Streaming television is a growing market that features industry giants like Apple, Microsoft, and Sony vying for a place right in your living room. But all the hype has left you stumped: the Apple TV has come out and you're wondering if you should change plans on purchasing a brand new Mac Mini with a cheaper, more dedicated Apple TV.

Well, it's really about what you think is right for you. Cost aside, the Apple TV and the Mac Mini are not in the same product category. The Apple TV is an appliance, while the Mac Mini is a compact computer. The compact and sleek Apple TV box shovels video from your computer to your television, while the slightly larger Mac Mini can run a full instance of Mac OS X, allowing you to view movie content encoded in DivX, XviD and VIDEO_TS.

The Apple TV can play anything an iPod can, though it does not fully support 5.1 surround sound. A Mac Mini has 20 GB more of hard drive space, 256 MB more of system memory, three more USB ports, a Firewire port, and room for a decent DVD-writer. The Apple TV does have NVidia-powered video compared to the Mini's Intel integrated feature, and does sport the 802.11n wireless connectivity, making streaming large files smoother.

Aside from all the technical specifications, you might also want to consider that the Apple TV is pretty easy to use. A user-friendly GUI menu and intuitive interface can get you streaming television in no-time. But some people have discovered that the HD capability of the Apple TV is slightly so-so, having problems keeping up the proper frame rate while streaming HD TV in some cases. The Mac Mini, being a computer, requires maintenance, though it is more useful in other things such as serving as a backup file storage.

An Apple TV or a Mac Mini? It's a tough one, but you could probably do with either. On a personal note, you couldn't go wrong with a Mac Mini, if you can afford it.

While people are rallying around with pitchforks and flaming torches to take part in the unending console wars, it's time to take a step back and view things differently. The gaming industry is aggressive and sometimes even rabid - there's no secret there. But gaming aside, another campaign being fought is that of the next-gen media format: the digital download.

The "movie download" industry has actually already started for quite some time now. You've got companies like Cinemanow and Movielink that are pretty well-established and successful already. New in the game would be the services provided by Starz's "Vongo" and Amazon's "Unbox".

Of course, this whole service wouldn't be just as booming without the specialized setup methods and software needed to download the content. What you need in your living room is a set top box to which content can be quickly transferred and is easily accessed by the user.

Cue in Sony, Microsoft, and Apple. Cue in props: PS3, Xbox 360, and Apple TV. Three new players in the game and it looks like it's going to be one fierce battle to be reckoned with.

Helm's Deep hasn't seen a battle this intense. Just before you pick up your pitchforks once again, click on the "Full Article" link below to see the 411.

As much as everyone seems to be raving about the recent unveiling of the iPhone, there will inevitably be haters, analysts, and critics for it (as with every new product released in the market). We've given you a rundown of different analyses about how the iPhone will fare in the mobile market and because we here in QJ believe in democracy, we'll let this guy give his piece on the iPhone's future.

Fellas, meet John Dvorak, a Marketwatch Technology columnist who gives his opinion on the whole iPhone mania on his CNBC stint. He says that the features of the iPhone goes against the trend that the mobile market is currently seeing, which is why he apparently doesn't see what the fuss is all about. Dvorak also said that while some people think that Apple is an all-powerful and successful company (what with the moolah they constantly rake in), he believes that "Apple can do wrong and this is it [iPhone]."

But before the claws come out on Dvorak, let's try to keep in mind that this is just his opinion and that everyone's entitled to one, right? So anyhoo, just check out the vid below and hear for yourself what Dvorak has to say about the iPhone. (Kudos to getamac for posting this!)

Apple's decision to call their upcoming mobile device the "iPhone" has caused a whole case file's worth of trouble. Cisco has complained about Apple using the iPhone trademark, and already it has sparked debates far and wide, all speculating about Apple changing the name in time for its launch this June.

Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry says that this name change will be an eventual step for Apple to take. He bases this theory on conversations with "sources" that are "close" to the iPhone labs.

A lot of us could probably agree with this. As we've said, countless people have already expressed the same sentiments of Apple doing a name change for the iPhone. In fact, we've heard a couple of comments from our beloved QJ readers already, and all of them have valid points and are worth pointing out.

Bob: To be honest, the iPhone name will either be licensed from Cisco or Apple will change it to iMobile, iCell, AppleCell or something. Just look at iTV which is now Apple TV. They would not have got away with iTV in the UK as there is a company with the very same name.

xche78x: It's a mishap on Apple's side. Cisco really owns the iPhone name. So, the product should find a new name so it can be launched for the mass market.

neok182: Apple was very wrong for going ahead and calling it that before they finished negotiations with Cisco. And now they're paying for it. Cisco was nice enough to even talk about letting them use it... Now, they'll lose this case and have to rename the phone. After everyone now knows it as the iPhone. This is just the first thing to hurt it... As nice as the phone is and I'd love to have one myself, it has a very bumpy road ahead of it.

Fair exchange of ideas, guys. We all have our thoughts on the issue but the people have spoken. A name change would have to be inevitable.

While technophiles the world over got worked up and hyperventilated at Steve Jobs' announcement of the iPhone, the Japanese simply looked up a while from their keitai, then went on with their business. And the reason for this? The fact that the iPhone has nothing new to offer to them.

While Jobs boasts of the iPhones new interface, the Japanese are finding it hard to believe that it is a "revolutionary product" that will "change everything". Apple also notes that the iPhone can be used to download music and surf the internet, as well as support one-way conferencing in the future. Over at Japan, the whole population have already been doing all this for years. On top of that, most phones can support five-way video conferencing, and their mobiles can also be used to buy train tickets, pay for taxi rides, design a webpage, update a blog, pay for puchases at the convenience store, book hotel reservations, watch a movie or the latest baseball game, use GPS, get exclusive content by scanning a barcode on the seats at the baseball stadium, and an entire plethora of other features and uses which Apple still seems to be clueless about (they should probably start off by checking out Strap-Ya, or something).

All this can again be attributed to one main attribute that Apple is missing, and that would be 3G technology. At the moment, the iPhone is still on a second-generation network.

So, when Japanese retailers were told about the amazing, new iPhone and its features, one shopkeeper merely laughed and said, "Sounds like business as usual".

Nothing's perfect at launch - not even Apple. Sure, the iPhone's great and all, but are there some things they might have overlooked that could potentially trip this baby up? Hey, didn't we do this piece already? Yeah, well, it's Ars Technica's turn, and their regular Infinite Loop feature touches on a few potential iPhone misses we've already touched on, and quite a few that we didn't.

So, for the dog that barked: no 3G, costs as much as a PS3, tied to Cingular, and limited memory. Add it all up and it's a potential turnoff for all but the hardest of the Apple die-hards. At least that's the implication: this won't be the "killer app" (as opposed to) the iPod turned out to be.

And the dog that didn't bark. "No over-the-air downloads from iTunes." That would have been a killer feature to include... well, maybe. It's a consequence of lack of 3G support, whose bandwidth would have been necessary for the high-rate transfers that downloading from iTunes will require. Or maybe Apple was looking at prior experiences with phones working with iTunes and decided that it's not worth it. "No Wi-Fi sync with iTunes." Although the Infinite Loop columnist - and we - cover that if the software can support it, why not? Hey, it's probably just a firmware away - and it's a good use for the Internet-browsing Wi-Fi capabilities of the phone.

"No MS Exchange or Office support." For Infinite Loop, "this is a potential biggie to business users." Which is true - if the iPhone was meant to be a PDA to begin with. Here the QJ jury is out. At its price, it might as well have PDA features to attract a bigger customer base, but that will mean that Apple will have to face not only Nokia and Sony Ericsson on the one hand, but also Blackberry and all the other PDA manufacturers on the other. We've never seen Apple have to fight a two-front war on the underdog side before.

"Not extensible by third parties." Infinite Loop says that if Apple locks down the iPhone away from third-party developers, this will hurt the product in the long run. If Apple opens up now, and begins working with developers to at least set a standard for iPhone-compatible software, this will measure up favorably for the iPhone's chances in the market. It could even resolve the "No MS Exchange" issue by offering an alternative.

Finally, "No removable memory." Especially for a product that is essentially a kick-a** iPod, having an 8GB limit is very, very, very, very painful. Then again, what iPod had removable memory, either (of course, they didn't need to have one for the most part, but you get the point, right? 8GB)? We said it before, and we'll say it again: if the PSP can potentially get 32GB of memory all by swapping in a stick, why can't the iPhone have one built-in in the near future? Beefing up the memory is a good justification for pushing the launch date of the phone back - it will be more than worth it in the long run.

What we like about N'gai Croal is how he's able to pull off asking some of the tough questions that would get other games and tech reporters shot (by French ninjas, no less). He let us know of a funny new post to his tech blog where he discusses, in an iTunes playlist style, who should be watching out for themselves in a future filled with Apple's iPhone. Some of them you might know because you own these pieces of tech now: the PSP and DS.

On the PSP side, which is at number seven, he notes how the development of the iPhone could eat into the mobile media industry that Sony's trying to get a handle on. He writes,

After all, the iPod has iTunes (with music, movies, TV and games); while the PSP has the PlayStation Network (for PS2 games that can run on the PSP's emulator and...nothing else right now - more than two years after its launch.)

Suffice it to say that with the advent of even more tech that's touch-screen enabled, Sony really ought to think about following suit, possibly integrating it with their now-famous XMB interface.

Nintendo's dual-screen handheld doesn't really have a lot to fear from the iPhone, at least when it comes to getting sold. The problem will lie in sustaining the interests of casual owners. Croal asks: "How long will it take publishers to bring knockoffs to the touch-enabled iPhone, along with other games that take advantage of the iPhone's audio, video and communications capabilities?"

While we could talk about how Apple should be afraid of its own iPhone announcement (it's at number two, by the way), one of them will really hit us hard. That's the one in which Croal talks about us, as Time's People of the Year. Do we really want to spend a couple of hundred dollars for a phone/medium-range PC/ portable movie theater? Personally, if my iPhone doesn't make my coffee in the morning, I'll stick to my bulky, but lovable, Hello Kitty custom-case home computer, thank you very much.

After an entire months-long game of hopscotch, peek-a-boo, and "What Will Jobs Do Next", Apple finally reveals the... iPhone. Steve, you can be quite the stubborn cookie - we shall now have to differentiate between the Apple iPhone and the Linksys iPhone. Anyway, what's probably interesting about the iPhone is not what it has out of the box, but what it DOESN'T have, for a phone that costs as much as a PS3 - 20GB and 60GB.

Let's keep it short: no 3G. As a cellphone, that could potentially be crippling to the iPhone (especially when Steve wants 10 million on the streets by next year). And if he tries to sell the phone to Japan - that country is true-blue (or blood-red) 3G country - it's going to be murder, so we're thinking that Apple might want to keep this as a North American release for now.

Still, the global (let alone NA) cellular industry isn't Apple turf - the iPhone is not going up against late entrants and also-rans (e.g., Zune), but against the monoliths of the cellphone industry: Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola. Steve Jobs says that the iPhone is five years ahead of any other mobile phone. Well, not in the 3G department, most definitely.

But we're not going to simply surrender to the belief that Steve Jobs' fair-haired boys didn't think of this when they drew up the iPhone's specs. They could always market it as a luxury product (at that price, it better well be). But for a company that has made its mark as a mass market trend-setter (even given the price of the 5G iPod), that could be a bit odd.

But we still think that the iPhone is, as our gaming cousins in the QJ network put it, FTW!!! 1st post W00t!!!. Find out why after the jump.

Okay, so there's a new iPod in town. It's big, it's bad, and it can call your girlfriend and whisper sweet nothings into her ear, so I'd worry if I were you. Kidding. This writer has argued that the new iPhone might actually be the newest generation of the iPod - I mean, God, the touchscreen, the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the web browsing, and yeah, it calls your girlfriend, too. It might as well be the sicth, or seventh, or somethingth-generation iPod in the near future.

Permit me to raise my hand and ask the obvious question, then: What now of the current iPod lineup?

It was only last year that Apple unveiled the latest iPods (+ Nano and Shuffle), now with video capabilities, aluminum shells (Nano), and small enough to become a really weird earring. Or clip your homework with (Shuffle). Then again, they've been upgrading iPods like Nintendo upgrades Game Boys, the iPhone wouldn't be too out of pattern. Although coming in at a hefty US$ 600, which does limit the number of early adopters, and with less memory (8GB max), features-wise the iPhone just blew away its entertainment-centric cousins. Talk about paling in comparison.

No, the iPhone won't spell the end of the iPod as we know it, if only for costing as much as a 60GB PS3, plus only having 8GB max memory. But if the price drops - and knowing Apple's history with its gadgets, and if memory storage can be improved, oh boy will they drop and become more tempting?

This depends on two things - how Apple markets the iPhone now and in the coming months, and how quickly the market will be willing to trade in their cellphones AND iPods for an iPhone. Still, none of our potential scenarios predict the end of the iPod as we know it. But they all do point to a change in how Apple markets the iPod.

Consider the iPhone the newest, and most certainly, high-end iPod, a position previously (or currently, depending on how you look at the iPhone) held by the video-capable iPod. We're betting that once Apple's got a good flow of iPhones moving down the assembly line and in the street, future pricing will be scaled to the iPod lineup (with extra charges, since it does have a cellphone built inside). This means that when the iPhone's price drops, the prices of the other iPods may drop as well. The current gen may become the mass-market iPod of the future at this rate.

Okay, a $ 600 iPod that calls my oft-neglected girlfriend. Suddenly, the idea of a stand-alone iPod sounds... more romantically safe. More after the jump.

Andre Vrignaud, otherwise known to the net as Ozymandias, pulled a Nostradamus of his own recently with his predictions for 2007. Being a Microsoft spokesperson though, you'll have to admit that some of his predictions are somewhat pointed, even if they do happen to be very logical.

We'll tread lightly here with one of the somewhat obvious Microsoft-favored predictions as an example:

By the end of 2007, total lifetime unit sell-through of home consoles will be led by the Xbox 360, followed by NintendoÂ?s Wii, with the Playstation 3 third. This order will also be true of units sold-through solely in 2007 (ie, not lifetime sales).

There's enough evidence to make that prediction viable, though we'd have to say the Wii is catching up far quicker than anyone expected. Since the total number of PS3 units created does happen to be far less than the total number of Xbox 360 or Wii units sold, Sony is the obvious dark horse for a 2007 sell-through victory.

Here are the rest of his predictions. Take a good note of his PSP-related predictions, as our own Chris L. made a fearless forecast similar to Ozy's. As for everything else, just remember that this is all speculation rather than fact, though you're quite free to put in your own two cents on the predictions he's given.

The original PSP (with memory stick) will be discontinued, and replaced by a new model with an integrated hard drive. The new model will enable connectivity to the Playstation store via internet connection, and allow you to purchase and download both emulated PS1 and native PSP games directly. Over time (meaning not in 2007), it will also allow you to purchase music and movies from the Sony store.

The future will have... ROBOTS! More of Ozymandias' insights and predictions after the jump.