MWSF2007
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MWSF Keynote in a nutshell
Macworld2007's keynote left a lot of things unsaid. Any of you expecting a Leopard ship date, 2007 iSoftware announcements, or even coverage of Adobe and Microsoft flagship products were left wanting. In fact, going back through my notes, the keynote basically came down to this: 9:15 The Intel transition. 9:20 Paramount movies and the new iTunes ads. 9:25 AppleTV announcement and demo. Ships February 2007. 9:40 The iPhone. Ships June 2007. 11:10 The end. By my calculations, that turns out to about 5 minutes each for Intel and Paramount/iTunes, 15 minutes for AppleTV and an hour and a half for iPhone. Steve never even got to announce the new Airport Extreme with its wireless hard disk capabilities. It was all about the iPhone. And here's how the iPhone presentation broke down: 9:40 It's an iPhone. It has no keyboard, runs on "OS X", syncs to your home computer OS X data, and has the following hardware features. 9:55 Interaction demo: multi-finger gestures, iPod functionality and cover flow. 10:00 Call-making demo: Conference calls and visual voice mail. 10:15 Content demo: iPhotos and rich text e-mail; surfing with Safari and Widgets. 10:30 Content providers: Google and Yahoo executives. 10:40 Accessories and Price announcement. 10:50 Cingular partnership discussed. 10:55 Wrapping up, thanking employees, mini-Concert. All things considered, it was an exciting and productive keynote but after twenty five minutes of introductory material, it was all iPhone all the way.
Apple VPs confirm no 3rd party iPhone apps
The lucky Gizmodo guys got their paws on an actual iPhone plus an hour of Q&A with some Apple VPs. Here are some of their scoops: The OS isn't going to be "OS X for real." It's more like a pseudo-OS X and, like the iPod, it will not have a public API and open development. This confirms what Dan posted earlier today about no user-installable apps. Which is a shame. I'd really love to see the iPod and iPhone get opened up for more third party software. The screen is the same polycarbonite material as the iPod overlaid with a touch element. Finally, there won't be any WiFi or cellular data syncing, only sync-via-docking.Thanks Matt
Nic Carr on the iPhone
Nic Carr has a quick op-ed up over at RoughType that's worth popping by to read. In it, he contrasts Bill Gates with Steve Jobs. Gates, he says, pitches a "'digital lifestyle' that nobody wants...[suggesting] that people want nothing more than to be network administrators." Jobs, in contrast, "is not interested in amateur productions". Carr suggests that Jobs separates the design from the audience, producing usable tools rather than general workflows. It's clear to me that Apple is heading ever more in the direction of digital appliances (the iPhone, AppleTV, etc), but this is also the same company that brings us XCode and Interface Builder. Clearly Apple knows the difference between users and developers and is building their product line to enhance that difference. Just like Macworld is in January and WWDC is in the Summer. Thanks Joel Martin.
Will the iPhone cannibalize iPod sales? Or vice versa?
Yesterday, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone. It is clearly the next generation of iPod. It's the full-screen video iPod we've waited for. It's the full-color fully-designed interface we've waited for. It's the fully-connected wifi and bluetooth device we've waited for. And that doesn't even mention the built in speakers and microphone. So why does it have to be an iPhone? Surely there's a huge market out there who wants all these features but who doesn't want the Cingular piece of the action. Of course, many of you will rightly point out that one can purchase the iPhone, maybe even use the iPhone to good effect, without using the phone itself. The included two year contract is a bit of a stumbling block, especially if monthly charges (which I'm still really unclear about) apply. So why not offer a phone-less iPod? It doesn't have to wait for FCC approval except insofar as any Bluetooth or WiFi device might need some paperwork done. Why not sell a basic "true fullscreen video iPod" at the $299 price point that removing the phone hardware might allow, to the large market of iPod upgraders who'd jump on buying one like a starving Georgia Tech student on barbeque? My guess is that introducing a phone-less iPod would cannibalize early sales of the iPhone. Of all the goodies introduced about the phone, it's the phone component that's the least glamorous. Sure, a lot of us would pay a premium to carry fewer gadgets in our pockets. Combining the iPod and the phone and a lot of the PocketPC features makes sense--and I tell you as a PocketPC user, that the iPhone does not score too well on the PocketPC range of capabilities--but it also takes a lot of choice out of the equation for those of us under existing phone contracts who are looking for a better iPod and not necessarily an iPhone. So when do we see an actual G6 iPod sans the phone connectivity? Your guess is as good as mine.
AppleTV requires iTunes 7.1
We may be living in a 7.0.2 world, but AppleTV seems destined for an iTunes 7.1 one. Eagle eyed TUAW reader Chris Hileman points us to evidence of iTunes 7.1's imminent release. Pop over to the AppleTV specs page and check out the system requirements. Along with Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and Win XP SP2, you'll find iTunes 7.1. Since AppleTV will be released sometime next month, maybe we can look forward to an iTunes upgrade as well.
iPhone on MySpace
I'm pretty sure that this MySpace page comes from a fan, and not from Apple, but it still made me chuckle. The iPhone is listed as being male, 30 years old, with 0 friends. There's a bit of the Apple hype cut and pasted onto the page. For more iPhone goodness, take a look at all the Flickr photos tagged with iPhone. There are almost 2000 of them last time I checked, showing the same wonderful iPhone/Apple fanbase as the MySpace page. Further, the iPhone announcement looks to be the 2nd most dugg story in the last year. Go fanboys!Thanks Mr. Lizard
Revisiting the Rumors: Rebecca Runkle proved right
About a month ago, AppleInsider reported that Morgan Stanley analyst Rebecca Runkle's research note detailed her findings from unnamed inside sources. Her predictions were: 4GB and 8GB models, priced at $599 and $649, although she suggested that a slightly lower list price would be a conservative guess. Full screen 3.5" LCD about 0.4" thick with a virtual click wheel and soft touch design. Metal casing, similar to the nano, in multiple colors. Camera, digital audio playback, video, e-mail and calendar. Most likely carrier: Cingular. Pretty accurate stuff, wouldn't you say?
Flickr Find: iWoz sighting
TUAW reader Tyler Howarth had a rare encounter this morning with the elusive Wozbeast. The Woz, which is not often found in the wild, was encountered just outside of Moscone North this morning. By approaching him carefully and not showing agression, Tyler and his friend Mike were able to entice him into a photo shot. The Woz was also spotted shaking the hands of fans and signing a Macbook Pro. This probably does not technically count as twitching, as Mac events are the natural Woz habitat.
Wall Street rises on Apple rumors
CNN Money reports that today's Apple rumors helped boost US stock prices this morning at the opening bell. Between the Cingular deal for the iPhone broken last night by the Wall Street Journal and news that Paramount/Viacom may join the iTunes store for catalog sales, it looks like good news for tech stocks all around.Of course, we here at TUAW do not recommend investing your life savings in any particular stock. As far as monkeys throwing darts at stock listings go, we bet those monkeys would outperform us in a heartbeat.
TUAW Podcast #16: The Night Before The Stevenote '07
Care you feel the excitement in the air? San Francisco is abuzz with Mac users waiting for Steve to dazzle us later today. Since this is one of the rare occasions when more than one TUAW blogger is in the same place, at the same time, we thought we would do a quick (and a little rough around the edges) podcast featuring David Chartier, Scott McNulty, Laurie Duncan, Dan Lurie and Ryan Budke (our video man from Netscape).We took setup a mic in the middle of my hotel room and covered: Our Keynote predictions Dress Steve Tivo And that's just the tip of the iceberg, folks.This time around, the podcast weighs in at just over 17MB and 18 minutes. As always, you can grab it via direct link here, our iTunes Store podcast directory or with our dedicated podcast RSS feed. Enjoy, and be sure to drop us some feedback in the comments!
Health Alert: ClementClarkMooreitis spreads
Tonight is the night before Macworld and numerous Mac pundits have suddenly come down with ClementClarkMooreitis. You're familiar with the syndrome, right? When suddenly (whether inebriated or not) you feel the urge, nay the compulsion, to pay homage to that famous author of "A Visit from St. Nicholas".This year, as in years past, the disease has struck with a vengeance. Even our TUAW staff has proven susceptible to this most pernicious of memes.We here at TUAW urge you to resist. Keep strong and keep steadfast. Do not be assimilated though there be such a clatter that we start blogging the Keynote to see what's the matter--on Bloggers, on Loggers, on podcasts and...um...where were we? Oh yes. Good Macworld to all, and to all a good night.
Could the keynote turn ugly?
Leander Kahney is concerned for the safety of Macworld attendees; he posted his (hopefully somewhat tongue-in-cheek) prediction of a riot at the keynote over on the Cult of Mac Wired blog. With expectations for product announcements running so insanely high, the only outcome he can see is disappointment.It's no secret that keynote crowds can turn ugly. If you watch the video above, from the infamous "Big Brother" 1997 keynote, you'll hear a sound at the 4:50 mark (when SJ introduces El Bill) that can only be described as "booplause." I was at that keynote, and it was just as uncomfortable as it sounds on the tape.Are Apple fans really that prone to misbehavior when we don't get the fresh gear and shiny goodness we crave? I'm sure that everyone will be well-behaved this year -- except maybe for one guy in the back yelling "BINGO!" during the Photoshop CS3 demo.
Siracusa takes Keynote Bingo to the next level
A powerful meme, this keynote bingo is. John Siracusa, the Mac muse of Ars Technica, has taken his WWDC Bingo card concept, crossed it with the flock of Macworld Keynote Bingo generators now in circulation, and come up with his canonical Bingo Card for this year's Stevenote.Unlike the randomly generated cards, this One True Card "documents the hopes and fears of the card maker" as it strives for balance between plausibility and fond wishes. Designed by John McCoy, the card has the "monolith" look of the Apple teaser page and the subtle humor we've come to expect in this genre. Check it out.
Widget Watch: MWSF 2007 Countdown Widget
Who is excited about Macworld? I know I am, and just to fuel the excitement Jesper has created the MWSF 2007 Countdown Widget (I took the above screenshot a few hours ago).TUAW will be giving Macworld the full court press with a number of our bloggers, including yours truly, pounding the show floor looking for the cool stuff that the other sites have missed. It is going to be great, and it is only a week away!
