Hard on the heels of the release of the $300 Apple TV device, Apple has announced partnerships with Sony and Ikea today. Sometime in June, Sony will release an Apple/Sony flat screen television with the Apple TV completely integrated.
Apple TV is a small multimedia management device that allows users to send movies, TV shows, music, and pictures wirelessly from their computer to the Apple TV box, which is normally connected to a flat screen TV (it also works with tube-style televisions, but Apple is not promoting this feature).
Steve Jobs, in a press release, said, "Consumers are tired of the complex and confusing task of hooking up often dozens of cables just to be able to watch a video or play music through their entertainment system. The integration of Apple TV with Sony's best of class televisions eliminates ALL cables. Apple TV's wireless connection to media of all kinds from any computer with iTunes--Windows or Mac--brings Apple's ease of use to the living room."
Industry reaction to the announcement has been mixed. Some analysts expressed surprise, since Sony has tried numerous times to compete directly with Apple in markets like MP3 music players, home computers, and business laptops. The only market where Sony has had some success is in the small laptop niche, where Apple has never had a product similar to the popular Sony Viao notebooks. Other analysts indicated they thought that it showed Sony has decided to give up fighting Apple domination of the music and entertainment markets, and that the partnership made sense. One unnamed pundit said, "Sony TVs have always had a great reputation, but they are not dominating the market because of price. Integration with Apple TV will make the higher prices less of an issue because of the "no cables" feature. A lot of consumers will pay extra for that.
The real surprise was the Ikea link up. Jobs, standing alongside an array of Ikea entertainment centers, said Apple had been working with the Swedish firm for over a year to design an integrated entertainment cabling and cabinet design that will be used in six new Ikea entertainment centers. Each piece of furniture will be designed for a flat panel TV, a special shelf custom made for an Apple TV device, an iPod dock, and a concealed cable tray that hides the normally messy set of cables that normally dangle behind entertainment centers.
Each piece of furniture also comes with a set of cables that are exactly the right length to connect the TV, an Apple TV, the iPod dock, and a surround sound audio system.
In a classic "one more thing" Jobs moment, the CEO of Apple announced that the full line of Apple computers and entertainment devices would be on sale immediately at all Ikea stores, with a special Apple "store within a store" area in the popular furniture centers. Jobs remarked, "Who has not struggled with the dizzying array of cables needed to just play a song from an iPod or to watch a downloaded copy of "24?" Now you can go to Ikea and get everything you need to enjoy your music and entertainment, without the headeaches and frustration."