Mac Soda

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’.”

I’ve been dreading the day I “upgraded” my iPhone 3GS from version 3.0. Sure MMS looked appealing, and there were other goodies I wanted, but tethering was such a beautiful feature I couldn’t give it up.

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!

Recent firings by Apple have sent many video professionals into a frenzy, leading many to speculate that Apple has plans to sell off it’s Final Cut Studio suite of applications… perhaps even with an announcement around NAB. Needless to say anyone who uses Final Cut on a regular basis is rightfully terrified by these rumors.

Good news everyone… there’s no need to worry. Responding to a Mac Soda request for comment, regarding the state of Final Cut Pro, Steve Jobs said the following…

No worries. FCP is alive and well.

Sent from my iPhone

Hopefully this will put to rest this issue once and for all. I said it last week, and I’ll say it again… Final Cut Studio is alive and well, and Apple has no intentions of leaving this market.

I’m sure by now you’ve read most of the responses to the fact that Apple fired 40 employees of it’s Final Cut team. “Apple is killing the Pro Apps”, “All Steve Jobs cares about is the iPad”, “I guess Apple is just a gadget company now… they’ll probably stop making computers all together.” I’m here to tell you that everyone is reading this completely the wrong way.

Apple is NOT, I repeat NOT killing Final Cut Studio. Final Cut Studio dominates the film industry (a large industry for that matter), and as a result of it’s Mac-only nature, it leads to a ton of Mac purchases… the expensive Macs. Apple has enough money to keep Final Cut Studio running without issue… there’s no chance they will kill it.

Now that that’s out of the way, what does this mean? Three words: trimming the fat. Steve Jobs has said time and time again in keynotes that it’s not how many people are working on a product that makes it good, but the quality of people. Simply put, 40 people weren’t doing a good job. It’s not cost cutting… Apple doesn’t need to do that. It’s quality control.

The timing is worth noting as well. As I stated before, I received word that Apple plans on releasing a new Final Cut Studio by year’s end… a dramatic break from their usual 2-3 year cycle. Perhaps these people were doing a poor job meeting their deadlines, and Apple decided to take an axe to their slow productivity? Perhaps the new Final Cut Studio has just been completed, and now that it’s finished, Apple can get rid of the people that did a poor job during the process? Or perhaps, and this is what I consider the most likely, these people have nothing to do with the Final Cut Studio programming team and held other jobs simply not needed anymore. Remember that Apple’s AppleCare team is located in Austin, where the report says some of the people were fired.

Simply put, I don’t know which of these scenarios is correct. But frankly, it doesn’t matter, because I can definitively say that Final Cut Studio is alive and well, and Apple has no intentions of leaving this market.

Google auto-complete shows that most people feel the same way I do about Apple's new iPad.

BREAKING NEWS: Apple unveils a brand new iPod Touch, with a point upgrade to its iPhone OS, version 3.2, in what came as shocking news to those who were expecting them to release a brand new tablet computing device.

Oh wait. This is the tablet.

I am very surprised by what Apple introduced today. Revolutionary? Not in the slightest.  Steve Jobs, Mr. Genius-Visionary did not see what the market wanted accurately. Apple made an assumption that because the iPhone OS is so loved, they’re selling them like hotcakes and the app store is so popular, that people would jump at the chance to buy a new device that looks incredible from Apple. Unfortunately, and I say this with great surprise and sadness, Apple messed up royally. People do not want a fancy upgrade to the iPod Touch in a 10 inch device. They want a fancy re-imagining of the Mac for a 10 inch multitouch device. Unfortunately, iPad is much more iPod than it is Mac, and this is its fatal flaw.

This screenshot from today's keynote essentially sums up my feelings about the new device.

Entertain for a second what could’ve been. A brand new multi-touch interface, with all the Mac Apps you use and love (iLife, iChat, iWork, etc.), all completely rewritten for a touch interface. The Mac, reinvented for a new decade. Mobile iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb. iPhoto for editing and sharing pictures you can take from the device, iMovie for editing movies anywhere with a brand new touch interface, Garageband for creating songs anywhere, and iWeb for managing your blog or website, anywhere on a gorgeous screen. Had Apple included a front facing camera, iChat could’ve taken video chat to new heights. Imagine being able to video chat from a tablet you can take anywhere. The possibilities are endless.

With iWork, Apple did it right. iWork is very well designed for a touch interface, and I could see this being very practical. The problem is, the stopped short, and made the device appear so much like an iPod Touch, particularly in the home screen, that everyone who sees it will immediately think they’re buying an iPod Touch. Which for 500-800 dollars, they won’t do.

I feel like Apple will sell a good number of these. However, I think they wanted this to be a major new device, which everyone everywhere is using, and I don’t think that will happen yet. Version 2.0 of the tablet, if sales don’t work so splendidly, may very well be spectacular. Hopefully so, because right now Apple took overwhelmingly positive buzz, and instead of introducing a breathtaking new device that defined the future like they did in 2007 with the iPhone introduction, they released a cool device. Cool because everyone will look at it, marvel at how cool it looks, ponder the price and ask themselves, “Do I need this?” I have a Mac and an iPhone (or iPod Touch). And due to the overwhelming similarities between iPad and iPhone in terms of OS design, people will save the 500 dollars and manage to survive with their MacBooks and their iPhones.

iPad: Beautiful looking, neat features, but unfortunately not enough of an improvement over the Mac and iPhone to justify spending 500 dollars on it. FOR ME. Not for everyone. But come launch day, I personally will not be buying one.

Looks like Apple’s getting a jump start in preparing the iPhone Dev Center page for tomorrow. The site is already down, presumably so they can prepare for iPhone 4.0/iPad related information.

I haven’t felt genuine excitement about an Apple product introduction since the first iPhone. The expectations are built up tremendously, and yet nobody really has a clue about anything regarding it. When Apple guards a product this closely, and the hype is through the roof, Apple always delivers. Even if you don’t see the point of a tablet (I’m looking at you Dr. Macenstein), the fact of the matter is you will be amazed by it, you will see that it fills a need in your life you didn’t know you had, and you will shell out as much as Apple decides you should, even if monthly charges apply. Disagree with me now, but talk to me in a year or two. Trust me… you’ll surely have one. As for the analysts who say it will be a niche product, or that it will be a bust, simply put you’re wrong. It will appeal to everyone, everywhere, and they’ll sell tens of millions, and you will eat your words. That’s how it works with Apple and these big products… they always deliver.

While speculation can be made as to what exactly Apple will present, it doesn’t truly matter. Personally I think it’s gonna be similar to Mac OS X in terms of the software it runs, but in iPhone format (i.e. iLife, iWork, iChat in touch form), combined with features new to Apple (i.e. print media, textbooks), and some new features that nobody in the industry has tried before (i.e. I don’t know, or it wouldn’t be unique. The applications will be similar to ones offered for the Mac (i.e. Photoshop), but will all be offered in a unique app store (NOT upgraded apps from the iPhone. Why in the world would I want a tablet if that’s the case? I’d just get an iPhone or an iPod Touch).  However, my speculation is useless because I know Apple, and when Apple treats a product like this, they mean business. Prepare yourself for the biggest Apple event since MacWorld 07. My recommendation? Watch it spoiler free from MacRumors. I watched the 07 keynote that way, and it was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever watched… it let’s you truly immerse yourself in the surprise and excitement of the event in a way a live-blog cannot. I only recommend watching it this way for big events… this is one of them. Do it and you’ll be glad you did.

I’ll post my full thoughts about the tablet Wednesday evening after I watch the keynote spoiler free. Until then… GET EXCITED!