget contest, this one should definitely at least get nominated. I’ve been looking for a portable USB 2.0 hub that could double as a stand-alone USB charger for a while, seeing as nearly all of my mobile gadgets can be charged off of USB*, but the extra features of the NB-mate could also come in handy for those long trips.
According to EnGadget, the unit sells for around $50US. They have lots of info on their website, but it’s unfortunately only in Japanese. Anyone who can read Japanese is welcome to post some translations in the comments. Thanko, if you’re reading this, I’ll be happy to evaluate and review this product if you want to send one my way. 
*My Sony PSP, Palm TX, MOTORAZR V3i and iPod nano can all be charged off a powered USB port. Now if only Canon made their digital cameras USB chargeable.
September 8th, 2006
So Amazon launched a TV and movie download service today, and at first glance, it would appear they have put together a compelling solution for consumers. Strong support from studios, realistic prices and some pretty nifty features, including the ability to purchase a movie or TV show on one computer, say at work, and have it download on a different computer, maybe at home, provided the Amazon Unbox client software is installed and running on it.
Most movies can be rented for $3.99 or purchased for $9.99 to $14.99. TV shows sell for $1.99, the same price as they go for on the iTunes online store. But there is one major difference: Amazon’s offering includes both a DVD quality version as well as a lower bit-rate version for playback on handheld devices. This is the key differentiator, since Apple only sells iPod-quality videos, which are much lower than DVD-quality.
Amazon has garnered the support of a fair number of big television and movie studios, as can be seen from the list of well known names:
Participating Television Networks
A&E, Adult Swim, Animal Planet, BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E! Entertainment Television, FINE LIVING TV Network, FOX, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History Channel, KBS (Korean Broadcast System), Logo, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, The N, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel, TV Land and VH1.
Participating Movie Studios
20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc.
So did Amazon beat Apple to the punch? Could this be the end of Apple’s dominance of online media? Don’t start selling your Apple shares just yet. There are a few weak links in Amazon Unbox’s chain that might prevent it from being the success they are hoping for. Given that Apple is all but assured to be launching their own Movie download service next Tuesday, Amazon’s thunder could be all but extinguished in just 5 days time if Apple has found ways around just one or two of those weak links.
So let’s get the obvious things out of the way. The Amazon service requires you to install the Amazon Unbox client software on the PC you wish to download and watch movies from. Because they are using Microsoft Windows Media VC1 format, this service requires Windows XP (Home, Pro, Tablet or Media Center Edition). Of course like every other service that is a slave to Microsoft, this will not work on computers running Mac OS X or Linux. No big surprise here. It has been pointed out by some how ironic that Amazon’s video download service doesn’t work with the top selling brand of computers Amazon sells.
The Fine Print
So what about portable video players? We know the iPod is out, due to reliance on Windows Media format. But this is where the huge Windows PlaysForSure ecosystem is really going to shine, right? Well, according to Amazon’s Unbox website:
Supported Devices
The devices in the list below have been tested with the Unbox Video Player. If your device is Plays for Sure compliant it may work, but we cannot guarantee performance on untested devices.
Creative Zen Vision: M
Creative Zen Vision
Toshiba Gigabeat S
Archos AV 500
Archos AV 700
iRiver PMC (Portable Media Center)
Oh the irony! So if you have a PlaysForSure device, Amazon can’t be sure it will play. There’s strike one, right there. Not only does the service not work with 75% of the mp3 players in the US market (iPods), but it doesn’t work with the majority of the rest, either. So right out of the gate, Amazon’s offering works with at best 5% of the devices on the market.
So lets forget that the majority of people won’t be watching their Amazon Unbox purchase on their portable media player. That’s not such a big deal, since most people watch movies and TV programs in their living room on their big screen and surround sound system. So we’ll just burn a copy to DVD and pop it in our trusty DVD player, right? Wrong. Video purchased using the service cannot be burned to standard DVD video discs and so can’t be played on standard DVD players. So if you want to watch your downloads, you’re going to have to find a way to hook your TV up to your computer.
Given that most people’s computers either don’t have outputs to connect to their TV, or are installed in a completely different room from their home theatre, not to mention most consumers don’t know the first thing about how to hook their computer up to their TV, this scratches the majority of consumers off the list right there. So now we’re left with computer savvy consumers who either have a Windows Media Center PC (like there are a lot of those), or a notebook PC with compatible video out.
One thing that a lot of tech savvy users are known for is having multiple PCs in the house. They’ll primarily be using their Media Center PC to watch movie downloads, and then maybe transfer the file to their notebook to watch on a long flight or train ride, or to another family member’s PC. It’s important to note then that Amazon Unbox videos can only be authorized to be played on 2 different computers at any one time. Each one of those PCs can transfer the video to one compatible portable media player. These tight restrictions on usage, and the inability to burn and playback on standard DVD players are probably going to be the biggest hindrance to widespread consumer adoption.
So what about the software? Surely Amazon Unbox’s client software must have take a cue or two from the design and functionality of iTunes, the gold standard in media players, right? Nope. Amazon Unbox’s player can only play content purchased from the Amazon Unbox store. No other media will work with it, period. So consumers will have to use one program to manage and watch Amazon content, and another to manage and watch non-Amazon content. How’s that for user experience? I’m not sure if it was Amazon wanting to control their user experience, or whether it was for technical reasons that they had to design their own client, but they haven’t learned anything from Apple’s success. Where Apple offers a single, unified experience for doing EVERYTHING with ALL your media, Amazon and Microsoft require users to use two different programs. That’s one more program than necessary if you ask me.
So is it going to flop? Probably. With you typical 2 hour movie being 2.4GB in size, requiring hours to download, and all the other points I raised, it’s hard to imagine too many people getting excited about paying DVD prices to watch movies on their computers. If you could burn standard DVDs and weren’t limited two only 2 computers, then Amazon would probably have a winner on their hands. The success or failure of this service is probably going to rest on what Apple announces on September 12.
It’s Showtime
As it stands, the rumors that are floating around are that Apple will announce movie sales from $9.99 to $14.99. Not much else is known, but the scuttlebut on the ‘net is that Apple will be launching with only Disney studios’ catalogue of content, which is going to seem like not much at first, but you have to remember that Disney owns the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group made up of Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax films. Disney also own Pixar Animation Studios in addition to their own animation studios. So if the rumors are true, Apple may not be starting out of the gate with as big a list of movies, but they already have a large selection of TV shows for sale, and they will no doubt sign more studios on board over time as was the case when they launched TV downloads with only a small catalogue of ABC programs.
An Apple iMovie download service would most likely have the same liberal usage rights as they have become known for: authorization of up to 5 computers, and an unlimited number of iPods. But as mentioned before, iTunes video purchases are optimized for playback on an iPod, which has a very small screen. If Apple launches their movie download service without bumping up the resolution of the files, this could be the one chance Amazon has for some limited success. Essentially, they would be offering higher quality video content for about the same price. DRM restrictions and poor user experience aside, that does give them a competitive edge.
Anyone who thinks Apple hasn’t anticipated (or known) about Amazon’s offering isn’t giving them much credit though. Rumors are also swirling about an upgraded AirPort Express base station with the ability to stream video from your computer to your home theatre over a wired or wireless network. Such a device could be the key to cracking the digital movie download market wide open.
Regardless of whether Apple matches Amazon’s video resolution or releases an AirPort Express Video device though, Apple already has a leg up in several areas which nearly guarantee it’s success: it’s service will work with the most devices in consumer’s hands. The iPod has the lion’s share of the market, and Apple’s solution works with both Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X, the latter which is seeing a strong comeback and is expected to have a bumper holiday season this year and tends to sell to more media-savvy consumers.
The bottom line is Amazon is doing some things right, but a lot of the same things wrong that have proven to not be popular with consumers. They are selling content to a very limited market, and have yet to make a name for themselves in the digital download market. Apple, assuming the most conservative estimates are true, has a guaranteed winner on their hand with a large installed base of existing and potential customers, the dominant brand, more liberal usage rights, the better end-user experience and maybe a trick or two up it’s sleeve to seal the deal. If I was Amazon, I’d be hoping Steve Jobs doesn’t have ‘just one more thing’ to talk about at the end of his presentation this coming Tuesday.
September 8th, 2006
MacNN today posted a fairly in-depth summary of a new patent application filed by Apple computer with the US Patent and Trademark Office in March 2006 for a “Multi-functional hand-held deviceâ€. This patent makes reference to technologies first identified in previous patent applications for “Proximity detector in handheld deviceâ€, a “Virtual Scroll-Wheel Interface†and “Display actuators for electronic devicesâ€. While no doubt most of the patents Apple applies for never see the light of day, the fact that the same technologies from earlier patent applications are being mentioned in this new filing indicates at the very least that someone at Apple is running with these concepts.
Is it a wide-screen video iPod, an iPhone, Apple Newton resurrected or a combination of the three? There’s no way to know for sure, but all this information certainly does make the wait for Tuesday, Sept. 12 that much harder. While I doubt we’ll see any out of this world mobile chameleon device being announced, it’s still nice to hope for what fantastic Star Trek-ish device Apple has up it’s sleeves.
Adding fuel to the speculation is the fact that Apple released updated iMac and Mac mini computers this week with little fanfare. Products that most tech pundits were expecting Apple to unveil at their special event next week. Sure, faster processors don’t warrant any special event these days, but the new 24″ high-end HD capable iMac certainly would tie in nicely with the movie download service everyone is expecting Apple to unveil. I mean they only had to hold off on the announcement for an extra week. So what gives? Not announcing the new iMacs at the “It’s Showtime†event can mean only one thing: That there are more exciting things to announce and they don’t want to eat up precious time talking about a new iMac, as drool-worthy as it may be.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really hoping Apple announces an iPhone. But if I had to bet money on it, I’d guess we’ll see an event focused on movies, which means iTMS movie downloads (most likely for $14.99 and $9.99 a pop), new iPod nano’s in an aluminum scratch resistent enclosure, updated iPod video with a small chance of a bigger screen video model, and the piece to resistance: a new AirPort Express with Video, or similar set-top box for streaming your iTMS video downloads from your computer to your TV in the living room. This is where I’m setting my expectations, and I think that I’m setting relatively low. Anything above and beyond will be icing on the cake. Better keep some space on the ‘ol credit card just in case…
[3:58 pm Update: MacNN has posted an article about another related Apple patent application submitted in April 2006 for a “Hand held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devicesâ€. Hopefully in time more pieces of the puzzle will come into place. Of course, the puzzle will be solved if and when Apple formally announces new products that are designed around any/all of this technology.]
September 7th, 2006
Most Mac enthusiasts were relieved when Apple launched it’s Get a Mac TV campaign a few months back, but we weren’t holding our breath that it would last, given Apple’s past Mac advertising efforts. The ads have been received quite well among the Mac faithful, and have certainly ruffled some feathers in the Windows world. Apple added more spots to the lineup, each one targeting one feature or benefit. A great way to communicate the Mac’s benefits without information overload. Let the masses learn about the Mac one feature or benefit at a time and eventually people will start to wake up.
The Get A Mac TV ads were actually phase 2 of their marketing campaign, phase 1 being the opening of Apple Stores across the United States and later expansion to other countries such as Japan, UK, and Canada. Now numbering 160 stores and growing, this strategy is geared towards giving people an excellent consumer experience and the opportunity to test drive Apple’s products in a relaxed no-pressure environment. The TV spots have played a strong role in boosting brand awareness and driving traffic into Apple Stores.
Well now it looks like Apple is following up on this successful strategy with some informative print advertising. A 14-page brochure has been spotted attached to a 3 full page ad in Entertainment Weekly magazine. In it, Apple hilights the most popular iLife applications (iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, GarageBand), as well as a couple of Mac OS X features (iChat, Dashboard) and Microsoft Office. The brochure closes by showcasing the Macintosh consumer lineup (iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and Mac mini). You can see scanned images of the entire brochure on Flickr.
This is an excellent follow-up to the TV ad campaign, because it is more product focused rather than branding/symbolic in nature, as the TV spots are. By making it a brochure that can be removed from the magazine, potential customers can pull it out and save it for later or pass it on to a friend. I think these brochures will get far more views than they would if they were simply full-page ads. Assuming Apple runs these print ads in a wide range of popular publications, I think they’ll go far to finally bridge the gap between the branding/imagery of the TV spots and the hand-on experience of the Apple Store. These brochures dangle a bit more of a carrot to pique the interest of consumers enough to get them to visit the apple website or stop in at their local Apple Store.
I am curious why Apple has chosen to avoid mentioning Windows compatibility in the 14-page brochure though. While I don’t think Apple should be focusing too much of it’s marketing message on luring people to the Mac platform with the intention of using it for Windows, they have mentioned it in their TV spot titled Touché. Following that up with a page on their brochure with a screenshot of Windows XP running in virtual machine window with Mac OS X apps wouldn’t be such a bad idea, would it?
Critique aside, Apple’s Mac marketing strategy is now coming into focus and seems to be close to firing on all cylinders for the upcoming holiday season. It will be interesting to see how much thunder Apple can steal from Microsoft Windows Vista before it launches. There has never been such a great opportunity to steal market share as there is now, especially given that Windows Vista will drive most Windows customers to buy new hardware in order to keep up with the latest version. Many of those customers may just decide to spend that money on a new Mac instead.
September 7th, 2006