Apple branching out in 2009?
Axiotron has a Mac tablet already, could Apple be planning to join them?
(Credit: Axiotron)Familiar Apple rumors are making the rounds again this week as Macworld looms in the distance, one month away.
Trip Chowdhry of Global Equities Research put out a research note Monday morning spotted by D: All Things Digital saying that Apple plans to release something from "a completely new device category" next year. He fails to explain exactly what such a product might encompass, but speculates that it will be based around a processor designed by the former P.A. Semi engineering team.
As a result, the usual rumors (Mac tablet, iPhone Nano, iKindle) are under discussion within the Mac universe. Chowdhry believes that Apple patent filings will be released early in 2009 that will make everything clear, and also notes that P.A. Semi should have an iPhone chip out around that time that improves performance and battery life.
Earlier this year CEO Steve Jobs implied Apple was watching small-device categories like tablets and Netbooks to see if they actually take off as a mega-trend, but in the meantime the company had other priorities. Mac tablet rumors stretch back for years, and in the past Jobs has quickly shot down talk of an Apple-produced competitor to Amazon's Kindle, which has been interpreted as a sign Apple was doing just that.
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. 
They didn't measure up, so they weren't introduced.
Most people don't replace TV's every 2-3 years. More like every 5 years. Otherwise, HDTV penetration would be far higher than 25%. Just FYI
But a gaming platform has to have systematized support for a whole lot of stuff, perform really, support 3rd-party developers in a compartmentalized way that you can lock down. [Apple doesn't own the means to better graphics performance, they'd have to go through ATI or NVidia for tech also available to everyone. They'd have to spend more for better performance; a lot of that money suffers diminishing returns --- more money for performance players might not see.]
Otherwise, you're just giving people a general OS X on a small cheap box, which is pretty much 180deg from where Apple lives. (Game hardware is subsidized by the manufacturer in return for a piece of the software revenue, so Apple would have to protect that model.) Unless there is a whole lot of work, you're basically talking about a console equivalent to a Mac Mini running games, and the mini is neither cheap nor a great game platform. It's not like Apple *couldn't* do it, but it would take them quite a bit of time and energy.
By contrast, an ebook would be a lot simpler and less demanding extension of OS X/iphone software and you'd need only one proprietary file format and no 3rd party developers -- maybe as little as a PDF converter. Sounds more like Apple's cup of tea. You could add phone/wifi/netbook capabilities as time and price permit.
You also forget (or may not even know): OSX - even Leopard as it is right now - runs perfectly fine on PPC/"Power" processors (which the G5 Macs and xboxes (or PS3's? I forget) use, and a console with a few Power6 cores packed in it would be no problem at all for OSX.
IMHO, why the hardware subsidy arguments? They were the same arguments that were used (and failed) against the iPhone when it first came out. The iPhone still made massive profits when it first came out anyway.
Not sure what your PPC point is. And yeah I still have one. Ugliest assembly language I've ever seen.
The cost is important because the game console and iphone audiences are very different. My condensed version is that the iphone market is middle aged adults who want a pricey and cool status symbol, whereas the game market is driven primarily by teenage and 20+ young men who have many fewer $$$ to blow. If a game console was twice the price as the alternatives, I think it would be widely ignored. It would need truly spectacular must-have 3rd party games, without much Apple engineering time to help produce that, and I don't see the game developers committing $50mil or whatever for a high-priced console with zero presence in the market.
2) Apple taps into $28 billion cash reserve and buys Yahoo.
A home media center? Makes sense, but that's not really a "completely new device category" for them.
A gaming console? No frickin' way there... the industry is too cutthroat, has very well-defined leaders (read: Nintendo), and after seeing Microsoft sink billions into the xbox for 8-9 years now without coming close to recouping their spend? That would be an idiotic move on Apple's part if they did... and I suspect they know that.
How about televisions? It's a lively market, but the margins are dropping like a rock and Sony, Sharp, Samsung... they're pretty evil competition. (OTOH, Apple monitors --albeit subcontracted-- are incredible to view things on).
Maybe Netbooks? That would be damned cool (And would tie in the PA Semi thingy very nicely). OTOH, that doesn't quite count as a whole new device category for them, do it? They already make and sell a 13" laptop, which is close --almost enough-- in performance and efficiency to count.
Meh - maybe in-car nav/control systems?
/P
PS3 lost a huge exclusive title (FInal Fantasy) to the Xbox as well... I fail to see your point here since xbox live still out ranks any online system for the consoles.... How about the fact that Nintendo WII isn't trying to compete in the same market as xbox or ps3 which are next gen systems, and the Wii is not?
Stop trying to find a way to hit Microsoft on everything you post about.
AS for the rest of your post... i like it. :)
The next gen? Dunno... but it won't be Apple. The three big console makers are duking it out hard already, and of them, only Sony and Nintendo have so far managed to turn enough profit from their products to recoup their investments - because they've been doing this for a very long time now. MSFT has yet to break even overall, and Apple would have an even harder time doing so as the new kid on that block. This isn't a snipe at MSFT at all, but instead is a factual and cautionary tale for anyone wanting to break into the biz like MSFT did, which is the same angle Apple (or any other computer-centric corp) would most likely be approaching it from.
OTOH, if Apple launched a game console that didn't require a monstrously expensive lock-in SDK/license like the big three do now... they might have game devs lining up at their door. But... I don't really see that happening offhand. You never know (and neither do I), but that's the one and only crack I see in the otherwise impenetrable armor that is the console industry: Make it cheap enough so that anyone can get a piece of it, and suddenly you're not stuck with endless sequels and formulaic crap that passes for most games now (with few exceptions, naturally).
The reason the Wii has moved an immense amount of units is because of the a) very small learning curve b) impulse-buy price point and c) iconic first-party games. All these contribute to the fact that a Wii has categorized itself as a toy, which has been corroborated by the huge amount of shovelware available for the system.
The PS3 and 360 compete for the gamer's market, the Wii picks up EVERYONE else.
besides that, i agree =D
It is a game console, and it is top dog in the game console market. Anything else reduces to a "No True Scotsman" type of argument, since you can never objectively define 'real' gamers, and trying to redefine what a "gamer" is will open a Pandora's box of reduction. Why? Because someone else could easily cut out console gamers altogether and restrict the definition to PC-based games as -the- definition (a group which is originally what the term was used to define - to differentiate between folks who tweaked and modified their PC's to play games, vs. folks who simply bought a console, plugged it into their television, and played on that).
I know what you're feeling and all, but seriously - there is no diff here -the Wii owns the market.
Peng...
True but EVERY Wii owner i have ever met, and for some reasons the Marines in the barracks liked them, get bored with them fast and wished they had bout xbox or ps3.
fun for a while and make interesting drinking games. in the end its just that its cheaper, and easier to learn. It is not even in the same range as the other two systems. Nintendo has said it themselves that they no longer care about gaming in a traditional sense, they want to work on a different experience. If you want REAL gaming, you get an xbox or PS3 ( i would rather have a PS3, as you can do more with the HDD that you cant with the xbox.
Peng...
True but EVERY Wii owner i have ever met, and for some reasons the Marines in the barracks liked them, get bored with them fast and wished they had bout xbox or ps3.
fun for a while and make interesting drinking games. in the end its just that its cheaper, and easier to learn. It is not even in the same range as the other two systems. Nintendo has said it themselves that they no longer care about gaming in a traditional sense, they want to work on a different experience. If you want REAL gaming, you get an xbox or PS3 ( i would rather have a PS3, as you can do more with the HDD that you cant with the xbox.
And if you think the PS2 beat the Xbox for the last gen you are severely wrong... Halo blew away all of the PS2's top titles. including San Andreas.
Where are your statistics for this, cause id love to see them. Did you know the xbox has a 3 year warranty? Whats wrong with backing your product?
How about the fact that Nintendo is FAMOUS in the console market for creating shortages of their own products to make it look like it is selling better than what it actually is...
Apple's forays into gaming consoles will probably remain the failed Pippin and be limited to providing tech to others, e.g. Nintendo GameCube which was mostly a modified Apple Cube.
However, I do agree that I don't think they will be releasing a tablet.
clothing retailers are failing
apple will branch out into clothing with all their cash
they already make socks for ipods, will make socks for people
jobs will model unisex clothing line at macworld keynote: socks, black turtleneck, blue jeans
early 2009 patents will be for unique pockets on clothing to hold apple devices, remotes, apple cash
:-D
For 75 years we have been promised a push button automated home, and yet it's not materialized for the masses yet. Gates has a ridiculously complex system in his home, but never moved Microsoft in that direction, instead allowing a bunch of over-priced, half-assed companies to keep it a niche.
Maybe Mr. Mobbs and the folks at Mapple will change that.
It'll all start with a remote control, based on the next gen iPod Touch?
Why do you need a computer? Typewriters too difficult to master? Slide rule broken?
Why do you need a universal remote control? 7 other remote controls too hard to use? Not enough space on your coffee table?
There's a reason URs have been around for 20 years or so and everyone buys them. Because people are begging for simplification in their lives. Yet these products often fail to deliver. They require too much user input, are flaky, require sacrifices in control, etc.
So we have some pseudo user friendly products in the mix, like harmony remotes, slingbox and catcher, or TiVos linked to each other for media sharing, or insteon devices for lights. But they all remain limited, isolated solutions, yet too complex. And then there's the AMX and Crestron and such, which are full featured, super expensive, and require professional maintenance.
But home automation is not just about drapes, my friend, but much more. Lighting IS a big thing. If you've ever had a system, you'd get that. But it's also about climate control (keeping you comfortable and saving you lots of money), security, and integrating your ENTERTAINMENT throughout the whole house. Most people get the home automation systems so they can do those things.
Controlling the drapes is not a priority. Expensive as all get out.
If there is a way to bring this product to 1% of the population, there is value. It's been enough to keep Apple computers in development. I think 1 in 100 people would be interested myself, if the products were easy to use and set up and maintain.
- by mergetest December 8, 2008 10:13 PM PST
- Test post
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
-
- by daridenus December 10, 2008 10:12 AM PST
- Also there is no reason for apple to launch a competing device to kindle.
- Like this
-
- by JadedGamer December 14, 2008 10:47 AM PST
- Yeah, I am an old eReader user (started on my trusty old Palm Vx back in 2000) and their iPhone/Touch app is great. You can download books off your account's "bookshelf", though you have to visit the site in a browser to buy more...
- Like this
-
Showing 1 of 3 pages (71 Comments)Things are beginning to get wild and woolly in the eBook reading area of the iPhone. Plenty of applications on iphone that make reading a better experience that kindle. Good example is classics - http://classicsapp.com/
That think is awesome!!