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Archive for January, 2008

I followed Steve Jobs’ Keynote from MacWorld today on my iPhone via MacRumors excellent page and have just watched the Keynote video from the Apple site and whilst it wasn’t an iPhone year but it was still a good year.

However, before we get into what was announced I just have to ask – can you name any other corporation that you would watch a keynote from it’s CEO? Amazing… and I have to say Steve Jobs is the best corporate public speaker I’ve ever seen. The demand for the keynote coverage was so high in fact that Twitter disappeared before it even started and TUAW took out an AOL data centre.

Anyway, to MacWorld 2008 – my guess you will remember was

HOME “MEDIA” NETWORKING

and we got that in full effect with the new Apple TV. The original Apple TV didn’t appeal to me much but this new “Take 2″ looks a much more complete and well thought out product.

Apple’s next target is most definitely your living room.

What other goodies did Steve reveal?

  • The Time Capsule – a wireless NAS backup hard drive and wifi router. Great idea; I’m in the market for a new backup drive so this looks very interesting.
  • iPhone 1.1.3 software update. I’ve updated mine and in addition to all the new features it feels a little quicker to. I like that they call this the January update implying that there are more to come in future months.
  • iPod Touch update – 5 new apps for $20. Not sure how I feel about the charge but it is a very significant update.
  • Apple TV “Take 2″ – looks like a nice product. Marks Apple’s new direction in addition to more traditional Apple products; who’d of thought we’d call the iPod traditional a few years ago?
  • MacBook Air – yes the rumours were true but they didn’t guess just how thin and downright slinky the new MacBook Air is. It is stunning. I’m planning on getting a new MacBook this year and that will most definitely be it, but not the SSD version… HOW MUCH?

And that was MacWorld 2008, no “one last thing” but plenty of “booms” and an accurate prediction for yours truly.

Now to bed perchance to dream…of the MacBook Air…

So today is the day of Steve Jobs’ Keynote at MacWorld and the rumour mills, which I guess includes me now, are churning with more MacBook Air supposition.

The flavour of today’s rumours propose that the MacBook Air is the much talked about lightweight or sub-MacBook and that it is cable free – hence “Air” as in AirPort as in WiFi as in wireless.

Wired magazine has a mockup and “details” and I gotta say as somebody in the market for a new Mac or two this year, and somebody with a well known aversion if not loathing of cables I really hope MacBook Air is more than hot air… sorry.

macbookair.jpgMike’s comment on yesterday’s post MacWorld 2008, Gentlemen Start Your Speculation may have inadvertently hit the nail on the head.

Perhaps Steve will announce the new MacBook Air tomorrow, with the focus being on lightweight and wireless connectivity.

Who knows? Well obviously Steve does and he’s not telling.

Or maybe somebody else does as suggested by this post over at Engadget where a device called MacBookAir has turned up in a log file. Is it real? Is it a silly pre MacWorld hoax? Only time will tell. The next 24 hours in fact.

Although I still think we will see new wireless consumer media devices if not tomorrow then later this year…

MacWorld 2008 starts tomorrow in sunny San Francisco with Steve Job’s keynote opening the Expo on Tuesday.

Steve Job’s keynote is traditionally where major Apple product announcements are made, last year saw the iPhone announced, and are also traditionally a major subject of speculation, rumour and gossip keeping the Apple interweb busy for weeks in advance… and I’m happy to admit that I for one love it.

So what does the interweb think we’ll see this year?

Many are expecting a super light sub-notebook MacBook and I think that’s probably pretty likely.

Others are expecting a touch screen, tablet type MacBook. I think this will happen sometime soon but maybe not at MacWorld. If you look at the additions that have been made to the latest version of OS X it is crying out for a touch interface – just imagine flicking through your documents using QuickLook. It’s gonna happen but is it next week? I dunno?

Then there is the iPhone. A 3G version is coming this year and may well be announced next week to ship later in the year. I’m pretty sure we’ll also see a 16Gb or even bigger version announced.

As is also traditional we are now seeing “spy” shots of the banners and posters that are going up at the MacWorld venue:

macworld-2008-banner-moscone.jpg

“There’s something in the air” hmmm doesn’t suggest new MacBooks does it? Unless they include some kind of pervasive wireless networking a little like the iPhone but would that warrant the main banners for MacWorld? I don’t think so.

So here is my guess as to what “There’s something in the air” is about:

HOME “MEDIA” NETWORKING Yep, home media networking. Based on an update/redevelopment of the Apple TV we could be looking at some kind of MacMedia bringing your music (iTunes), video (iTunes/Quicktime), photos (iPhoto) and more together and allowing you to easily share, stream and view anywhere in your home.

Apple are going to move more in consumer content and devices more and more I feel. Remember that they are no Apple Inc. not Apple Computers anymore. Forget the whole HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray ‘argument”; let’s face it physical media is dying a slow but sure death.

In the very near future consumption and sharing of media is going to be all about storage and bandwidth and a lot of that will be “something in the air”.