Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone 4's videoconferencing feature FaceTime at WWDC 2010.
Apple will hold a press conference Wednesday, where Steve Jobs is expected to announce the birth of new stars in his product galaxy, including (probably) new iPods and (possibly) a successor to Apple TV.
As is always the case, Apple has been careful to guard its announcements. The result has been the usual widespread guessing game among Apple worshippers and members of the press. But given the timing of the event, we can make some easy guesses: Apple’s annual September event has always revolved around iTunes and iPods.
Based on a handful of credible reports and some evidence, this time around we expect some interesting upgrades. A touchscreen iPod Nano and an iPod Touch with dual cameras are almost to be expected. It’s also possible that Apple will introduce a complete do-over of the Apple TV.
Wired.com will be attending the Apple event Wednesday, which begins 10 a.m. PT, so check back at Gadget Lab for live blog coverage. To stay plugged in 140 characters at a time, follow @bxchen or @gadgetlab on Twitter.
Meanwhile, if you’re eager to know what’s coming, here are our predictions for what’s likely (and unlikely) to debut at this week’s Apple presser.
Additionally, the website iLounge, which has been spectacularly accurate with Apple rumors in the past, claims that the shape of the iPod Touch is changing: “Think of the top of a MacBook Pro, only smaller, which is to say flat rather than curved at the center—closer to the look of the first-generation iPod touch’s back, only with modifications.” In other words, it’ll be flat like an iPhone 4 instead of rounded like an earlier-generation iPhone.
And let’s not forget Apple sells other iPods, too. There’s been a flurry of rumors claiming the iPod Nano will gain a square-shaped body and a touch display to eliminate the traditional click wheel. Corroborating these rumors, a few photos of third-party cases designed for a square-shaped Nano have have been popping up on the web, and test files hidden in the latest iOS beta allude to an “unknown” device.
To us, a puny touchscreen is an odd design choice, and it’s difficult to imagine how it would make sense — or be very usable, given that the entire screen of a Nano is only a few times larger than the surface area of a typical fingerprint. But the iPod Nano has had somewhat of an identity crisis, as it’s gone through a myriad of major design changes in years past (with the latest model including a camera), so a major makeover is plausible. In light of the multiple reports and leaked case designs, we’ll file this under “probable.”
Oh, and remember the iPod Classic? Each year we wonder when Apple will discontinue this device, but because the current iPhone 4 maxes out at 32-GB of capacity, and the next iPod Nano will likely be sold in 32-GB and 64-GB models, there still seems to be a “need” for a massively capacious 160-GB iPod Classic. Apple still has to serve iTunes-addicted audiophiles, after all. We’re guessing the Classic is still sticking around , and if it gets an upgrade at all, it should only be a minor boost in hard-drive capacity.
Lending these rumors a tiny bit more credence, Wired.com also independently discovered on LinkedIn that Apple had recently hired UI designers with previous experience in broadcasting.
Apple has long dubbed the Apple TV a “hobby” product, suggesting it’s not a blockbuster hit like many of its other offerings. We’ve speculated about why a transition to iOS would be wise: Apple might as well pin this “hobby” on a flagship line of products and see what happens. Most interesting is the idea of the Apple TV gaining an app store, which could bring some interesting new functionalities to your TV screen such as Pandora, streaming network apps like ABC, and more.
We also expect Apple to introduce a new option to rent TV episodes for $1 a piece (whereas currently you can own a TV episode for $2), as a number of publications have reported.
Lending credence to this rumor is the fact that Apple recently built a 500,000 square-foot data center in North Carolina, which would provide the massive bandwidth required for streaming multimedia. Apple’s recent acquisition of Lala also hints at the likelihood of iTunes music being stored online and streamed to your devices. Now would be a better time than ever to kick “iTunes Live” (a possible name candidate) into gear.
New iPods
Let’s start with the obvious. Apple’s popular iPod Touch is due for its annual upgrade, and rumors suggest the next upgrade will gain most of the features of the iPhone 4 (minus the phone, of course): a high-resolution “retina” display, dual cameras and a faster A4 processor. Because it lacks phone hardware, we can expect it to be a wee bit smaller than the iPhone 4.Additionally, the website iLounge, which has been spectacularly accurate with Apple rumors in the past, claims that the shape of the iPod Touch is changing: “Think of the top of a MacBook Pro, only smaller, which is to say flat rather than curved at the center—closer to the look of the first-generation iPod touch’s back, only with modifications.” In other words, it’ll be flat like an iPhone 4 instead of rounded like an earlier-generation iPhone.
And let’s not forget Apple sells other iPods, too. There’s been a flurry of rumors claiming the iPod Nano will gain a square-shaped body and a touch display to eliminate the traditional click wheel. Corroborating these rumors, a few photos of third-party cases designed for a square-shaped Nano have have been popping up on the web, and test files hidden in the latest iOS beta allude to an “unknown” device.
To us, a puny touchscreen is an odd design choice, and it’s difficult to imagine how it would make sense — or be very usable, given that the entire screen of a Nano is only a few times larger than the surface area of a typical fingerprint. But the iPod Nano has had somewhat of an identity crisis, as it’s gone through a myriad of major design changes in years past (with the latest model including a camera), so a major makeover is plausible. In light of the multiple reports and leaked case designs, we’ll file this under “probable.”
Oh, and remember the iPod Classic? Each year we wonder when Apple will discontinue this device, but because the current iPhone 4 maxes out at 32-GB of capacity, and the next iPod Nano will likely be sold in 32-GB and 64-GB models, there still seems to be a “need” for a massively capacious 160-GB iPod Classic. Apple still has to serve iTunes-addicted audiophiles, after all. We’re guessing the Classic is still sticking around , and if it gets an upgrade at all, it should only be a minor boost in hard-drive capacity.
iOS Apple TV
Multiple independent reports have received tips that the next version of the Apple TV will get a software overhaul, running the iOS operating system that powers the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It’s also rumored to be priced at $100, possibly being rebranded “iTV.”Lending these rumors a tiny bit more credence, Wired.com also independently discovered on LinkedIn that Apple had recently hired UI designers with previous experience in broadcasting.
Apple has long dubbed the Apple TV a “hobby” product, suggesting it’s not a blockbuster hit like many of its other offerings. We’ve speculated about why a transition to iOS would be wise: Apple might as well pin this “hobby” on a flagship line of products and see what happens. Most interesting is the idea of the Apple TV gaining an app store, which could bring some interesting new functionalities to your TV screen such as Pandora, streaming network apps like ABC, and more.
We also expect Apple to introduce a new option to rent TV episodes for $1 a piece (whereas currently you can own a TV episode for $2), as a number of publications have reported.
Streaming iTunes
Even with an app store and TV rentals, a new Apple TV would be uninteresting without a major tweak to iTunes. (Why would you want to rent an episode, wait five to ten minutes to download it and then watch it?) Fortunately, the past year, recent moves show that Apple is preparing to move iTunes to the “cloud.” That would provide consumers with online-based storage, making their music and TV shows accessible wherever they are. But it would only be practical if you could stream your media directly from the web-based servers where they live — a capability that would also prove handy for streaming TV and movies that you’re renting from iTunes.Lending credence to this rumor is the fact that Apple recently built a 500,000 square-foot data center in North Carolina, which would provide the massive bandwidth required for streaming multimedia. Apple’s recent acquisition of Lala also hints at the likelihood of iTunes music being stored online and streamed to your devices. Now would be a better time than ever to kick “iTunes Live” (a possible name candidate) into gear.
iOS and iLife Software Updates
We’re 99-percent certain that iOS 4 will arrive for iPad owners this week, because Apple has said it was due for release in the fall. That means the iPad will finally gain multitasking capability for third-party apps to run in the background, among other features such as grouping apps into folders.We expect iPhone and iPod Touch users to get a software update as well. In response to complaints that iOS 4 is slow as molasses on the second-generation iPhone, Jobs reportedly told a customer that a fix was coming soon.
Last (and least interesting on our list), Apple’s iLife software suite (iPhoto, Garage Band, etc.) for Macs is due for an upgrade. MacRumors notes that iLife has an 18-month release cycle, and the current iLife ‘10 was released early 2009. Around now we should see iTunes 2011.
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