Industry experts are predicting that of all the home media center manufacturers, Apple has the highest likelihood of succeeding. 228 experts were polled in mid-December to get their perspective on trends in the "digital livingroom," according to SeekingAlpha.

When asked about the current line up of media center devices and manufacturers, 43 percent said that Apple has the best chance of mass market acceptance. 14 percent voted for Sony, and only 11 percent chose Microsoft.

16 percent of the respondents said that Apple TV is very likely to be a huge success, and 48 percent said it was somewhat likely. 28 percent said that Apple is the company to watch in 2007, while 11 percent said to keep your eye on Sony, and only 8 percent said to watch Microsoft.

The key to Apple TV's projected success is ease of use. One survey respondent commented "They understand the biggest impediment to adoption is that people hate complexity, they just want to plug in and play."

These numbers don't ensure success for Apple TV, nor do they indicate that 2007 will be the year that home media center devices take off in a big way. It does, however, show that Apple has a big lead in the industry - even though it came to the game after Microsoft.