In a post tinged with just a hint of spite, Apple pundit John Gruber has responded to today’s WSJ report of a forthcoming pair of new iPhones, one of which they say is headed for Verizon. His reaction? “Lame.”
The reason it’s lame, says Gruber, is that it lacks details. Details which Gruber has. Maybe.
Read the rest at MobileCrunch >>
The US Patent & Trademark Office just published Apple’s latest trademark application for “Magic Trackpad“—and, looking at a bit of history, we think it could be one of two new products.
Back in July 2009, Apple was granted a patent on their multi-touch Trackpad. However, many elements of the patent were left out, including advanced infrared imaging and optical emitters which could, in essence, make your Trackpad know when you were trying to type or trying to gesture (while opening the door for all sorts of other gesture tracking possibilities across much of your laptop’s work surface).
So the Magic Trackpad could be the next Trackpad for MacBooks.
But the other, more enticing rumor, was one sourced from John Gruber back in October—that Apple could be introducing a “Wildcard I’m-Not-Sure-I-Really-Believe-It-Myself Out-There Rumor…Some Sort of Mentioned-Nowhere-Else-But-in-This-Very-Headline Multi-Touch Trackpad Gadget for Desktop Macs.”
Not so long ago, another Apple trademark was uncovered called the “Magic Slate”—many believe it to be the Gruber-described device. After HP and Dell both started coining the term “slate” around CES, I wonder if “slate” fell out of vogue, meaning the “Magic Slate” became the “Magic Trackpad.”
Taking a look at the actual Trackpad trademark filing, we must admit, the longshot standalone desktop trackpad feels like a decent fit:
International Class 009: Computers; computer software; computer operating system software; computer utility software; computer hardware; computer peripherals; scanners; touchscreens; keyboards; computer mice; trackballs; trackpads; touchpads; light pens; joysticks; game controllers; graphics tablets; digitizers; cables and connectors; flash memory drives; USB drives; solid state storage devices; barcode readers.
One thing’s for certain, if a device could actually cover every one of those categories in full, it most certainly would be something magical. [Patently Apple via Macrumors]
Good old John Gruber. While the rest of us are panting, he sits in the corner, calmly stroking his luxurious beard. He thinks the Tablet is real, the “leaks” and “mock-ups” aren’t real, all of his best sources say Apple’s best designers are incognito, and that Steve loves the project.
From his long, worth-reading post:
Do I think The Tablet is an e-reader? A video player? A web browser? A document viewer? It’s not a matter of or but rather and. I say it is all of these things. It’s a computer.
And so in answer to my central question, regarding why buy The Tablet if you already have an iPhone and a MacBook, my best guess is that ultimately, The Tablet is something you’ll buy instead of a MacBook.
So what are we looking at? It’s another Mac. Straight up. It’s not a better iPod or a better Touch or a better Tablet. It’s a new computer from Apple.
Here’s hoping.
Today could be a big Apple day. John Gruber and Dan Lyons both think that we might just see a plethora of new Apple products today. Exciting, I know. These new models would include new iMacs, plastic Macbooks, Mac Minis, 2nd generation Mighty Mouse that isn’t called a Mighty Mouse, and some sort of multitouch desktop gadget thingy. Yeah, all that is suppose to come out today even though Apple doesnt’ have a press conference on the books and Steve Jobs knows I don’t really want to work that hard today. Yeah, we talk.
Idk, maybe Apple is going to start simply announcing its products the good ol’ fashion way with a press release and a couple of images instead of hosting press circuses. I would vote for that.
As for the new products, anything is possible with Apple and we have heard a lot of rumors of new Macbooks, iMacs, and even for a new mouse. There’s a good chance we’ll see an updated product line soon enough, but I don’t think that day is today. But I could be wrong. I’m only on my first can of Monster Energy drink so far today.
I don’t expect Apple to deliver on rumors. After all, most rumors are crap, even John Gruber’s iPod touch camera prediction. But that doesn’t stop me from asking questions: Why the hell there is no camera on the iPod touch?
• No Space: The iPod touch is much thinner than the iPhone. There is not a lot of empty space in there, so maybe this is a technical decision. Perhaps Apple couldn’t find a part that could fit in the current case, and they didn’t want to alter the touch’s physical dimensions. But then again, if the minuscule iPod nano can get a camera, why not the touch? Perhaps it’s because the nano got a pretty weak camera.
• Features Mix: Apple could possibly have fit the iPod nano camera in the iPod touch, and kept the price. After all, it’s a super-tiny, ultra-cheap VGA camera. But maybe that acronym the key: It’s VGA. Low resolution. The nano doesn’t even do still photography because it will look like crap—video is more forgiving. People buying the iPod touch would be expecting a lot more. I know I would. So while there’s the possibility of a camera in the iPod touch, perhaps is not the camera Apple thinks would be right for it—namely, the iPhone’s camera.
• Technical Difficulties: This was one of the late-minute rumors: Apple had technical difficulties during manufacturing, so the rumor said the iPod touch—with camera—was going to be delayed. If that was the case, Apple would have just announced the iPod touch with camera, and get it to the stores later. However, the iPod touch without camera is here, available immediately, which means that they have been churning them out the factory for a long long time. It doesn’t seem like a last minute change of plans to me.
• Pricing Issues: Apple wanted to have a $199 iPod touch, and keep the prices of the bigger units while increasing capacity. This sounds more reasonable than the technical excuses. The 8GB version, however, is just the old one, which is being manufactured like always to get that “low” price. No camera could be added to it, unless Apple wanted to sacrifice on the price front. Only the 32 and 64GB versions have internal hardware modifications. But would Apple have an iPod touch with camera and one without? Seems unlikely for a company obsessed with uniformity and streamlining.
• Market Segmentation: Here things get more interesting. Apple said they wanted to compete with the Flip, which is a sub-$150 device. It’s almost impossible to get the iPod touch to that price level while keeping the large touchscreen, the wireless capabilities, and the strong processing guts that the iPhone OS needs. Not right at these prices—at least, not without affecting their profit margins negatively. The iPod nano, however, can fit the Flip competition role nicely. This is a probable explanation.
• iPhone Cannibalization: The other explanation is cannibalization. This is a good one too. Add a camera to the iPod touch and, boom, the iPhone loses yet another advantage over its lesser brother. So maybe putting the iPhone’s camera into the iPod touch is feasible. Apple may just be protecting the market for the iPhone.
• Feature Evolution: This, to me, is the most reasonable explanation. Apple is getting oh-so-lazy. Or, better said, greedy. They are the number one player in every single category. They own the market. And they know the competition is just catching on. So instead of releasing an iPhone that is way better than the previous model, they release the modest upgrade of the iPhone 3GS. And instead of releasing an iPod touch with a nice camera, they just slap some new software, slightly updated guts and more memory.
That’s what you get when a company owns an empire, and the other tiny people are trying to catch up with an already phenomenal device. The company gets slow and complacent, and does the minimum to keep its products ahead.
So no, I don’t expect Apple to deliver on rumors. But it pisses me off that they don’t do their best every single time. That they get boring and lazy. And yes, perhaps it’s not in their best economic interest to release insanely great products in every single update, but the lack of camera on the iPod touch is sure going to be a letdown for a huge number of people.
Some other people won’t agree. Some cheerleaders would even go onto their soap boxes, saying that “Apple is firing on all cylinders.” Maybe they are. It’s just that they left the Porsche GT2 at home, and they are now driving an old Mini.
[Apple's It's Only Rock and Roll Event Coverage]
Update: The JesusSteve is back not only for the show-n-tell. He also gave his own reasons in a quick New York Times Q&A.
A lone messenger has emerged from the impenetrable fortress that is Apple’s App Store, and his name is Phil Schiller. Earlier this week, John Gruber of Daring Fireball wrote a lengthy column detailing the plight of Ninja Words (iTunes Link), a sleek iPhone dictionary that uses Wiktionary as its data source. Gruber wrote that the application had been rejected for including numerous common swear words, going on to write that “Apple censored an English dictionary.” Not so, says Schiller, who is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and is widely regarded as one of the more recognizable ‘faces’ of Apple, after Steve Jobs.
In a rare moment of semi-transparency, Schiller has written back to Gruber, on the record, in an attempt to point out errors in the original column. I’ve included an excerpt below, and you can find the full letter in Gruber’s post (it’s well worth reading if you’ve been tracking the App Store closely).