I don’t normally post about Apple rumors here; on the whole, I’d rather wait until there are facts to report instead of speculation.
But today’s announcement of the new 24-inch iMac made me twitch a little. By releasing that little gem, and rather suddenly at that, Apple is sending a clear message: next Tuesday’s “Showtime” event is much more interesting that a new iMac.
Which in turn makes me more inclined to think that some of the rumors and “sources tell us” reporting we’re seeing are true.
Movies to download? More than likely, although I sincerely hope that Variety is wrong when it says that the service will only offer Disney films to start with. Just Disney? Wouldn’t that somehow take the wind from the sails of such a big new idea? Especially if, as Variety reports, Amazon is lining up a rival downloads service with a lot more choice.
Then there’s the mythical Apple cell phone. It’s now a prototype, not a concept, reports Apple Insider. And analysts say that even grabbing just 1% of the market could be a significant money spinner for Apple.
Just 1%? I can see the grin on Steve Jobs’ face from here.
"Little gem"? I'd say the 24" iMac is a rather large gem! Not that I disagree with the sentiment of the post, I do think that next week's announcment will be great, but remember that what seems "sudden" to us is not really out of the blue for Apple. I'd guess that this date for the new iMac release has been set for a while and the date for next week's event too. Not that we would know.
What comes will come, it will likely be exciting.
Movie downloads. That'll be it.
Sounds like the phone is being worked on, but I bet it won't be announced this year, if at all.
I remember scratching out something on my Palm 5 or 6 years ago while listening to a discussion between Apple strategists online during a shareholder meeting or WWDC webcast. The question was, "is there any truth in the rumor of an Apple-branded Palm device?" the answer was, "We think the Palm is going to go away."
In a portable phone, Apple has a device that's not going to go away, but they have always had a difficult time with their supply chain. Historically, huge inventories of unsold macs, and more recently, large backlogs of orders. I guess the question is how they intend to ramp up for this sort of a device, avoid cannibalizing their MP3 players, balance low or no or negative-margin hardware inventories against service income. There's a brand-identity question here too, it almost seems like a telecom service should be rolled out under its own brand, but borrowing from the Apple halo in the same way Lucent borrowed from Bell Labs.
It really does seem like there's a lot of overhead involved. Maybe we'll see an announcement at superbowl halftime, but I doubt it'll be this fall.
Oddly enough I had the exact same reaction. A release of new systems prior to an official invite? That just makes next week all the more meaty. As much as I'd love to get an iPhone, The iPod with the floating video controls that have been shown here and there on the net is what I think would make me chuck my 40GB 4th gen iPod.
The iPod with the floating video controls that have been shown here and there on the net is what I think would make me chuck my 40GB 4th gen iPod.
What about an iPhone with iPod functionality ? similar to the palm lifedrive, with a smartphone and 10 or 20GB.
Would be nice, but I can't imagine the news not leaking if it was something that good.
I have to agree, I can't remember them doing such a major rollout so close before a "special event". I can only think that they have a really major announcement, otherwise why release something as meaty as a new 24-inch iMac so close before an event? They really don't want any distractions from whatever the real news is suppose to be...