Now that you’ve ordered (ahem) or setup your Mac Mini you are probably thinking about how it will interface with all that great content you’ve got or are prepared to connect to your home theater. As you’ve probably discovered (even pre-purchase) there is no Mac Media Center application or UI for that matter ala Windows Media Center. Don’t let that get you down just yet… As I look in my crystal ball, I see a community about to explode with applications, hacks and of course peripherals all designed to enable the Mac mini in your living room.

For now, since you get iLife with your purchase, be sure and install it so you can immediately take advantage of the the new power within iPhoto as it can manage not only your pictures but your video content as well. Thanks to a post by Chris Karr, we know it can handle MPEG2 which is excellent because that means a quite an array of video content (movies and tv) can be enjoyed with just a few clicks. This is great, but will only play in a Quicktime window rather than in full-screen mode which is certainly preferred for Home Theater applications.

I was unable to find a standard way to get Quicktime to launch in full-screen and in my goal of getting our Mini HTPC up and running with as few keyboard maneuvers as possible I’ve discovered a nice alternative. By purchasing Quicktime Pro ($29.99) you can easily launch movies fullscreen with a simple Command F (Command is the Apple Key for switchers). I’ve created a macro on my system that automatically enables full-screen so anytime a movie is launched it goes full-screen and starts to play. You can easily do this as well using the ever-helpful Keyboard Maestro which costs $20. When Tiger launches, there is an excellent chance you’ll be able to do this right out of the box with Quicktime 7 (probably will have to pay for QT 7 Pro) and Automator a new graphical scripting tool that lets you program your mac without knowing a damn thing about apple script – just what actions you wish to take place. More when Tiger is released…

A tip or two for Quicktime usage… Open the prefs and check the box to Automatically play movies when opened and un-check the box to Show hot picks movie when opened. Until Apple has something truly of interest to share, you’ll want to focus more on your own stuff.

In Keyboard Maestro, I’ve actually exported my macro and you can just download and import it from the site via this link.

This process will only get better, but for now this should hold you over for a bit.

I wrote and “tested” this from my Powerbook without iPhoto 5…if I missed something critical, please let me know.

– Jonathan Greene

It’s always a good time to get your own Mac mini from Amazon!

Well if the first day of retail sales for the Mini, are any indication of projected sales, I’d say Apple will do quite well with the Mini. I called both my local stores, one was sold out completely and the other had three 1.25’s left, none with additional options. So in a little less than 5 hours they basically sold through their entire supply. I’m not crazy about waiting but at least I do still have my on-line order in the pipe-line. How about you guys? Have your local Apple stores sold their allotments?

B.Greenway

Jonathan spoke to this in an earlier post, but its well worth another mention. As I stated in a previous post, the second Job’s held up the Mac Mini I thought ‘imagine that, a DVD player with a CPU’ and of course the cogs in my mind began envisioning surfing from the couch, instead of sitting in this knock-off Aeron Chair, but was this seemingly random thought pattern all that random? Think about it, Apple could have made the Mini any size shape or color they wanted to. Was it a coincidence the one they picked just happens to resemble a piece of consumer electronics gear, more than a computer? I think not, and gauging from the buzz ‘round the net, I’m not alone.

One of the better ‘this isn’t just a computer’ theories I’ve run across comes from Bob Cringely, admittedly he does wonder off into some seemingly unrelated ‘evidence’ but by and large his line of thinking, matches mine. Think about how many times “year of HD” “year of HD” was repeated at the keynote. And for further clues, think about how massively popular the iPod has been, how do you top that? Now the case for an in-home movie delivery system starts making a lot more sense, oh yeah in case you didn’t hear Steve say ‘Quicktime 7 is optimized for MPEG-4 HD playback’ Several times, I’ll say it. Quicktime 7 supports HD video playback….

B.Greenway

As some of you may know I have been enjoying Voom’s Satellite service for almost seven months now. It was/is hands down the best satellite service I’ve seen, and working in the custom audio/video field I’ve seen them all. But with Voom selling off their assets to Echostar and ultimately closing shop, what does this mean for ‘ahead of their time’ tech services? Voom obviously had bandwidth in the sky well before enough HDTV owners wanted that bandwidth in their living rooms. How can this be with some 6 million hi-def sets sold last holiday season alone? Simple, retailers have a long history of pushing product without fully explaining how to get the most out of that product. Specifically you actually need to subscribe to either HDTV cable or satellite if you want to get the most out of your new HDTV, crazy concept.

What does all of this have to do with Apple? The long rumored and just as often denied ‘Apple Media Center’. Apple has been smart to (so far at least) stay out of the living room, but that may change soon. Sure Apple could have introduced a Media Center/DVR months or years ago, but with TiVo (at the time) still the king of the hill and HTPC’s still struggling to shed their image as a DIY hobbyist ‘toys’, the timing just wasn’t right. But will that time ever come for Apple? That’s a question I’m still trying to work out for myself. One could argue with the Satellite world going through its MPEG-4 transition and only a handful of hi-def cable boxes actually having active FireWire outputs, now wouldn’t be the time. And Apple has already indicated a reluctance to enter the living room, taking a ‘people want passive entertainment’ stance.

Read the rest of this entry »

We are very pleased with yesterday’s launch of the Mac HTPC Forums and wanted to make it even easier for you to track the latest conversations. You can now add an RSS Feed to your favorite newsreader and you’ll get the last 15 posts automatically. If you want to track specific topics or posts, you can do so directly within the forums and you’ll get an email each time a post is made to that topic. Enjoy!

Ok guys listen up, I’ve got a super top secret business plan to increase sales in 2005. Here’s the new form factor for computer add-ons, a white slim box that’s 6.5″ x 6.5″ x 2″, or 16.5 x 16.5 x 5 cm. That’s all you really need to know, whether it be a standalone sound card, hard drive enclosure, TV capture card or even a standalone A/V breakout box. Just build products to those dimensions and viola instant sales boost.

If your research and design team needs more exact details or dimensions please contact Apple Computer. For further inspiration, forum member Emission has rendered a mockup.

B.Greenway

Walk Mossberg reviews the Mac Mini (should now work) this week in the WSJ. While there’s no mention of Mac Home Theater, I thought readers would still be interested in this pre-purchase approval. He comes away generally pleased, though recommends doubling the RAM and keeping things off the top if you plan to be using the drive as it may actually cause it to jam.

I had not actually considered that the drive would be sensitive to weight from above, but considering the similarities to notebooks inside, it’s not surprising that might be an issue. In my experience with PowerBooks, I’ve found you can cause some “spin cycle” noise effects if you press a bit too much while a disc is in action.

Mossberg also notes that based on his mailbag, many PC users are looking to make the switch. In the few days since we’ve gone live there are quite a few of you accessing from Windows as well… Could the Mini be the perfect switcher?

– Jonathan Greene

Purchase your Mac Mini from Amazon today!

That’s right we’re giving away an Apple 1GB iPod Shuffle, with one minor string attached (wait are you still reading?) come on it’s a Shuffle! Anyway we’re looking for Mac Mini reviews. Obviously we’ll give everyone enough time to get theirs installed and settled, so we’ll run the contest until April 1st 2005. Just head over to the forums and post your review. Note there are no right or wrong’s here, just give it your best shot and let us know as many details as possible.

B.Greenway

Just how dedicated are you to your Mac mini cause? Did you order online while chatting in IRC during the Stevenote or perhaps while watching the delayed streaming keynote later that day… If you have yet to place your order (ahem) Saturday should be a pretty intense mad dash to get whatever might be available at retail.

tuaw.com is reporting the Mac Mini has already begun shipping, days before the previously announce January 22nd ship date. Of course I immediately mouse’d over to apple to see if my ship status had changed, and I got a mixed bag o’ news. Whereas it used to indicated Est. Ship on or before 2/15, the line is now blanked out in some apparent pondering phase. No I’m not anxious or anything.

B.Greenway