Hey, Let's Speculate Idly on Apple's Next Announcement!
Posted by Harry McCracken | Tuesday, October 04, 2005 10:26 PM PT
As my colleague Narasu Rebbapragada
noted earlier today, Apple is holding an event one week from Wednesday in San Jose. The invite uses the phrase "One More Thing..."--which is the Columbo-esque phrase that Steve Jobs uses towards the end of an Apple demo, when he's about to spring the real news on us. It's all but inevitable that next week's event will begin with discussion of Apple's quarterly results and other recent doings, and end with a new product.
I have no inside info on Apple's plans. But speaking of Columbo, the clues are out there if you want to look for them. So without any further ado, some questions and musings.
Is the invitation itself a clue? When Apple notified members of the press of its event
last month, it did so with an e-invite that made reference to "1000 Songs in Your Pocket," showed the teeny-tiny pocket within a jeans pocket, and said "Here we go again." In other words, it all but told us that the announcement would involve an unusually small music player that held 1000 tunes--
and it did.
This new invitation shows a theater curtain, and the event itself is at the same gloriously restored theater in San Jose where the company announced its U2 iPod a year ago. So I'm guessing that the announcement relates to entertainment somehow, rather than, say, a new garden-variety iMac. The timeframe might also argue for entertainment-related news--Apple would want to get something fun into stores for the holidays.
Then there's the invite's "One more thing..." tagline. It goes out of its way to set our expectations high, so it's likely that the news will be significant. Which would seem to rule out something like a speed bump for the Mac Mini or new colors for the iPod Shuffle.
OK, if it's entertainment, is it a new music player? Quite possibly. But in the wake of the Nano, we know it's not a midsized player, and I can't imagine even a major reimagining of the iPod Shuffle being the news here. Unless we're talking a new form factor (and we could be--if there was a Bose Wave-like tabletop iPod, it could be a hit), that would seem to leave the full-sized iPod.
If you were reinventing the big iPods, you might give them more storage and make them thinner and lighter...and it's a no-brainer that Apple will do just that at some point. But the big question with the full-sized iPods is whether they'll morph into video handhelds.
AppleInsider
is reporting that they will, saying that Apple has started production on a thinner model with a smaller click wheel and a larger screen. Could be. But Steve Jobs has frequently dissed portable media players, so I think it would be incumbent upon him to come up with something truly different from
Creative's Zen Vision and other existing models...and to release it in conjunction with a major iTunes Music Store upgrade that offers plenty of watchable content (which would, of course, have to be protected against piracy).
Random guess: If a video iPod is indeed imminent, maybe it will have particularly clever options for getting the videos it contains onto TVs and other big displays. That would help address Steve Jobs's frequent dismissal of video handhelds for having teeny-tiny screens.
Elaboration on random guess: Apple's AirPort Express router is an aging and limited media streaming device. How about a video iPod with built-in WiFi--one which can stream movies to a new video-capable AirPort media streamer?
If it turns out not to be a video iPod, could it be something else entertainment-related? Maybe. How about an entertainment-centric Mac notebook? Jobs has declared 2005 to be the year of HD, and there are long-standing rumors of widescreen Mac laptops in the works. A portable Mac built for movie-watching wouldn't suffer from a too-small screen. And if it were neat enough, nobody would stress over what processor (a PowerPC, not an Intel) was inside.
Any wild cards? I suspect that a true iPod Phone will show up eventually...but probably not so soon on the heels of Motorola's much-dissed ROKR.
What's your bottom line, McCracken? The more I think about that "One more thing" line, the more I think that Apple's trying to tell us that next week's announcement will its biggie for this holiday season--which would mean it would need to be even more buzzworthy than the Nano. A computer, no matter how intriguing, might not qualify. So OK, I've eased myself into making this prediction: Apple will announce some flavor of video iPod, and it'l be a strikingly new device rather than the iPod as we know it with a bigger screen.
Some of the speculation above will turn out to be wrong...maybe
all of it will. I'll attend the Wednesday event and report back then. In the meantime, got any predictions of your own?
Jobs is retiring -- the curtain is closing, so to speak.
I think it is pretty clear that the AirPort Xpress is at the center of all this. It explains all of Jobs' comments about portable video players. His comments shouldn't lead anyone to think he's not making a video iPod, in fact he wouldn't even comment otherwise. Just as the mobile phone is not the device with which to browse and buy audio content, the TV is not the place to browse and buy video content. The place for that is the computer, from there the content is available to the iPod and can be streamed to the TV via AirPort. The iPod could gain bluetooth as the Mac mini has and be the remote control for the digital home. I've always wanted to be able to control iTunes from the couch and it is a necessity if it is video content. The iPod is the perfect remote. Who wants 66 buttons on the remote? The screen and scroll wheel provide the perfect means for controlling video playback.
Here are some interesting words you find if you rearrange "One more thing"
MEETING HONOR
HINT
THIN
HEROINE
REMOTE
NITROGEN HOME
IGNORE HOT MEN
RIOT
IN NO OTHER GEM
i'm hoping for next gen newton
ITEM:
Fri Sep 30,12:57 PM ET
Apple Computer on Friday confirmed that some Mac minis are shipping with higher than advertised specifications.
ITEM:
Apple has started shipping 1.5Ghz G4 Mac minis while still packaged in 1.42Ghz boxes. The system profiler shows the video card as a 64MB VRAM Radeon 9200, and a Dual-Layer 8x SuperDrive" (also reports of a faster & larger hard drive)
ITEM FROM ZDNET:
Industry watchers were confounded by Apple's decision not to explicitly label the upgraded (Mac Mini) models.
"It doesn't make sense to me why they would do this," said Technology Business Research analyst Tim Deal, who added that Apple's tactic creates something akin to a "grab bag".
Perhaps....the "video iPod" is really a Mac Mini configured to:
1. Record and playback TV shows like a TiVo
2. Act as a DVD player/burner
3. Act as the end terminal for an iTune type movie download portal store.
4. Stream the video using a new Airport system
Where's Apple's answer to the Media Center PC and TiVo? Could this announcement be it?
I think it will be some kind of multimedia Mac designed to run like a home entertainment hub. Perhaps even built into an LCD screen. Though something like this would be way too expensive for a successful holiday season.
Maybe it's just an announcement to show the next generation of Powerbooks.
The red curtain means that the announcement will involve iMovie or iDVD. It could be the next version of the digital video editing software from Apple that it hopes will dominate the Xmas season buying. People will have to have a compelling reason to part with their money this year, so Apple must think it has something every videophile will have to have.
maybe its a ipod video player with a touch screen no more click wheel just flat out touch screen
Appleinsider.com is reporting the likelihood of a video iPod already in production and speculated on the existence of a rumored Airport Xpress with video out. Might be a double whammy.
Maybe a they came up with a pocket pc type app for the ipod and it has integrated wireless and everything....
forget I said anything....
Maybe a they came up with a pocket pc type OS for the ipod and it has integrated wireless and everything....
forget I said anything....
Now that they are using a decent processor Jobs is about to announce the switch to the only, truly, successful operating system - Windows.
Apple is and always will be the best
Viva la Apple
"One more thing" is obvious -- the Newton is back!
"successful operating system - Windows" HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...
Another psuedo-trendy device that's over-priced and straches easily?!
Apple will announce that OSX will be made available for any Intel PC. The tagline will be 'It's curtains for Windows'.
Really.. The only thing Windblows is successful at is allowing viruses in.
It's a video iPod with a twist. The 30 pin dock connector melds into a HDMI connector for showing digital video AND audio on HD displays. Also, the ipod itself has an LED projector built into the side of it, letting you use an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper as your display.
What?! It could happen!
The Devil!
Apple is out of the market on handhelds. Maybe it's a new newton.
"Apple will announce that OSX will be made available for any Intel PC. The tagline will be 'It's curtains for Windows'."
I think this is one of th ebest posts I have seen for a while. Very clever. It has been curtains for M$ for along time - most especialy since they can't hink of anything originally - except throwing chairs!!!
i think they're just pulling your leg. u know ? for the hell of it.
it could be a video ipod that plays both dowloadable content and Sony UMD disc.
Netwon OS on a phone!
An Antimatter weapon of such power that Steve Jobs will announce it is his intention to become king of California and, quote, "No son of a Nazi Austrian Police Officer better try and stop me!" end quote...
An Antimatter weapon of such power that Steve Jobs will announce it is his intention to become king of California and, quote, "No son of a Nazi Austrian Police Officer better try and stop me!" end quote...
It's an anti-gravity device!
How about they announce that they have decided to release the nvidea drivers for the 6800go so that the hacked OSx86 will run better on my dell laptop........ :)
Has anyone noticed that if OSx will run on any intel then any new apple will dual boot with windows?
(its important for me for gaming)
Jeez why didnt you just quote Apple Insider. You didn't make those guesses thats what you copied of Apple Insider
Top 5 list:
-Jobs will announce a partnership with Sun where Sun will distribute the 'AppleBar' in exchange for future draft picks.
-The Mac Mini will include Nintendo's Revolution Controller and 3d goggles for 3d development. Jobs acts shocked, SHOCKED! that anyone would use this platform to pirate Nintendo games.
-Itunes will come pre-installed on Xbox360.
-3 words: Newton cell phone.
-After Intel and Microsoft partnerships, what's left? Merger announced with IBM to replace sold-off PC division. Jobs to take over new 'Design Consulting' division. IBM song now available on Itunes.
I own both a Mac and PC. My PC can record TV programs on the disk (thanks to a nice ATI card) and let me view/edit those programs at a later time! Talk about multimedia power! When will the MAC ever have this power built in? That's what they should be announcing.
ivideo!
It will be another cat under the hood! wahoo!
A life for all those who have nothing better to do.. than to speculate what Apple has to announce..
and to those who think Windows is FUNNY.. and for those who are breaking their stinking heads on a rotten LINUX box.
I had a nice ATI card like that in a Mac I bought in '97. Couldn't burn the programs on an internal CD burner but I could do everything else you mentioned.
Look at the matrix...
PowerMac, PowerBook
iMac, iBook
MacMini, ....
It's going to be a BookMini, which of course, will play the videos.
what ever happened to the Asteroid?
Airport w video out and iPod dock.
iPod w bluetooth and ITMS downloading.
Cheaper entry point for whole setup; weans us a step further off CD's and pirated downloads, peparing for the day when they are cut off.
It got sucked into a black hole.
My #1 guess/wish (please, Steve, read this):
An iPod PDA
And I know that nothing's pointing to it at all, but an Apple tablet would be AWESOME.
It hangs on a wall. Has a built in DVD player/burner (Slot on the side), flat screen, high definition, and oh yeah, it's also an iMac.
Wireless connectivity, keyboard, mouse.
HD-DVR (It is the Year of HD, after all.)
Maybe its an apple portable game console?just to one-up the semi-success of DS and PSP
"October 12 Apple event to usher in new Power Macs, PowerBooks"
this is the headline from Thinksecret.com
Their reasoning regarding NOT a video iPod is that it'll detract sales from the new iPod nano...
A subscription video service that ties into iTunes and a Mini set up to with all the hardware you need to connect it to your TV. It will use a Bittorrent type technology for the video download. They will also have a white helmet form factor video player with built in 5.1 speakers and an LCD screen suspended a few inches in front of the wearer's eyes. They'll call it the iHelmet.
Y'er all off base - it's the much anticipated announcement that MAC will be getting out of the OS/or PC business and solely into the business of entertainment with gizmos and do-dads. Why? INTEL's inception of the SLI dual vidcard systems simply poop on even the best MACs when rendering your favorite Adobe or Illustrator graphics. Just ask yourself - since the proposed switch to Intel chips,,do you think Apple will be able to contend with DELL and HP in terms of mass production of PCs? That's all a MAC will be now folks... Besides... the drastic OS reconfigurations they made alienated most of it's following from 9.2 to 10.x.x.x.x or whatever jungle feline they think they emulate now. Cheap shot of the day --- I bet you miss your chooser, dont ya??? Sorry , game over.
hmmmmm, so a MAC will be based on intels structure? Sooo whats to keep them in the niche they once had. So why would anyone shell out 3000$ for a 'real' mac when they could maybe buy a dell for 299$ and install Mac's OS on the silly thing?...that comment above seems drastic but still plausable....since they will simply be competing against MSFT head to head on the same platform- "its just so weird "(Vinny BArbarino is my babydoll)
so how ARE they going to stay in business??? Selling mp3 players ? How long can they snowball the public that they are the only ones who make a decent player? Have you seen that sugarcubesized mp3 thing walmart has ...wow me likes it alot! =-) Karla
Its gonna be Apple's version of the Tablet PC
Karla
What's to keep them from installing OS X (<--Ten) onto generic PCs? Why Intel's Trusted Computing hardware. The commentator above you hasn't a clue about Apple--and that's alright. The market share for OS X is 4.5% and that's 16 million dedicated users. It really is higher than that since Apple hardware last longer than PCs. My father still has a Blue & White G3--Apple has since updated the CPUs to G4 and now to G5s; should let you know just how old it is--- Macintosh running Panther 10.3. That's a seven year old computer. It's never needed to be serviced or repaired for a signal thing. I can't believe that either, but it's the truth. Great computer.
When you make statements like the one in your second portion of your comment, it only makes you seem foolish. Apple hasn't deceived anyone. The combination of the iPod and its user interface coupled with the iTunes Music Store and the music management software, create and unbeatable offering. I think that if this wasn't true then people such as the one above you and websites like PCWorld would have revealed these faults to the public long ago and you wouldn't be hearing much of iTunes or the iPod. The fact of the matter is is that Apple truly does have a good user experience that is unmatched by anyone as of yet in this field.
Now that's not to say that a rival couldn't possibly refine further Apple's strategy and take it one step beyond but as of yet this hasn't happened. Good luck with the sugar cubed size MP3 player. Don't forget it's not only the hardware but the software that drives the darn thing. Bye.
And red hand.... you wish! Steve is going to be around for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long time.
A Tablet PC?
You know I've been reading comments all day today. And you have been the first to make such a statement. I think you're right. Can't believe no one has thought of this. Apple recently filed a patent for a large screen type device that looks a lot like a Tablet PC. Large screen, wireless connectivity for High-res movies.
The Apple Matrix doesn't say it will be a "BookMini", it says it will be a "PowerPod"!
Current iPods are perfectly capable of showing video, as evidenced by the iPod Linux video player. I believe Apple is probably going to release a Tivo-style video recorder that will allow a user to convert recorded video to a format viewable on CURRENT iPods (why release a video iPod so shortly after releasing the iPod Nano... wouldn't that undercut sales on the Nano?).
With this will come a firmware upgrade to Nanos and Color iPods to allow them to play video, AND an upgrade to iTunes to allow video downloads.
A HOME-ENTERTAINMENT-SYSTEM . iHOME!!!!!!!
Two words: robotic woman. Geeks rejoice, the dream is at hand!
This was hilarious:
"the TV is not the place to browse and buy video content"
Uh, yeah, ur right, dude. The place you watch video shouldn't be the place to buy it. Make it much more complicated. lol.
I think it will definitely be video-related. I'm betting on the makeover of the Mac mini to a true media center device.
vPod - who needs a big screen when you can have Retinal Scan Display to project a high-definition image directly onto your retina? Just in case you want company while watching your movies, the cradle connects to Intel Viiv box to play movies on your HDMI-ready digital TV.
By the way, I can't take credit for the above. I read about it in a stock tip sheet from some guy who's known Steve Jobs for over 20 years. Search the net and you'll find the retinal scan idea bandied around in connection with video iPods a few months ago.
just another toy for fooling kids, boy
think ahead, what if this "retina" display replaces PC/Mac's display?
I've heard from a friend about possible dual processed iMacs. What are the possibilities of that? I know they get hot, but the winter is coming and we could just leave the windows open. :) Though that would be nice, it would be a bit pricey for present giving, so my bet is with the above mentioned firmware update--to view vids on current ipods.
next announcement.....how about they'll be pulling the nano off the shelves and will be returning our money back! piece of junk!
It will be ibook widescreen, I hope!
Could it be the retinal display already being marketed by Microvision? MVIS has been trying to get into other markets beside Defence.
Possibly, Mvis reportedly has been showing a prototype consumer Retinal display lately
what time is the event taking place?
my friend just messaged me he saw a video ipod the size of the photo but the thinness of the nano!!!!!!!!!
hey i hear the same thing as the one the video ipod is out thats exatly what i was expecting
How about apple is going to purchase tivo. That was a rumor, but quite a while ago.
hey when does the announcement start anyone?
My guess is that Steve Jobs will be attacking Iraq with iWeapons of Mass Destruction. Bu then again he might just be selling something else we don't really need - a bit like a baby with a beard.
My guess is that Steve Jobs will be attacking Iraq with iWeapons of Mass Destruction. But then again he might just be selling something else we don't really need - a bit like a baby with a beard.
Maybe he's selling a device which lets you see extreme suffering in Pakistan.... or is that what CNN does?
Armchairs! MiniArmchairs for the vertically challenged would be my guess for iOompah Lumpahs. Yep, that'll be it. You read it here first - no other website has got this information.
iPod breast implants would be good. Has it's own built in pink joystick for controlling things.
The number of downloadable songs will depend on the size of the implants. Pamela Anderson should be able to fit 900,000 on hers while Hilary Clinton would have enough space for 1 cd (allegedly).
Sirius satelliate on IPods....please!!!