MacCraic

Howdy folks, since Ginger has decided to not allow me to trade in rumours & speculation anymore on the podcast (except where I get a patent story in) I have decided to throw in my few cents as to what presents I believe Uncle Steve will be showing us tomorrow. So here we go :

Firstly as the title of this post suggests tomorrow will see the introduction of a new iPod Nano (Touch) with a 1.7 inch touchscreen which is about the size of the screen from the 2nd gen Nano. This is obviously based on the stories broken by Macrumors showing pics from a Chinese accessory manufacturer of a new case for this device & the pic of the 1.7 inch display, also an AppleInsider story with render of what it should look like . This along with the introduction of a 32, 64 & 128GB iPod Touch with features close to those found on iPhone4 (Retina Display for 64 & 128GB model but Facetime for all of them) will mean the dropping of the iPod Classic I believe & the death of the clickwheel. With that, the iPod OS will be no more on all display based iPods running on iOS going forward, the Shuffle will remain for now to cover the lower end of the market.

Secondly, there will be an update to iTunes to allow it to be more social as per AppleInsider but it will not go to the cloud yet as the data centre in North Carolina is not due to go live till January 2011 as per comment from Tim Cook (COO) during last quarterly analyst call. There is also a rumour going that iTunes song previews will be extended from 30 secs to a min (will they allow that on a 2min 30 sec song ?).

Thirdly, believe that iTV (UK naming rights pending ) or AppleTV revised will be previewed at the event, it is believed that this runs iOS (a headless iPod Touch effectively) as originally broken in an Engadget story here , will be compatible with existing iOS apps in the store & can be controlled via an iPod Touch or iPhone using acclerometer or even a remote (Magic Wand here we go) .  Looking to get one of these myself.

As for a far out idea of what I think could also be introduced, I started thinking about the invite being in the shape of a guitar & realised it reminded me of the the electric guitar icon used for GarageBand, so I’m gonna throw out a mad thought that iLife 2011 will be previewed with a new feature/app allowing you to create your own iTunes extras/LP features.

Finally, I’m also hoping as per the current IMP episode panel that iTunes 10 is introduced, written to be Cocoa native with improved performance & media management capabilities.

Will sign off now & look forward to tomorrow.

Hello MacCraicers , know these posts have been thin on the ground but just want to point out the odd price (possible saving) situation that is occurring re mobile connectivity that you might choose for the iPad you may have bought in Ireland on launch.

At the moment and I’m taking the base model iPad for the simplest comparison, the 16GB model with just wi-fi retails for €499 while you will pay an extra €100 premium for the 3G model (this pricing differential is the same for the different models in the line).

If you choose to get the Vodafone Micro-SIM ( assuming of course you’ve paid the €100 premium for the pleasure of the 3G model) you have option of paying:

1 day iPad Plan

€3.99 per day

5GB data allowance

30 day iPad plan

€20 per month

500mb data allowance

Remember, like AT&T there are no termination fees for ending the contract after 30 days or a day depending on which plan you choose above.

Now here’s where this gets strange, at the moment Vodafone Ireland are pushing on their site the Vodafone mobile broadband hotspot (Mi-Fi anyone)

for the following tariffs:

Vodafone mobile broadband

€19.90 per month

10GB data allowance

Vodafone mobile broadband unlimited

You can purchase the hardware on Vodafone Ireland’s online store for €39 with the above plan of choice.

So let’s think about this for a second, you can pick up a 16GB wifi iPad €499 + VF mobile broadband hotspot €39 = €538 and for sake of comparison you choose the VF Mobile Broadband package-10GB monthly allowance (€19.90 per mth X 12mths) €238.80 gives a figure €776.80 for total cost of ownership initially.

However, if you decide to pay the premium & plump for a wi-fi+3G model and VF data plan then it works out as follows – 16gb wi-fi+3G €599 + again for comparison take the 30 day iPad plan-5GB allowance (€20 per mth X 12 mths) €240 which gives a figure of €839 for initial total cost of ownership

This means that you can save €62.20 by plumping for the first option of buying the base wi-fi model with Mi-Fi initially and enjoy double the monthly data allowance (10Gb vs 5GB). In 2nd & subsequent years you save only €1.20 per year but still get double the data allowance.

Know which iPad & plan you would choose ?  :-)

Tonight the boys have a quick discussion about Mr Byrne’s quick hop across the Atlantic & all things iOS4. (™ Cisco – Licence pending to Cupertino )

Justin & Dave: We discuss our experiences of installing & using iOS4

Links MacCraicer’s may be (passingly) interested in checking out :

The New iOS4 Shortcuts, Features, and Settings You Need to Know  [IOS4]

Steve Jobs tells us why iPhone 3G didn’t get wallpapers…

Go Daddy Promotion

Contact details

• twitter.com/justingbyrne
• twitter.com/davidshortle
• themaccraic@gmail.com
• Mevio

Outro

Tag- That’s all the Craic from this week’s…iOS4 ..Mac !

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).

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.