iTV, cablecard, .n

[Kevin Callahan]

Friends and family are asking me about using a Mac like the MS media  
center.  I'm not familiar with the media center, but someone  
mentioned that Vista and the new media center will use "CableCARD" so  
that it can decrypt digital cable signal.

Does anyone expect iTV to sport such a card?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CableCARD>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCable>

or is it expected that Apple will have us stick with TiVO or EyeTV  
and in some way get those files into Front Row?

We all realize that the point of iTV is for any Mac user on the  
network to vend their digital media to the big screen.  But, it's  
clear a lot of folks want their recorded shows (not just iTMS  
downloads) to seamlessly integrate with Front Row.

also,  is 802.11n a factor in the delay of iTV?  it's odd that Apple  
showed iTV so far ahead of schedule.