“‘The first 30 years were just the beginning.’ Does this bold statement portend a new iPod video with a full face touch screen? A set top box that can stream video content to your television? A wireless phone that is also a full fledged iPod with the slickest design and operation you can imagine? No, these products may all very well appear at Macworld, but this has got to be about the future of personal computing. Apple did ignite the personal computer revolution and then reinvent it after all,” Bob Snow writes for O’Grady’s PowerPage.
Snow writes, “I think Apple will introduce a nano-computer, masquerading as a smart-phone . Basically a tablet computer the size of a Treo or Blackberry with a far more clever input method, full face screen and some version of iLife running on it. Ideally it would be a stand alone wireless nano-computer running OS-X. Think of all the capabilities of a MacBook combined with a phone. Dock it on your desk with a wireless keyboard, mouse and full screen monitor and it would be your home computer. Take it on the road and it would be your laptop. Put it in your pocket and it would be your phone, camera and your iPod.”
Full article here.
Only 25 hours to go!
Related article:
Report: Apple to ‘touch off nuclear war’ with ‘iPhone’ that’s more ‘pocket Mac’ than mobile phone – January 07, 2007
if that is what it is… then i want one yesterday.
now if only the wife will approve the funds…
Well duh.
Excellent MDN take.
@ frogstik
Sry, that was in response to the story, not you.
MW: ‘usually’ (type faster than that…)
Could this be my first “first post”? Was just about to read the article when I noticed there were no comments yet so I had to do it. Tomorrow might actually find me in my local Apple Store for the announcements…
With all the guessing and speculation going on, when is the last time anyone was surprised by anything at MacWorld??
Rats! I wasted so much time typing that I missed my chance.
Apple needs to add a mid level Mac between the Mac Pro and the Mac Mini. I am in need of such a computer. My PB 550 is getting long in the tooth and there is nothing in the lineup that I would purchase that fits my needs.
25 hours until my hemorrhoid operation.
It’s about time we have had some good rumors. The rumors for this years macworld have been so dull thus far.
The writer wrote…“And, one more thing….. iLife for Windows.”
I have long believed that iLife for Windows (with certain built-in limitations) would be a fantastic way to lure WinDoze users in to seeing that it isn’t just iTunes, it is inherently MAC. As far as the NANO device goes, I’d probably take one if even falling somewhere between the Blackberry/phone idea and a full fledged OSX nano-computer.
iLife for windows…. THIS will change everything!
Frogstick
Get your priorities straight. You can always find another wife.
I can’t wait until the Keynote is OVER! I’m ready to barf if I hear one more rumor or product guess about anything!
Thank God it’s tomorrow!
Alec,
I let him bring the iMac to bed with us.
What more does he want?
Charge $399 for iLife for Windows to make it compelling to just add $200 to get a Mac mini.
Don’t be mistaken… the real news from Macworld 2007 will be the release of iLife ’07 for Windows XP and Vista.
Even though we have Smart Phones (there’s an oxymoron since most use Windows Mobile!) and Blackberrys that could be called mini-computers, I can see what Snow writes about a nano-computer from Apple coming to fruition. It fits in with Apple’s concept of a digital lifestyle. And as flash memory increases in capacity and reduces in size, we will eventually reach that plateau.
Gil – There is a mid level Mac thats between the Mac Pro and the Mac mini – its called the iMac.
MDN: boy “Boy will I be glad when tomorrow is over”
That sort of device is still someway off. Neither battery tech nor processor tech can deliver all that in a package as small as a phone.
Newton II.
John:
And we never thought that we’d be able to carry around over 15,000 songs in our pockets either.
This is so exciting thatI farted.
The REAL shocker is Apple pulling out of the computer hardware biz and concentrate on OSX. The fast (relative to IBM) pace of Intel processor updates makes it impractical for a company like Apple to keep updating their product line. It’s creating too much inventory of *slightly* obsolete products. They will also have a complete office suite to compete with MS Office. They will go head-to-head with Microsoft on their own turf. They will license OSX to HP, Lenovo, Dell, etc (Gateway won’t last till then). You will be able to buy an “HP Mac” from Staples. You will be able to order a Dell with Mac OSX option. The Macintosh as we know it will no longer exist. Let the other hardware vendors deal with hardware obsolescence. Apple’s core hardware biz will center around consumer electronics: iPods, phones, iTV, etc. This transition will take place by 2009 when Jobs will step down to tend to other affairs.
More geek fantasies. No way is Apple ‘gonna release a device that does all this, it would canabilise other Mac’s.
I expect something unexpected, but this is just plain silly.
1) This will up everyone’s expectations, so no matter what SJ releases, it’ll be seen as a disappointment.
2) Geekdream products such as this, actually hurt Apple, as zombified analysts who look at Apple every few months, and see them just as another Dell/Microsoft hybrid, will see articles such as this and take them seriously, jump on the bandwagon, and make AAPL crash when these fantasy articles don’t appear.
I’m all for speculation, but let’s keep it realistic.
If Steve is going to put iLife into some gadget phone set up, and issue a Windows version, he had better first get to work on fixing the parts of iLife that are such a mess!
convergence blows…
it should be a portable mac, in the same way the ipod is a portable music holder…
you can carry it to your friends place and link it up to any display…
The key words in the article above are “…I think…” In short, it’s another classic from O’Grady wherein they’re pulling this out of their posterior cavity. This is anything but an educated rumor based on fact. It’s wishful thinking. And that folks, is the level of quality you get from O’Grady.
There’s nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
How about iChat for Windows?
Or wait for six months or so, and – when Leopard has been on the street for several months – release Tiger to select Windows OEM manufacturers like HP or Lenovo so long as they abide by a strict hardware reference design.
Or bring Power Computing back to life (Apple still owns that company’s IP as far as I recall) and bring it out as a “cheaper” Macintosh whose firmware only allows the running the running of Tiger and Windows XP (not Vista) until Leopard is around 18 months old.
In order to maintain Power Computing as Apple’s “poor relation”, keep it a couple of generations behind in terms of processor deployment – in other words, use Conroe as opposed to Woodcrest’s successor or Yonah instead of Penryn.
When Apple moves to what I believe is now referred to Westmere (neé Nehalem-C, aka the 32nm shrink of Nehalem), PC could be allowed to flood the market with Penryn-based systems running Penryn as Apple moves to Cougar, Bobcat or Civet or whatever 10.6 is codenamed.
People who want “state of the art” will buy Apple. People who want something that isn’t Windows will buy PC. Apple and their developers benefit either way. Microsoft would suffer under the law of diminishing returns once people realise that their “Windows Safety Net” was largely redundant.
Keynote under Windows XP would be a travesty as far as I’m concerned. Ditto Pages.
No, it’s a shoe phone. With one of these, if one of your shoes happens to fall in the gutter while you’re walking down the street, you can just hang up on whoever you’re talking to and wear your phone.
I really wish it would be something like this, but I’m afraid such high hopes are setting one up for disappointment.
But while we’re dreaming:
How about the iSonicScrewdriver, a 10 TB do-all, be-all high tech device that can store your MP3s, open alien technology protected vaults, and stun enemies — all in less than 10 ounces! I’d buy one!
Using new 32 GB flash memory maybe? I’d love one.
Hey guys, did you know the word “gullible” isn’t in the dictionary?
With so many opinions, hopes, and dreams I wonder who will be right and who will be wrong, and if no one outside of Apple’s war room has even imagined what will be revealed 09 January 2007.
What do I want? An auditorium full of Mac zealots laughing, crying, fist pumping, dancing, yelling, cheering. No, wait, that’s too much. How about a room full of people with stereotypical smug smiles on their faces?
It will be called the iCar.
It will sport a built in iPod including iTV in the back for the kids. The car will be navigated by a new version of the Newton with GPS capabilities and will sport a nice 10 inch LCD screen on the dash to connect to your iPhone so you can iChat on the road.
And to think Ford is going with Microsoft…hahahahahahah….losers.
“now if only the wife will approve the funds…”
Ahhh, the greatest obstacle to a geeks true happiness – the wife!
I still think it’s the perfect mouse-trap
Memo to all the Windoze fanboys:
1. Apple is doing so well on the stock market that you can’t cry that Apple is all but dead so you trot out “Steve is a crook.” It won’t work, Steve’s not going anywhere. He’s going to continue to make life hell for you.
2. You can’t have our toys. If you want iLife so bad get a Mac!
Now
All the rest of you kids go outside and play now, the party isn’t until tomorrow!
Macedsince84, OMG I almost wet myself!
What if iWork7 works with the new Office2007 better than Office for Macs? Now that would be cool.
for db:
There is ZERO chance Apple will ever make iLife for Windoze..because that is what the whole mac-apple expierence is all about: tight intergration of soft AND hardware: who wants iLife on a PC and share it with a dozen russian, rumanian and N-korean hackers??? So…seriously: no iLife on the PC. want it? buy a mac…
MacB. NL
I believe this to true. Digg this story…
http://digg.com/apple/Apple_to_introduce_the_Mac_nano
Prediction…
iPhone
iPhone Pro (iPhone X)
The iPhone is the size of an iPod Nano but thicker and probably a slider. It will be a phone and a 1 GB music player with very limited iCal, Address Book, iChat….mostly viewing what comes from your Mac. But mindlessly simple. microSD slot for more music and a a 2 MP camera. Maybe Bluetooth…not sure about that. Plug it in to your Mac and it charges and pops up iTunes. On the phone, you’ll get the iPod interface for your music. iTunes music store on the iPhone will be tough because you’ll not only have to buy the music but pay the DL charges. I’m reasonably sure Apple will sell these unlocked and not get into the carrier business. Their web site will provide downloadable profiles for each carrier. The carriers will sell them in their stores also but probably for full price.
Later this year, they will bring out the iPhone Pro (or iPhone X) which will have more functions than the iPhone but won’t be nearly as bloated as the Treo or Blackberry. It will not be a true Smartphone, because those things are too complex to be functional.(I have three…) Ask the average guy with a Smartphone, or Blackberry, or Treo what they use. Voice, text, light email, schedules, contacts. Web browsing is stupid and downloadable TV and movies are stupid, although Apple is the one company I would trust to do it. More likely, you will be able to convert videos in iTunes to phone format and transfer them that way.
Check out the Nokia 6682 for a decent Smartphone that can do most of this now.
MW: “very” As in, you can be VERY sure I have no idea if any of this is true.
There will be no iLife for Windows. Apple does not make that much revenue selling software, compared to hardware. iLife, like Mac OS X, is a means of selling more Macs, by differentiating Macs from Windows PCs. iTunes is offered on both platforms because it is a means of selling more iPods (hardware), so having a Windows version is essential to the success of iPod. If there was iLife for Windows, that would only serve to eliminate a key reason to Get a Mac.
I think there will be such a device, but it will be called iPod “something” and not “Mac nano.” Steve Jobs thinks iPod is the “next big thing” for the second 30 years of Apple. Tens of millions of people are already wearing an iPod as a music/media player. It’s a natural step to make it into the heart of a wearable computer platform. That’s why it had a non-specific name like “iPod” to begin with, five+ years ago. It was always the plan to evolve it from something specific that everyone had to have (because it’s a cool music player) to something more general that people will depend on having in the future, like the current status of desktop and laptop computers. I can’t wait for the actual keynote to see if it all happens.
How come NOBODY has suggested the most obvious Mac update – even more obvious than an 8–core Mac Pro announcement – a Core 2 Duo Mac Mini??? This is the ONLY Mac still using last year’s processors, and it’s WAY overpriced in its current configuration.
I know it’s not that exciting, but it’s going to happen. That’s the big hardware update. Because Apple is all about evolution, not revolution. The iTV will not support DVR capabilities; it will just do something simple, like stream mp4 movies to your TV. In a year they’ll add another feature to make it better.
Likewise, Apple won’t introduce a super-gadget like a Mac nano; they’ll just take the existing iPod and add a new capability, like voice communications and recording. Just like they added video, color/photos, a click wheel, and a touchpad interface each year for the past five years. Evolution, not revolution. It’s simply a business strategy, a lesson they learned the hard way with the Newton: revolutionary products either explode or fizzle; but evolutionary products take advantage of secure market niches and provide constant, predictable revenue growth.
Oh, and, the “30 years was just the beginning” stuff doesn’t refer to some kind of mind-blowing new hardware we haven’t even imagined… it refers to Leopard. 30 years ago Apple created their best-of-breed operating system, and Leopard is the pinnacle of OS perfection… with Tiger they established a mature API structure for their new next-generation OS (that is, OS X) and now that that’s done they can really start grooving on the UI… just like they did 30 years ago.
WWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!
I can dream…