A new home server from Apple?
Apple rumors are always rife in advance of MacWorld, and perhaps especially before this last one in which Apple will officially appear. Maybe the best scuttlebutt of this year is the rumored high-end Apple home server.
There have already been gossip about new Minis and new iMacs, both of which would be welcome, if only to catch up with the MacBook line. The rumored new home server may be better than all of that combined. The site 9to5mac.com has said that the rumor is fairly solid, and seems to have some relatively specific information about the new offering, which they first broached in August, although they do not seem sure that it will be ready for release in time for MacWorld.
The rumor says that the new home server device would have features that involve the sharing of iTunes among devices, as well as other types of files. According to 9to5mac, the new device would use the same ARM-based platform as the old Time Capsule, having much the same WiFi functionality and also supporting Time Machine backups. Apparently, the new home server would add other functions, as well. Those mentioned include AFP file sharing and full support for a shared iTunes library, as well as media sharing to iPhone, iPod touches, and Apple TV devices. If true, this is a big deal.
It is interesting that this rumor has surfaced just after Hewlett-Packard introduced their new home server, which is replete with Apple-oriented features for the first time. These new HP servers are said to support all Macs running OSX Leopard and Apple Time Machine software. The HP servers, which can be upgraded to 9 terabytes of storage, also have the capability to store and use other types of Mac files, as well as files from Windows machines, specifically media files.
The new Apple home server would be a great answer to the HP device for Mac users. The new server is said to integrate MobileMe in order to give the user remote access to the functions of the device, allowing users to access system files and the iTunes library across the Internet. Photo integration with MobileMe is also a part of the rumored package. Although it would certainly be a high end device, one can hardly imagine a true Mac-ophile without one.
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