Motorola CEO fuels Apple cell phone rumors
Less than week after insulting Apple's new iPod nano during a brief but public tirade, Motorola CEO Ed Zander on Thursday spoke more kindly of the iPod maker and fueled rumors of an Apple-branded cell phone.
At a leadership seminar last Friday, Zander discredited the iPod nano, saying: "Screw the Nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?"
But in an interview with CNet News.com on Thursday, Zander said his comments were "taken completely out of context."
"We have a great relationship with Apple," Zander said. "I've known Steve Jobs for 15 years. Sure, there is some tension there. We have the ROKR, and they have the nano. They are a competitor as well as a partner."
Not to be denied another headline, Zander was quick to add: "And we know that they are going to build a smart phone--it's only a matter of time."
Zander on Thursday also demonstrated an "unnamed prototype device" that can receive and play music videos, according to News.com.
"The device flawlessly played a Gloria Estefan video but would not shut off. Zander tried to silence the wayward device by unsuccessfully attempting to remove the battery. He finally called an offstage assistant for help."
At a leadership seminar last Friday, Zander discredited the iPod nano, saying: "Screw the Nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?"
But in an interview with CNet News.com on Thursday, Zander said his comments were "taken completely out of context."
"We have a great relationship with Apple," Zander said. "I've known Steve Jobs for 15 years. Sure, there is some tension there. We have the ROKR, and they have the nano. They are a competitor as well as a partner."
Not to be denied another headline, Zander was quick to add: "And we know that they are going to build a smart phone--it's only a matter of time."
Zander on Thursday also demonstrated an "unnamed prototype device" that can receive and play music videos, according to News.com.
"The device flawlessly played a Gloria Estefan video but would not shut off. Zander tried to silence the wayward device by unsuccessfully attempting to remove the battery. He finally called an offstage assistant for help."
Comments
Originally posted by AppleInsider
The device flawlessly played a Gloria Estefan video but would not shut off.
Sort of like his mouth.
Originally posted by Kolchak
I'm sorry, but can someone explain to me exactly how "context" would change the meaning of "Screw the Nano"? As for the unnamed device, another masterpiece of Motorola engineering.
sarcasm
BTW, the video not turning off was a feature for the unannounced video advertizing feature.
Originally posted by AppleInsider
"The device flawlessly played a Gloria Estefan video but would not shut off.
The horror...
Originally posted by AppleInsider
...played a Gloria Estefan video...
Of ALL the videos in the world to choose, the best they could do was Gloria Estefan? They couldn't find ANYONE who had a decent career in the 21st century? That really bodes well for their product.
I never saw the need for any type of handheld before last year when a friend told me about the Sharp Zaurus. A personal organizer, a moble phone, a camera, an MP3/video player... yeah, all these things are cool or useful, sure, but I don't want to lug them around individually. Nor do I want to have anything to do with Windows -- and now that the Palm OS is Windows-based, it's getting harder to enforce that criteria. The Zaurus, which is Linux-based (on an Intel Xscale processor), does all these things in one way or another, and the community of developers has turned it into a laptop that happens to fit in your pocket. Now that is both cool and useful. That's why these all-in-ones are greater than the sum of their parts. What continues to bug me about the Zaurus is that it lacks the intercompatibility of Macs, and so every sync or file transfer process takes sixty steps instead of one.
Incidentally, I stopped into the local T-Punkt and had a look at the MDA IV. It's one hell of a smartphone. If it didn't run Windows, I'd be shilling my Zaurus on eBay right now. But just imagine it in white. With a silver metallic backing. And OS X-lite on the screen.
Originally posted by sunilraman
(edit: i sweared too much in this post... move along...)
swore. :-)
Originally posted by eji
I'm dying to see Apple put out something like the MDA IV, which is now available here in Germany. This all-in-one approach is, I think, where portable devices are headed and with, say, 4GB+ of flash memory it would be able to hold not only plenty of songs and videos but a scaled-down version of OS X too.
I never saw the need for any type of handheld before last year when a friend told me about the Sharp Zaurus. A personal organizer, a moble phone, a camera, an MP3/video player... yeah, all these things are cool or useful, sure, but I don't want to lug them around individually. Nor do I want to have anything to do with Windows -- and now that the Palm OS is Windows-based, it's getting harder to enforce that criteria. The Zaurus, which is Linux-based (on an Intel Xscale processor), does all these things in one way or another, and the community of developers has turned it into a laptop that happens to fit in your pocket. Now that is both cool and useful. That's why these all-in-ones are greater than the sum of their parts. What continues to bug me about the Zaurus is that it lacks the intercompatibility of Macs, and so every sync or file transfer process takes sixty steps instead of one.
Incidentally, I stopped into the local T-Punkt and had a look at the MDA IV. It's one hell of a smartphone. If it didn't run Windows, I'd be shilling my Zaurus on eBay right now. But just imagine it in white. With a silver metallic backing. And OS X-lite on the screen.
the key here is h.264 video content that syncs and plays back well on the iPod video. lets assume the "plays back well on the iPod video" and the syncing part is taken care of.
today i had the idea, the h.264 video content at 480p or "360p" resolution...
i dont think content you have to pay for will drive adoption of personal video players. not while the studios are stuck up their own asses. but apple has a hack it can do: give away completely FREE videos.
various options:
1. short flying logo "sponsorship" at the start of each clip
2. a 1-minute music video that advertises the artiste and drives you to buy their full aac album/full aac track from iTMS
3. movie trailers with targeted release dates and co-sponsorship from local exhibitors for your city
4. out-on-dvd-now trailers, again, targeted for online or on-the-street purchasing of those dvds
5. tv trailers for tv/cable shows
now, these clips would be free, would have support of the studios, because they would drive purchasing of the 'full product' through online or on-the-street means, and these would be fun to have for a quick watch of trailers, clips, etc.... no one really wants to watch a full simpsons episode on a tiny 3" screen... but like the "20dohs" would be a fun clip for a chuckle now and then.
a targeted, non-annoying advertising revenue model behind it would see the studios be willing to open up all these clips for free download and distribution through iTunesVideo
Originally posted by danmanix
swore. :-)
i use to speak good english...
Originally posted by sunilraman
no one really wants to watch a full simpsons episode on a tiny 3" screen [/B]
That's where you're wrong. I was really skeptical at first, too, but then I ripped an AVI of Singin' in the Rain to my Zaurus to test out the video capabilities. I watched the whole movie during a train journey without the slightest bother that the screen (2.5" x 3.5"/640x480) was smaller than, say, my 20" iMac LCD at home. And the folks around me were all approvingly curious.
Consider the first television. You're talking about an 8-inch screen for the whole family to gather round. You're going to see a lot of 3-inch screen video players at first, and then as tehcnology advances, you're going to see something like collapsable 6-inch screens or holographic projections. This isn't fantasy; it's just around the bend. 3 inches is sufficient at the outset because it will only improve.
The Joy of Tech had a cartoon the other day about infamous technology comments such as Bill Gates' claim that 640k should be enough for anyone. I think that in time the "no one really wants to watch videos on a 3" screen" assertion will take its place among them.
good points though, for a "poorest foresight in tech" book
"640k should be enough for everyone"
"Screw the Nano. Who listens to 1,000 songs?"
and possibly
"no one wants to watch the simpsons on a 3-inch screen"
the funny thing is that for the first statement, it was true for about a few years. the second statement, well, that was true for about one nanosecond... hah! getit? nanosecond? haha hahahh hahhah
Originally posted by eji
That's where you're wrong. I was really skeptical at first, too, but then I ripped an AVI of Singin' in the Rain to my Zaurus to test out the video capabilities. I watched the whole movie during a train journey without the slightest bother that the screen (2.5" x 3.5"/640x480) was smaller than, say, my 20" iMac LCD at home. And the folks around me were all approvingly curious.
Consider the first television. You're talking about an 8-inch screen for the whole family to gather round. You're going to see a lot of 3-inch screen video players at first, and then as tehcnology advances, you're going to see something like collapsable 6-inch screens or holographic projections. This isn't fantasy; it's just around the bend. 3 inches is sufficient at the outset because it will only improve.
The Joy of Tech had a cartoon the other day about infamous technology comments such as Bill Gates' claim that 640k should be enough for anyone. I think that in time the "no one really wants to watch videos on a 3" screen" assertion will take its place among them.
You are dead right. These screens are perfectly watchable. Apple's just lining up a suitable bag of content, both free and paid, and then we will definitely see an vPod. End 2006? Vodcasting/amateur porn will reach critical mass in 2007.
(NOTE TO ADMINS. WHY AM I GETTING BLOODY POPUP PAGES FROM THAT FREEIPODS SITE IN THE UK? PLEASE MAKE THEM STOP. I presume its through a agency or somesuch. very naughty)
"The device flawlessly played a Gloria Estefan video but would not shut off. Zander tried to silence the wayward device by unsuccessfully attempting to remove the battery. He finally called an offstage assistant for help."
He's either too stupid to remove a battery, or else they have managed to build a device which works without electricity. Amazing either way.
Originally posted by eji
That's where you're wrong. I was really skeptical at first, too, but then I ripped an AVI of Singin' in the Rain to my Zaurus to test out the video capabilities. I watched the whole movie during a train journey without the slightest bother that the screen (2.5" x 3.5"/640x480) was smaller than, say, my 20" iMac LCD at home. And the folks around me were all approvingly curious.
Consider the first television. You're talking about an 8-inch screen for the whole family to gather round. You're going to see a lot of 3-inch screen video players at first, and then as tehcnology advances, you're going to see something like collapsable 6-inch screens or holographic projections. This isn't fantasy; it's just around the bend. 3 inches is sufficient at the outset because it will only improve.
The Joy of Tech had a cartoon the other day about infamous technology comments such as Bill Gates' claim that 640k should be enough for anyone. I think that in time the "no one really wants to watch videos on a 3" screen" assertion will take its place among them.
also look at what sony is doing with the PSP, they now have like 150 to 200 movies out or in the works and every other day some small software maker in japan makes it easier and easier to get dvds on to the PSP plus the best games, music, photos, and now internet. This right now is what Apple needs to match in america the only thing that they will have the upper hand on is a lot of memory in a small system which is I why think sony will be changing there PSP real soon with a HD.
Originally posted by T'hain Esh Kelch
He's either too stupid to remove a battery, or else they have managed to build a device which works without electricity. Amazing either way.
Um, its a freakin' unnamed prototype device. Maybe they haven't gotten around to putting in a removable battery. Or they haven't gotten around to telling people how to go about removing it (for all you know, someone superglued it in so it wouldn't keep falling out).
But a Gloria Estafan video that wouldn't stop playing. Man, talk about having flashbacks to the 80's. Its the kind of thing that would drive someone back to drink.
Oh, and I don't really see how this fuels any rumors more so than anyone saying it. He didn't sound like he had any knowledge, just saying "Oh, we all know they're building one." Just like we all knew they were making a PDA. Its called the iWalk, and its gonna rock! And then there's the set-top Tivo-like box. Just around the corner, I'm sure of it.