Saturday, January 06, 2007
Mac Mavens March to Macworld Music
Macworld Expo starts next week as pre-conference rumors languish. This has been a season of dulcet, sleepy rumors. Steve Jobs is expected to tout Leopard, Mac OS 10.5, the up-coming operating system upgrade. Much remains to be disclosed about features and functions of the future OS. Data backup built into Leopard is one among many anticipated enhancements.
On the list of prospective rumored new hardware: iPods (yes, again! comprising about forty percent of Apple's gross income, by some estimates), quad-core Intel chips for the Mac Pro and MacBooks, iTV (sketchily revealed last fall), iPhone (mythical Mac smartphone with iTunes capability; rumors reaching urban legend status), and an iLife suite update.
The real sleeper of the show may be with expanded Hollywood movie downloads paired to an iTV sporting substantial storage capacity. Apple needs the equivalent of an NAS (network attached storage) for data backup (DotMac obsolescence set in long ago) and serving up a platter of iTunes and movies via Front Row. Apple must do this; it's not a cute option like iPod video. If iTV metamorphoses into just the right box of goodies, Apple will unveil the conspicuous missing piece of the digital hub Jobs promised us years ago. The technology has ripened sufficiently during the past year. The time and technology is right.
I still have a few free passes to the exhibit halls at Macworld Expo. Like a kid in a candy store, the exhibits are always entertaining, and you're apt to find a bargain or two while perusing the Mac wares. My clients are invited to contact me for a free pass, though time to mail them is rapidly waning.
On the list of prospective rumored new hardware: iPods (yes, again! comprising about forty percent of Apple's gross income, by some estimates), quad-core Intel chips for the Mac Pro and MacBooks, iTV (sketchily revealed last fall), iPhone (mythical Mac smartphone with iTunes capability; rumors reaching urban legend status), and an iLife suite update.
The real sleeper of the show may be with expanded Hollywood movie downloads paired to an iTV sporting substantial storage capacity. Apple needs the equivalent of an NAS (network attached storage) for data backup (DotMac obsolescence set in long ago) and serving up a platter of iTunes and movies via Front Row. Apple must do this; it's not a cute option like iPod video. If iTV metamorphoses into just the right box of goodies, Apple will unveil the conspicuous missing piece of the digital hub Jobs promised us years ago. The technology has ripened sufficiently during the past year. The time and technology is right.
I still have a few free passes to the exhibit halls at Macworld Expo. Like a kid in a candy store, the exhibits are always entertaining, and you're apt to find a bargain or two while perusing the Mac wares. My clients are invited to contact me for a free pass, though time to mail them is rapidly waning.
