What kind of Macworld 2009 would it be with out the prebuzz rumors circling the Net.  Today, 9to5Mac – which mind you have managed to nab some pretty significant scoops – reported today that they’ve ‘heard’ that Apple is set to release an updated TimeMachine platform.  It’ll be more along the lines of a NAS or home server that will allow you to access your homes files (music, movies and more) from just about any where there’s Internet access.  What’s really interesting is that it might all be tied into Mobile Me, which costs $100 a year.  This certainly would position Mobile Me as a much more attractive service and help Apple boost its subscriber numbers to the service.  Here’s what they’re reporting:

• The device will tie in MobileMe with an Apple built-in Dynamic DNS system.  For instance, if your MobileMe account was “9to5mac”, your domain name would be “9to5mac.me.com”.  This is how you’d reach your filesystem throughout the Internet.  Your media would also reside here.
• Built in AFP filesharing for Time Machine backups and centralized file stores.  Technically, you could even do backups on the road.
• iTunes shared library database for not just music, but also video.  Access over the Internet to all of your media.
• Photo database and tie in with with MobileMe.
• Sharing media with iPod Touch and iPhones both over the Internet and while at home.  AppleTV as well.
• The box will be based on the Time Machine platform (ARM), not a more expensive Intel/Leopard Server configuration.
• Current Time Machine networking functionality built in.  Plugged into the Cable or DSL modem directly.
• Lots of power saving features like turning off hard drives when not in use.
• Multiple hard drive configurations would be made available with RAID 5 redundancy.

What I’d really want is a Tivo Device (aka Apple TV) that does all of the above and includes a solid EPG and some ports for endless expansion of the recording capacity.  Apple does this, and they can consider me in.

[9to5Mac]