Who knows if these are real, but these are easily the most legitimate looking pictures I’ve ever seen of the supposed Apple Tablet/iPad/iSlate/iBook/Whatever It Will Be Called. Further, UI designer Dustin Curtis tells us a friend sent him these pictures — and from what we hear, that friend could work at Apple (he wouldn’t confirm that). → Read More
Yesterday, we noted that multiple sources have heard Steve Jobs refer to the soon-to-be-unveiled Apple Tablet as the “most important thing I’ve ever done.” Today brought two statements out of Apple that are just about as close as you’re ever going to get to a confirmation of that.
In Apple’s press release for its strong Q1 2010 earnings, Jobs said the following: “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.” What’s odd is that not only does Jobs (or anyone at Apple, for that matter) usually make no comments about as-yet unannounced products, but why would he do so in a release about the previous quarter’s earnings — which have absolutely nothing to do with the tablet? He simply had no reason that he had to make that statement. I can only interpret that as he’s just that excited about what he’s going to unveil on Wednesday. → Read More
Yesterday, we noted that multiple sources have heard Steve Jobs refer to the soon-to-be-unveiled Apple Tablet as the “most important thing I’ve ever done.” Today brought two statements out of Apple that are just about as close as you’re ever going to get to a confirmation of that.
In Apple’s press release for its strong Q1 2010 earnings, Jobs said the following: “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.” What’s odd is that not only does Jobs (or anyone at Apple, for that matter) usually make no comments about as-yet unannounced products, but why would he do so in a release about the previous quarter’s earnings — which have absolutely nothing to do with the tablet? He simply had no reason that he had to make that statement. I can only interpret that as he’s just that excited about what he’s going to unveil on Wednesday. → Read More
Apple has just announced its Q1 2010 earnings, and as expected, they’re very good. I’ll get to the numbers in a second, but perhaps more notable are two Steve Jobs quotes in the release:
“If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company.”
and
“The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”
I think we all know what that means. → Read More
Earlier today, the French site Nowhereelse.fr posted a video of what looks to be a commercial for Apple’s new tablet device, expected to be unveiled on Wednesday during an Apple event in San Francisco. The video led VentureBeat to wonder if it wasn’t the first real commercial for the device. Unfortunately, I’m not sure VentureBeat even ran a translation of the French post about it, because if they did, they’d see that it reads “In the meantime, here’s what an advertisement might look like…” (emphasis mine). In other words, no way is this real.
And really, that should be easy to tell just by watching the video. Does it have somewhat of an Apple look and feel to it? Kind of, but several things don’t feel right. First of all, it’s predicated around the design of the invites that went out for Apple’s event this week, decorated with paint splashes. The likelihood that Apple would use that same concept in a new ad for the device is slim. Technologizer did a good overview of the history of Apple event invites last week, and as you can see, most have nothing to do with product marketing efforts. Sure, a few use the silhouetted people design that are used in iPod commercials, but those were popular before the events. Still, it’s not impossible that Apple would use this design for a tablet commercial, but several other things are still off. → Read More
We haven’t heard this first hand, but we’ve heard it multiple times second and third hand from completely independent sources. Senior Apple execs and friends of Jobs are telling people that he’s about as excited about the upcoming Apple Tablet as he’s ever been. Coming from the man who has created so much, that’s saying something.
If Steve Jobs thinks the iPhone was just a warm up act to this device, I can’t wait to see what it can do. As if our expectations weren’t already set high enough. We’ll all know a lot more this Wednesday. → Read More
It appears that Apple has tipped their hand regarding the name of their expected tablet computer. Way back in September of 2009, Apple filed to oppose Fujitsu regarding the name, “iPad”. Apple hasn’t been aggressive about fighting for the name, but they did file for the name on an international scale, and they own that trademark. → Read More
We’ve only got a few days to go before Steve Jobs tells us what we’re spending our money on this year. From all the leaks and positioning announcements, it appears we’re being pushed into the Pay Zone. The NY Times, the top four or five TV shows, the embargo-free bestseller. The bet is we’ll pay for same-day-as access to discretionary consumption of media. I think he’s right. But is that as big a bang as the iPhone? In and of itself, the tApplet does not change the world or even our corner of the world. But just as with the disruption triggered by the iPhone, this new disruption will move beyond the carriers and into the center of the creative core of the netertainment and information industries. In turn, this new wave of video, music, and text will quickly overturn some of the major stakeholders and rewrite how we spend our time at work and play. It’s hard to think far enough back to remember how we used to use our computer time before realtime stole onto the stage. Back before my MacBook Air, which turned every other computer in the place into an appliance: the MacBook Pro for rendering video, the iMac for Web site design, the PC for nothing. Back when software was something I paid for, music something I shopped for, television something I set a timer for. The MacBook Air’s disruption was the strategic removal of an internal CD/DVD drive. It declared independence from physical media, and bootstrapped existing devices to serve as feed machines for the rare need to rip a CD or backup a file for sneakernet. USB drives quickly eliminated even that requirement, and the move to cloud services sealed the deal. Streaming media rushed quickly into the vacuum of tangible media. Once the location of the actual bits was made irrelevant by look-ahead caching, we quickly learned to validate those services which allowed us to share pointers to the material rather than the downloadable enclosures. Identity online became the control point for micropayments, and the incentive for providing behavior and social signals in return for discounts and sponsored bundling. WiFi became the razor, and the streams the blades. In effect, we are now selling our gestures into the stream hoping to build up enough credit to buy these new devices as they reach the intersection of battery life, broadband, and social filtering. → Read More
CrunchGear is, as you know, the internet’s primary nexus for trade secrets, corporation-breaking revelations, and the latest salacious home videos of tech CEOs (yes, Jen-Hsun Hwang, we have that one). Our power to elevate or crush giants in the industry is kept in check only by our unerring discretion — and by a set of laws, carved into amber slabs and venerated constantly in a hidden shrine deep beneath Mountain View.
But now and then our vast intelligence network brings in news of such inestimable importance that we must share it with our readers, no matter what empires it may topple. Apple’s event on the 27th is whipping the internet into a foaming frenzy, but I think you’ll agree that the rumors so far have been pretty tame. 3G? Front-facing camera? Aluminum casing? You people underestimate Apple’s dedication to bucking expectations. We’ve heard things that will curl your toes, and now, after much deliberation (and fortification of the shrine against the agents of Apple) we’ve decided to share some — not all — of these mind-blowing rumor-nuggets.
For instance, did you know that the Apple Tablet will not be constructed from aluminum, but from ostrich ivory? → Read More
Everyone is awaiting Apple’s tablet device. Some people (like me) won’t shut up about it. Others (like Paul) won’t shut up about shutting up about it. And while no one is exactly certain what its main use will be, there are no shortage of signs pointing to a definite role as a new way to consume written media. And several old-school publishers seem to be tripping over themselves to get on board the device as print media continues to wither. Personally, I’m excited about the possibility of a resurgence of long-form journalism. And while I’m skeptical as to just how well any device can change our growing collective desire for faster content over better content, I hold out hope because of the way I currently use my Amazon Kindle.
The Kindle, while not the Apple Tablet, is an excellent device for doing one thing: reading. And when matched with the super-fast bookmarking service Instapaper, it’s perhaps the ultimate long-form article reader. And an update this week made it ever better. → Read More
This is a story about Louie, a municipal sanitation worker. It’s called “Garbage Men.” It’s fiction. It takes place on January 27, 2010, the day and date of the big Apple announcement. It has mild profanity because that’s how people talk. \Alarm rings at 3:30am\ Louie: God damn it. After 10 years this doesn’t get any easier. → Read More
For the record, I’m writing these words on a MacBook Pro; the third Mac I’ve owned in the past twelve months. As I do so, I’m listening to music on iTunes through my standard issue iPod headphones, so as not to disturb my neighbours. Less than a foot from where I’m sitting, my iPhone sits charging. I am – as marketers might have it put – “a Mac”.
And yet – my God – I’m bored of reading about Apple and their ‘long awaited’ tablet. → Read More
For the record, I’m writing these words on a MacBook Pro; the third Mac I’ve owned in the past twelve months. As I do so, I’m listening to music on iTunes through my standard issue iPod headphones, so as not to disturb my neighbours. Less than a foot from where I’m sitting, my iPhone sits charging. I am – as marketers might have it put – “a Mac”.
And yet – my God – I’m bored of reading about Apple and their ‘long awaited’ tablet. → Read More
Dell debuted some sort of slate product at CES. At first I was intrigued, and then someone told me the size. Five inch screen. Five inches, people. That’s one and a half inches more than an iPhone. Take your thumbs and index fingers and make a little window with them — you know, like a photographer or director does. That’s about five inches if your hands are at all like mine. Consuming any real amount media- and text-rich content on a device that size sounds about as pleasant as eating glass. → Read More
This morning, after many months of rampant speculation over the enigmatic Tablet, Apple officially invited scores of press to a special media event to be held January 27. The debut of the Tablet seems all but a given according to most reports, but there are some secondary announcements that also stand to be huge — especially the rumors that we may also see the launch of iPhone 4.0. This afternoon, Fox News “confirmed” that we’d being seeing the latest iteration of Apple’s hugely popular mobile OS for the first time. Should that be the case, there’s also a good chance we’ll see launch of a very important new feature: background applications.
First things first. While the title of the Fox News article is “Apple Tablet, iPhone 4 Launch Confirmed for January 27″, the body of the article later says that it’s “likely” that Apple will unveil those two products (along with an updated iLife suite), and also notes that Apple is known for suddenly removing features or products from their announcements at the last second — none of which makes the news sound totally concrete. That said, there are plenty of reasons why iPhone 4.0 could be making an appearance alongside the Tablet, and why it will bring background apps with it. → Read More
Huzzahs and alarums! Apple’s January 27 event has just been announced to tech journos all over the world with a new invite reading “Come see our latest creation” hitting inboxes left and right. The event will happen on January 27 at 10am PST. → Read More
Good old Steve just put up a great graphic detailing all of the possible rumors about whatever the heck Apple is releasing whenever it will release it. Rumors include the “glowing Apple logo” as well as a “touch sensitive case.” I think the iSlate will also give worms to ex-girlfriends.
Click to embiggen. → Read More
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