Apple to unleash "The Circle" concept tomorrow?
Wow, it's 6PM and we're only on our third semi-substantial iPod rumor for the day? Frankly, we're disappointed. The latest word to sweep the internets is that Apple is prepping to get all up in Zune's "The Social" grill with "The Circle." Unfortunately, that's the only word on the service / products so far, other than that it's going to be centered around video. So player-to-player video sharing? New branding for existing video products? Steve Jobs is starting a cult? Free Sesame Street song with every iPod? We really have no idea, but we'll be finding out soon enough.
[Via PMP Today]
[Via PMP Today]






















How about we just all wait until tomorrow? Rumor mill's grinding tonight...
I love that song!
how about they tack on a camera, then
No.
yea it would cannibalize their iphone sales too much, and i realize it wouldnt be that kind of video..i just want it!
It's never soon enough
*Starting* a cult?
You nailed it
Yeah, "taking the cult public" was what I was thinking.
You think we'll get The Lion King on this "The Circle" video service?
Wouldn't be the first time Apple's stolen an idea outright.
if apple does it first and MS does the same it's "stolen". When it's the other way round it's and added "feature". Go figure...
It's not really 'stolen', it's just that Apple have finally come up with a way to make things crash that rivals 'the red ring of doom'.
Which sesame street song?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpMIFYC8ugA
The only guaranteed thing tomorrow is that KT Tunstall is launching her new album as part of the presentation.
Really? She's always on her high horse going on about 'corparations' and 'globalisation' and how we should 'save the future' and now shes sold out to Apple?
Well she announced in interviews after her album launch in Glasgow on Monday that she was off the next day to san francisco at the bequest of steve jobs (or steve jobbies as she called him). I think its obvious she must be there for the apple thing tomorrow.
If they include wifi, streaming video to your friend's iPod would be cool.
Hopefully there is something more useful coming along than just that. Maybe integrated fm atleast
What a weak, half-hearted attempt at passing off a rumor...
And I agree, only 2 or 3 rumors today, Apple is doing a good job of locking things down. Maybe it's better anyway, you can actually follow the event with some anticipation...
just need an announcement for the new zune or ipod and ill make a decision
Sorry, but this is the first Engadget post utilizing the editorial "we" that actually made the King of All Cosmos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy) pop into my head while I read it.
Thanks for the chuckle.
If it really is internet enabled then this is a no brainer. They could build something along the lines of last.fm, where you can see what your friends are listening to (and buy buy buy it!).
If it's multitouch and gets as hacked as the iPhone, it will have my attention.
Correction: Steve Jobs already is the grand Mucky-Muck of the Apple Cult. And All you FanBoys need to realize that he is the Devil in Blue Jeans and Glasses.
E.S.L.?
I am all for following the Devil in blue jeans but these rumors are starting to seem a little far fetched. Why can't everyone just wait another 17 hours. It is not like coming out with another rumor will do anything as the truth will be coming in less than 24 hours. These websites need to stop focusing on rumors and need to focus on releasing real news when it is available.
If this rumor is true then that will be good and that is one more step in the direction of wi-fi internet browsing (which I am hoping that it is coming).
if the sites didn't blog the rumors then they would get zero ad revenue....follow the $
There can be only one.
its prob something like Microsoft's ZUNE's "social" just iPod's version.
I think it may be this "virtual scroll wheel" that has come up every now and then.
Apple has the software patent on it (I believe). I'm too lazy to look up the engadget post about it.
What if it is EXACTLY like the iPhone (Sans Phone)...Camera and All. So there could be video capturing and sharing, built in.
Just wanted to make sure that I said it first.
Maybe it's about recycling.
Haha!
That's rich!
recycling an idea from microsoft.
I just can't wait to see how Steve presents everything tomorrow, looking back at other releases, this will be REVOLUTIONARY!
Boom.....and Boom....BoomBoom and BOOM!
and link boom! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8L39UwOS-Y
It just seems to me that this is the flow of round-tripping from computer, AppleTV, and iPod/iPhone. I'd guess that Apple itself doesn't call it 'the Circle', but that it is depicted as such in Keynote slides. They used to say that the Mac was 'the Center of your digital hub'; so now the center radiates outwards and generates a circle at the end of the spokes with the devices integrating (such as a new Airport Express, AppleTV...).
Now, if it was "The Ring"....
"Anyone who hears this MP3, dies in 7 days."
And some creepy Japanese chick crawls out of the pods LCD screen.
Dear god no Apple. Your winning this, don't regress to that level.
"'Your' winning this"?
What exactly does that mean? Is jobsie gonna play switcheroo with Bill and his market share?
I like the cult idea...lol
Zune has WiFi: "It's crap"
iPod gets WiFI: "OH MY GOD THAT'S AMAZING! I'M GLAD APPLE THOUGHT OF IT!"
Although the Zune does have WiFi capabilities, it may not work or function as well as everyone thought it might. What I think people are hoping for is Apple making a more innovative and useful WiFi function. That plus the fact that there are far more iPod users than Zune users so there are more things Apple can do with WiFi.
More iPod users doesn't mean they're all going to buy a new iPod...
And personally, I think iTunes is slowly being dethroned. Universal has left, and now NBC? That's a lot of music, and 40% of iTunes' movies. I don't think they can keep it up much longer. Just my opinion.
"Universal has left, and now NBC?"
You say that as though they're not "NBC Universal" (hint: they are totally "NBC Universal")
Apple almost always embraces a technological standard such as Wi-Fi far more effectively and elegantly than Microsoft.
Does Apple screw up? You betcha. But it doesn't make a habit of it like Microsoft. If the iPods tomorrow have Wi-Fi or some other wireless connectivity, I expect them to make better use of it than Zune does.
The Salesman: Hey, bud.
Ernie: Who me?
The Salesman: SHHHHHH!
Ernie: (whispering) Who me?
The Salesman: Riiiiiiiight!
(sung)
How would you like to buy an "O"?
Round and neat
A nearly perfect circle
Tidy and complete
You can sing a pretty song
With it like so:
O! O! O!
(spoken)
Isn't that catchy?
Ernie: Ah!
(sung)
The Salesman: Would you like to buy an "O"?
Circular and sweet
"O" looks just like a donut
Really good enough to eat
It'll cost you just a nickel
(spoken)
Ernie: A nickel?
The Salesman: SHHHHHH!
Ernie: (whispering) A nickel?
The Salesman: Riiiiiiiight!
So buy the "O" and take it home tonight.
Now listen. When you buy this "O", you get two sounds for the price of one.
You get one sound that you can use for words like "olive," "ostrich," and "ox."
And for no extra money, you get another sound for like "ocean," "over," "old," and "opening."
(sung)
So would you like to buy an "O"?
I'm opening the door
It's not often that I offer
Well, could you ask for more?
It'll cost you just a nickel
(spoken)
Ernie: A nickel?
The Salesman: SHHHHHH!
Ernie: (whispering) A nickel?
The Salesman: Riiiiiiiight!
So buy the "O" and take it home tonight.
Don't ask any questions.
Just buy the "O" and take it home tonight.
You'll really love it.
So buy the "O" and take it home tonight.
the hell?
God. I hadn't thought of that in over 30 years.
But I remember it!
Amazing what a brain stores.
I hope you're just alluding to something I'm unfamiliar with.
Otherwise, you're fucking insane.
This should explain things:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9vvKeaxfnE
If Steve had a striped turtleneck instead of his trademark black, wouldn't he look a lot like Bert? But who would be his iErnie?
Bill Gates would be Oscar the Grouch.
NBC/Universal would be Big Bird.
Page and Brynn as Cookie Monster.
Any Apple fanboy as Tickle Me Elmo.
Perhaps Apple can implement wifi in a less crappy way to Zune. "The Circle" idea sounds far too lame for Apple. Although I'll bet they mean apple fans will be circle-jerking on the new ipod. I love and use Apple products every day, but the iphone and ipod isn't the second cuming...
To alienate everyone, but no one can say the Zune is that good, forget comparisons to the ipod, the design is awful, it's wifi is crippled, the software terrible and has all the other limitations the ipod has (like sealed in battery). A huge corporation with almost limitless funds and they think a Zune is an ipod killer? It's nothing more than a laughably rebadged Gigabeat. Yes, Apple has used others ideas (hello- Zerox?) But it usually they pick the good ideas.
if Apple was the antimicrosoft it would make the ipod follow all of boingboings wet dreams of DRM-free easily accessible hardware. Microsoft and Apple aren't that different, they're big businesses, corporations aren't our friends.
It won't be as good as we'd hope and everyone's waited too long for a 6 gen ipod. Instead of "Circle", wifi and widgets would be nice and I'd still buy an iphone if the UK has a decent call plan. But nothing is ever perfect and apple is not so different. "Think Different" is just a corporate slogan, still Apple does produce some great technology that has genuinely improved my life. Truly revolutionary? No. Unless the "circle" relies on sharing youtube clips of monkeys urinating in their mouths. Wow, that would be revolutionary...
Tomorrow is going to be a dissapointment. Sure, Apple will release a good product or two tomorrow, but expectations are so high that even if the new ipod is slightly less than perfect, everyone will be hugely dissapointed. Apple is known to not include every single feature that its competitors have, so there's bound be a group of people dissapointed...either because it's not widescreen, or it doesn't have FM or wifi, or even because it might only come in 1 color.
It's not wifi that is crap, it's ZUNE'S wifi that is crap. It's hard to argue against that because even Zune owners that use that feature at least agree with that statement. If Apple's Wifi is like the Zune's then it is also crap, but most people expect any wifi features added by Apple will not have all the restrictions that the Zune had.
At least there's one thing for certain.. Apple wasn't the first to start this player-to-player sharing.. And that maybe, just maybe, Patent lawsuits will be flying like crazy.. just maybe.
I love how this post uses phrases like "all up in their grill" as though Apple was taking a tough stance and fighting MS on their home court.
Meanwhile, when Windows Vista comes out with a sidebar the internet explodes with "MICRO$OFT STOLE FROM APPLE THOSE BASTARDS!!!!"
Someone mentioned earlier that expectations have been built so high that it's gonna be very difficult to impress. I can't agree more. It's gotten to the point where Apple can launch a 3.5" touchscreen flash based 120 GB wifi iPod and people just go, "so what, that's really it?"
Yo, whatever is going down tomorrow or whatever "The Circle" is, I hope there's something in it for us iPhone users. I'm grateful for the maintenance patches, don't get me wrong, but JESUS, Apple, give us something new and substantial on the iPhone. PLEASE.
/still enjoying the iPhone immensely though
The "New World Order" is the only fate worse
than death. Coming soon, the RFID 'Mark of the
Beast' forced implant chip. See various
clips on youtube. Also search "illuminati"
I'll admit...I'm intrigued
Its the Circle, Jerk.
we'll see tomorrow :D
if new iPod will be multitouch 3.5" with wifi that's mine baby..
You don't get all up in someone's grill, you get all up in someone's grille.
hmm i guess we shall see in a few hours
OMG, I took 13 hours flying to New York. Just a world like "circle" kills my iPod Touch?
What a bloody pity!
The iPod/iPhone becomes your Apple TV and Mac remote maybe??