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Macworld 2007 Keynote Liveblog
Welcome to the TUAW liveblog for Macworld 2007. Here's where you'll find all our updates, so open a window with this post and keep refreshing as needed. There is no "auto update" on TUAW so unless you refresh (please be gentle!) the page will not change. 11:10 PT. John and Steve hug. No "one more thing" 11:05 PT. What we didn't see. Leopard ship date. iWork. iLife. Core 2 Duo mini. Oct-core pro's. Universal Apps. High Def at the iTunes store. Any computer hardware outside the new iPhone. .Mac updates or revisions. Adobe. 11:00 PT. Steve cheers his employees. Points out the engineers, other employees, and their families. And cheers for them. So dang cool! "And we've got a really special treat today." John Mayer alert. Again. Mayer has 5 Grammy nominations this year. (He takes the stage. Starts playing solo. The song might be "Gravity" but David doesn't recognize it.) Mayer: "Steve Jobs and Apple Inc... just make life more fun. Just the opposite of terrorism." Now playing "Waiting on the World to Change." 10:55 PT. The Mobile Market Steve: "We come from different worlds and yet we have worked wonderfully together. We love these guys." And then Steve's "clicker" dies. And a lot of people backstage start scrambling. And cursing. And someone in the audience shouts: "BINGO!" Steve tells a story about his misspent youth with the Woz to pass the time as technicians see their pink slips dance before their eyes. 26 Million game consoles in 2006. 957 mobile phones in 2006. Goal: 1% of market share = 10 million iPhones in 2008. "Today we've added to the Mac, ipod, Apple TV and iPhone. The Mac is the only one you really think of as a computer". So Apple is going to drop "Computer" from their name. Apple is now "Apple Inc." Because they're all grown up and a real company and it's time to discard that childish "computer" thing anyway. "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been - Wayne Gretsky. This is all presumably part of the deal that they hammered out with Apple Music and the Beatles.
Last Apple Phone leak photo we promise
Rob Terrell posted what he thinks is a glimpse of the Apple iPod phone on his blog yesterday, from a Cingular TV ad. Since I have no credibility left on this front I'll let Rob and the picture speak for themselves:"That capture is from the very last shot in the [Cingular] ad.... the Cingular website shows no music playback phones with that shape. Did they just show the Apple iPod phone a day early?"thanks Luis![via Happyapps]
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.
Crossover Mac to ship this week
Reader Greg Taylor advises that Codeweavers' WINE-based Win32 application runtime Crossover is due for release during Macworld. The release version should be downloadable for registered users sometime this week.It remains to be seen how well Crossover will do up against more traditional virtualization approaches like Parallels and VMWare. It's true that Crossover lets you run Windows apps without the overhead (or licensing cost) of Windows, with varying degrees of compatibility; but with Parallels' new Coherence mode allowing mix-and-match Windows applications 'floating' in the Mac UI, and enough RAM, it may not be an easy sell.
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.
Follow Macworld Expo with Twitter
TUAW will be covering Macworld Expo like the rabid Mac geeks that we are, but if you like a little more citizen in your citizen journalism, and a whole lot less editorial direction (yes, TUAW has an editorial direction) than Twitter's special Macworld page is the place for you.Twitter, the Web 2.0 way to let everyone know what you're doing, has set up a special page for dispatches from Macworld. If you are a Twitter-er all you have to do is first type 'MACWORLD' and then the rest of your message to be included.
Keynote QueueFu: When to get in line
The question of the day for Macworld attendees seems to be "What time should I line up for the keynote?" If you're looking for hints so you can set your alarm clock, we've rounded up some links for you. The consensus is that earlier is better. Some Macworld attendees are hitting the line at 3AM. Others think that 5AM is plenty early. The picture shown here from Robert Padbury at Macworld 2006 suggests that at 4:30 AM the line was already around the block. Apple Insider: 4-5 AM for general seating. 7-9 AM for the Super or Platinum Pass. Inessential.com: 3-4 AM YourMacLife: 4AM Whenever you do show up, dress warmly and, if possible, pair up with a friend so you can do coffee and donut runs as well as potty breaks. Have fun. Take pictures. And maybe you can send some of them to us here at TUAW. Contact us via the tip form.
WSJ reporting Apple-Cingular deal on phone
A loyal friend of TUAW sent us the heads up that the Wall Street Journal is running with the story (subscribers only) confirming an Apple-branded phone featuring Cingular service, to be launched "as early as Tuesday." As soon as we get a look at the full story we'll summarize it up. Time to mark your bingo cards everyone...Update: Reader Tony B. shot us the text of the full story. Aside from the confirmation of the deal, there's not much else that hasn't already been discussed. There is one paragraph that departs from the usual cautious and conservative WSJ style:"Several recent analyst reports forecast that Apple would sell millions of phones within a few years, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue. Some analysts go even further, predicting the impact of an Apple cellphone on wireless carriers, chip makers and other parts suppliers."Apparently this writer is confusing Steve Jobs with The Brain: "What are we going to do this year, Steve?""The same thing we do every Macworld, Phil Schiller... try to take over the world!"Thanks JMC!
Poll: Would you buy an Apple HDTV?
In the moments leading up to the Macworld keynote, rumors are flying left, right, and sideways. There will be an iPod phone. There won't be an iPod phone. And now, AppleInsider revisits the question of whether there will be a large screen Apple HDTV offering. '"We are not certain on timing but our analysis indicates that AAPL is beyond prototype on large-screen technologies (for a larger monitor or possibly Apple-branded HDTV)," the analyst told his clients.' I'd totally love if Apple delivered a branded HDTV that seamlessly integrated with iTV and iTunes. I think that when Apple does this sort of thing (e.g. Cinema Displays), they do it really well. What about you? Would you be interested in Apple HDTV? Would you put up your own money to own one? Let us know in the comments. (It looks like the poll software isn't working.)
Keep tabs on TUAW with a TUAW RSS Widget
TUAW fanboy Konstantino whipped up a new Dashboard widget for our RSS feed, just in time for Macworld. It's slick and simple - just the way we like it. Now it's even easier to keep up with all our MWSF '07 coverage! To install, just download the zip archive, unzip and double-click. Once installed, check early and often!Grab your copy here: Konstantino's TUAW RSS Widget.Thanks, Konstantino!
Macworld IRC Backchannel
Backchannel, noun The practice of using networked computers to maintain a real-time online conversation alongside live spoken remarks.In other words, a backchannel is a conference specific chat-room which provides a virtual round-table at which conference attendees can chat and make snarky comments. In my experience, the backchannel is often one of the most enjoyable parts of any given tech conference. Additionally, for those unable to attend a conference, the backchannel provides a digital analogue to actually being there which allows users to get a feel for whats going on, even if thousands of miles away. For this year's Macworld, Chris Forsythe of Adium and Perian fame has set up a dedicated IRC backchannel on the freenode network. Whether you're here at the conference, or stuck at home at your computer, I invite you to open up your IRC client of choice and join the conversation./server irc.freenode.org/join #mwsf2007
iPhone Credibility Roundup
I just stumbled across a very funny post over at the Apple Credibility blog. It lists the top ten people whose reputation now rests on the actual introduction or announcement of an Apple phone, ranging from Kevin Rose (January launch, small form factor, starting at $249) to Rebecca Runkle (two models, starting at $599, Cingular) and beyond. As readers know, I'm a huge fan of iPhone rumors. I love the ingenuity, the spectacle, and the passion of the rumors and the iPhoney photoshop efforts. If Jobs does indeed introduce the iPhone tomorrow, it will put an end to one of my favorite hobbies. Well, until the next big thing comes along. Have you heard any scoop about the Google/Apple ubiquitous computing launch?
Early Macworld Pics
Face it, not everyone can be at Macworld. (I know that I'm not at Macworld.) So it's kind of fun to find a site of early pictures that make you feel as if you're right there and in on the action. Here's a great collection of snapshots from Italian site Sette B, showing unpacking and setup. I particularly liked the unopened crates and the big iPhone display (just kidding!). My Italian isn't all that strong, but the pictures are pretty easy to follow (especially with this Google translation). "Sperare che ceda il telo nero e scoprire il contenuto di questo pannello sospeso è una pretesa irreale." Which means...um...hoping that the black cloth is removed to reveal something good? Whatever. Enjoy the pics.
TUAW Macworld coverage will include liveblogging the Keynote
As you read this post I am high above the earth hurtling my way to San Francisco. Once I'm on the ground, and meet up with the rest of the TUAW Macworld team, the fun begins. I did want to let everyone know that TUAW will be covering the Keynote (aka the Stevenote) live, as we always do. Sadly, we have decided to ax the chatcast in favor of channeling our energies into liveblogging the heck out of the Keynote.The Keynote is scheduled for Tuesday, January 9th from 9am to 11am PST. Look for our coverage to start a little before 9am PST.
SlingCatcher to tread on iTV vapor trail?
In the first of what will probably be several moments of Macworld/CES friction, there are reports from Engadget, among other sources, of the latest Sling Media product: the SlingCatcher, a remote receiver for Slingbox streams that will work as a set top box for TVs. With wireless networking and an internal hard drive for storing hypothetical purchased content, this begins to sound very much like a preannounced product we've heard about.It was too much to wish that everyone else would stay out of Apple's way while the iTV finished baking; perhaps the shadow of SlingCatcher and similar devices on the horizon caused the atypical WWDC "It's Showtime" preview of unreleased hardware. If you knew that the simplicity of the iPod/iTunes combo was on the way for your video streaming, would it be worth waiting for? Or would you go Sling instead?
Developer + User meetup at Macworld
Scott Stevenson has posted a clever idea at his blog, Theocacao, to help developers and users meet up at Macworld 07 this week. It seems that, as Apple's spotlight grows larger by the week, the number of independent developers that can snag an official booth at big events like Macworld shrinks. Scott's solution? If you're one of these developers, get in touch with him over at his blog and express your interest in arranging a collective meetup of your own (Scott, may I recommend Meetup and Upcoming.org to help automate things?). If you're a user, you might be asking yourself: "why meet developers? I don't speak Cocoa or C++!" Well, Scott answers: "Developers are much more likely to understand your feedback when you talk to them in person," and it can make the communication process a lot easier if you take this opportunity to break the ice in person. So drop by Scott's post (he also includes an email contact) to help the indie developers in the crowd meet up with their adoring fans.
Mac small business dinner
The Apple ecosystem is populated by a large number of vocal, and passionate, independent developers and business owners. These guys and gals bring home the bacon with the sweat of their brow and their trusty Macs. Niall Kennedy is once again arranging for a Mac small business dinner at Macworld on January 10th.Check out Niall's post for all the details, and be sure to RSVP if you plan on attending.
