In a review of Apple's quarterly post-conference call beating on the market (yawn, SEEN IT), ZDNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes hits upon a gem of an idea while musing on the much-discussed upcoming "product transition".
Revamped AppleTV that's App Store compatible - Give the AppleTV a Wii Remote-like controller and it's ready to bring Super MonkeyBall to the world.
Let's ignore the fact that Apple's sold more iPhones and iPods touch ("iPod touches" just sounds wrong) than Apple TVs so Super Monkey Ball already reaches a wider audience. And let's also ignore the fact that this doesn't completely describe a transition to a lower-margin product. Instead, let's run with the remote controller idea. Because the remote controller is already in your hand.
It's the iPhone and the iPod touch. Both have the accelerometer and already act as a menu remote with Apple's Remote app. Rolling out the App Store to the Apple TV is a fabulous idea that could really add legs to an otherwise average device. Upscale the graphics and you're good to go. Game makers can create their own remote applications, allowing them to configure the buttons any way they like. Sure, there are some problems with that. Games may be a very good example of an instance where a physical button can be the difference between virtual life or death ("I thought I was pressing 'fire' and instead I was pressing 'night vision goggles'."), but the screen real estate on the iPhone and iPod touch is expansive enough that large virtual buttons could make up for this.
This is all pie-in-the-sky at this point. Maybe the product transition is an Apple TV/iPod touch bundle. Maybe it's lowering the cost of the iPod touch to where it's viably priced as a remote control.
More likely it's none of these things, but if Apple isn't going in this direction, maybe it should be.
UPDATE: This requirement is only for those who purchased after 5/27/2008 and are turning their old iPhones in to get a new "free" (now with more expensive data!) iPhone 3G. AT&T employees may now uncross their legs.
Um, fellas?
This better not be true.
I just finished an e-mail exchange with an AT&T spokesperson who told me that if you upgrade from your current iPhone to iPhone 3G at an AT&T store, you need to turn in your first iPhone to qualify.
It seems wrong, so the Macalope advises a wait-and-see approach. Please wait to knee your local AT&T representative in the groin until after this is confirmed.
Hmm. What. Could. That. Be?
Apple TV wireless content downloading? Wireless backups? WiMax-enabled laptops? Free bean burritos under every seat?
The Macalop's leaning toward WiMax right now. It seems a typical Apple-y move and one that's occurred to the horny one ever since he got his iPhone. "Boy it'd sure be nice to be able to have ubiquitous Internet access with my laptop," the Macalope would say to the dryads and nymphs around him.
They'd just mumble "Yeah" and go back to playing Wii bowling.
The Macalope never should have bought them that. They're supposed to be making dewy nectar but all they do is play Wii bowling all day.
Anyway, the safe picks this year seem to involve some combination of the following:
- New Apple TV with movie rentals.
- Lightweight laptop, possibly with docking station.
- An iPhone update might be announced, but certainly won't be released yet. The Macalope actually doubts it'll be announced yet, despite the loose lips of AT&T executives.
- That thing that's in the air.
The horny one got sucked into the Beatles speculation last year and refuses to get roped in again this year. Which, of course, means it'll probably happen this year. But the Macalope still says no. No, no, no, no, no.
You're just going to have to keep listening to the White Album on vinyl as God intended it. Bonus points if you have the White Album on white vinyl. Ah, those were the days!
Unless "the device that dare not be called a Newton" gets unveiled, this keynote will probably not be of the magnitude of last year's and that's OK. Contrary to jackasstic belief, not every keynote has to introduce a game-changing device or Apple will "die". Mac, iPod, iPhone, remember? Unless the Macalope is very mistaken, Apple didn't release those at consecutive Macworld Expos.
Whatever gets announced, the Macalope will be there. 24 hours to go.
You say either and I say either,
You say neither and I say neither
Either, either
Neither, neither,
Let's call the whole thing off.
Ultra-portable Apple notebook to splash down at Macworld Expo
You like potato and I like potahto,
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto,
Tomato, tomahto,
Let's call the whole thing off
Apple Tablet PC is real, says Asus
But oh, if we call the whole thing off
Then we must part
And oh, if we ever part, then that might break my heart
Steve Jobs, 10 months ago:
Are you getting it? These are not ... separate devices. This is one device!
Hmm. Well, it's just a thought the Macalope had in the wee hours of the night as the nymphs kept him awake with their incessant dancing.
Stupid nymphs.
Here's the Macalope's take on what will get announced in about an hour (hey, it's at least as useful information as predicting touch-screen iPods 20 months early).
New iPods and iPod nanos, naturally, both based on OS X. Yes, the iPods will be touch-screen and video will be added to the nano, which will retain its scroll wheel. The brown and furry one thinks it would be a shame if Apple totally forgoes larger capacities for an all-flash lineup, but that does make design much easier. Perhaps one big honkin' non-OS X hard drive-based iPod will remain.
The Macalope's going to buck the consensus guess and say they won't be wi-fi enabled. He'll be happy to be proved wrong.
Oh, and Beatles music on the iTunes Store. The horned one's just going to keep throwing that one out there until it happens. If Think Secret can do it with the "true" video iPod...
It strikes the Macalope as slightly wacky that even the Washington Post is in the Apple rumor business these days. And you know it's got to be good when the piece quotes AppleInsider's Kasper Jade and Rob Enderle, the Huggy Bear and Angel Martin of Apple news.
It's fun to get excited about a new gadget, but, alas, there is a potential downside for Apple, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.
"If it brings out a product that doesn't capture the excitement . . . I wonder if people will be disappointed because it doesn't come up to the levels of what's expected," Enderle said.
Awesome. The man is a genius. A virtuoso of turning the obvious into a quote that sounds like analysis. "'If they release wild dogs and thousands are mauled,' Enderle mused, 'I wonder what people will think then?'"
Also, the Macalope is really curious about what was in that ellipsis. Something awesome, no doubt.
The consensus bet on the Sept. 5th special event Apple announced yesterday is new iPods which are due for a refresh, and the coverflow theme certainly seems to point in that direction.
But Carl Howe speculates that a confluence of circumstantial evidence points to HD movie downloads and rentals.
Either way, the Macalope doesn't really care as long as the words "iPod Hi-Fi" do not come up at any time.
Circumstantial evidence (tip o' the antlers to Jim Thompson).
It's pretty thin, but there's a little something there to chew on.
Of course, it's probably the part about Lyons having railed against anonymous blogging that rankles the horned one!
The New York Times figured out who Fake Steve Jobs is (tip o' the antlers to Daring Fireball).
Just seven more to go!
The Macalope's antlers are all abuzz about the event Apple's hosting next Tuesday.
While rumors have been rolling about new iPods, it seems the smart money is on new Macs, probably of the iMac variety.
Whatever the case, clear your calendar, take the phone off the hook and stock up on popcorn!
