digg this | Add to Del.icio.us Well it’s that time of year again and while this years Macworld has been overshadowed by the news of Steve Jobs health, get well soon Steve, and the revelation that Apple are pulling out of Macworld after this years show it’s still time to make a few predictions. I’ve noticed that no one is highlighting the fact that this years Keynote could see the introduction of a new product. Steve being ill means that his avoidance of Macworld had nothing to do with lack of products.

So in the light of this news lets see what we’re in store for tomorrow.
1. New Mac Mini. Going from the rumors this one appears to be a sure bet. Going to be interesting to see if this evolutionary product will show that Apple are taking an interest in the mini or is this going to be a hobby like Apple TV.

2. New iMacs. Almost certainly will be larger in size with higher specs. I’ll be interested to see if there’s cinema display size iMac. Considering the fact that the Macbooks were redesigned to fit in with the iMac design the new ones will look exactly the same.

3. First Look At Snow Leopard. This is going to be interesting, if the footprint is going to be decreased you have to wonder exactly why. Apple control the computers and don’t really need to support low end machines so Snow Leopard could pack power and not really annoy anyone. Hence number 4.

4. I think we’re going to see either a tablet or Netbook to fit in with a new line of Apple online services. Expect to see the expansion of the MobileMe service. New Netbooks would be due at about the same time as Snow Leopard. Phil can show us Snow Leopard running on low end and beautiful machine and completely ruin Steve Ballmer’s speech on Wednesday at CES.

5. I don’t expect to see any new iPhones but a surprise visit from Steve shouldn’t be out of the question now that we expect him to look thin. In fact the announcement from Steve today would be a great way to ensure that the market doesn’t overreact when he takes to the stage at some point tomorrow. If he does then it will be for the “One more thing...” announcement so he can close out Apple’s final Macworld.

Labels: iMac, Mac Mini, Macworld 2009, Mobile Me, Netbooks, Snow Leopard, Steve Jobs

digg this | Add to Del.icio.us I've been thinking recently about Apple's position in the consumer market and I realized just how close Apple are to creating Bill Gate's vision of a digital home. They are 2/3 products short of a viable claim to the home.
Firstly lets look at what they have in place at this time. The iMac is an aesthetically pleasing piece of technology that will look well in any office or bedroom. I'm going to ignore the functionality of the software installed on the device because OSX certainly has some shortcomings but lets assume for a moment that the software is at a level to compete with Microsoft Office etc. On the iMac you can have your music, pictures, video and documents all managed by the ilife and iWorks suites.

That's all good on one machine but no internet isn't much use so we turn to the AirPort Extreme Base Station. This will give you wired and wireless network access along with the ability to share a USB printer or USB hard drive which can be plugged into the unit. But what if your rooms do not have the room or the look to take an iMac. Well that's OK because the AirPort Express can be plugged into a wall socket and will extend your wireless network. All you need to do is plug in a set of speakers and you can stream your music to this room too. But what good that's if you have to go to the room with the iMac to play and change songs? Well you don't. Buy an iPod Touch or iPhone and you can download the Apple Remote app. This gives you control of any iTunes library on your wireless network so you can play, stop and change any song you want from the comfort of any room.

Want something more impressive well if you have a Widescreen television with enhanced or high definition then you can add the Apple TV. From this little white box you can access and play your music, video, TV Shows, films or pictures stored on any iTunes directly on your TV over the wireless network. Even better you can access the iTunes store and buy a new film etc anytime you wish.

To round it all off lets just add Time Capsule to back up your Macs to so you don't lose any of your files and photos and a Macbook to allow you to work or surf the Internet from where ever you're sitting. This, my friends, is the Apple home and if price isn't an issue it's a pretty impressive situation.

Now the missing pieces. We need a photo frame in order for us to display our images for visitors to see without having to switch on the television. Connecting over wireless the minimal white or black look could be very impressive and non-obtrusive. Secondly we need a silent media server along the lines of Windows Home Server offering much the same functionality and being cross platform. Thirdly and finally a partnership with Sega or Nintendo where Apple could get a foot into the computer game/media machine market. While the Apple TV is nice it can't compete with the Xbox 360 0r the Playstation 3. If Apple could add these three devices to it's portfolio then it would only be the price that would be in their way. Apple is high end and the people who could afford this vision would have to have a lot of disposable income. The main point is however that Apple have brought themselves within touching distance of Bill Gate's vision to have the digital home leaving Microsoft with the less exciting but more lucrative digital office.

Labels: Apple, Apple TV, iMac, iPhone, iPod Touch, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega

digg this | Add to Del.icio.us Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer appeared on stage at the D: All Things Digital conference and introduced the world to Windows 7, or at least a major piece of Windows 7 functionality. The ability to manipulate Windows applications using touch is an excellent feature but is getting horrible press from people asking, "do we really want to touch our computers?" Now remember when rumours were circling about Apple releasing a touch phone and it was hailed as the greatest invention of all time, even though Microsoft had been using touch technology on it's mobile platforms long before Apple did. I am not arguing that Apple have used touch technology much more succesfully than Microsoft but MS did come up with it first. On the run up to the Macworld Keynote 2008 there was speculation that Jobs was going to announce a version of the iMac with touch technology built in. Once again the web was full of statements of the genius of Jobs and what a fantastic idea this was. Microsoft have actually done it.

I love the idea of Windows 7 having touch capabilities built in. A widescreen touch capable TV with a Windows 7 PC hooked up to it means no mouse, no keyboard but total control. Build similar technology into the next XBox, not for actually controlling games obviously, and you could have control of all living room media without the need for multiple controls. All you need to add is a touch sensitive media remote that displays the menu's that appear on the screen so selection is as easy as possible and you have a fantastic touch driven media suite all from Microsoft. Add the next generation of Windows Home Server, which I imagine will have full media server capabilities built in, and Microsoft can easily beat Apple and Sony to the living room and have it sewn up before anyone realises what's happened.

Labels: Apple, Bill Gates, iMac, Multi-touch, Steve Ballmer, Windows 7, Windows Home Server, XBox