Apple snubs Media Center and looks beyond traditional PVRs

The most significant product launched by Apple last night was not the video iPod, though that was impressive, but instead a piece of software called Front Row -- which is bundled with its new range of thinner iMacs.

At first glance it appears like a fairly unremarkable Apple equivalent of Windows Media Center, but it is in fact dramatically different from Microsoft's efforts. So different that it represents a quiet revolution for Apple, and a major change in the way we view film and television.

While Microsoft struggles to win over the living room with PVR (personal video recorder) functionality that records live television on your personal computer, and continues to chase IPTV deals with the US cable operators, Apple is focusing on what it does best: providing a great user experience.

Steve Jobs specifically snubbed Windows Media Center in his presentation, showing a still-frame comparing Windows' bulbous, button-ridden remote controls with the iMac's elegant iPod-like remote. "This slide captures everything Apple is about," he told the audience.

Apple could be laying the groundwork for an extensive on-demand video service through iTunes, integrated with Front Row, which means that any television show or movie can be downloaded with a few clicks of the iMac's new remote control. Apple is offering this service for episodes of television programmes including Lost and Desperate Housewifes (in the US only, for now), as well as movie trailers on their site, along with a selection of 2,000 music videos. The natural extension of this service would be to provide full-length movies, perhaps even in high definition, over the Internet, on request.

Apple sees the Internet as the television- and film-delivery system of the future. Front Row, and the deals the company has been hatching with broadcasters like ABC, puts it ahead of the game in this newborn market. There has been speculation in the past that the Mac Mini could make a killer home entertainment system -- it's small, quiet and fast, and much prettier than most PCs. With the introduction of Front Row, Apple has added another weapon that it will need in the battle for control of our digital living rooms.

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• Tags:
• film,
• television,
• media center,
• row