What's next for Apple? Inside Track

mhedgesmhedges
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Very good article on Business 2.0 Claims to have inside track on products coming down the pipeline...



Earlier thread on this topic did not have legs...so lets try again...



http://www.business2.com/b2/web/arti...0.html?cnn=yes

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    thttht Posts: 5,443member
    They don't have any inside track to Apple's future hardware, just guesses. They are guessing, wishfully thinking:



    1. Wireless iPod - old old rumor

    2. Video iPod - old old rumor

    3. iHome - old old rumor

    4. iPod auto interface - bleh

    5. iPhone - old old rumor

    6. iPod watch - bleh



    These products have been covered many many times in AI already.



    I'm not sure, I doubt, there is new wedge hardware in the works. Right now, Apple should be concentrating all of its resources on defending iTunes/iPod and returning the Macintosh to at least its former sales glory. That's more than a full time effort right there.



    I think there is a market in the PDA/wireless arena, primarily because of poor hardware/software implementation on the hand-sized devices and the wireless carriers are stifling the usage of said devices (be it cell phone, smartphone, RIM, or PDA). There's a lot of frustration in this arena that Apple could capitalize on, but there is too much capital investment. Wireless - actually Internet access - is a requirement. As long as the wireless carriers win, it's just going to stay sucky.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    johnrpjohnrp Posts: 357member
    Good read, not sure about the future products, you could have asked almost anyone on this forum what was "on the drawing board" at apple and they would have come up with the first three at least.



    However has ANYONE ever guessed what apples next product (not product evolution) has been and actually got it right (with no inside knowledge)



    I'm hoping that there is another Gem in there (apple labs) someware one thing about Steve and Apple is that they always do the abvoius.. but the obvoius that no-one has thought of before



    If it was that easy Microsoft and Dell would be doing it all the time.



    j.
  • Reply 3 of 9
    kenaustuskenaustus Posts: 924member
    Although there is a tendency to look at new hardware products I think the "next big thing" is going to be QuickTime related, especially in the HD area. I also think that we will get a sneak preview of it at NAB in April.



    Remember that the CEO of Sony came on stage at the January Keynote - I don't think that was just to show off a $3,500 HD camera.



    Apple may show off advancements in the Xserve and Xsan areas at NAB, but I think that would be to enhance what they are going to do with QT.



    QT is definitely where I'm betting my 25¢.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    dhagan4755dhagan4755 Posts: 2,152member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kenaustus

    I think the "next big thing" is going to be QuickTime related, especially in the HD area.



    How about the next big thing is Quicktime?
  • Reply 5 of 9
    dutch peardutch pear Posts: 588member
    I am very curious, what new features and possibilities do you expect in quicktime besides the new h264 codec and new player software?
  • Reply 6 of 9
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Even if it is speculation, and there are two other threads already about the business 2.0 article. I think that a wireless iPod mp3 watch is really cool, and I would like a Mac media center home unit. I think it would be really cool to see what, and if Apple ever puts any of these things out.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dutch pear

    I am very curious, what new features and possibilities do you expect in quicktime besides the new h264 codec and new player software?



    I am sort of hoping for (and have predicted, in the past) something along the lines of an iTunes equivalent for video...something like "iTheater" which has a similar UI model (though different where it makes sense...not sure you need "playlists" of videos)



    To me iTheater is a consumer-oriented replacement for QT player. It will have no editing features. It would support on-disk video files as well as other media such as DVD. It could be a commerce platform similar to iTunes...where downloaded, DRM-ed video products are available for purchase. This might begin with something like TV episodes (shorter, smaller, faster downloads than feature-length movies for example). Of course personal video would be included...it would be your library of video (like iTunes is your library for music, and iPhoto is your library for pictures).



    I have thought that another video for sale thing might include music videos (these are also short, smaller and faster downloads), however music videos seem to make more sense tied in with iTunes for obvious reasons.



    Ths one thing that seems very out of place (currently) to me is the QuickTime trailers in iTunes. I expect this was a choice of convenience and may well be a temporary thing if Apple has an updated QT Player (or "iTheater") planned for the future.



    QT Player is certainly long in the tooth. Apple is going a new way in terms of their UI model (iTunes, Address Book, iPhoto, iCal, Finder, etc. all have the same basic UI model.)



    Finally, iTheater could be a platform for TiVO-like functionality...only different...better. By this I mean, currently one drawback with TiVO is that it is a slave to the programming schedules of the various networks. When I select programs to record on TiVO...I don't care when the programs are on...and TiVO handles all of this for me...though sometime conflicts emerge that I must handle. Change the model...make it just a database of TV programs that are available. You select them and the next day they are in your iTheater. In fact this lag time could be a key to getting around the current bandwidth limitations. When I ask to TiVO something...I don't have an expection of instant access/viewing...and I am okay with that.



    The biggest issue here is bandwidth. Even with broadband to a lot of homes...the bandwidth still lags for large video downloads. Expect Apple to ease their way into this will smaller video things like I have mentioned (unless they have something completely new...satellite?...up their sleeves).
  • Reply 8 of 9
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    We're not ready for downloadable movies yet. AVC/h.264 brings us closer to that ideal but what many people forget is that the DVDs that we watch aren't made possible by the codec(MPEG2) but the encapsulation that groups MPEG2,Dolby Digital, DTS and other formats. The codec is just the base.



    There are plans in progress to fix these issues with digital download movies.



    MPEG-7 will handle the searching and "tagging" of content like video. It'll use XML and a variety of other tech to index the content of files for easy searching.



    MPEG-21 is going to be the "glue" that encapsulates and creates a viable interchange format for video files. I don't expect downloadable movies to really work until the DRM and interchange formats are standardized. Until then you're likely to be wasting your money on something that will be obsolete.



    That won't stop Apple from working its way into the mix with a media center. I'm guessing that iTunes 5.0 will be paramount to the future of any Media Center plans. Once Tiger is announced the NDA will lift and the speculation about where Apple is heading will reach a fevered pitch.



    I'm expecting BIG things. But lets be honest we're asking for the wrong things aren't we? When you think about what needs to be done for a media center to function like people want you realize that it's far more complex that imagined.



    A central iTunes store of files has to be more robust than the individual databases that we all know today. Smart Playlists work based on the metadata and criteria that user input into the tags. What happens when a family of 4 all want to access centrally stored files yet want to give songs different EQ, Star Rating and Tagging info? Whoops...Houston we have a problem here.



    I'm guessing that Apple will have to rework the wrapper for AAC to accomodate much more data that can link to different databases perhaps. Or at the least handle different user preferences.



    Then we have to make sure that all users can have concurrent access to the same files and that there is Quality of Service. HD streaming shouldn't be interrupted to playback a music file.



    These issues and more have to be worked on to create a "Best of Breed" device. I don't expect an outstanding solution to be cheap initially. But if its done right it won't have to be. I thought the original iPod was outrageously priced but that was before I experienced that marrying of access and convenience in such a deft manner.



    People will pay for that in the living room as well. Apple ..take your time but do it right. We're still in the infancy of the [i]Digital Revolution[i].
  • Reply 9 of 9
    kenaustuskenaustus Posts: 924member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by dutch pear

    I am very curious, what new features and possibilities do you expect in quicktime besides the new h264 codec and new player software?



    I have been reading a series of articles that lead me to believe Apple might be doing a lot of QT related things. The only link I have is



    http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.ph...pc_revolution/



    If you go to the end of the article there is a link to all of the articles. Don't know how accurate they are, but the writer has but a lot of thought into them and it does pose some interesting potential for Apple. After reading them I'm going to hold onto my AAPL stock for a while.
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