The iPhone is Great But What About The Rest?

by Aaron Wright Jan 12, 2007

Don’t sit there and deny it. Don’t tell me that the iPhone and AppleTV deal was enough for you because, in all honesty, it certainly wasn’t for me. Don’t tell me you weren’t waiting for Stevey J. to say his famous “oh, and one more thing” line, hopefully talking about Leopard, iLife or at least something!

In truth anything else mentioned at the keynote after or before the iPhone announcement would have been pretty much insignificant, including Leopard. Nothing could have topped it and considering the keynote lasted a good hour and 45 minutes, I dare say there wasn’t much time for anything else. Are we therefore in agreement that, slightly disappointed as we were, it wasn’t Steve Jobs’ fault? Okay, fair enough, it wasn’t his fault, but that doesn’t give me my fix on Leopard and iLife info, does it?

Although it’s anyone’s guess as to when the next keynote packed with this information will be, the chances are that it’s likely to take place in mid-April at the NAB2007 – the world’s largest electronic media show. How do I know this? Well, I don’t know for sure that Apple won’t offer a keynote any sooner, but taking a look at this page and Apple’s lovely booth number, it kind of speaks for itself.

So with all the stuff that’s gone on over the past week, what can we expect or at least speculate Apple to be announcing come April?

Leopard

Technically, Leopard should be released before this date, but it’s not like Apple to release an operating system without some big fancy party to celebrate it – the NAB2007 is the perfect venue for this. If you take a look at our very own Chris Howard’s rating announcement chart, you’ll see that this is likely to be the king of the show with a ‘Major’ rating. There’s not a lot more to say about Leopard at this point that we don’t already know, so I’m just going to offer a couple of links for those of you that haven’t quite got all the information you need yet.

Now while we all, myself included, were questioning why Leopard didn’t make an appearance, I would like to say that Steve Jobs did say last year that Leopard wouldn’t be released until Spring of this year, which makes the NAB2007 even more likely a venue for its unveiling. All this talk about Apple releasing the operating system early is just assumptions based on Apple’s previous years of joyfully surprising us with an early release – it was the Mac community that got us wondering where the Leopard announcement was at Macworld, not Apple.

iLife ‘07 and iWork ‘07

It’s safe to presume that iLife ’07 will be released at the same time as Leopard as the two sort of go together hand in hand – if you think of Leopard as the Dad and iLife as its creative Child. There’s no saying what updates are going to take place in iLife ’07, but I’m guessing it will probably be usability features over anything, as we saw in the update from iLife ’05 to iLife ’06. Of course iLife ’06 did bring us iWeb so whether there’s a new application in the package to bump up the price is anyone’s guess.

The more certain rumour though is for iWork ’07 which was touted to be released this week during Macworld. At present iWork ’06 offers Pages 2 (a word processor) and Keynote 3 (a presentation package similar to MS Powerpoint), but as from about June last year we’ve been hearing reports of a spreadsheet style application to be included with iWork ’07 called Charts. The great thing about this is that it will supposedly support importing and exporting of Microsoft Excel documents – now if they could just offer .DOC support for Pages then I’d be a much happier iWork user. There’s not a lot else on this topic but ThinkSecret does have a nice little article on Charts, which is worth a read.

New iSight

This update rumour has no basis other than Apple now no longer sell iSight – I guess you could call it iSaw now. iSight featured 640 x 480 resolution with 24-bit color at 30 frames a second and in terms of today’s technological standards that’s rubbish, in fact, it’s abysmal. The camera itself did look nice though albeit a bit big, again by today’s standards. Whilst the iMac and MacBook ranges feature built in iSight cameras just above the screens it’s fair to say that an update is still needed. Now this is a tricky one for Apple. Do they release a new iSight camera with at least 2-mega pixel resolutions, or do they scrap that idea and just release iSight through their display line and computer line? The latter idea would obviously put older Mac users who don’t have built in iSight on their machines out of the frame. Of course, for arguments sake Apple could just release both an individual iSight camera and have the updated camera in their display line and computer line.

New displays

I’ve always seen the displays Apple sell as over-priced although they are of high quality – because of this I just instantly associated the displays with MacPro users as no screen is included with those machines. Of course, Apple’s line of displays are suitable for MacMini’s or even PC’s, so why not revamp them a little bit to appeal to a wider market?

The first thing Apple would need to do is lower the price of these beasts a little, or at least offer a smaller/cheaper version for home users like you or I. Now this update would maybe coincide with the update I mentioned above – built in iSight cameras. I personally don’t think business or professional users would make much use of a built in camera on their display, other than to take a snapshot of a someone who has just stolen your display, of course – okay that wouldn’t really work unless it was an iMac or MacBook.

HDTV

There’s now no denying that Apple have entered into the media market, especially with their recent name change from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. Apple TV is Apple’s answer to streaming content from your computer to your T.V, so wouldn’t it be nice if Apple began offering Apple branded HDTV’s? After all, I think it’s now fair to say that with their computer line being out-numbered by their media and communications line (Mac verses iPod, AppleTV, iPhone), Apple are competing more with the likes of Sony than they are with Microsoft or Dell.

And 2007 is apparently the year to buy a HDTV, with parts becoming all the more cheaper and HDTV’s becoming the ‘norm’ in the T.V department – I’ve certainly not seen the old CRT T’V’s for sale in a long time now, and all the new flat screen TV’s that come out appear to only be in High Definition.

Now that Apple are no longer just a computer company, there could be a number of different routes they could take, including HD-DVD players, so perhaps the last assumption on my list of what could be announced by Apple in April, if ever, is a bit much.

What do you expect Apple to announce at their next keynote, whenever that may be? And could you see Apple entering the HDTV market?

Comments

  • iPhone and AppleTV are groundbreaking launches at this year’s Macworld and they deserved to have this keynote all to themselves.

    Leopard, i-Apps updates, and other digital peripherals including HDTVs, displays, and iSights, to name a few, would have to wait for the next special events in the next few weeks.

    Important as it is, Leopard can take a back seat to the revolutionary iPhone and iTV as these are Apple’s new platforms for expansion and conquest of the living room. Leopard is important to anchor the Mac into the rest of the decade and beyond and Leopard wasn’t dire of its own intro at Macworld. Far from it. Tiger is humming along just fine against Vista, thank you very much.

    So, Aaron, sorry to blow your high expectations for Leopard at Macworld but surely you have no problem with your Tiger and i-Apps goodness at this point, do ya?

    Robomac had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 846
  • “Don’t tell me that the iPhone and AppleTV deal was enough for you because, in all honesty, it certainly wasn’t for me.”

    The iPhone and AppleTV deal was enough for me.

    “Don’t tell me you weren’t waiting for Stevey J. to say his famous “oh, and one more thing” line, hopefully talking about Leopard, iLife or at least something!”

    I was not waiting for Stevey J. to say his famous “oh, and one more thing” line. I was calling T-Mobile to see when my contract with them expired. C’mon - an iLife update as the keynote ender when 4,000 people are sitting there salivating, waiting to go check out the iPhone in its case?

    Short of doing a 4-hour keynote, there was no way Steve was going to be able to introduce much more than the iPhone. Of course there are updates to the rest of the Apple family - patience, grasshopper.

    neven had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 14
  • an iLife update as the keynote ender when 4,000 people are sitting there salivating, waiting to go check out the iPhone in its case?

    lol. quite.


    iPhone and AppleTV are groundbreaking launches at this year’s Macworld and they deserved to have this keynote all to themselves.

    Couldn’t agree more.

    patience, grasshopper.

    Precisely.

    Benji had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 927
  • A name change:

    The iPhone henceforth to be called the xpod
    or something like that…

    If anybody read my post #13 here:
    http://www.applematters.com/index.php/section/comments/confessions-of-a-steve-jobs-zombie/
    then you know I think history is pretty much repeating itself,—albeit with a twist.

    Jobs in ‘83 told the super-tight group working on the mac that he had secured the rights to the name “Macintosh.”

    It was a outright lie.
    He had not.
    He told them that to increase morale.
    Then…went out and secured the rights later with a huge sack of wampum.

    He has made the same errors leading up to the iPhone announcement.

    Admit it: Jobs can sometimes be one brilliant dummy.

    Securing the iPhone rights is going to be a tad more testy a thing than it was back in the 80s.

    I see it this way:
    He pays enormously through the nose for the naming rights, or he loses a legal battle, or he changes the name.

    In short:

    Xpod…
    Xpod…
    Or some such similar….

    koreyel had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 22
  • He could just change the name to Apple Phone.  Wouldn’t that solve the problem?

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 2220
  • Yes Beeblebrox.

    But he obviously doesn’t like that name.

    The group of developers who worked on the Mac came to regard that name with intense affection. That’s why he fibbed and told them he has secured the rights. Morale was slipping at that momoent. Similarly, I suspect, the group of developers on the iPhone came to refer to their creation with just as much intense affection.

    Ergo:
    He wants that name badly.
    He may be willing to pay whatever Cisco demands.
    We shall see…

    [Note: another interesting historically correspondence: the first two rows of Flint Center at De Anza Jr. College were filled with the close group of developers when the Mac was introduced in 84. I read that the first few rows of the Moscone Center had the iPhone team in them.]

    koreyel had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 22
  • But he obviously doesn’t like that name.

    In what way is that “obvious”?

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 2220
  • The iTV will fail completely unless Apple allows the installation of Quicktime plug-ins such as DIVX, and knowing Apple and the fact that the iTV is closed, that is not going to happen (without some hacking), so frankly why they are bothering even trying to flog the item outside of the US is beyond me, as there is no content that you will be able to play on it, unless of course you want to go to the great lengths of converting every video to something iTunes compatible.

    Using Steve’s Pricing Logic: Apple TV $300 + DVD Player and recorderr $250 +DIVX player $200 + computer $300 = MacMini @ $600, a saving of a few hundred dollars and some space in front of your telly!

    So no the iTV was not enough of an announcement! I’d get more use out of iLife 07 and Leopard thanks!

    barrowman had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 15
  • A trademark is not a patent, whereby no one but the inventor is allowed by law to use. I am not a trademark expert but this is how I understand the law:

    Cisco owns the trademark “iPhone” and is now using that mark on VoIP devices through its Linksys division. Apple has now applied its trademark “iPhone” on a cellular device (not VoIP, mind you).

    Neither product collides in the same market and neither is competing against the other’s customers. I doubt Joe VoIP is the same soul as Joe Cellular. Only a fool can mistake one from the other - by its looks, by its manufacturer, or even by its purpose.

    Hence, the Apple stance that both products can be called “iPhone” and that should be that. Cisco’s claims are valid but “silly” nonetheless, as Apple rebutted. Cisco’s trademark has been in storage since 1996 and has only been unearthed in December 2006 for Linksys’ VoIP handsets to counter Apple’s imminent “iPhone” introduction? Tell that to the trademark enforcement judge that you have been protecting your trademark all along, Cisco.

    All the while, Apple’s iPhone has been called the “iPhone” ever since the iPod debuted by legions of Mac faithful. How could Apple, and even Steve, call it any different? That brandname has already been christened to the iPhone a long while ago in the tech circle.

    If I were a judge, I would like see the “prior art” of this trademark and I can clearly see Apple’s advantage. Cisco never even considered this trademark had not for the massive use of it in the Mac rumour mill.

    Robomac had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 846
  • Beeblebrox,

    Front page of my business section today:

    “Apple spokeswoman calls iPhone suit ‘Silly.’”

    Which means basically Jobs said it was “Silly.”
    Which by default must mean the iPhone brand has particular value for him. After all if it didn’t, Jobs’ wouldn’t have been negotiating over it right up until the keynote.

    Also—notice he does not call Apple TV “iTV.”
    Why not?

    Because unlike the Mac, unlike the iPod, and unlike the iPhone he has not invested any of his life blood into it.

    Apple TV could just as well have been made by John Sculley (or Billy Gates).
    It is not going to change anything.
    Books aren’t going to be written about it.
    It is mundane: Sub-sub-sub Herculean.
    A Zune dressed up in a zoot suit.

    In other words:
    It is not worth fighting over.

    koreyel had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 22
  • Agreed the iTV needs DivX plugins etc - certainly some interactions with Elgato would be nice. Waiting patiently(?!!) for this.

    The computer update that’s missing is the MacMini. Still core duo, ready for an update, now it’s 6.5x6.5 which is smaller footprint than the iTV. Wonder if the Mini is going to have an evolution of some kind.

    Greg Alexander had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 228
  • Clearly when speaking of an iPhone, one assumes it’s the Apple product. So Apple doesn’t have to use the name at all. Just sell it with an apple logo and the public will call it the iPhone. Same thing happened somehow with the term Walkman. Sony made the name up, but the public from then on decided to call every other brand a walkman. Even when Nokia makes something similar, everyone will persist calling that an iPhone. No pay-off no trial. The general public has decided. Couldn’t believe my 84 year father got excited over what he calls the iPhone. He hates mobile phones.

    WAWA had this to say on Jan 12, 2007 Posts: 89
  • If I were to guess I’d say that they’re holding off on Leopard and iLife to coincide with the launch of quad core processors in the iMac and Mac Pro (something they’d have to do nearly simultaneously to prevent the two lines from being nearly on par with one another).

    One of the problems with adding more and more processor cores is that it has less and less of an effect in real world terms unless the application is designed to utilize the extra power.  Leopard would need to have this built in for it to be the OS that is the back bone for the near future of the Mac line as more and more Macs have more and more cores.  iMovie as well would be an app that demand this sort of optimization if they wanted to have it be a real step up from last year’s product.

    Chicken2nite had this to say on Jan 13, 2007 Posts: 79
  • Couldn’t believe my 84 year father got excited over what he calls the iPhone. -Wawa

    Steve’s RDF really is that powerful? Good man!

    Leopard would need to have this built in…as more and more Macs have more and more cores. -C2N

    Well, OSX’s XNU/Mach kernel proudly supports multiple processors by their very design. How many processors (cores)? I read sometime ago it can scale up to 64 cores.

    So, I don’t think we should be worrying about that with the current 4-core and 8-core CPUs just coming out. By then, the HAL layer would have been improved to scale much more.

    Robomac had this to say on Jan 13, 2007 Posts: 846
  • Which by default must mean the iPhone brand has particular value for him.

    But that does not by default mean he hates all other names. 

    Also, lawsuit-happy Apple calling the lawsuit against themselves “silly” does not make it so.  Apple of all companies should appreciate the issue of suing over trademark infringement as it has claimed the rights to the word “pod.”

    Beeblebrox had this to say on Jan 13, 2007 Posts: 2220
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