Mac fans have been waiting for their pre-ordered Apple TV, sometimes nicknamed iTV, since January. This is because a lot of delays have pushed the product's release from it's originally planned date of launch.

Now, Apple sends its word of reassurance saying that the Apple TV will begin shipping by mid-March. Apple has never really issued an official explanation for the delays. There's been a lot of speculation as to why the release dates keep getting postponed, but people familiar with the matter have figured out that NVIDIA is the source of last month's delay.

Apparently, some quirks in the embedded graphics software has had Apple's quality assurance people raise some last minute warnings. Just take it as a sign that those Apple guys are always in the lookout for their clients' satisfaction.

So, how are we today? Still clutching your pitchforks, waiting for the next wave of attacks on your living room, eh? The Battle for the Living Room chronicles is still under full swing. Three set top boxes - Sony's PS3, Microsoft's 360, and Apple's Apple TV (iTV) - are vying for that oh-so comfortable spot in your living room. Digital download services have been around for quite some time now, but with these three new factions on the battle field, how can one survive through the media format wars?

Indeed there are a lot of interesting elements, features, and other factors involved when comparing these three set top boxes (again, we are stressing that we are viewing these as set top boxes with the "gaming console" aspect stripped out). Some might even say that, what with all the tech specs thrown into the equation, choosing your Living Room King can be a task left for the gods.

We here at QJ aren't gods (aaaw, sadness) but we can still enlighten you! When you're in a war, you'd definitely want to be on the winning side. And as of now, there isn't any clear-cut winner just yet. We can just assess the tipping scales as the battle changes every so often. Time to rip open the reports in the case file!

Cry: "Havoc!" And let click the "Full Article" link of war!

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.

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.

All this talk about next-gen consoles has us looking at the other side of the spectrum of home entertainment. This generation's next-generation of digital media players, the "iTV," has been clouded with many rumors recently. Lo and behold, Steve Jobs pulls yet another, well, Steve-Jobs-job on us.

Surprise, surprise. As announced in the MacWorld Expo, the Apple TV is now available for pre-ordering. Shipping starts this February, so you better make sure your living room is prepared for the invasion of the iTunes-to-TV player. Here's the long and short of what you can expect for the US$ 299 price tag:

• Mac + PC support
  
• Wi-Fi 802.11 wireless connectivity
  
• 40GB hard drive for up to 50 hours video
• Apple Remote included

This device allows you to play any media content - music, podcasts, movies, TV shows, etc. - stored in your computer onto your widescreen TV. Every time you update your iTunes with new content, Apple TV automatically updates itself. An easy-to-navigate menu is incorporated into the device to allow easy browsing and streaming of media files with the Apple Remote.

From the man, Steve Jobs, himself:

Apple TV is like a DVD player for the 21st century -- you connect it to your entertainment system just like a DVD player, but it plays digital content you get from the Internet rather than DVDs you get from a physical store. Apple TV plays the same iTunes content that users enjoy on their computers and iPods, so now they can even watch part of a movie in their living room, and watch the rest later on their iPod.

You can place your orders and learn more about the Apple TV in the official Apple website found behind the "Read" link below.

It seems that there is nowhere to go but up for the people at the Cupertino, California-based company, Apple. After being blessed with a 1, 222% traffic increase for iTunes this past Christmas, Goldman Sachs brings more good news to the company.

It was reported before that there are 1.8 million Macs sold last December. Analyst David Bailey also speculated a better than expected profit margin that would propel earnings of for US$ 0.79 per share on sales of US$ 6.38 billion. That's a lot of cash.

It seems that the iPod is not the only overachiever in the Apple family as the Mac line is also doing its share. Now on to some MacWorld fun.

Bailey is speculating that Apple is gearing for a "Macworld introduction and a [first quarter] release for the full-screen video iPod which is noticeably more innovative than the current generation and should not be considered as a simple refresh." Aside from that, a lot of aficionados are expecting for the launch of its iTV digital media hub. As for the much-talked about iPhone, he predicts it'll be released ready for manufacturing by April 2007 in time for a second quarter launch.

With all the speculation going about as to "What will Steve Jobs do next (in MacWorld 2007)?", it's a wonder the organizers don't move it from San Francisco to Las Vegas. Not only would it make a good pool for bookies, we could probably recoup some of our budget after blowing the iPhone naming bet.

Mac Rumors specializes in Mac rumors (well... doi), and with MacWorld 2007 just around the corner, they wanted to run up the final running pool of all the Apple-related rumors having to do with new product showcases that could potentially be announced or detailed in an event like MacWorld. All these rumors should sound so familiar to you guys by now, so we'll just provide a list format, a quick summary of Mac Rumor's thoughts, and then our own quick thoughts as well.

• What used to be the iPhone: possibly an announcement, but the more credible rumors suggest that there WON'T be a launch at MacWorld (Probably a new name, though, we think). Fair enough, we say. When it was first announced, same thing with the...

• iTV: more details expected. We think even a potential launch/availability date.

• Mac Pro: is there a potential eight-core Mac Pro coming out sometime in 2007? One rumor suggested one should have launched back in November, but this did not come to pass. Another report suggests a January release. Hey, we know there are quad-core chips quickly coming into the manufacturing stream, so there's nothing stopping Apple from making at least a quad Mac. Mac Rumor's thinking the same thing, citing the pending availability of a 2.0Ghz quad-core chip at US$ 690/chip.

• OS X Leopard: yet another demo preview of Leopard, but no exact dates for final release, let alone in MacWorld. Hey, they're just getting into the groove of Bug Month right now...

• New iPod models? If it's not the iPhone (oops, used to be), it's the full-screen Video iPod. Mac Rumor's latest resources say "early 2007" release. If that's true enough, we think MacWorld 2007 would be a perfect venue to show a demo of the device. And if it's not... well, how many iPods does it take to float an Apple?
  

Hmm... strange Mac Rumors hasn't mentioned the MacBook Thin. Then again, it would have been swamped by the used-to-be-iPhone alone, worse if an eight-core and iTV were included.

You gotta love rumors confirmed. Mac OS Rumors started combing the grapevine and all their sources clean of whatever juice they could squeeze out, until they were able to confirm that the "MacBook Thin" (a) exists, and (b) has specs that (c) would probably make the "Thin" "the fastest, most feature-rich ultraportable laptop on the market". Probably because it's a Pro in a smaller package.

Here are the specs that Mac OS Rumors were, so far, able to confirm from American and Southeast Asian sources. Start drooling.

• "Macbook Thin" -- spec-wise, primarily a variant of the Pro family but will probably be branded as separate from the standard *or* Pro MacBook families. Shipping name is unconfirmed.
• 12-inch widescreen display, 1280x800 resolution.
• 2.16 or 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors
• 1GB of DDR2-667 memory standard. Max. capacity 3GB.
• Standard "Pro" ports: USB2, Firewire 400 & 800, Gigabit Ethernet, Digital/Analog Audio minijack I/O ports.
• ExpressCard expansion slot (believed to be /34 type)
• Similar storage to "Pro": 2.5in SATA HDDs at 120GB & up, 'Combo' or 'Super' optical drive.
• ATi Radeon Mobility X1600 or nVIDIA GeForce GO 7600 graphics systems with 256MB of VRAM.
• Mini-DVI display connector with full second display capabilities
• Of course, Built-in iSight, stereo microphone, Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
• Battery life is expected to be "best in class" at about 6.5 hours real-world, some reports have suggested up to 8 hours is possible.

Final speculation has the "Thin", or whatever they're going to call it, shipping within ten weeks, announced in six. What keeps this speculation iffy is the fact that the upcoming MacWorld Expo is so packed with other high-profile items - such as iTV and the iPhone - that were the "Thin" announced there, it could easily get lost in the shuffle. Not that it won't be noticed by a lot of people who'd love to get a MacBook in smaller dimensions.

Even hardcore Apple fans aren't too thrilled with the iTV. And that's for a bunch of good reasons. The set-top-box is supposed to allow users to download movies (for a fee, of course) and watch them in "near-DVD quality". It's not really a revolutionary device, but Apple thinks that enabling content to be streamed from any Mac OS- or Microsoft Windows-run computer to a television is something worth spending US$ 300 for. Even if Steve Jobs hypes it up, the iTV isn't really going to get the same reception the iPod's gotten.

But what if Apple licenses TiVo's technology and uses it with the new iTV? Now, THAT would be something that just might interest us all!

But before you get all giddy, we'd have to remind you that this is a wild rumor posted at PVRblog. There's no firm evidence whatsoever, not just yet. But if you think about it, it's not an impossibility. In addition to the supposed Apple-TiVo partnership, iTV supposed to "officially" be called the Mac Media Capsule. With such a craptacular name, that Tivo deal should materialize and soon!

Apple will enlighten us when Macworld kicks off on January 9, 2007.

Nokia's re-entry into the video game scene made quite a splash among QJ readers. So we're pretty sure this rumor will receive the red carpet welcome treatment from Apple people and iPeople all over the world.

A few months ago Steve Jobs announced more gaming capabilities for the next-gen iPod which leads us to this month's hot speculations. Jesse Tortora, an analyst for Prudential, believes Apple is ripe enuff to jump into the video game market "considering it has hired video game designers."

We bet that quote launched a thousand woot! woot! from Apple fans. Oh, but there's more shiny, juicy, bite-sized quotes from Tortota.

"We think the videogame market represents a distinct possibility for Apple, especially considering that it recently announced the availability of videogames for its iPod through its iTunes store," he said. "The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement for a future version of the widescreen iPod."

Okay, these are just Tortora's predictions. But unlike the crystal ball-gazing soothsayers, Tortora has been looking at market trends and strategy so this rumor isn't that impossible. In fact, it's very probable. And it's going to be really interesting once Jobs makes an official announcement.