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February 1, 2008

speculation

February is Apple-rrific

Posted Feb. 1, ’08, 9:25 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Speculation

February 2008February is the new January. Used to be that at Macworld Expo, Jobs would announce products that would be available immediately. But more and more of late, he’ll announce things that are shipping in month numero dos. February may be a short month, but it’s a big one for our friends in Cupertino. Here’s a roundup of the kind of news you can expect to see over the next twenty-nine days (that’s right, bozos, it’s a leap year).

MacBook Airs have already started shipping, as Jobsy promised, but word is they’re just now starting to appear in Apple Stores around the country. Why the lagtime? Word is that practical jokesters at Apple HQ sent out the vast majority of them to the retail stores in inter-office envelopes. Jackasses. ETA: Immediately, if not sooner. Unless the groundhog sees her shadow tomorrow, in which case, expect to see it delayed for six weeks. Don’t blame us: blame Apple’s stupid woodchuck-based shipping system.

Apple TV Take 2, as we learned the other day, has been delayed for “a week or two” because it’s “not quite done.” We don’t know why exactly it’s taking so long, but we’ve heard that Steve Jobs is bogarting the prototype so that he can catch up on America’s Next Top Model. Apple also promised that 1,000 titles would be available for rent by the end of the month; you can bet we’ll be counting. ETA: We’re guessing that the Apple TV revision will be available by Valentine’s Day, just in time for you to try and convince that special person in your life that what they really want is not chocolate, roses, or jewelry, but another little oblong box to connect to that giant television you bought for your last anniversary.

Time Capsule is due to ship sometime in February, though sources told us that even Apple doesn’t know exactly when it’s going to appear, due to being accidentally dropped into an experimental space/time rift in Apple R&D. ETA: The mystic forces of the beyond are suggesting that it’ll show up towards the end of the month: let’s say February 20th. We’re also betting that it won’t show up until after 10.5.2 is released (for more on which, see below).

The much-awaited iPhone SDK should also be making its way into developers’ hands this month, at last, at last! That’s right: more multitouch iPhone games than you can shake a Microsoft Zune at. Will there be restrictions on what kind of programs they can run (IM client? VOIP client?). We certainly hope not, but we’ll have to wait and see. ETA: In tried-and-true Apple fashion, we’re betting that they’ll string this one out as long as possible. Look for the SDK on Leap Day, four weeks from today.

Mac OS X 10.5.2 hasn’t really been announced for February, but I’d be surprised if it didn’t come to the party, hopefully accompanied by support for Time Machine over AirPort Disk to assuage those poor users. We’ve also heard rumors about a host of other features, covering pretty much everything people have hated in Leopard. Oh, Apple, you shouldn’t have! ETA: If our sources are correct, we’d expect this soon. Like really soon. “Oh my god, it’s behind you!” soon.

That’s a lot to look forward to. How about it, readers? What are you most excited about in February?


3 Comments

krye said:

Mac Pros with the Nvidia card option!!!!!

February 1, 2008 9:54 AM
Adam said:

Apple TV update. I was quite aggravated at the delay.

February 1, 2008 10:06 AM
Dave-O said:

Someone's working to fill the void left by John Moltz :)

February 1, 2008 2:56 PM

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