Apple's January 27, 2010 Media Event Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

So we've all heard that Apple will be having a media event at 10AM Pacific Time on January 27, 2010. If it's okay with the mods, let's use this thread to discuss all of the rumors leading up to the event, and then update it with real announcements as the event unfolds!

I'll start the rumor mill going...this is what I've gathered from sites like Mac Rumors, Gizmodo, and Arstechnica.

1. Apple Tablet (duh) - reports are that it won't contain an OLED screen due to production limits for that panel.

2. iPhone OS 4.0 - rumored to be only for 3G/GS (and presumably later gen Touches) and exclude first gen iPhone and Touch due to hardware. I figured this would start happening due to the advancement of architecture for the phones. Looks like I will definitely upgrade my iPhone the minute my 2 year contract is up. Application multitasking and apps running in the background are supposed to highlight the new OS, along with multitouch gestures OS-Wide.

3. iLife 2010 - Have to admit, for basic word processing and creative writing, I prefer to use Pages instead of Word, but work keeps me having to purchase Office for Mac every iteration. The only improvement I would like to see on Pages is on its auto spell checking (as you type) which is far inferior to Word. It catches the misspelled words, but doesn't autocorrect the basic ones (like teh/the) like Word does. Other than that Pages is pretty solid, not sure what else could be updated. I think the biggest improvements will come in Numbers and Keynote which significantly trail their Office counterparts.

Along with these rumors, the following products are "due" for an upgrade, according to the Macrumors Buyer's Guide (as in, they are nearing or past the average time between product refreshes):

Mac Pro
Macbook Pro

The new Intel six core server chip is scheduled to street soon, and is rumored to be headed to the Mac Pro. The mobile i5 Nehalem chipset is also streeting, and benchmarks have shown substantial improvements between that chip and the existing Macbook Pro C2D chips.

Ideally I'd like a Mac Pro (with dual mirror RAID arrays to back up both my primary system drive and my music/personal files drive) due to its ability to run Pro Tools 8 and Logic Studio better than its mobile counterpart, but if the i5 really is as good as they say, I might opt to update my 3.5 year old MBP.

Any other rumors or thoughts on the event?

 

[Sam Posten]

Still holding out hope that we will see Blu equipped macs at this event with iLife 10.... Gruber thought it was a done deal when the 27" shipped, I'm hoping that was just delayed for a new rev of the software to view it.

 

[Carlo_M]

Sam, have we received confirmation that OS 10.6.2 is fully supportive of HDCP? Because if it isn't (and perhaps that is what the hold up was?) then a new version of iLife won't account for full HDCP support, it will need to be included in a new revision of OSX (10.6.3? 10.7?).

I do know that if BD is on either the Mac Pro or the iMac, I will certainly not update my MBP this year and will buy either the Pro or the iMac (pending screen flicker resolution for the 27" versions).

 

[DaveF]

Sam, I think the only thing Blu from Apple's announcements will be you

 

[Sam Posten]

Lol true. Yes osx is fully hdcp compliant, several batches of media have refused to play in the past with broken chains, will see if I can find that link.

 

[Sam Posten]

MUST READ, Giz gets it totally right:
http://gizmodo.com/5452501/

Sam

 

[Sam Posten]

More on gaming:
http://kotaku.com/5452728/why-apples-tablet-will-include-gaming

 

[Ted Todorov]

Question - the original iPhone keynote: did El Jobso introduce other that the iPhone? iLife, Mac OS, anything? (I'm pretty sure there was no other hardware introed).

I suspect the tablet keynote will be similarly mono-focused. The tablet is too important to Jobs to dilute it with anything. Granted presumably iPhone OS 4 will play a large part, because it is also the Tablet's OS.

Sure, all kinds of hardware, from MacBookPros to MacPros to ... will be updated, but the keynote will not spend any time on them, and the updates may not coincide.

 

[Sam Posten]

Here's the full live reporting from that day:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/09/live-from-macworld-2007-steve-jobs-keynote/

 

[Sam Posten]

Gruber and Cabel have an interesting idea: What if the name is CANVAS?

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2010/01/22/canvas

I love it. I even kind of like iCanvas. Sounds like Eye Candy, no? Rolls off the tongue well and is very Apple-y, like Aperture is name wise...

 

[Sam Posten]

Sounds like updates to support BluRay to me:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/22/mac_os_x_10_6_3_to_enhance_quicktime_64_bit_logic_printing.html

=)

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten

Sounds like updates to support BluRay to me:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/22/mac_os_x_10_6_3_to_enhance_quicktime_64_bit_logic_printing.html

=)

I trust you're joking. Not that it isn't possible it's there waiting for new Macs with BD drives to materialize, but the 10.6.3 updates contains not a hint of BD. "Quicktime enhanced" is meaningless -- support for a new GPU chip is a much likelier enhancement.

Hey, BTW, both YouTube & Vimeo have started supporting H.264 over the Web. That hammering you hear in the distance are nails being driven into Adobe Flash's coffin.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Doonesbury is on the case:

http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury

 

[Sam Posten]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov

Hey, BTW, both YouTube & Vimeo have started supporting H.264 over the Web. That hammering you hear in the distance are nails being driven into Adobe Flash's coffin.

I wouldn't be too happy about that just yet. Those battles are just heating up and it's not clear that h.264 is the right way to go, we could have another GIF problem on our hands:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/jan/25/firefox-open-video-support
http://www.0xdeadbeef.com/weblog/2010/01/html5-video-and-h-264-what-history-tells-us-and-why-were-standing-with-the-web/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/will_idealism_be_firefoxs_downfall.php
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/roc/archives/2010/01/video_freedom_a.html
http://daringfireball.net/2010/01/apple_adobe_flash

Sam

 

[Sam Posten]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov

Doonesbury is on the case

I like Ihnatko's take:
http://ihnatko.com/2010/01/25/apple-tablet-event-hits-doonesbury/

Check this out too:
http://ihnatko.com/2010/01/25/the-apple-tablet-trip-a-little-light-packing/

 

[Sam Posten]

Please let this not be right:
http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/25/rumored-apple-ipad-advertisment-surfaces/

It's a good fake if it's a fake tho. "Someday I won't exist' indeed....
TechCrunch sez of course its a fake:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/25/apple-tablet-commercial/

They said the fat nano was fake too tho =p

 

[Sam Posten]

Apple blows the doors off again:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-Reports-First-Quarter-prnews-3903630085.html?x=0&.v=1

"The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we're really excited about."

Note two things:
1. ipod sales are down
2. they changed accounting practices, which means that A. you can't easily compare quarter to quarter and B. hopefully never again charging for firmware updates for iPod Touch and Apple TV.

 

[DaveF]

I don't follow Doonesbury. Does Trudeau typically follow pop culture or technological geegaws? I'm not sure what to make of it, except to agree with Ihnatko, that the hype has spread to the furthest reaches of pop culture.

 

[DaveF]

So I guess we're talking Expected Apple Tablet (EAT) here, now? I want to throw in my final speculation before it's too late. This is my opinion, built on the ideas from other speculators

• More iPhone OS than Mac OS X
• Will be named "i"-something. Unless I'm wrong about the above, then it will be "Mac"-something. Apple will stay with their current branding scheme.
• Two products, distinguished by memory (just like iPod, iPhone). 32GB & 64GB
• No OLED screen. 10" OLED is not in mass production for consumer pricing
• No product split between low-end LCD and high-end OLED
• It will be designed and sold for broad acceptance. It's not a MacBook Air, not a tech demo for the next gen product
• Heavy emphasis on literary media (magazines, books, etc.) (I'm not excited about this, but everyone agrees it's coming)
• Free cell wireless for media downloads
• Optional 3G wireless service through participating provider.
• The optional 3G provider won't be AT&T
• It will have a novel touch interface, especially for input. The now-conventional virtual keyboard will be downplayed as it's unusable for handheld use and a poor method even when at a desk.
• No Bluetooth support for Keyboard or Mouse
• Resolution Independence. (This is key to using the iPhone OS across current iPhone's, upcoming higher-res OLED iPhones, and the EAT)
• New app-switching / managing UI
• Multi-tasking with 3rd party apps, in some fashion. (But not wild-wild west style of Android.)
• No Adobe Flash support (yes, I'm a DF acolyte)
• Will sell for $699 & $899

• Battery life specs same as iPhone (e.g. 9-hr WiFi claim)

Here's where I go beyond anything I've seen reported:

• Ships with EAT-specific iLife. iPhoto and iMovie in particular run on this for full-featured, if Amateur, media management.
• Will demo with a digital camera and a wireless SD card showing complete wireless photo capture, transfer, editing , and online distribution.
• Might have its own iWork suite, making it a complete laptop / desktop replacement.

I'm still looking to my first iPhone and am two years away from my next Mac, so I certainly don't see an EAT in my immediate future. But I always look forward to seeing what's next

 

[Sam Posten]

LEt's make it easy, Dave:
http://unweary.com/2010/01/prediction-score-card.html

Gimme, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No
Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No, Yes, Yes
No, Yes, Yes, No, No, No, No, No, No, Yes, Yes, Yes, No, No
Yes, Yes, No, Yes, Yes
Bonus: BluRay for all =)