Apple:
Speculation

Elephants rejoice: The Mouse Is Dead

Posted on Jun. 25, ’08, 6:15 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Apple » Speculation

I’m all for gross over-generalized sure-thing blanket-assumptions about the future, especially when it comes to making one myself—no one can really say you’re wrong right now, since it’s a personal theory, and if you are wrong not many are going to remember you said anything anyway (except maybe John Gruber, who gets some kind of sick pleasure from pointing out other’s inaccurate predictions).

So Mike Elgan’s quite unequivocal claim that The Mouse Is Dead is right up my alley—he uses present tense, cementing his confidence in the prediction; and he expresses his theory in terms of broad concepts and technology “phases,” which de-emphasize the specifics of his argument (which are disputable) and focuses instead on his general philosophy of technology interfacing (which isn’t).

He lists these four developments as evidence his theory that we’re in a constant push to get “closer” to our interface is still the driving force behind interface innovation:

1. Apple’s giant trackpad with multi-touch.
2. Gaming pointing devices.
3. “Brain-reading” devices.
4. Apple iPhone and the “iPhone killers.”

Those are examples of hardware tech that allows for mouse-less interaction, but Elgan’s claim doesn’t click until he brings the argument to software and operating systems—he points out that Microsoft has already said Windows 7 will be optimized for use with their Surface technology, and makes the not-unreasonable assumption that Apple’s next-gen OSs will emphasize the touch tech they’ve been patenting and perfecting for some time.

And it’s all in the software: It’s easy for someone to claim the mouse can’t die, because there are too many things that are much more efficient and much easier when using a mouse. But what they forget to include is the phrase “right now.” Modern interfaces are optimized for mouse control, and that’s why a mouse works best; a future interface optimized for something else will obviously work best with something else. That’s where Elgan’s claim shines—how can we dispute it when any opposing detail can be shot down as temporary and variable?

Well, he has me convinced.

Is the iSight returning in HD?

Posted on Jun. 17, ’08, 12:54 PM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Apple » Speculation

Oh Apple, how you love to tease us! MacRumors brings us word of the presence of a reference to “iSight HD” in QuickTime’s localizable.strings file. If you don’t believe us, and why would you, you can see it for yourself by navigating to the following folder and opening it up in TextEdit:

/System/Library/QuickTime/QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component/Contents/Resources/English.lproj

As you can no doubt see, not only does it mention iSight HD, it explicitly labels it as the “Next Generation USB iSight”, which might mean that Apple is planning a reincarnation of the late USB FireWire iSight camera. You didn’t really think we would lie to you, did you?

More than a year after the discontinuation of the standalone iSight camera, people still haven’t given up hope for an improved version of the camera to resurface or at least get integrated into revamped Apple Cinema Displays (which is another longstanding desire of many a Mac user, including yours truly).

As much as I would like to believe that the iSight HD is real, however, I find it strange that a company as neurotically secrecy obsessed as Apple would make such an anvil sized hint readily available for all to see, and therefore do not believe that it’s actually in the offing. We’d love to hear what you have to say.

[Via TUAW]

Snow Leopard Developer Preview hates PowerPC Macs

Posted on Jun. 12, ’08, 10:00 AM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Apple » Speculation

Remember those rumors about Snow Leopard turning its back on owners of PowerPC Macs? Well, it looks like there might be some truth to it. French site LogicielMac has scored the System Requirements PDF from the Snow Leopard Developer Preview DVD and it clearly states that “you must have a Macintosh computer with an Intel processor” to be able to install the software.

Now, assuming that the final shipping version, scheduled to launch a year from now, maintains this requirement (which is by no means certain at this point), Mac OS X Leopard will be the last cat to roar on PowerPC hardware. Given that the latest PowerPC Macs will only have been three years old by then, this move is sure to ruffle more than just a few feathers.

Putting all by fanboytastic tendencies aside, here’s my take on the issue. It does seem a little too soon but there’s little point in prolonging the death of the PowerPC platform. Mac OS X Leopard happens to be an extremely capable and well-built operating system, one that runs just fine on even ten-year-old hardware, and Snow Leopard isn’t going to add any consumer level features.

The under-the-hood improvements would’ve been significantly less if they’d had to keep dragging the PowerPC anchor around, and those on PowerPC hardware wouldn’t have experienced a dramatic increase in performance anyway (if at all). Snow Leopard is going to be Leopard with performance enhancements. For those on the PowerPC platform, there’s Leopard. For those who’ve advanced, Apple is paving the way for even better OS releases in future.

Of course, there’s the fact that I do not own a PowerPC Mac myself and might have a different opinion if I did. I do realize that dropping support for three-year-old hardware is just too soon, no matter what the reasons. In fact, if Apple decides to make Snow Leopard 64-bit only, Leopard will be the last release for my MacBook Pro as well.

It’s a delicate issue, I know, and am sure that it will spark a protest in the Mac community if and when Apple drops the axe. I’m sure a lot of our readers are on PowerPC Macs as well. What is your take on this news? Will you be content with Leopard and make peace with the fact that Apple needs to move on? Or do you have every intention to gang up with other PowerPC users left in the cold and storm the Apple HQ in Cupertino? Let us know in the comments.

[Via MacDailyNews]

Apple Australia says iPhone 2.0 ships June 27th

Posted on Jun. 11, ’08, 11:14 AM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Apple » Speculation

Update: The Australian website has removed the June 27th date, and an Apple spokesperson told CNet that they’re on track for July 11th.

It’s a well known fact that Apple likes to keep each and every one of its moves, no matter how minor and insignificant they are, under wraps until Steve Jobs decides that it’s time to yank off the covers. The American Apple website, online store, iTunes store and retail stores, being under Jobs’s tightfisted control, stringently follow this policy as well.

Their international counterparts, on the other hand, slip up occasionally and reveal information that they aren’t supposed to. We’ve had the leaks from the Swiss Apple Store about an AirPort Express upgrade and from the Dutch iTunes Store about an imminent price drop for the iPod touch. Both of those leaks turned out to be genuine.

The App Store, initially, was scheduled to be released in late June, when Apple announced it during the iPhone Software Roadmap event on March 6. Then, during WWDC, all third party developers alluded to it as “coming soon” and, towards the end of the event, Steve Jobs announced that it would appear in early July.

Quite a lot of confusion, eh? Playing spoilsport to Apple’s grand plans of perpetually keeping us in the dark is the Australian Apple website, which seems to have revealed, inadvertently perhaps, that the App Store will be available on June 27 (along with the software v2.0, we assume). It’s on the iPod touch features page but we’re pretty sure it will apply for the iPhone as well.

Late June and early July doesn’t really make much of a difference but it’s nice that we have a definite date to look forward to now, instead of a vague timeframe that can be interpreted quite loosely. We sure are glad that we’ll be able to lay our hands on it sooner rather than later.

Just to serve as a reminder, the iPhone/iPod touch software v2.0, along with the App Store, will be a free update for iPhone users and a $9.99 value for the ones with an iPod touch (down from the $19.99 price of the last such update).

[Via TUAW]

Apple Store and iPhone Dev Center. Current status: Down.

Posted on Jun. 9, ’08, 8:05 AM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Apple » Events

It’s happening, people. It’s like the sounding of a gong before pundits launch into the prayer service in Indian temples. It’s the signal that something is afoot in Cupertino right now and, in a scant two hours from now, Steve Jobs will take the stage and let us know what the big hubbub is about this time.

If it needs further spelling out, we’d like to let you know that as of this writing, both the Apple Online Store and the iPhone Dev Center are down on their knees, with the promise that they’ll be back in action soon.

It’s speculation season right now, so I’m guessing this disruption in the state of affairs means that we might see the launch of both the 3G iPhone and the software v2.0 today itself. The .Mac service, however, is up and running currently, oblivious to the commotion going around right now. Maybe all that chatter about “MobileMe” was just rumormongering after all?

Whatever it is, we can’t wait to hear (or read) what Jobs has up his sleeve today. Be sure to make your presence felt at the live coverage that Macworld so lovingly crafts out for you during every Jobsian keynote.

Update: Just in case our non-U.S. readers were feeling a little left out, you should know that all Apple Online Stores across the globe are currently sharing the U.S. Apple Store’s plight. Let it be known far and wide, no one will be spared from the attack of the iPhones (hopefully!).

First pictures of WWDC banners appear online

Posted on Jun. 6, ’08, 10:00 AM PT by Aayush Arya

Category | Apple » Events

WWDC ‘08 is right around the corner—today is the June 6th and Steve Jobs will take the stage to deliver his keynote speech in Moscone West on the coming Monday. The excitement is palpable…so palpable that it almost makes us go to the thesaurus to find synonyms for “palpable.”

So who can blame us for being super-excited about the first pictures to have appeared on the web from outside Moscone West? The first is a set of six from flickr user ‘gernot’ and the second set comes courtesy of RoughlyDrafted. The latter has some really high quality photographs coupled with relevant descriptions for each one.

A couple of things I noted are that Apple seems to have decided on calling the OS on the iPhone “OS X iPhone” now (they’ve referred to it as OS X, iPhone OS and OS X touch in the past) and the accelerometer is being given a lot of prominence. Also, they seem to come up with even more clever taglines—how about “Xcode 3.0: Debug and conquer” or, even better, “Interface Builder 3.0: Drag and jaw-drop”?

Rumored ‘Snow Leopard’ may supposedly be the cat’s meow, possibly without the roar (perhaps)

Posted on Jun. 4, ’08, 2:13 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi

Category | Apple » Speculation

The rumors are coming! The rumors are coming!

And not just any rumors, either—actual Mac rumors, something we haven’t had much of in a long, long—long long long long—time. iPhone rat bastard hogging all the spotlight, acting all fancy with its SDKs and “leaked” photos. Apple still makes the Mac, people, and it’s a damn good product too.

That’s why I tip my hat to our friends at TUAW and Ars Technica for fanning the flames (they didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world’s been turning) of Mac rumordom leading up to next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

These latest rumors—which I’ve been instructed to firmly present as speculation—suggest Apple may actually debut the next major revision to Mac OS X, 10.6, allegedly dubbed “Snow Leopard,” at WWDC, where they will purportedly offer a pre-release seed to developers.

Why presumedly pick a cat with such a similar name, instead of something totally different like, say, Bobcat, or Siamese? The blog duo claims the simple addition of “Snow” is to ostensibly downplay the perception of majorness of the next major update: instead of it being a flashy, leap-frog release with a bunch of Big Awesome Features like the past point-upgrades, “Snow Leopard” is theoretically going to be more of a maintenance build—focused more on improving what’s already in OS X, instead of just adding more. Which, frankly, sounds brilliant: OS X’s feature set is pretty awesome as-is…wouldn’t it be great if the stuff already there worked a whole lot better, faster, and more like it’s supposed to? Answer: Yes.

TUAW and Ars also say Apple will potentially drop support for PPC Macs with the update, leaving you non-transitionists in the dark, and that the actual market release for Snow Leopard will possibly be soon—January of ‘09.

Check out the two pieces for more, and judge the rumors for yourself—real? Not real? Good? Bad? Vanilla? Chocolate? Let us know.

Could .Mac become Mobile.Me?

Posted on Jun. 3, ’08, 9:59 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Apple » Speculation

So would .Mac be as sweet? How about .me?

ZDNet recently attempted to buy up some Apple-themed domains ending in .me — for example, mobile.me. (.me is the domain for Montenegro.)

ZDNet:

Adding fuel to the fire, I tried to pre-register “Mobile.me” and a few other Apple-related “.me” domains (the TLD assigned Montenegro) today and came up short. Attempting to register just about any Apple “.me” domain yield an “X is unavailable and has been removed” error.

In either case, I’m with Dan Moren on this one: .Mac is in major need of overhaul. If it’s as cool as they say it will be, I might actually throw down some cash for it.

A .Mac by any other name?

Posted on May. 30, ’08, 9:06 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

Don your tinfoil hats, friends. With every new OS X update, there are those in the legion of curious Mac fans who will pore over every changed file to see if they can suss out anything about Apple’s future plans.

Skimming string files is a time-honored pastime, bringing us such great moments as Apple TV games. The latest discovery (that’s a Russian link—I’ll spare you my attempt at remembering my high school Russian), though, is somewhat more interesting. iCal received some slight changes in 10.5.3, and in the app’s Localizable.strings file (which you can find for yourself by going to your Applications folder, choosing “Show Package Contents” for iCal and navigating to Contents/Resources/English.lproj/), there are some interesting references to .Mac.

/* Label of the .Mac button in iCal’s General preferences. %@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac) (remove -XX02) */

/* iCal could not update your .Mac synchronization settings. %@ is the new name of Apple’s online service (was .Mac) */

Et cetera. %@ is a placeholder variable; in 10.5.2 and earlier, the name of the service was hardcoded instead. Similar references have been found in Safari and Mail as well. But it seems that Apple is at least considering changing .Mac’s name (ooh, I suggest iTools. Kidding!). Over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber digs up an Apple trademark application for “Mobile Me,” suggesting that as one possibility for a re-branded .Mac.

One certainly hopes that there’s more than just a name change at stake here; .Mac as a service is woefully outdated and in need of serious love and attention from Apple. Might we see something at WWDC? If it coincides with over-the-air syncing for the iPhone, as Gruber suggests, that seems a distinct possibility. And, just to throw out my own piece of speculation, if it somehow tied in with an API to make .Mac syncing more accessible (and useful) to third-party developers, that would be a perfect fit for WWDC.

Forrester predicts Apple products in 2013

Posted on May. 22, ’08, 11:30 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Apple » Speculation

I’ve stopped trying to predict what Apple will do long ago, seeing as how I’m inevitably and awesomely wrong, but that hasn’t stopped many others from predicting and prognosticating. Those others include folks who predict and prognosticate for a living, like Forrester Research, who apparently have put out a study examining what Apple will release in 2013, as the Wall Street Journal reports:

Among the new products Forrester predicts Apple will create are wall-mountable digital picture frames with small high-definition screens and speakers that wirelessly play media, including photos, videos and music, stored on a computer elsewhere in the home. Such products already exist, but Apple could put its own twist on them — for example, by adding its design panache and a touch-sensitive screen that lets viewers flip from image to image with a finger swipe, a la the iPhone.

For the bedroom, Forrester envisions an Apple “clock radio” that pipes in music and other media across a home network. Possible, too, is an “AppleSound” universal remote control, also with a touch-sensitive screen, that lets users browse their music collections and change the songs playing through their stereo as they stroll around the house. This latter technology is already available in primitive form through an application called Signal (www.alloysoft.com) that turns the iPod touch and the iPhone into remote controls for Apple’s iTunes program.

My guess is that even if any of these guesses are right, Apple will make them that much better and unpredictably amazing.