Simon’s Blog

Stay tuned for live reaction to Steve Jobs’s keynote at address at Macworld…

Rumours ahead of the event include: launch of the iTV (will have new name), launch of the iPhone (will have new name), and launch of the widescreen video iPod; as well as various updates of models in the Mac range. Can’t see all those happening though (update - I was wrong!). Let’s see what transpires…

First up…

Apple TV / iTV

Seems like they’ve settled on Apple TV as the product name. Specs include…

802.11n (pluas b/g) [looks like they'll need a new Airport to go with this - 802.11n is new for Apple]

40GB hard drive.

Has HDMI socket, and can play 720p HD video.

Wonder what the price will be. It needs to be low. At the right price point, this could be a big success.

Price is $299. I think that’s just low enough. Apple is going to sell a lot of these….

Next up…

Widescreen iPod

Finally! A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this!

and…

a Mobile Phone

This is getting interesting…

and finally

Internet Communicator

And all in one device!

Could be very nice. Devil is in the detail, of course…

Has Apple’s patented multi-touch screen interface. Apparently runs Mac OS X. It’s just possible Apple have something revolutionary here.

The question in my mind is: will they launch this today? Or is the product still in development?

The product is only 11.6mm thick. They definitely have a winner on their hands, if they can launch this thing soon.

Steve Jobs has demoed the music player - clearly the better than the current iPods. But the next questions in my mind are… Is the touch screen really easier to use than say, a Blackberry e.g. for doing emails?
How effective is the web browsing experience?

First off, it’s not a 3G device (it’s GSM+EDGE) Which is a shame. So, web browsing isn’t going to be great. Good enough for email though. Scratch that. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. 3G would have been very nice to have though. At least with Wi-Fi, it should mean you can have good Internet access in lots of locations these days.

Web browser is Safari - could well be best web browser on a phone so far. Will also come with free push IMAP (from Yahoo!) - same idea as Blackberry. Collaboration with Google - customised Google maps, works with touchscreen gestures, location-aware etc. Nice.

No doubt about it. This is the most exciting phone to come along in a long time - only big downside is no 3G. If the multi-touch, gesture user interface works as advertised i.e. much better than than keypads on other devices, Apple has taken a massive step forward. And it’s only their first phone. Version 2 should be amazing.

Pricing looks pretty competitive… 4GB model is $499; 8GB model is $599. At least, it was sounding competitive, until you realise that includes lock-in to a 2-year contract.

On sale in the US in June. Europe by the end of 2007. Asia in 2008. You will be able to buy them in Apple Stores. Also, in the US, from the first US mobile network partner, Cingular’s stores.

Apple is aiming to shift ten million iPhones in 2008. I think they should do that comfortably, providing they either drop the prices over the next year or remove the need to be tied into a two-year contract.