The latest rumor to hit the iPod trail, besides the obviously faked nanos, is that the iPod is headed for an OS X-based system, and that Apple is planning to unify all of their products. This one's actually be floating around for a bit, and at this point, it's almost more of an educated inference than a rumor at all-- Apple has already shown that they're looking to start making connections across product lines. CoverFlow moved from iTunes to the iPhone, and we've already seen evidence that the iPhone interface may find a place in OS X proper.
So it's only natural that the iPod would join the crowd. What will that entail? More CoverFlow, more album art, a better iPhoto '08 interface. So far, the same old click wheel seems to be involved (so no phone-less iPhone yet), but in general, a flashier interface than the old scrolling text screens we're used to.
While we've heard (and speculated) on all of this before, this is the first time we've heard a solid date: AppleInsider is saying that by the end of September (before the holiday season), we'll be looking at an iPod with OS X on it. I don't disagree-- if Apple is planning to update the iPod in this way, they'd want to do it before the holidays. If we don't see anything by October, my guess is we'll have to wait until early 2008 to see any updates at all. Of course, by that point, we'll be too ga-ga over Leopard to worry about it.
And now EA has told Apple Insider that Mac faithful shouldn't have held their breath on those promises-- Madden 08 was the big release on Tuesday, but while it did appear on PC, the Mac version has been officially delayed until "September or October" (which means late December, in videogame-release-speak). Additionally, even EA doesn't know what's going on with its own games-- they claim that Battlefield 2142, Command and Conquer 3, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Need for Speed Carbon are all in stores, but when asked which stores they were actually in, EA didn't have an answer.
I can't say I'm surprised-- for all the talk at WWDC, the Mac isn't quite the platform of choice for most game makers, and who knows who would have actually bought any of those games on Mac if they had been released (I wouldn't have). But the fact is that EA stood on stage at WWDC, and got lauded for it. Don't talk the talk if you can't walk the walk, Electronic Arts.
id went so far as to announce and show a new game engine called "id tech 5" (usually engines are named after games, but apparently we're in uncharted territory here), and EA came on stage to say it was going to start selling its most popular franchises, including Need for Speed Carbon, which has never been seen on the Mac before. Apple Insider points out that this isn't necessarily what we were hoping for (that is, games running natively and uber fast in OS X)-- instead, the EA games will be wrapped in Transgaming's Cider engine, which means the games will have to run on Intel-only Macs.
Tuncer Deniz, who's been covering Mac gaming for a long time at Inside Mac Games, says this is both good... and bad (figures, right?). It's good because EA using Cider means we'll see Mac versions come out faster. But it's bad because whatever EA expects to sell of these games, it's probably not as much as they want to. Still, id's engine looks pretty-- if gaming is going to make a comeback on the machine we love, this is as good a chance as it'll ever have.
Take this with a grain of sodium chloride, but AI is reporting that "people familiar with conference planning" have tipped them off to the dates of this year's World Wide Developers Conference. These "people" call June 10th - 15th for WWDC 2007, nearly two full months before last year's knocked-back WWDC, which took place on August 7th, 2006 (delayed, presumably, to make way for the release of the Mac Pro). Even though many folks, including students such as myself, typically consider June to fall under the Summer category, these dates are still technically Spring, which is fueling speculation that Leopard could possibly land on June 10th - the first day of WWDC where Steve Jobs has traditionally done the keynote thing.
AI also speculates that iLife and iWork updates could also depend heavily on Leopard technologies, which means we might not see even these software packages until WWDC also. However, they did respond with a coy "stay tuned!" when asked about these updates in their recent Q1 2007 financial results that we liveblogged, so... uh, stay tuned!
MarketWatch is reporting that Apple's shares reached a 52-week high of $87.95 today, apparently fueled by furious rumors of - you guessed it - an iPhone. I'm sure the report that Hon Hai received a manufacturing order from Apple for just such a device isn't doing anything to stop people from losing their investing sense either. If the iPhone is really going to happen, the word on the street hasn't changed from "the first half of next year" yet, unless you consider this latest momument to craptastic journalism from AppleInsider about a second iChat-based iPhone already in the works (seriously guys: try drawing the line somewhere - for once).
Wow, that's a long title. Blame it on AppleInsider, who believes most -- if not all -- of those yummy goodies will be delivered to us in a nice wrapped package by The Jobs himself at next week's supposed media event. According to the rumor peddler, at the yet-unconfirmed September 12th event Jobs will take the wraps off...drumroll please:
An $9.99-a-pop movie download service with films from at least one major studio. The idea is that the rest will see how Freakin' Amazing it is and follow suit -- a la TV shows.
A new non-scratch metal iPod nano with "at least double the storage capacity of today's models."
What they believe is a new Airport Express-like device designed to stream video content from your Mac to your TV/home entertainment system. AI says "it's arguably been one of the most closely guarded secrets at Apple since the evolution of the first iPod digital music player."
That list makes this year's Macworld seem lacking.
I'm most interested in that streaming device. This isn't in the article, but imagine: plug your Airport Express to a TV and be greeted by a Front Row-like interface that streams videos/music/photos directly from your Mac, controllable by the included Apple Remote. Pipe dream? Maybe. But I guess we'll find out next week.
Check out the article for more in-depth information and AI's standard "it could be pushed back a little" disclaimer.
I don't mean Apple rumors are conceptually boring -- I enjoy the Mac and iPod rumor mill as much as the next Apple geek -- they're just boring to read. Daring Fireball's John Gruber hit the nail on the head last month when he wrote about his dislike for Mac rumor site Think Secret. At the time he was talking about a rumor suggesting that Aperture was about to bite the dust. Of course, we all know it didn't, as we covered later on, but the inherent poor aim of rumor sites isn't the topic of this post.
What the Mac web really needs, ok, wants, is a rumor site that merges the style of Crazy Apple Rumors with that of Think Secret and AppleInsider. Like Gruber says, the "objective" style of TS and AI apes that of the Associated Press (read: dull) when it should be taking a page out of the much loved, but now-defunct, Mac the Knife column. That fundamental element of gossip, the "we know that you know that this isn't important, but we also know that you know that this is fun" tone is completely missing from sites like Think Secret, AppleInsider and even rumor aggregation site Mac Rumors.
We can understand why these sites pretend to be objective. It certainly *sounds* more legitimate if you write like the NYTimes (coincidentally this style makes it easier for us to pick apart the rumors, as you saw last week). However, this isn't the NYTimes. It's just a bit of gossip about our favorite computer company. Nothing more, nothing less.
Those rumormongers over at AppleInsider headed to their local Apple store and snapped a few photos of the new MacBook (in this case they manhandled a black one). The most interesting picture of the bunch, to me, is above. Look at that new keyboard. Swanky.
This is why I don't pay any attention to rumors. I know, I know, why do I write about them if I don't cotton to them? Well, the simple fact is that many a Mac fan enjoy the constant rumormongering (and there is nothing wrong with that), so we give the people what they want; unless they want a new MacBook today.
That's right, AppleInsider is now reporting that Apple won't be announcing the successor to the iBook today. Fear not, faithful readers, ApppleInsider sites faithful sources that say Apple will be launching the new MacBooks in tandem with a change in the iPod line up.
The latest rumor to hit the iPod trail, besides the obviously faked nanos, is that the iPod is headed for an OS X-based system, and that Apple is planning to unify all of their products. This one's actually be floating around for a bit, and at this point, it's almost more of an educated inference than a rumor at all-- Apple has already shown that they're looking to start making connections across product lines. CoverFlow moved from iTunes to the iPhone, and we've already seen evidence that the iPhone interface may find a place in OS X proper.
Shame on you, EA! Shame! Back at WWDC, 
Well how about that. Not a few days after I announce that I'm going to be 
Take this with a grain of sodium chloride, but AI is reporting that "people familiar with conference planning" have tipped them off to the dates of this year's World Wide Developers Conference. These "people" call June 10th - 15th for WWDC 2007, nearly two full months before 
MarketWatch is 
Wow, that's a long title. Blame it on AppleInsider, who believes most -- if not all -- of those yummy goodies will be delivered to us in a nice wrapped package by The Jobs himself at next week's supposed media event. According to the rumor peddler, at the yet-unconfirmed September 12th 
I don't mean Apple rumors are conceptually boring -- I enjoy the Mac and iPod rumor mill as much as the next Apple geek -- they're just boring to read. Daring Fireball's John Gruber hit the nail on the head last month when 
This is why I don't pay any attention to rumors. I know, I know, why do I write about them if I don't cotton to them? Well, the simple fact is that many a Mac fan enjoy the constant rumormongering (and there is nothing wrong with that), so we give the people what they want; unless they want a new 
