AppleTV PVR - Please!

We recently bought a nice 42" LCD TV with 1080i resolution and also wanted to replace our aging VCR with new technology to record TV shows just like our old TV, except we want it in HD at the same broadcast resolution.

You know what? We couldn't find anything!

We didn't want something that creates more media to store like a DVD recorder because you lose HD capability with those and a lot of them still have analog tuners in them. Not to mention the problems I've heard with so many devices. And no Blu-ray either even though it might have great resolution - I don't want to invest in media. Period.

What we wanted was something that recorded in HD up to 1080i resolution with a digital tuner AND NO MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION FEES! I don't want pay TiVo, Dish, or anyone else monthly fees. I can look up schedules myself and use an on-screen menu to setup the recording time. 

And I don't want something to hook up to my Macs either - I'm using it too much for other things. I'm looking for a simple appliance with no manual required from a trusted brand. No box building for me.

It has been reported <here> that Apple has filed a patent for a DVR like device. If Apple released an AppleTV that could record TV shows in HD with a 1080 widescreen HD digital tuner WITHOUT subscription fees, I would pony up plastic right now! And it wouldn't bother me if they had to add a couple more buttons to the remote to make it happen. 

Macworld - the Aftermath

Okay, so a bunch of my predictions were off. I did hit the idea of the Slim Book (now known as the MacBook Air) although rumors of that were all over the blogsphere. But my guess was right that Apple would come up with an elegant solution and game changing idea to leave optical disks behind.

And Apple certainly retooled it's AppleTV to support HD downloads like I imagined although I still wished that it had a digital tuner and could work as a DVR. I would gladly pay $299 for such a unit. But the call on iTunes HD was right on.

The rest of the hardware in terms of MacBooks and MacBook Pros fell off the wagon - no updates to those. Nor anything in regards to the hardware of the iPhone or iPods. But this is the opening gates of 2008 and there are months to go where product refreshes and updates can make a huge difference.

One thing that Apple is probably going to make a big splash over is the SDK (software development kit) for the iPhone. I'm betting with the release of the SDK, there will be a bunch of critical software releases, either by Apple or by other software developers.

The one release I'm hoping for is the ability to synchronize with Microsoft Exchange in a secure way. I think that this will have a huge impact on business purchases and could blow the next quarter out. It will probably require a whole different Mail and Calendar application because I doubt that Apple will change their Mail application and iCal. This has been their approach because Exchange in some ways, competes with Apple's own server mail offerings.

I don't know any details but I've heard rumblings that a solution is being worked on but I'm not sure if by Apple or Microsoft. And I don't know when.

Either way, I hope very soon to be pleasantly surprised.