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Apple announces final MacWorld, Steve Jobs won't deliver keynote
Watch this space folks -- it's the end of an era. Apple has just issued a press release stating that this coming MacWorld in January will be its last, and Steve Jobs won't be on hand to say goodbye. Instead, Phil Schiller will be heading up the proceedings, thus marking a quiet end to a conference that's been the launching point of some of the most important pieces of consumer tech in recent memory. In Apple's words:Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple's Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.Update: Oh, and just to clarify, this is merely Apple's last MacWorld, not the last MacWorld. IDG just made a statement confirming that it's on for an Apple-free MacWorld 2010 at the Moscone Center -- January 4th through 8th if you're planning ahead.[Thanks, JBCornelius]
Deliver a keynote like Steve Jobs in ten simple steps
Are you a CEO hoping to "step it up," "knock it out of the park," and generally "take it to the bridge" -- old-school style -- but you can't seem to work the magic? Well, BusinessWeek has got just the thing for you: a ten-point plan on how to deliver a presentation like our main man, Steve Jobs. Breaking it down from "set a theme" all the way to "rehearse, rehearse, rehearse," the cats at BW lay out everything you need to know to shatter sales records, hike your stock, and innovate the hell out of a keynote. Of course, they don't advise you on choice of outfits (we suggest jeans, sneakers, and a turtleneck), products to launch (how does iPhone 2 sound to you?), or how to properly execute a "Boom!" ("Boom!") -- but we're pretty sure you can suss those details out on your own. If you want the full breakdown of tips and tricks, including how to properly appear excited about your own products, hit the read link ASAP. To help you along, we've included a clip of Jobs doing his thing after the break. Boom!
Internal Jobsnote reveals new iPods, Macs
In the same town-hall session where he announced that every Apple employee would be getting a free 8GB iPhone, Steve Jobs discussed his thoughts and plans for the company's latest device, talked about new Mac systems and iPods on the way, and detailed the ever-broadening business model of Apple. Jobs opened the meeting by expanding on his previous praise for the iPhone, equating its release to that of the original Mac, and saying that its creation was borne out of frustration with current phone technology. During the company-wide discussion, Jobs noted that Apple currently had a "two leg" business (Mac hardware and the iPod/iTunes union), which would be expanded with the "third leg" of the iPhone (he hinted that Apple TV would be the fourth, though current efforts were focused on the iPhone). He went on to talk about the new Macs, which he described in typical Jobs-ian fashion as "off the charts" and "the best Macs ever", and mentioned new OS X-based iPods that the company was working on (widescreen/touchscreen, perhaps?). Jobs fielded questions as well, included the oft-repeated "why EDGE?", which he answered by saying that the technology is more pervasive, and less power hungry than 3G, although he forgot to mention that it's also much, much slower. Jobs apparently wrapped things up by messianically telling employees that they would "tell their grandchildren" that they were at Apple when the iPhone was launched and that it was, "worth the sacrifice". Okay, Steve.
WWDC Jobsnote to run three hours?
As the days grow longer and Mother Nature finishes shaking off the last remnants of a cold, dark winter, a young man's fancy naturally turns to Apple's upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference starting June 11th, and if a recent update to the gathering's official site proves accurate, this year's keynote is gonna be a doozy. Apple Insider points out that the newly-posted WWDC schedule shows a three-hour chunk of time blocked out for the Monday morning Jobsnote -- a mighty feat even for such a seasoned public speaker -- which could indicate an unusually long speech filled with Leopard revelations, shiny new toys, and lots of "un-be-lievables." Still, no matter what goes down, the main takeaway here is that we may be in for three straight hours of liveblogging. Have fun, Ryan![Via Apple Insider]Update: Apple called to let us know that there was a typo on the schedule page, and the keynote is actually 10-11:30AM -- so an hour and a half, not three hours. Somewhere Ryan just let out a huge sigh of relief. (Apple also mentioned Jobs wasn't guaranteed to present, but c'mon, he wouldn't really hold out on us like that, would he?)
iTV becomes Apple TV
Well now we know that iTV has officially become Apple TV. It's real folks: we got 802.11 b/g AND 802.11n, USB 2.0, Ethernet, WiFi, HDMI, bunch of standard outs, plus a 40GB hard drive -- all powered by an Intel CPU. So resolution is only 720p -- looks like a few folks are gonna be out of luck, but TV manufacturers are sure gonna be happy to sell all those new sets. Not just one, two or three but five computers can connect to the Apple TV box, making a true hub for all your PCs. You can watch content stored on your rig -- movies, TV shows, photos, etc. -- and you can also pull streaming vid directly off sites like...Apple.com! Plus, the box will even grab content from PCs outside of your house -- finally, we can watch all the great swag that our rich can afford. Interested? You'll be able to grab one immediately for $299.
Final Macworld predictions?
In just 24 hours we should know exactly what Stevie J. has in store for us, so we're giving you a final chance to put forth your Macworld predictions and prove once and for all how good (or bad) you are at prognosticating. The smart money is on them introducing a phone of some kind, as well as giving a proper rollout for the iTV, but Jobsy can get fickle and pull a product at the last minute, which means that all bets are off until he actually gets up on stage and does his "one more thing" thing. We'll have live coverage beginning tomorrow at 9am PST right here.
