September 2007 Archives

Officials at Apple, Inc., have a habit of being very close-lipped about potential future products or product updates. At the same time, Apple’s products—like the very popular iPod line of music players—are extremely cutting-edge and user-friendly, making them very sought-after. These two factors, tight control over press and popular products, are excellent ingredients for a robust rumor mill.

 

That rumor mill is in full swing again after a post yesterday morning on the AppleInsider blog regarding Apple’s plans to have a go at reinventing the personal digital assistant (PDA). To understand the significance of this requires a short history lesson.

 

In the early 1990s, Apple Computer (now Apple, Inc.) introduced a product called the Apple MessagePad, otherwise known as the Newton (name for the software that ran on it). This was a handheld device for taking notes, storing addresses/phone numbers, and keeping track of events with a digital calendar. In other words, it was PDA before that concept existed in the mainstream market.

 

Arguably, Newton’s biggest claim to fame was its software recognition software that, as the Wikipedia entry for the device succinctly puts it, “could be fairly inaccurate.” Newton was a cutting edge product, but for various reasons—perhaps most of all because it was a bit too far ahead of its time—never took off and was retired in 1998.

 

Now that iPhone has successfully launched, AppleInsider said in the Wednesday post, Apple is forging full steam ahead with another project the company has been working on for the past 18 months: an Apple PDA. The product reportedly will run an embedded version of OS X, aka “Leopard.”

 

Citing information from “well-respected sources,” AppleInsider painted the following picture of the Newton II: an ultra-thin, handheld device about 1.5 times the size of the iPhone and iPod Touch, with a roughly 720x480 resolution screen and more advanced use of Apple’s multi-touch technology (e.g. drag-and-drop, copy-and-paste).

 

“More broadly characterized as Apple's answer to the ultra-mobile PC, the next-gen device is believed to be tracking for a release sometime in the first half of 2008,” AppleInsider reported. “Assuming the project remains clear of roadblocks, sources believe it could make an inaugural appearance during Jobs' Macworld keynote in January alongside some new Mac offerings. Still, manufacturing ramp and availability would seem unlikely until closer to mid-year, those same sources say.”

 

Hmm… seems like I’ve seen this movie before: rumors fly in September about a new and cool Apple product. The rumors reach fever pitch approaching Macworld in January. At Macworld, Steve Jobs wows the crowd with a fantastic presentation of the new product, which is slated for a June release. Will history repeat itself? Stay tuned.

At its Developer Forum Wednesday, Intel officials outlined the company’s plans to combine WiMAX with Centrino Duo processors to develop what it claims will be a new category of mobile, broadband-connected computing devices. The initiative, which is slated to bear fruit next year, includes the use of High-k metal gate silicon technology to deliver better battery life.

 

CBR reporter Rhonda Ascierto pointed out in a Thursday report that Intel’s main focus remains on notebook computers, but the company is branching out into handheld, Internet-enabled devices and, even more of a reach, the WiMAX networks needed to support such products.

 

“Intel's WiMax ambitions may still be premature, at least in the US where cellular coverage is almost ubiquitous and WiFi is fast becoming available throughout major metropolitan areas,” Ascierto said in the report.

 

Intel officials said its new WiMAX-enabled products, which fit into the new category of “Mobile Internet Devices” or MIDs, will use the company’s latest 45nm processors.

 

Hmm… now I wonder—does iPhone fit into the MID category?

 

In a Wednesday announcement about the WiMAX initiative, Anand Chandrasekher, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s ultra mobility group stressed consumer demand for the “full Internet” on mobile devices.

 

That seems like a pretty overt reference to the capabilities offered by Apple’s iPhone, if you ask me.

 

In fact, one could view this entire initiative as an effort to compete with iPhone specifically and maybe, in a broader sense, other smartphone/service offerings. That seems like a pretty big bite for Intel to get it mouth around.

 

“Not only does Intel want to create an entire new category of handheld computers called Mobile Internet Devices, it wants to set up a whole new network to service those devices,” CNet blogger Tom Krazit said in a Wednesday post.

 

Stay tuned—we could be in for an interesting ride.

If you happened to visit Apple’s Web site today, you may have noticed the “Open letter to iPhone owners from Steve Jobs,” posted Apple-style inside an image of the phone’s screen itself.

 

If you happened to be among the folks who stood in line to snap up one of the first iPhones in June, the letter probably came as a bit of a victory. You see, this week Apple revamped its line of iPods and iPhones, and lowered the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399. That means earlier adopters essentially paid $200 extra solely for the benefit of having an iPhones for a few weeks longer than everyone else.

 

In the letter, Jobs acknowledged the “hundreds of e-mails” he received from iPhone users upset that the value of their new toy dropped $200 only two months after they bought it.

 

To appease these irked customers, Apple is now offering a $100 “store credit toward the purchase of any product at an Apple Retail Store or the Apple Online Store.” Further details a slated to be posted on Apple’s Web site next week.

 

Despite offering the store credit, Jobs stood by the decision to lower iPhone’s price: “I am sure we are making the right decision to lower the price of the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399, and that now is the right time to do it.” He hinted that the price cut has at least something to do with the pending holiday season—it’s a way to boost sales during what is usually the busiest part of the year for companies that sell consumer electronics.

 

Did you buy an iPhone early for $599? If so, is the $100 store credit enough to sooth your ruffled feathers, or do you still feel gypped?

Less than six months after announcing the Foleo, “the first computer designed to be a companion to a smartphone,” Palm has discontinued the product, CEO Ed Colligan said in a Sept. 4 blog entry.

 

The Foleo was essentially a mini laptop designed to sync with a smartphone. It was one company’s attempt to fulfill the demands of users for portable computing and telephony. Apparently, there just wasn’t a market for the product—a criticism that some analysts expressed when Foleo was announced in May.

 

I say “announced” rather than “launched” because, as Colligan acknowledged in his blog entry, no Foleos were ever shipped.

 

“Because we were nearly at the point for shipping Foleo, this was a very tough decision,” Colligan wrote. “Yet I am convinced this is the right thing to do.”

 

He continued: “In the course of the past several months, it has become clear that the right path for Palm is to offer a single, consistent user experience around this new platform design and a single focus for our platform development efforts.”

 

Hmm… ‘single, consistent user experience’… Can anyone say “iPhone”?

 

Colligan said Palm is now working on building the next generation of its software platform, which will boast “a modern flexible UI, instant performance and an incredibly simple and elegant development environment.”

 

Again, can you say “iPhone”?

 

When Foleo was announced in May, TMCnet president and group publisher Rich Tehrani said that he just didn’t see a market for the product.

 

“I can think of virtually no-one who needs it,” Tehrani wrote. “I keep trying to come up with a scenario where the Foleo makes sense and I just can’t. Palm would have been much better off making a truly functional ultra-mobile PC.”

 

The market has spoken, and it turns out Tehrani and the other analysts were right. What do you think—is Palm now focusing its attention correctly or making another mistake?

Well, it’s September and you know what that means—time for Apple to announce a whole new lineup of iPods! Today’s announcement about a new product lineup was a bit more exciting than usual because it included a new iPhone-like product as well.

 

The new “best iPods ever” lineup features the iPod shuffle (1GB, in five “remixed” colors, for $79); the iPod Nano now reshaped in a shorter and squatter form factor to accommodate a color screen for playing video (4GB model $149, 8GB model $199); the iPod Classic, which plays video and music and boasts 160GB of storage (price tag $249); the iPod Touch, which is essentially a iPhone without the phone, featuring the cool multi-touch interface found on iPhone, plus a 3.5 inch display and WiFi Web browsing (8GB model $299, 16GB model $399); and of course iPhone which will soon be even more of a value proposition, Apple claims, when the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store launches. Also coming soon: custom ringtones.

 

I must say, I do appreciate that the Nano is now video-enabled without losing its solid-state, Flash storage. I’ve had a Nano for almost a year now, and love its big storage in a small and relatively indestructible nature thanks to solid state media. Look, Ma, no moving parts! I would consider upgrading to the new Nano just to get video capability. By the way, the iPod Touch also uses a Flash drive.

 

No Apple announcement would be complete without some words about iTunes, and this one was no exception Apple is now in the processing of rolling out iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, which as the name implies will let users download music wirelessly using the WiFi capability on the iPod Touch or the iPhone.

 

Apparently as a way to demonstrate how powerful Wi-Fi Music Store can be, Apple is partnering with Starbucks Coffee on a couple of value-added features. Basically here’s how it will work: a user walks into a Starbucks Store with an iPod Touch or iPhone and the device recognizes the Starbucks wireless network and auto logs into the iTunes Store (free access). The device then displays the song currently playing in the store, along with ten previously played songs. The user can then opt to purchase a copy of that song on the spot. Wi-Fi Music Store will be available at Starbucks stores Oct. 2 in New York and Seattle, Nov. 7 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Feb. 2008 in Los Angeles and March 2008 in Chicago.

 

The “Now Playing” feature IMHO does have significant potential, assuming (as I do) that it eventually will be freed from the confines of Starbucks by expanding the concept to other stores that play music. (Like, say, a store that sells music.) Talk about a way to market songs! For such on-demand access to purchasing music as it is heard, I’m sure lots of people will be willing to pay per track—assuming the service works quickly and seamlessly enough.

 

What’s perhaps most significant about today’s announcement from Apple, I think, is that after the company introduced a fully converged device earlier this year, it is now in a sense re-diversifying by introducing a product that appeals to people who want a little less convergence; people who don’t want to pay $600 for a phone, even if it is cool, but will pay $400 for a music player that lets you surf the Web and download songs wirelessly. But wait—there is also a $400 iPhone. Will people really pay $400 for what is essentially a dumbed-down product when they could pay the same amount for the whole package (albeit 8GB vs. 16GB)? Time will tell.