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Mac OS X beta was released ten years ago yesterday
Happy (belated) birthday today to Mac OS X. Yes, the OS itself actually released to the public on March 24, 2001 (which means its actual "birthday," in my mind, isn't until next March), but Macworld points out that, on September 13, 2000, Steve gave us the very first peek at the foundation of modern Apple computing at the Apple Expo in Paris. That's ten years ago yesterday -- we never were all that good with remembering birthdays. Macworld lists out the ten most significant contributions of the OS to the Mac experience, but things like the Time Machine and Spotlight are on there, and of course, those weren't introduced until much later. The OS itself was actually announced six days after the year 2000 started, and the Apple Expo announcement was the beta reveal. Steve Jobs had just come back to the company, bringing his NeXT experience with him, and OS X made waves early on for being a Unix-based operating system. The Aqua user interface was the other big feature of the OS right away -- as Jobs said at that first Macworld Expo, "when you saw it you wanted to lick it." Customers found that out immediately: the beta product itself was released in stores for US$29.95. I'm sure we'll have more coverage of the past ten years of OS X as we move forward into next March, but it's pretty amazing to think how far both we and Apple have come over the last ten years already, all the way from OS X to iOS and everywhere in-between.
Apple Expo '08 dates announced, events detailed
The Apple Expo is Europe's Apple conference -- similar to the Macworld expo in the US. Apple Expo '08 has posted details about the expo, including dates for this year's conference: Wednesday, September 17 through Saturday, September 20, in Paris, France.Currently, there are only two iPhone events scheduled out of the over 30 planned events. It is a nice change to see that the iPhone will not "steal the show" in Europe like it does at Apple conferences in the US. You can see all of the details, exhibitors, and scheduled events on the Apple Expo website. As we noted earlier, Apple will not be attending this year's Apple Expo.
Apple: We are attending fewer trade shows each year
Macworld is reporting that Apple will not attend the Apple Expo in France this year. This year's expo is scheduled to take place on September 17 - 20. An Apple spokesperson was quoted by Macworld saying, "Apple is participating in fewer trade shows every year, because often there are better ways for us to reach our customers."Macworld notes that this was the same excuse given by Apple when they decided not to attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) tradeshow. Apple has, however, started using their Cupertino campus to host several special announcements including last year's iMac announcement and the recent iPhone SDK announcement.
Where the hell is the 3G iPhone for Europe? We might know.
The only thing more slippery than an iPhoneSIMFree release date has to be the magically, mystical 3G iPhone rumored for Europe. At least with the latter, Apple has been kind enough to drop a few dreggy hints. Add 'em all up and Apple Expo -- kicking off September 25th -- seems to be the prime time for Apple to announce a new flagship 16GB, 3G iPhone. Don't believe it? Check this:
Paris Expo attendance down, but UK MacExpo promises large Apple booth
The Apple Expo in Paris this year saw a drop in attendance from about 56,000 attendees last year down to 46,000. The downward trend from the 2000 Expo, which saw 80,000 attendees is even more dramatic. Even with the drop, however, the Paris Apple Expo still boasts higher numbers than recent Macworld Expos in San Francisco, which hosted less than 40,000 attendees in January 2006. The Paris decline was blamed on Apple's failure to give a keynote speech this year, amongst other things.Both Paris and San Francisco still topple London's MacExpo, which attracts an average of 25,000 visitors a year, hopefully including this year where MacExpo kicks off in two weeks. The show will benefit from a confirmed larger Apple booth than last year as well as a major announcement during the Quark Keynote presentation.If any of you will be attending the MacExpo, don't forget to send us your reports and links to your pics!
iPhone revealed finally?
A number of you have sent in this tip which points to an article in the French newspaper, iGeneration. A rough translation of the French text follows (French speakers: Feel free to "clean up" our translation!):"This morning, anyone with the current edition of '20 minute day' [which appears to be a french magazine] would have found a special 'Apple Expo' Booklet. What do we find in the middle of this booklet? A photograph of what would be the iPhone. It takes on the form of the iPod, and has a 20Gb Hard Drive. Fake or Scoop? We tend to side with the former, but who knows these days?""Fake or scoop" indeed. Reader Simon writes, "I've seen the paper, I live in France. They're covering the Apple Expo and it's a totally real newspaper." Time will tell (though I wish it had a lid, as I'm scratch-phobic).Thanks to everyone who sent this in.Update: False alarm, true believers. Apparantly the image of the phone is a mock-up that was used on the cover of the UK's MacUser magazine. Now I feel better about it not having a flip-lid.
Think Secret's skinny for Apple's September 12th event
Apple rumor mongering is at a fevered pitch with Apple's media event now just days away. Venerable rumor site Think Secret is citing sources calling for that 23-inch, Core 2 Duo iMac we heard about to drop along side 2nd generation iPod nanos. The new nanos, originally expected by TS in August, will be shoved out the door sporting new, multi-colored metalic cases presumably along the line of the now defunct iPod mini. But that's not enough for you is it fanboy? So TS is also calling for the launch of the highly anticipated iTunes Movie Store as well as capacity upgrades for the 5G iPod to store the new flix. No surprise on the bump in disk what with Toshiba already announcing their 40 and 80GB disks and all. Sorry folks, but that touch-screen video iPod just ain't gonna happen next week, according to TS that is.
Jobs might deliver a keynote, updated MacBook Pros on September 12th?
Egads, the rumor engine has caught on fire and September 12th is to blame: HardMac cites anonymous sources (i.e. - take it with a grain of salt) that Steve Jobs still won't be present in Paris for the upcoming Apple Expo, but that doesn't mean he can't be on a stage somewhere: the rumor is that Jobs will still give a keynote, but it will be produced in Cupertino and relayed to London, Apple Europe's headquarters (where all the journalists have actually been invited to already). Let's hear it for the powers of iChat A/V.Next on the list of September 12th rumors is that, along with 23-inch Core 2 Duo iMacs, we could also see revised MacBook Pros, possibly even with Core 2 Duo shininess. For this one, HardMac cites a French student who tried to purchase a MacBook Pro online, but was given a 3-5 week shipping window - which typically happens to products in some regions when an update is imminent.Keep in mind none of this is confirmed, so if Sept. 12th turns out to be not much more than an Aperture update (after all, it is close to Photokina), keep your chin up. Apple's fall season is just getting started.
Steve Jobs will not give Apple Expo Paris keynote
Our hearts go out to all the Apple Expo Paris attendees in the audience, for Steve Jobs will not be giving a keynote yet again this year. In fact, there won't be any keynote at all. A show representative confirmed this keynote-less announcement with Macworld UK, citing that, while Apple has seen "significant" market share gains in France lately, they also mention the whole 'open up your FairPlay, or else' issue the French government is trying to force on Apple.That doesn't seem like a very good reason for Jobs to stop delivering his theatrical keynotes, though he was having surgery during 2004's paris expo, and for some odd reason didn't give a keynote at '05's Expo either. I guess the closest you'll be able to get to Mr. Jobs this time around is some hi-res desktop wallpapers.
Apple Expo 2006 registration now open
Apple Expo 2006, the Apple shindig in Paris, has started accepting registration. If you plan on being in Paris between September 12 - 16th you should check it out. I mean, there isn't that much to do in Paris anyway, so you might as well hang out with some other Macheads.Thanks, Nik.
No Jobs keynote at Mac Expo Paris
Apple has confirmed today that Steve Jobs will not be delivering a keynote speech at Mac Expo in Paris later this month. Instead, Apple executives (including Jobs) will host a Q&A with members of the media. "Yes, Steve will be at Apple Expo with other members of Apple's executive team," said Apple spokesperson Bill Evans in a comment to Macworld.No reason was given for the cancellation.Thanks, Fabienne!
We'll always have Paris... or will we?
Apple unveiled the iMac G5 at Apple Expo in Paris last summer. The Powerbooks were introduced there in 2003. In other words, there's a history of Apple announcing super-cool hardware at the Apple Expo. This has many speculating about what this year's Paris Expo (Sept. 20-24) has in store for Apple fans. Steve Jobs is expected to give the keynote at the Palais des Congres on the morning of September 20, and we know from experience that Steve doesn't get out of bed too early in the morning for just anything. Still, Apple won't officially confirm or deny Steve's flight plans for that week.So what, if anything, do you think will be unveiled? Will we get a 2.0GHz G4 Powerbook as a fond farewell to the PowerPC line? Or a Powerbook G5? Maybe a renamed portable lineup (Gigabook has a nice ring to it)? A color-screened iPod mini? A higher capacity iPod shuffle? Will the Power Mac G5 finally hit or break the 3.0GHz barrier? A new Mighty Keyboard to match the Mighty Mouse? A pony? C'mon... everyone loves ponies!Your guess is as good as ours... so start your predictions below.
