Apple makes September 9 iPod event official
A trademark Apple special event will be held next week in San Francisco, and it looks like new iPods.
(Credit: Apple)Updated 10:30 a.m. PDT after having a chance to catch my breath.
Apple has sent out invitations for a music-related event next week, and the smart money is on new iPods.
The invitation, titled "Let's Rock," went out Tuesday morning inviting media to the Yerba Buena Center for the Performing Arts in San Francisco next Tuesday at 10 a.m. PDT. Rumors have been building for weeks that Apple is set to introduce new iPods at what will be its fourth September iPod event in as many years.
We'll be there, and we'll be live-blogging the event, so make sure to come back here next Tuesday.
We've been expecting Apple to hold a September iPod-related event since March, when audio chipmaker Wolfson informed its shareholders that it had been shut out of the design of next-generation media players from "a major Tier 1 customer" who planned a third-quarter launch. Launching in September gives Apple plenty of time to build distribution and marketing for new iPods ahead of the holiday shopping season, when the company sells the bulk of its iPods for the year.
But what exactly do Steve Jobs and Co. plan to trot out during this episode of their trademarked special event? When we conducted our iPod poll back in May, readers said the two things they wanted most in a new iPod were more capacity and wireless connectivity.
This mockup of a revamped iPod Nano on the right, next to a Microsoft Zune, is a leading rumor for the fourth-generation iPod Nano design.
(Credit: iLounge)The most persistent buzz over the past month has circled around a revamped iPod Nano that brings back the long, slim design from earlier generations but provides for a widescreen video display as found on the current generation. That rumor looks even more promising after the discovery of "fourth-generation" iPod Nano cases by Engadget Spain over the weekend that would fit the design laid out by iLounge and Digg's Kevin Rose.
Another likely candidate is a revamped iPod Touch at a new price. The iPod Touch looks set to get the curved outer shell (manufacturing efficiencies) and the cheaper price tag (marketing efficiencies) that came along with the introduction of its sister, the iPhone 3G. And Apple has said that iPod customers responded well to the price cut on the iPod Shuffle, so perhaps it wouldn't be much of a surprise if Apple decides to test how they'll respond to more capacity at the same price point.
What else might be coming? Apple is expected to release OS X 2.1 at some point in September to try to move past the widespread bugs introduced along with the 2.0 release, and next week's event might also deliver a preview of that software. The wireless industry will be in town that week for the CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment show just a block away from the Yerba Buena Center, and I expect Jobs will take the occasion to release sales numbers for the iPhone 3G.
We expect Apple to introduce new notebooks fairly soon, but it would seem a bit odd to try and cram new notebooks into a major music-related event. The old iTunes music-subscription rumors resurfaced last month, so that's a possibility. And Apple's decision to highlight "rock" gives credence (of sorts) to my goal of predicting an iTunes-Beatles partnership to arrive before every upcoming Apple music event, figuring I'll be right at some point.
More details might trickle out before next Tuesday's event, so pay attention. And don't buy an iPod between today and next Tuesday if you're looking for something new.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
More storage space for iPod Touch.
The same iPod Nano's Kevin Rose predicted (I am sorry Kevin for judging you).
More storage in iPod Nano's.
Increase in storage for iPod classic with a drop in price.
Improved interface.
no widescreen ipods...not with the zune around
MAYBE WIFI in ALL ipods...MAYBE
bluetooth and MAYBE realtime gps on the touch
16,32, and 64gb touch and redesign too look more like the iphone
16gb nano...nat
price drops in all categories, except touch.
Itunes revamp, maybe...but now doesnt feel like the time
And honestly, its time to ditch the scroll wheel or at least remodel it... maybe a multi-touch scroll wheel?
Scroll wheel ditching may be
Please please please please please.
I'm just hoping for new macbooks by the end of the month..."
Yes I too am hoping for new MacBooks and MacBook Pros. However, I suspect that this event will be more iPod and or iTunes related.
And get some decent ear buds.
"Let's Rock" ? I don't think that's a good idea. Microsoft already used that slogan before. And it's also entirely too close to 'Let's Roll," from a fateful 9-11 event... which would have an anniversary only two days after this event. While not related, it is the sort of bad karma thing that you just don't do.
on topic: i was waiting for this announcement since sometime, held back my portable player purchase for this. keeping my fingers crossed.
So good luck in trying to tone it down. Until Apple is no more there will always be this.
I would hate to break it to you, but Apple is not the only company that builds it's products in China. If you want to boycott companies that do business there, you will need to boycott every major PC maker, inlcluding Dell, HP, Lenovo, Toshiba, Sony, Gateway, Acer, Emachines, Panasonic, Asus, etc, etc. And don't forget the automakers that build cars there, GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Chrylser, Volkswagon, Mercedes, BMW. (Of course, you don't buys cars from any of them.) And what about electronics, Westinghouse, Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi, LG, Samsung, Best Buy brands, Maxxen, Olivia, Polaroid, Ilo, etc, etc. But I'm sure you don't buy TV's from anyone currently building them, as they all build some models in China.
And by the way, if you would bother to do some research you would know that Steve Jobs is payed considerably less than most CEO's in similar fields. He does receive stock options, as most CEO's do, but those don't become actual cash until he excercises them. Also, a big portion of his fortune actually came from the sell of Pixar and obtaining his shares in Disney. But I'm sure you also boycott Disney, Pixar, ABC, ESPN, The Disney Channel, ABC Family, Disney World, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Hollywood Records, Disney Records, etc, etc. Altough I do agree that he might do more for charity, but I don't know how much he does as he doesn't advertise it or use it as publicity like Bill Gates or Michael Dell did. (Charity means a lot more if you don't brag about it.)
We all know you don't like Steve Jobs and Apple. Get over yourself. Do you honestly think you immature comments and names really sway anyone?
Much of what you said is true, but that is not.
I do give Apple credit because they design their products in the US. Many other electronics companies design their products in Taiwan or China. I prefer products not made in China because Chinese products tend to be lower quality. The iPods do appear to be fairly well made though (at least the 3 I have).
If you're a Beatles fan, you already have their music on CD.
- by zhakidd532 September 4, 2008 6:35 PM PDT
- Something just occurred to me. If the iPod Touch will be getting a price drop, what about the other iPods? Will the 80GB Classic stay at $249 and be more expensive then the Touch? That wouldn't be right, so then you'd have to chop the Classic down to at least $199 to be the same right? Then the Nano has to be reduced too, and then after maybe even the Shuffle. Should be interesting I wonder what will happen...
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- by applesjgtl September 9, 2008 12:38 AM PDT
- Oh my god you're right! This could be interesting... Having lunch at Apple today, so I'll be there right after event. Don't know if I'll be able to see it live or not, soo....
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