Exclusive aerial footage of Apple's mysterious white box next to 'iPhone 6' event site
Not too far from Apple's Campus 2 project, a temporary structure is rising for the company's September 9 event, and new aerial shots captured by an amateur photographer using a flying camera drone offer a closer look at the mysterious white box that has generated considerable buzz.
The large white structure is being erected next to the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, on a square within the De Anza College campus in Cupertino, Calif., which is located just 1.5 miles from Apple's Infinite Loop headquarters (or nearly equidistant from Campus 2). The included photos and video were captured by a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ drone, offering a unique perspective on the mystery building.
Apple's 3D Flyover in Maps depicts the site as usually being bare pavement encircling two patches of grass and a central fountain.
Overhead images (below) reveal that the fountain is still exposed in the rear, while the front courtyard area is enclosed in a large, ventilated temporary structure.
Many have speculated that Apple built the structure as hands-on venue where event attendees will be able to inspect the new products it releases, which are expected to include iPhone 6 and, according to rumors, a new wearable product category.
Building large temporary structures is common among large companies hosting major events. Oracle pays to build a large pavilion used to feed attendees of OracleWorld in the middle of a major downtown street in San Francisco, an effort that requires repainting lane markers and redirecting traffic.
Google similarly attempted to build a large temporary structure to showcase Glass via a floating barge, but because the project ran afoul of environmental and planning regulations, the company was forced to tow its barge out of the San Francisco Bay and to the remote outpost of Stockton, where the structure is being dismantled. Other barges in the program were also scuttled without ever being used.
The Flint Center auditorium has the capacity for seating nearly 3,000 people, compared to the smaller Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, which seats only 755 but has served as the venue for unveiling iPods and iPads in the past.
Last fall, Apple presented its new 64-bit A7, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at an event in its own theater at the company's Infinite Loop headquarters. It then followed up with an event for new iPads and Macs at Yerba Buena.
This May, Apple's iTunes head Eddy Cue remarked "later this year, we've got the best product pipeline I've seen in my 25 years at Apple," adding, "I believe the products we've got coming are great."
Apple's white box
The large white structure is being erected next to the Flint Center for the Performing Arts, on a square within the De Anza College campus in Cupertino, Calif., which is located just 1.5 miles from Apple's Infinite Loop headquarters (or nearly equidistant from Campus 2). The included photos and video were captured by a DJI Phantom 2 Vision+ drone, offering a unique perspective on the mystery building.
Apple's 3D Flyover in Maps depicts the site as usually being bare pavement encircling two patches of grass and a central fountain.
Overhead images (below) reveal that the fountain is still exposed in the rear, while the front courtyard area is enclosed in a large, ventilated temporary structure.
Many have speculated that Apple built the structure as hands-on venue where event attendees will be able to inspect the new products it releases, which are expected to include iPhone 6 and, according to rumors, a new wearable product category.
Building large temporary structures is common among large companies hosting major events. Oracle pays to build a large pavilion used to feed attendees of OracleWorld in the middle of a major downtown street in San Francisco, an effort that requires repainting lane markers and redirecting traffic.
Google similarly attempted to build a large temporary structure to showcase Glass via a floating barge, but because the project ran afoul of environmental and planning regulations, the company was forced to tow its barge out of the San Francisco Bay and to the remote outpost of Stockton, where the structure is being dismantled. Other barges in the program were also scuttled without ever being used.
Back to Flint Center
Apple hasn't used the Cupertino Flint Center venue for introducing new products since the late 1990s. The space is notable in Apple's history for serving as the first public introduction of the Macintosh in 1984.The Flint Center auditorium has the capacity for seating nearly 3,000 people, compared to the smaller Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, which seats only 755 but has served as the venue for unveiling iPods and iPads in the past.
Last fall, Apple presented its new 64-bit A7, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at an event in its own theater at the company's Infinite Loop headquarters. It then followed up with an event for new iPads and Macs at Yerba Buena.
This May, Apple's iTunes head Eddy Cue remarked "later this year, we've got the best product pipeline I've seen in my 25 years at Apple," adding, "I believe the products we've got coming are great."
Comments
2) It looks like we have three main buildings for the attendees and then what looks like two auxiliary buildings that perhaps are for unloading and setting up of whatever they are putting in the other buildings.
3) I love that AI is doing their own videos but that music is awful.
I discovered a solution you can use. Convert any character in the to5mac.com string to its hex value to trick Huddler. This will be seen by a browser as acceptable code. I like switching the (.) period to %2e but any character will do, save for the number 9 because the hex value is %39 which Huddler will then remove since the %39 joins with the to5mac.com string.
e.g.: http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/04/drones-eye-view-of-flint-center-highlights-the-mysterious-structure-apple-is-building-next-to-theater-venue/#more-339098
A stage for music just seems weird to me. I don't see any reason, even if this was an iTunes-based event, for Apple to spend this much time and effort to either have one song or host a concert after a major Apple event. Plus, there would be no reason to cover it up if it was just for a band.
All products updated. Retina iMacs. Retina Cinema Displays. Mac mini (FINALLY). Mac Pro. Slimmer MBA. MBP recently updated (kinda blows my concept, but ...) Hands on.
New products debuted. Watch. Home controllers. TV. Hands on.
Space for actual health care professionals to demo their products and the HealthKit tie-in.
Space for car manufacturers to show off i-integration.
Christmas in September. Complete with Santa.
Carols to be sung by U2.
They're just toilet blocks.
For when the competition shits itself at next week's presentation.
That sounds like a reasonable guess to me. Certainly better than being a concert venue. That said, is a redesigned Apple Store really an exiting thing to have? We're talking about new tables and placement, right, but still with the same stuff on them. Seems dull to me.
Suddenly felt, domestic drones violate privacy, security or whatever.
What does it mean to be B H Photo powered? B H Photo is a retail store.
B&H is sponsoring the drone. They probably gave it AI for the publicity. Just like calling a baseball stadium AT&T Park.
That building is something like 1/4 the size of the flint center. That is huge whatever it is for. I agree it is not a stage as they have one of those. I sure hope this even is streamed live.
What does it mean to be B H Photo powered? B H Photo is a retail store.
In this particular instance "powered" is just a marketing term that means "sponsored by."
I like that it a much better guess than a concert venue.
That building is something like 1/4 the size of the flint center. That is huge whatever it is for. I agree it is not a stage as they have one of those. I sure hope this even is streamed live.
Some events require multiple stages. Many venues have configurations that don't work well for some events. Also, the set change itself might require too much time or effort.
The Flint Center has permanent seating, they can't be removed. It's more like a movie theater or classical concert hall rather than a general admission rock concert venue which is why they don't host many rock concerts. It's typically things like dance, orchestras (even the San Francisco Symphony does the occasional Flint Center concert) and projected events like Warren Miller ski movies.
Flint Center would be great for Yo-Yo Ma, not Radiohead.
Earlier eyewitness reports by a passerby stated that what appeared to a sound stage was being built. The logical conclusion from that story would be that indeed this is some sort of stage with a general admission (seatless) audience area.
The three main sections of the building could be the stage, audience floor, and an entry hall. The two auxiliary sections could be a backstage/artists' area plus a catering operation.
The recently completed acquisition of Beats would seem to point to some sort of major promotional moment at some occasion and Tuesday would be the first Apple media event since that acquisition.
If Apple does introduce some sort of wearable tech, a fashion show might be a suitable event. Flint Center's orchestra floor seating arrangement does not make it a good venue for something like a fashion show since a catwalk cannot be set up.
With the recent high-level acquisitions of Ahrendts, Iovine, and Dr. Dre, it is likely that we will start to see more entertainment-style events rather than the corporate dog-and-pony media presentations.
I was also thinking concert venue. But, if that was the case, they wouldn't necessarily need to cover it. Need to keep in mind that Apple expected drone surveillance, so this may ultimately be an open-air exhibit of some kind (iTesla?) that is merely temporarily screened from the sky as a prelude to its unveiling.