Apple's new target demographic for Final Cut Studio, should the rumors be believed.

UPDATE: Apple has issued an official response to CNET.com, saying that the pro customers will “love” the next version of the editing suite. While it doesn’t eliminate the chance that Apple will gear FCS3, in my mind the fact that Apple went out of their way to squash the rumor suggests it’s untrue. My prediction is that Final Cut Express will receive the modified consumer-friendly changes, with Final Cut Pro’s focus remaining as is.

Apple Insider reports that Apple is looking to gear the new version of Final Cut Studio towards consumers instead of professionals, despite the fact that Final Cut Studio is a professional program. Not that this rumor isn’t completely surprising considering Apple’s recent iPhone/iPad trend, but this would be a serious mistake on Apple’s part. Creative Professionals would be forced to use different software (most notably a certain offering from Apple’s very public enemy), meaning Apple couldn’t lead the charge regarding video formats, meaning ProRes, H.264, and even Quicktime’s future could be left in trouble. This would resonate not only through the creative community, but ultimately to the iPhone OS, with less content available in Apple’s desired formats.

Out of fear, and hoping for some reassurance, I sent Steve Jobs another email. I reposted it after the jump.Mr. Jobs,

Word on the street is that Final Cut Studio 4 is going to abandon it’s professional roots and focus more towards prosumers, akin to Randy Ubillos’ iMovie revamp. If this ends up being the case, I’m afraid you will lose a ton of professional customers… including a ton of high profile guys, i.e. Francis Ford Coppolla, Coen Bros. Remember: Professionals don’t work with amateur tools.

I seriously think this would be a major mistake. Rather than uproot the foundations of the professional program many rely on for a living, why not revamp Final Cut Express into something completely different than Final Cut Pro, and develop/market them separately? That way you could have iMovie for beginners, Final Cut Express for prosumers, and Final Cut Pro for advanced customers, rather than iMovie for beginners, Final Cut Express for intermediates, and Final Cut Studio for prosumers, which is what the new rumors seem to propose. Just my two cents. Of course the rumors could be bullshit.

Please, in your extraordinary success with the iPad/iPhone, don’t forget about the loyal customers who helped keep Apple alive in it’s time of need: the creative professionals. Don’t abandon us by taking away our rocket ships and giving us bicycles.

Sincerely,

Michael

Soon enough... soon enough.

As soon as I used Siri for the first time, my immediate reaction was “Apple needs to buy this, tweak the UI a tad, and ship it with every iPhone out of the box. This is game changing.” It looks like Apple was thinking the same thing, as today’s big news (besides the announcement of WWDC) is that Apple has bought Siri. If you don’t already have Siri, you need to download it right now and start using it. If you do have Siri, you obviously are aware of how Apple-like and revolutionary this app truly is. This is the future of mobile computing, and Apple today demonstrated that they’re not only aware of it, but that they are going to be the ones taking us there.

Today we’ve witnessed Apple history. The company who considers product secrecy to be of the upmost importance has fallen victim to the biggest leak possible: a major tech blog getting their hands on their upcoming product months before it’s supposed to come out. Gizmodo has managed to acquire a stolen iPhone prototype that somehow ended up on the floor of a bar in San Jose. A thorough inspection has confirmed that it is, in fact, iPhone 4G (HD). While it probably will differ slightly when it ships, this is in fact legit. Check it out for yourself here.

For those of you who live, or visit, the Coachella Valley, you’re probably quite aware about the effort it takes to buy or fix anything Apple-related. There are other inferior Apple retailers around, but they don’t get the same perks that a big Apple retail store does. And if something breaks, and you need a genius bar appointment, it’s gonna require 2 hours of driving… sometimes just to find out the fix was only a click or two.

All this hassle is about to disappear, as Apple is slated to launch a new retail store on El Paseo in Palm Desert. Part of what will soon be the El Paseo Village, the Apple Store will be facing the street, and occupy a 4780 square feet space. Construction should begin early summer, with the Apple Store opening alongside the rest of the mall in early fall. [The Desert Sun]

I am fed up. Fed up about the fact that Final Cut Studio 3, put bluntly, was a very weak update. Fed up that competitors seem to be announcing new products left and right. And fed up about Apple’s obligatory secrecy in a market that can’t handle to be unsure when their livelihood will get updated.

I’m certainly not alone in my sentiments. Users from all over the world have been using the internet as an outlet to vent their frustration. Mac Soda reader Alex J. decided to let Steve Jobs know personally how he feels about the matter, and as though he were talking to the Lord God himself, simply asked for a sign.

Steve,

Getting worried about Apple’s interest in Final Cut. Last updates were not stellar. I heard a bunch of engineers were dropped too – give us a sign you still care about Pro Video, not just the iPad.

Thanks,

Alex

These days Mr. Jobs seems to be responding to everyone (he’s responded to all three of mine), with rather blunt answers. I guess he must’ve been in a good mood, because Alex got a whole three sentences worth, in which Mr. Jobs answered the three of the four questions that all video enthusiasts have been wondering aimlessly. 1) Does Apple care about Final Cut?, 2) Who were the Final Cut employees who got fired?, 3) Will the next release be any good?

We certainly do.  Folks who left were in support, not engineering.  Next release will be awesome.

Those definitely were the answers we wanted to hear. The fourth question, of course, is “When will the next release ship?”, and while he didn’t answer that lingering question, Mac Soda has it on reliable word that a new version will land by the end of 2010. While we don’t have a tangible product at the moment, we can take consolation in the fact that Apple cares about professional video, talent has not been cut from Final Cut, and the next release will in fact be awesome.

Apple's exhibit at NAB 2007

Mac Soda was recently sent a link by a reader to an event registration page regarding an Apple announcement at this year’s NAB. The page gives you the option to register for tickets, with the following text.

Please join Apple for an update on their latest hardware and software products. Lunch will be provided to all those attending.

Date: Wednesday April 14th, 2010
Time: 11:30am – 12:30pm
Where: Renaissance Hotel, Las Vegas
2nd Floor “Rainbow” Conference Room

Please take a moment to RSVP above as space is limited.
If you have any questions, please email Jenny Neymark, Marketing Events Coordinator, or call 877.761.9770.

Thank you, we look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Integrated Media Technologies

While we can’t positively confirm the legitimacy of this page, the timing corresponds not only with the news that new MacBook Pros are to be released within the next week, but also with whispers Mac Soda has independently received that a new version of Final Cut Studio is slated to arrive this year. This page claims we’ll receive news about new Hardware and Software offerings from Apple at an event Wednesday, so it makes sense that we’d hear about Final Cut Studio and MacBook Pros, as NAB is a very professional event aimed at the production crowd.

UPDATE: The Page has been taken down, but the hotel has confirmed to 9to5mac that an Apple event is in fact booked from 8-12 on Wednesday. Whether it’s an official Apple event or an Apple related event put on by someone else remains uncertain.

UPDATE 2: Mac Soda has been told by the company responsible for the event, Integrated Media Technologies, to immediately pull the story because it has no affiliation with Apple and there will not be any announcements by Apple. Maybe it’s just me, but if I didn’t want people to think it was an Apple event, I wouldn’t write “Please join Apple for an update on their latest hardware and software products.” on the invitation

It came, it saw, it conquered. Nothing out of left field today, but a solid showing by Apple makes firmware 4.0 a rather exciting upgrade to Apple’s iPhone OS. My question is… are there any developers who are running it now? If so, send me an email… I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.

Trust me, we're gonna see a lot of this man's app demos...

Today’s the big day (came out of left field, didn’t it?). While I won’t be able to cover it live, I can offer my insight as to how I think the event will go down.

1:00 PM- 1:15 PM: Steve takes the stage, thanks everyone for coming. Mentions how incredible the iPad has done, releases some preliminary numbers, releases iPhone numbers, iTunes sales figures, etc..

1:15-1:30: Shows off new features, like how multitasking will work, slightly revamped UI, updated apps like Google Maps, new FM radio tuner, other surprises.

1:30-2:29: Crazy Eyes Forestall takes the stage and brings forward developers who have been using the SDK for a few weeks, has them show off their apps. Several members of the news media pull an Oedipus Rex on themselves.

2:30: Steve thanks everyone for coming, sends everyone home.

It is the Day of Resurrection! Let us shine forth in splendor for the Festival, and embrace one another. Let us say, “Oh Brethren, even to those who do not love us; let us forgive all things in the Resurrection, and so, let us cry: ‘Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down Death by death, and bestowing life to those in the tombs’.”

Things just changed… I updated my 3.0 phone to 3.1.3 today, and tethering still works! I don’t know how or why, but it does, and that’s all that matters for me. If this interests you, I recommend trying to install tethering again… you might be surprised at what happens!