Apple TV - yes an a actual TV

I have been pondering about system solution for Apple to provide household TV viewing. It involves a number of products which would work together

1 A Mac
2 A NEW Time Capsule
3 An iPad or iPhone
4 A NEW product, which is a digital TV receiver, either terrestrial or satellite, with WiFi streaming output
5 An Apple TV plus display, either separate or integrated



And the good thing is everything is wireless. The Time Capsule sits by your phone in the hall, the STB is in the loft, the Mac is in your study, the iPad is on your lap, the Apple TV is in your lounge (and you could have others in other rooms!), The HiFi amplifier is in your lounge (and you could have others in other rooms!).

How would it work?

The minimum system would be

+ iPad as a remote control, bit expensive but it will have miriad other uses - for example viewing web sites associated with the program you are watching, like statistics while listening to politicians pontificating on Question Time!
+ An Apple TV/Display
+ The TV Receiver

This would allow you to watch TV and browse the web, it would also get you iTunes movies and YouTube, and BBC iPlayer if they decide to support AirPlay WiFi streaming (iPad to Apple TV)

A alternative system could replace the iPad with a Mac computer, and add DVR capability.

A high end solution would add a new version of Time Capsule. This would be a DVR, a WiFi router, a backup and an iTunes library. It coukd also run iTunes itself so you don't need a Mac in the video/audio media centre solution.

So there we are. And if you want icing on the cake let's have an audio amplifier with built-in AirPlay and remote volume control, with a high end performance.