Which means it's time for Apple to kick the Apple TV to the next level. And maybe introduce that rumored media center.

When it comes to true convergence, there's always been some type of problem. The lack of a healthy ecosystem has always been a requisite for this to happen, until now. The ingredients for the IP-connected home include the availability of IP content aggregators, streaming video codecs, centralized network connectivity, and reliable wireless protocols. MultiMedia Intelligence believes that the necessary technology platforms are in place now and forecasts 244.5 million IP-Connected devices will be shipped in 2013.

"The IP connected home is here to change the way we humans engage with our content in the many forms we need it, like audio/music, video/games, as well as images/stills and data. IP connectivity will in time make life easier for consumers but will once again bring significant turmoil to the media and business space," says Rick Sizemore, chief strategist for MultiMedia Intelligence. "For many, the ideal environment will be content without the need for CDs, DVDs, etc. This has hastened more companies to go electronic. But is this really what the consumer wants? For some, yes, but for others, no. On the other hand, instead of manufacturers forever chasing state-of-the-art moving targets called standards, upgrades will be made through middleware. For the consumer, IP connectivity means that applications and content can be acquired at the home. For business, the exploitation of these markets is literally untapped."

Key findings for IP connectivity in consumer electronics by multimedia intelligence include:

° In 2008, over 80 million CE devices had Ethernet connectivity.

° In 2008, the largest segment for IP connection was the video game console, by and far the largest IP-connected segment. By 2013, DVD players/recorders, and various other forms of audio/video equipment will usurp video game consoles as the most commonly sold CE IP-connected devices.

° The sophistication of the consumer is a driver in and of itself. Consumers want ubiquity between applications that they buy for their mobile handset at their TVs, set-top boxes, storage in their homes or in the cloud.

° Computer-based video (YouTube, Hulu, and Facebook as examples of divergence in PC video), if desired, can be watched on the best IP-based monitor in the home, which in many cases is that very big screen, Plasma, DLP, LCD, and coming OLED television.

And what of the Apple TV? Danel Eran Dilger of Roughly Drafted says Apple TV 3.0 should add: itunes radio features, more alternative content, and an iTunes Store (and a SDK for interactive content). And Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek thinks Apple should buy TiVo and/or turn the Apple TV into a DVR, open it up to movie rental services, open it up to online video (beyond YouTube) and "give programmers the software developers' kit they need to make the device more flexible and useful."

All these are ideas worth considering. But something needs to be done. It's time for the Apple TV to move out of Apple's "hobby" classification and be taken seriously.

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