Apple to hold special event on Oct 12

[AppleInsider]

Apple Computer will hold a special event next Wednesday to introduce a new form of product or service, AppleInsider has learned.

On Tuesday the iPod maker began distributing invitations to analysts and members of the media for a special event scheduled for 10:00 a.m. October 12 at the California Theater in San Jose.

The invitations simply read: "One more thing..."

In recent years, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has used the phrase "One more thing..." to indicate a surprise product announcement towards the end of his keynote presentations.

In the invitations themselves, Apple provided no hints as to what announcements it plans to make. However, recent information suggests that Apple may be preparing to introduce a version of its iPod with video capabilities.

The special event will be the second held by Apple in less than five weeks. On September 7th the iPod maker dazzled the media with the introduction of its ultra-thin iPod nano.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[kenaustus]

Just in time for the Christmas buying season. "One more thing" seems to indicate something new rather than upgrades to any Macs. I'm betting on the Video iPod. If that's it then Santa is going to be busy this year.

[G_Warren]

If its a 5th gen iPod, my credit card could be getting a work out - bored of the 4th gen design...

[dutch pear]

Now what videocontent can apple actually obtain that people want to see very much and costs nothing.....

Airport AV with iSight/ichat integration:
Free Videocalling from your TV
VOIP over your stereo

Apple has seen the skype explosion and learned....

[FireEmblemPride]

I'm very excited even though I just bought a nano.

[G_Warren]

Good job with the blurring on that email address in the invite... good job no-one can read it anymore.

[Ferali]

Originally posted by FireEmblemPride
I'm very excited even though I just bought a nano.

in the same boat as you... I just hope i didnt buy too quicky and dont regret waiting.

damn you apple for not releasing it all at once!

[isaacboy]

The article says there's no hint to what the product could be... If we look back at the invitations sent out for the Nano launch it featured a pair of jeans that I do believe had the small pocket steve jobs used to pull the nano out of (so there was an hint in that invite). So I believe there is a hint in this invite, Theatres generally have red curtains like the ones on the invite, theatre - movies, I think apple are getting at somthing.

[k2director]

A video ipod? After we just had an ipod event 5 weeks earlier? God, I hope not.

I'm glad Apple's doing so well with the iPod, but I'm getting sick of it seemingly becoming the real focus of the company. What happened to the Mac? Many core Mac products have felt quite uninspired over the last few interations (iBook, PBook, and PMacs), and it's been weeks since a Mac has appeared on Apple's home page! And my local Apple store now features iPods in the front of the store, on both sides of the aisle.

I hope this event is more Mac-oriented. I'm crossing my fingers for a dual core G5 PowerMac. That's enough of a leap to warrant a special event, along with new Pbooks maybe. Both machines need a real boost right now, or else everyone's just going to wait for the lines to go over to Intel.

[franksargent]

Call me stupid but the email address looks like:

rsvp_media@apple.com

I guess G_Warren was being cynical?

Do you suppose AI did this on purpose?

Conspiracy anyone?

[danielctull]

Originally posted by franksargent


Call me stupid but the email address looks like:

rsvp_media@apple.com

I guess G_Warren was being cynical?

Do you suppose AI did this on purpose?

Conspiracy anyone?

Maybe it's the fact that anyone can reply to it?

[b3nj]

I'm not so sure about the iPod Video... it seems so contradicting with the thing that Steve Jobs said on the WWDC 2005.. he was talking about other companies who produced "Portable video players" that they are retards who were trying to make things that would be stupid, like whatching a film on a miniature screen (only with nicer words)...
but.. I've heard from other people that Steve does say something that he would never produce, and some years later he does produce the thing that he said he would never produce.. but the time between the statemant and the production were years.. and with this one.. is just.. a few months..

though I still think that it would be something with Movies/films.. but in an other way.. i think it would something like a "Media Centre".. A "home-cinema-set-kinda-thingy".. and perhaps with "WiFi/AirPort/802.11g/or whatever you want to call it"... though I've heard he wouldn't do something with TV, cause he didn't like it or something?.. oh well.. we'll have to wait and see...(like we didn't do that before)

b3nj

[Guartho]

I hope ThinkSecret is right about it being PowerMac or 'Book related. If it's ANOTHER damn iPod announcement, I'm going to be zoo-pissed.

edited to add:
I thought this was in Future hardware. It's not intended to inflame you iPod fans... I'm just jealous of you getting all the attention.

[franksargent]

Originally posted by danielctull
Maybe it's the fact that anyone can reply to it?

As G_Warren suggests, it's not the fact that the address is blurred, albeit inadequately, but whomever blurred it, 1) didn't do it properly or 2) intended the address to be seen anyway (thus the "conspiracy theory' statement).

[franksargent]

To me the red curtain suggest 2 hypotheticals:

1) video (or 5th generation) iPod

2) encore presentation of previously released products

In my view (wishful thinking) both seem very plausible, with the encore being a massive release of hardware products (JIT for the holiday buying season). New PM's, PB's (maybe the 7448 but not the G5), iMac's (?), Mac mini (official announcement of new models), eMac (?), etc.

CIJ is bout to bust a move (and I don't mean BM either)!

[G_Warren]

Originally posted by franksargent


As G_Warren suggests, it's not the fact that the address is blurred, albeit inadequately, but whomever blurred it, 1) didn't do it properly or 2) intended the address to be seen anyway (thus the "conspiracy theory' statement).

Glad someone understood my sarcasm

[CosmoNut]

I tend to think this is going to be a brand new product. It very well may have video, music, and photo capability, but I wonder if it's going to be an "iPod." It can't cannabalize iPod sales, however, so it's going to be different enough that people will want it for *different* reasons than they would want an iPod.

I really do think this sucker might have an Intel chip in it, too. That leads me to believe it very well could be a new computer.

Whatever happens, I have a feeling I'm going to be very impressed.

[danielctull]

Originally posted by CosmoNut
I tend to think this is going to be a brand new product. It very well may have video, music, and photo capability,

I really do think this sucker might have an Intel chip in it, too. That leads me to believe it very well could be a new computer.

Airport Express meets Mac mini equals HTPC.....? hmm

[Ferali]

Originally posted by franksargent


To me the red curtain suggest 2 hypotheticals:

1) video (or 5th generation) iPod

2) encore presentation of previously released products

#2.. maybe it is nano colors!

[ThinkDifferent]

Originally posted by Ferali
#2.. maybe it is nano colors!

HA! I'd laugh!!

[rtamesis]

It'll probably be that new shiny dual core dual G5 desktop Powermac and a dualcore G4 Powerbook!

[JeffDM]

Originally posted by k2director
I hope this event is more Mac-oriented. I'm crossing my fingers for a dual core G5 PowerMac. That's enough of a leap to warrant a special event, along with new Pbooks maybe. Both machines need a real boost right now, or else everyone's just going to wait for the lines to go over to Intel.

Really, what can be done until the Intel shift? The PPC arch has been living on borrowed time lately, and there isn't that much to be done other than adding a few features and tiny speed bumps. Given that Freescale has been choking, it isn't as if a 2+ GHz G4 with a good FSB (say 500MHz+) will be made available anytime soon, so the 'Books won't be getting much of an update until they go x86. Maybe a quad processor (dual dual-core) Powermac is tenable, but if it requires a board change or significant revisions in the cooling system, then it might not worth it for a system that will be replaced in a year. I know that iPods get revisions every year, but computers are far more complex.

[Matthew Yohe]

Maybe the curtians are just that... curtians.
http://www.shomler.com/calsj/image02/4db_0387.jpg
^ The theatre's website

[CosmoNut]

If Apple is buying another company, it would be "curtains" for that company. Not bloody likely that will happen, though.

[Xool]

I think the curtains definitely imply movies. The fact the the apple.com/movies url is protected is a further hint.

While the "one more thing..." tagline certainly gets our juices flowing, I think it is in reference to the previous iPod announcement, in that even though the nano was just released there's one more iPod thing to announce.

The new Macs and PowerBooks will just start the show off.

Expect iTunes 5.0.2 next week too.

[retiarius]

the apple brand has given us high quality digital audio via the ipod.

as for video, the ipod photo dock with S-video out has been
a non-starter for those 2-8 megapixel digital photos
everyone owns. for apple to debut MTV-like lowrez 480p video
on a device with analog out would be a step backwards, besmirching
the brand known for higher quality multimedia.

yet 720p or better video via DVI/HDMI from an ipod,
from both CPU-intensive and power consumption standpoints,
is just too weird. now apple/intel 802.11n airport AV express
would indeed be nice, but this requires hardware
MPEG2 / H.264 decoders in a small unit.

if sjobs wants to think different by adopting devices abandoned
in the past as "un-apple" and "not done right", why not do an
apple-brand 1080p HDTV-compatible living-room size (42" minimum)
display? that sounds much more practical for circa 2005, the
"year of HD".

[BMWintoxication]

new powerbooks??..

[bikertwin]

Photo Pro?

Adobe has been awfully coy about when/if a Mac version of Photoshop Elements 4.0 will come out. Maybe they're waiting for Apple to announce a software product that PS Elements 4.0 will work with????

[melgross]

This is good for the Video iPod thread as well.

http://www.forbes.com/video/?video_u...27s+Video+iPod

[Lincolnrozelle]

check out www.macuser.co.uk
It says that the major studios are planning a downloads store by the end of the year...
(second link down under news - i think)
Who better than the beloved Apple?

Steve went to them and said he's do it....
... gave them ok terms...
and we're away.

[eAi]

I wonder, I wonder...

This invitation is clearly meant to provoke speculation, so this means that unless Apple want to play with the media and piss them off, its going to be somthing pretty good. That sort of rules out power book updates or other incremental features, particularily when these could have been done 5 weeks ago. Maybe Apple have a video iPod, maybe the curtain is just a curtain - hiding whats behind it. Haven't they used a similar curtain image before - for Final Cut Pro or somthing?

I've always thought it quite strange that they announced the nano and the ROKR phone at the same event - in my view, the ROKR phone's announcement subtracted from the nanos, because it essentially was 'just another phone', I'm suprised Apple wanted the two devices on the same stage, I can't believe they're very proud of it, hardware design-wise at least.

Maybe they knew that whatever is being announced at this upcoming event is so much better than the nano that they didn't want the nano on the same stage as it, so they pushed forward the nano release so that this announcement would have its own dedicated event.

Obviously this is just speculation and I could be (and probably am) entirely wrong.

Update: After reading the report from BBC6 Music saying "Apple is set to unveil a new video iPod at the BBC Television Centre in London. The company is expected to reveal details of the new MP3 and video player as well as video bundles to be available from the company's iTunes stores" (which was then removed from the site), I think this strongly backs the video idea. The fact that (if this is true) the device is being launched both in the UK and US on the same day also suggests that its pretty major...

[danielctull]

Originally posted by eAi
The fact that (if this is true) the device is being launched both in the UK and US on the same day also suggests that its pretty major...

Whilst I agree that this is a major "new" product, Apple releasing products at the same time in the US and UK (and the rest of the world) seems to be the norm. Releasing a product at different times for different countries isn't the way forward; they all come from China anyway.

[eAi]

Originally posted by danielctull
Whilst I agree that this is a major "new" product, Apple releasing products at the same time in the US and UK (and the rest of the world) seems to be the norm. Releasing a product at different times for different countries isn't the way forward; they all come from China anyway.

I agree, but I can't think of any other device that has been launched in the UK, they may have been released, but theres been no launch events that I can think of (excluding in-store events targeted at customers).

[sunilraman]

phew, ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts. get some good rest over this weekend 'coz ya ain't gonna be sleeping much next week. apparently USA-ians have a public holiday on monday. which means, three day weekend of partying it up and then *cough* easily dragging yourself through the 4 day work week waiting for, and then endlessly dissecting apple financial results and new product releases.... ah, life is good

i love the current appleInsider vs thinkSecret showdown, with macRumors watching intently from the sidelines.


<my offtopic rant>
suse linux is kicking it nicely as my "bittorrent router"
go go pentium2-333(overclocked 375mhz) deschutes!! woot!!
also, mad props to ndiswrapper, x11vnc... shout outs to... okay i'll stop now. no i am not drunk..... yet

[sunilraman]

Originally posted by G_Warren
Good job with the blurring on that email address in the invite... good job no-one can read it anymore.

ROFLMAO that's exactly what i thought when i first saw it. i was like, F** me its bloody obvious what that email is. good job with the blurring.....

[amac4me]

When you go to http://www.apple.com/music you're automatically redirected by the Web Server to the Apple iPod and iTunes page.

If you then attemp to go to http://www.apple.com/movies you'll get the generic Apache Web Server

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /movies on this server.

Is this evidence of an upcoming Movies page for the much rumored video iPod?

[retiarius]

sparing a full-quotation-reply-to-self, the easiest way
for apple to satisfy all the constraints for:

- apple video download store

- ipod-as-video display/storage unit + remote_control

- digital feed to (hd)tv

is for any new ipod to do 802.11g rather than dvi/hdmi-output,
and have the mac mini rather than the ipod do the tv interface.

if the nintendo ds at $100-$150 for display + wireless
can do it, so can ipod.

unfortunately, this implies 480p rather than hi-definition,
but apple can spin this, as it is at least as good as dvd.

besides, every mac sold can do h.264 at 480p via 1.25 ghz
g4 or better, and has either vga or dvi output to serve most
living room scenarios.

[melgross]

Originally posted by retiarius
sparing a full-quotation-reply-to-self, the easiest way
for apple to satisfy all the constraints for:

- apple video download store

- ipod-as-video display/storage unit + remote_control

- digital feed to (hd)tv

is for any new ipod to do 802.11g rather than dvi/hdmi-output,
and have the mac mini rather than the ipod do the tv interface.

if the nintendo ds at $100-$150 for display + wireless
can do it, so can ipod.

unfortunately, this implies 480p rather than hi-definition,
but apple can spin this, as it is at least as good as dvd.

besides, every mac sold can do h.264 at 480p via 1.25 ghz
g4 or better, and has either vga or dvi output to serve most
living room scenarios.

You're saying that the DS does WiFi?

[sunilraman]

<burning off some excess energy so i can have my afternoon nap>

"Wireless Network

You can connect with a local wireless network of up to 16 players.The wireless range can be an incredible 30 to 100 feet and for some games, multiplayer requires just one Nintendo DS game card.

Future games may take advantage of the DS Wireless LAN connection for more multiplayer possibilities.

Note: Nintendo DS wireless communication, including PictoChat, is not private and is not monitored by Nintendo. We recommend that you never reveal any personal information or arrange to meet a stranger."

now AFAIK i don't think this means you can surf the web at a wifi hotspot or something... its more for interacting wirelessly with other DS users in range... again, AFAIK.

[sunilraman]

Originally posted by retiarius
...unfortunately, this implies 480p rather than hi-definition,
but apple can spin this, as it is at least as good as dvd.
...besides, every mac sold can do h.264 at 480p via 1.25 ghz
g4 or better, and has either vga or dvi output to serve most
living room scenarios.

i would have to agree, 720p h.264 downloads would be quite revolutionary, i don't think movie studios would commit to this, not yet, unless steve has seriously worked some magic. we'll see.

but 480p h.264 downloads playable on a wide range of macs and possibly an iPod video would be great, marketing spin would be "DVD quality movies at one third the size of a DVD" ~ downloaded right to your computer, synced with your video iPod

something tells me though that this is not quite there yet. next year maybe, with 720p or 1080p fullblown HD downloads for mac-based hometheatre stuff, 480p for ipod video stuff.

hmmm.... speculation runs deep and wild at this stage, i'm feeling lost. damn iSteve and his tricks for drumming up hype and mystery!!!!!