TUAW predictions for Macworld 07

Interesting. There's a reason they allocated more time for the keynote than usual, and it's not the iTV, because that one was already announced at the previous keynote. It's also not a software update, because that's not exciting enough to warrant the extra time.

I *think* it will be something iTunes related, some major improvement, possibly involving Google. My guess would be a few major enhancements to iTunes content.

On a personal level, I would like to see:

- A major upgrade of Logic, with a spiffy internal audio editor and a whole lot of interface improvements.

- 6th generation iPod Video, larger screen, WiFi enabled, flash-based models too.

- iLife '07 with all kinds of neatness added to iMovie and GarageBand, stuff we couldn't even think of.

- Opening up iTunes DRM to other vendors.

- OSX Leopard release sooner than expected.


Hens Zimmerman

Since no one has mentioned it (and I don't think Leopard is ready to ship), how about this: Public beta of Leopard available today (or some other time shortly before/after Vista Home).

Screws with MSFT's press a bit but possibly doesn't terribly undermine AAPL's press 'cause it's still beta...

Frankly, I'm not sure that AAPL wouldn't be better served to let people "get over" Vista a bit before shipping something assumedly better. *BUT* if they can play Vista away with a bit of FUD, perhaps people waiting for Vista to buy a new machine might instead buy a Mac.

I'm not sure of the right approach, but that's why Mr. Jobs has all those product marketing folks. ;-)

reinharden

I'm betting the iTV will be called 'AirportHD'. Just thought I'd throw that out there since I haven't seen anyone else make that prediction and it seems so likely to me.

Great. Now enough speculations. Let's wait and see. Can someone tell me how the AAPL stock symbol will play after the macworld announcement?

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http://www.mostofmymac.com

.....
- Leopard:
-- The progress on Leopard. The new super secret features that are in Leopard. "Fix The F@#king Finder" will be a thing of the past. More unified UI overall.

My Predictions of Jobs' keynote, in this order....

- Retail update:
-- Stores:
--- x many stores in x countires. 50M vistors. $2.5B quarter.

-- Revenue:
---- >$10B for holiday quarter.

- iPods:
-- Popularity of 2G Shuffle and Nike+. 22M sold/ nearly a quarter million a day. More iPods sold in a day than the ZUne sold to date.

- iTunes:
-- Over 2B songs sold. iTunes percentage is slightly up despite the Zune.


- Mac:
-- Shake replacement announced.
-- New and improved iLife 07, available today at same price.
-- .mac overhaul
-- New and Improved iWork features.
-- 2M Macs sold holiday quarter. The success of the Macbook.
-- Speed of Rosetta and the number of programs that are now Universal. Perhaps a joke about MS being the last to update.

- One more thing:
-- Introducing new Displays with integrated iSight and IR sensor. 2 larger sizes and a wall mount kit option. Available today. (Jobs is using a new display for the keynote)
-- iTV info. Shipping in February/March.
-- More movie studios to lineup.
-- Mac Cube introduction for $999 to $1,299.

One more thing.... TV shows and movies available outside the USA.

What will DEFINITELY happen:
-iWork '07
-iLife '07
-More information on Leopard, probably one big new feature and release date.
-iTV will get real name, more features will be shown.
-More TV shows/ channels

What will PROBABLY happen:
-Price drops on displays, maybe new ones with iSight built in, but will have same design.
-10-12" widescreen ultraportable MBP.
-Processor increase on some of the machines, probably Mac Mini.
-More movie studios on iTS

What I HOPE will happen (but probably won't):
-iPhone (slider probably, like chocolate)
-iPhone Pro (smartphone)
-10-12" MBP
-19-22" MBP
-Size increase on cinema Displays.
-iTV will have built in DVR (syncs to iTunes), and TV Tuner.
-Smaller Shuffles.
-Bigger (capacity) iPods (I'm looking at you, 100gb Samsung 1.8" HDD)
-The big feature in Leopard is running all (100%) Windows apps. natively, no software needed.
-Every episode of The Simpsons and the other Animation Domination Sunday shows (The simpsons, King of the Hill, American Dad, Family Guy, The War at Home [its not animated, but its during that block on sundays])
-Touchscreen, widescreen, wireless iPod comes out, is a complete failure because of crappy battery life, people smudge/scratch touchscreen, and wifi ruins battery life even worse.

WOW! There are going to be some seriously disappointed people come next Tuesday.

Blu-ray - Drives and Media too expensive. Cheaper just to get a portable external HDD. Not practical for a notebook as it uses too much power, generates too much heat and requires way too much CPU and GPU usage.

Lossless iTunes audio - The averge teack is about 25-30MB using Apple Lossless, while 320kbps audio is less than 10. Apple could satisfy most people and still keep the size down with out going to lossless. Still, I don't think it will happen. I don't think AAC scales well past 160kbps, but I could be wrong.

HD iTunes video - Way too much bandwidth required. The current video is better than SDTV. If they do increase it I expect the increase will be at or just above DVD quality.

Nano capacity - I think the Nano is selling too well right now to increase it's size. The next Nano increase will take place with Spring/Summer.

Dispays - Apple is all about integration, Leopard will include both PhotoBooth and FrontRow, and Apple has removed the cameras from their store I expect the new dispalys will have a USB 2.0 iSight (like others are saying) but also an IR sensor. This will surely help to sell more Apple displays now that other companies offer very comparable monitors for less money. I expect to see 2 larger sizes and a slick wall mount option.

Leopard - The MWSF release to developers will have the integrated UI and a new Finder. It will have better support (though still buggy) of Windows. FTFF will finally become obsolete.

iPhone - God! I hope so, but with so much hype and my personal desire for a decent phone interface there is no way for me to look at the possibility objectively; despite the multiple reasons why Apple can't possibly pass up the chance sell it.

iTV - I expect that if it's released then there will also be an announcement of new studios, too.

I can't make it this year, to what will probably be one of the better MWs ever. So I was compelled to create a website that will allow me to keep up with the event.

http://sharemacworld.com

I'm still working on the site, but the idea is: if people use their camera phones to take pictures throughout the week, they can submit them here & everyone who joins will be able to see an ongoing time line of events from MacWorld through the eyes of (hopefully) many different people.

If it catches on (and I've already got some friends in attendance planning to use it) then it'll be a neat way for people who aren't there to get to feel the full experience, in real time, from a variety of point of views.