MacCraic

Just after reading a good article over at Appleinsider about reveal that new & improved Zune HD2 will effectively be MS answer to the iPod Touch ( Haven’t we been here before ? ) as per following section:

“At this week’s Game Developers Conference, Microsoft unveiled its new XNA Game Studio 4.0, which allows developers to create games that can run on a variety of devices, including Windows desktops, the Xbox 360 and future phones running Windows Phone 7 Series. In addition, ZDNet’s Mary-Jo Foley said Microsoft is working on a “Zune HD2″ that will be similar to the iPod touch, in that it will have no phone functionality.”

And what about the current ZuneHD owners ( How many are there ?), will they get to share in this new version of the dev kit ? Unfortunately not as the new dev kit is only compatible with Windows Phone 7 & the new Zune HD2.

Would you seriously consider this lot again considering that 1G iPod Touch (2007) still runs apps from App Store just fine. Have’nt seen Apple break support yet.

Think Different before you buy into the next MS device (they’re throwing enough money at it as usual).

Hi folks, just wanted to make an addition or two post wise which I left out of the latest podcast.

The Town Hall meeting incident: As regards what Stevie J actually said or didn’t say, Daring Fireball has his take (now updated with same information on this Wired article) on what happened at the Town Hall meeting. Whatever the words used, the sentiments are the same as Google & Apple are in a lot of ways now enemies.

Also, neglected to mention that out of this meeting Stevie also stated following as reported by macrumors.com:

• that agressive updates are to be delivered to iPhone that Android will not be able to match (an A+ upgrade to iPhone apparently, so guess we can expect a baby brother chip (A2 running on Cortex A9 SP chip perhaps) without a doubt in next 4 months)
• Lala was a talent purchase, whose team have been integrated into the iTunes team (wonder how Eddie Cue is going to keep ‘em in hand )
• New Macs for 2010 that will take Apple to the next level (can’t believe that a 22-inch touchscreen Mac is it- gorilla arms anyone ? )
• Blu-Ray is effectively still a “bag of hurt”, so a wait & see approach is been taken sales wise (considering there are now Blu-Ray players under €150, there should be a considerable jump unit sales wise especially after Xmas period)

Sorry for not including these in show. Promise to behave going forward.

Why the $130 price gap between non-3G & 3G version ? : This, I neglected to mention in the latest podcast as it went in the Bermuda Triangle called the “back of my mind” & also in my previous article. I’m trying to work out how a $10-$20 cost 3G chip can somehow lead to a approx 550%+ margin based on extra $130 on retail price. Are the Wi-Fi only iPads being cross-subsidised to a degree by the Wi-Fi+3G models in order to maintain overall projected gross profit margins for this product ?

Would like to know indeed.

Well the event finished last Wed & I’ve had a few days to digest the whole “latest creation” factoids & now have a question or two about this device.

OS Software Update (similar to OSX or via iTunes only) ?: I was under belief that this device if it’s a replacement for a Netbook would operate on some basis kind of like a cross between OSX & iPhone with certain elements being closed off so that this device can be sold to people who don’t need or wish to fiddle with such items as Finder windows etc. Have realised now based on conversation on “Chit-chat across the Pond” over on the latest Nosillacast that this iPad seems to be more like an iPhone/iPod Touch in that unless we find out otherwise to update the OS it could be necessary to attach the iPad to iTunes & update the software in that manner. That would be unlike updating OSX via a SW update or updating on a Netbook, that would therefore preclude selling this device to those who don’t have a computer available but who are interested in the iPad. Now I know people out there will have relatives who could sync & update on iTunes on their own computer for them, but that would not meet any claim that this device is a Netbook replacement. I would be kinda worried about this if Apple are intimating that this device could have the option to be used on its own, but no such evidence exists on the iPad specs page on Apple.com.

File sharing between apps, will it be allowed ? : Obviously, on a netbook (apart from multi-tasking (background apps running)) it is possible to create a document in one app (e.g Word) and use it in another (Email client). How will this be possible on the iPad if for simplicity reasons, no Finder app is available to navigate to the word-processing document in order to bring it into the Mail app. According to this excellent Roughly Drafted Magazine article the documents created by an app are stored within the installation directory of that app (if you delete the app-the docs related to it are removed also), will the documents be locked into the apps they are created in only ?

Update: Looks like the file sharing question has been answered by macrumors.com here (with thanks to Infinite Loop)

Two questions I wouldn’t mind getting an answer to, but guess will have to wait less than 60 days to find out.

New pics of tablet HERE!.

Sorry, just trying to do a Dvorak & be a hit whore to get some attention . Know I haven’t posted as much as I should have for a while & have threatened to do so, but with the impending event tomorrow thought I would share my thoughts on what I believe the fruit company’s “latest creation” will actually show.

The Tablet: At this stage everyone (& their mother) remotely interested in this event tomorrow knows that Apple intends to introduce a tablet-like device that possibly could according to Daring Fireball be an attempt to “redefine personal computing”. I would agree with this assertion & also that it will be based on the iPhone OS in order to allow it to link in with App Store content going forward. Also believe that leveraging the Tunekit dev environment (based on specialised Javascript subset) that is used to create iTunes LP & iTunes Extras content, we will see new interactive newspaper & book content being offered by NY Times & other publishers, which Apple have been trying to cut deals with for the last few months.The device could also find a home in the education market (effectively a replacement for the E-Mate 300 device from mid 90’s (great concept, crap execution)) and you’ll never have to carry heavy books again ( Yay! ). Also believe that this tablet will be powered by an ARM Cortex A9 chip custom designed by the PA Semi acquisition (first of many to come) which should provide for little heat generation.That will lead to a thin casing (no thicker than an iPod Touch). The UI and interaction with UI will be multi-touch based, but would wonder like the Magic Mouse, would Apple consider making the back of the tablet multi touch enabled to allow for enhanced control & interaction with UI. The splotches on the invite as shown from snapshot above could suggest some form of creative based app being included as standard (MacPaint redux perhaps?). Have noticed ththat some people are suggesting that this device is running iPhone 4.0 & that no update to iPhone 3.1 has been forthcoming in a while due to fear that codies would find links to this new product within said update. Believe that 3.2 is a better bet for driving this tablet not 4.0. Believe that if Steve is enthused about this device, then it will rock (either that or it will be useful while sitting on the toilet at least ).

iPhone 4.0: Believe that iPhone 4.0 will be shown as a beta & will not be released till the usual June timeframe, along with a new iPhone ((PA Semi designed chip again (have to start paying back the around $250m Apple coughed up to take em over somehow )) . Hoping as sites such as The Unofficial Apple Weblog have suggested that the home screen will get some functional use to it ( as an option in settings of course) , such as messages received, calendar & to do events. Again like the tablet, the OS will support multi-touch across full surface of a 4G iPhone & iPod Touch, but would expect other speed & functional upgrades also. Thinking also that Apple might allow for a free upgrade to 4.0 by iPod Touch owners as since subscription accounting rule has been changed to allow Apple to recognise the majority of revenue on Apple TV & especially iPhones  ( hence the $15bn+ revenue results for Q1 2010 announced yesterday) that the fruit company could extend this policy for the iPod Touch owners out there, as a lot of them are teenagers who may baulk at paying a tenner every time a major OS update is rolled out. If it cannot happen for existing owners then for any future iPod Touches purchased (Qtr just gone onwards) this could apply, it would also give Apple good PR as well as ensuring that people update to latest OS releases when available.

iLife 2010 & updated Corei5 Macbook Pro: iLife is due its yearly update & would believe that the possibility of being able to create your own iTunes LP content would be possible with people being able to access this content via the cloud through MobileMe. Also expect the SW suite to be able to take advantage of OpenCL in Snow Leopard, which should improve processing times of videos in iMovie & to go native 64-bit. Expect a hardware refresh for the MBP to the new i5 chips with dedicated GPU’s compatible with OpenCL. It could also gain the Displayport 1.2 standard which would allow it to be used as a USB port via an adaptor. Wouldn’t expect a casing refresh (that a would be a bit quick as aluminum case design was kept for 6 years before it was changed in 2008).

iTunes.com: Definitely believe that Apple will offer update to iTunes allowing you to access your music collection in the cloud via MobileMe in a browser (if you’re building a large data centre in North Carolina, you have to utilise it somehow). This has to tie in with the Lala acquisition by Apple recently as they have expertise in this area but would wonder how the record labels will let this one fly, if Apple allowed you to upload your music collection to this cloud. Will a conversion charge have to be paid like the one introduced when people wanted to change their DRM AAC file to DRM free ones ? Hopefully not.

Those are my thoughts on what I think will take place at the event tomorrow, will be tuning in at 6pm GMT to Macbreak Weekly to see how it goes.