The iLife Podcast – Epoisode #4: Macworld Closure

Show notes coming soon.

We were drawn to the Macally booth by a prototype iPhone Keyboard. Upon further inspection we found details were light- no one could fully answer our questions. All the products on display in the booth were “non working prototypes”. Very interesting product, never-the-less. Check out the video for the full interview!

The iLife Podcast – Epoisode #3: Macworld Wrap-up

Show notes after the jump.

Getting to Macworld
Matt won his Super Pass from The Mac Observer, while I grabbed a complementary show floor pass from an exhibitor friend of Matt’s a week before the convention. We flew up to San Francisco on the 12th. On Sunday, we snuck into South Hall, explored, and took pictures until a security guard kindly asked us to stop. We were stopped from entering West Hall by an Apple guard.

Registration
The line wrapped around the building, but we made it in within 30 minutes. Matt was given the badge of an Axiotron employee with his name. While that was not a Super Pass, IDG staff helpfully upgraded it (with no identification, mind you). Matt’s real ticket remains unclaimed.

The Keynote Line
I went off to the side of the building to start the line (10 A.M.) and after the AppleScript conference was joined by Matt. The line was split (a new practice this year) midday into Conference users (on Howard St.) and Media and Platinum/Super Pass users (on 4th St). We were alone on 4th until the next morning. (Lesson: don’t get a Super Pass in future years if you’re planning to arrive before 4 A.M. and want company.) We managed to get power run outside the building and set up a “power station” for everyone to charge their gadgets throughout the night. Internet came from theDigitalLifestyle.tv/Mogulus‘s Nokia N95, so we were able to continue work on the Keynote live updater overnight. We were interviewed by a local TV station, several websites, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Keynote
Matt was the first non-V.I.P. into the Keynote! Liveblogging went off (nearly) without a hitch, save for threats to discontinue hosting for using way more server resources than we intended. SMS updates appeared to be sent out exactly as planned! If you had any problems, (as always) feel free to contact us.

The Show Floor
That day we explored South Hall, then promptly fell asleep at the hotel, totally missing the afterparty. We spent the next few days wandering the show floor, talking to the makers of all the Mac-related hardware and software we’ve all heard of.

Conclusion
The Macworld attendees weren’t as technical as we’d expected (leave that to WWDC), but we’ll have a hard time not going back next year and it was absolutely worth it. As always, feel free to contact us by email (Matt, Sidney), on Twitter, and on AIM.

We me the guys from the Polar Bear Farm on Monday night. They were coming out of the Moscone West while we were waiting on line. The next day, we paid them a visit, downloaded their software for the iPhone- which is awesome. We brought out the camera and asked them a couple questions about the software and the impending port for the SDK.

You’ve heard the story of our Macworld experience. You’ve heard about the new products. Our Macworld 2008 coverage is sadly coming to an end- its time to see how I scored with the rumors.

I organized each rumor by a Verdict (brief explanation), What To Expect (actual prediction) and What is Possible (things that could happen). Now with the Keynote over, I’ll go back and grade myself. All new commentary in bold.

For the iPhone:

The Verdict: Macworld last year was mostly occupied by the iPhone announcement- however I think that this year, an emphasis will be placed on the Mac. We should look forward to seeing an announcement or two pertaining to the iPhone, from the sales to a firmware update. We probably will not hear anything about 3G (or the iPhone 2) this early in the year.

What to expect:

•Sales Figures- How the iPhone Preformed throughout the Holiday season, maybe the 5 million, but probably not that high. (100% chance)
•Firmware 1.1.3- We should expect a firmware update, possibly coinciding with other (iTunes) annoucements. (90% chance)

My iPhone predictions were dead on! In the What is Possible category, however none were correct.

What is Possible:

•iPhone storage bump- Add an 16GB model or replace the 8GB. (50% chance)
•iPhone 2- With 3G and higher storage capacity. (30% chance)
•iPhone Nano- Rumored for a September release, with a smaller price point and less features. (10% chance)

For iTunes:

The Verdict: I am almost positive there will be some kind of iTunes announcement at Macworld, hopefully in conjunction with a AppleTV hardware (or at least, firmware) upgrade. Recent spottings in iTunes including a Jobs reference lead me to believe it is going to be Movie Rentals. However, it depends upon how much time Steve Jobs wants to spend with the Mac hardware (which, as he says, it is Macworld!). Remember last year almost 75% of the keynote was taken up with the iPhone.

What to expect:

•iTunes Update- some kind of change to the content or distribution of iTunes media. (80% chance)

My iTunes predictions were correct however, the Apple TV did see a firmware update and a price drop. I predicted this in the What is Possible category.

What is possible:

•AppleTV Update-The product is begging for a hardware and firmware update! (60% chance)
•Larger Capacity Hard Drive(s)- Add more space or drop the price. (50% chance)
•Price Drop- Drop the price and make the money back with iTunes. (30% chance)
•Inputs- Add Blu-Ray Optical Drive or DVR Functionality(20% chance)
•Keyboard or new Input Device- The Apple Remote could use some more functionality, especially if coupled with new hardware features. (10% chance)
•LCD Screen Addition- Would coincide with recent patent filings. (5% chance)

For the MacBook:

The Verdict: I can confidently say that there will be new laptops at Macworld- both the MacBook Pro and MacBook lines have seen little design changes since their introduction almost 2 years ago. If this design change includes a new ‘portable’ model, will remain to be seen- but the chances are in favor. There is a large hole in Apple’s laptop lineup- there is no small or cheap laptop! Yes, Apple, $1099 isn’t cheap- sorry.

What to expect:

•New Laptops- Either consumer or Pro, both are due for an update! (100% chance)

My MacBook predictions were correct but somewhat vague. In What Is Possible, I did predict, with an 80% chance there was going to be an Ultra Portable with no Optical Drive. However I said there was a 0% chance of a flash based hard drive! Ouch- to clarify, I did mean, a flash based hard drive standard! Also note that the MacBook Air name did not come up when I wrote the article.

What is possible:

•Ultra-Portable (80% chance)
•No Optical Drive/Optional Internal Drive (do I hear DVD Rentals to tide us over, Steve?)
•Multi-Touch Trackpad- Would coincide with patent filings. (50% chance)
•Blu-Ray Optical Drives- Hey, Apple (and Disney) does support the Blu-Ray camp! (10% chance)
•Flash Based- some were initially reporting the ultra-portable would be flash based. The flash memory industry is not ready for this, from the poor read/write speeds to great expense and small capacity. Physical storage is here for a while. [Note this applies to a Flash based hard drive] (0% chance)

In total, the only rumor I did not see coming was Time Capsule. I made a bad call with the flash based storage on the MacBook Air. Otherwise I think I scored pretty good, I would say at least a B-, no? Goodbye Macworld 2008.

When we first saw the McAfee booth in the West hall, staffed with one person, decorated with a banner of the McAfee logo, we just couldn’t resist the temptation of asking why they were at Macworld. Apparently they are still counting viruses from dating back to OS 6 so- you should invest in their protection.

And then it was Thursday! Did I mention that the week really flew by? After exploring the entirety of Moscone West on Wednesday, we crossed the street and explored Moscone South on Thursday. Starting from the corner, with the mobile Best Buy store, we walked down every isle and visited every booth. Like I explained yesterday, Moscone South had bigger names and less iPod Accessory vendors- which was nice.

We walked around, again talking with exhibitors about their products- which ranged from obscure to some we use everyday. It is great to meet and interact with the people behind products you use every day- which is an experience technology can never replace. This is why conventions like Macworld and CES continue to thrive in this age of the internet.

Highlights from the South Hall were getting to use the new Apple products weeks before they became available to the general public- the MacBook Air is incredible; and the AppleTV upgrade seems promising. Belkins booth was a large house with interactive displays of their products, a band (pictured below) and a gaming room equipped with members from the PMS gamer clan. The Microsoft Blogger Lounge was popular and offered a nice resting point with free refreshments (pictured below). The Mobile Best Buy was pretty cool- they brought a 53 foot tractor trailer onto the floor and sold only Apple products with some accessories and a live DJ. We barely covered the floor in the one day, by the time we reached the other side, booths were already closing.

On Friday we split the day into two parts- finishing up coverage between both the West and South Halls. We did the West hall first, ate lunch and walked over to the South hall. We were trying to make the best of the remaining hours in Macworld, especially because the Expo closed at 4PM instead of 6PM to allow the exhibitors to pack up. We ended up talking with the engineer of VMWare until almost 6:20, so walking around amongst the Exhibitors packing up was interesting- everyone was scrambling to take things apart!

In conclusion, our trip to Macworld was incredible! We met new people, talked to developers, designers, journalists and more- you cannot replicate the experience from your computer. Going to Macworld has always been a dream of mine, and now it may become a tradition! Our first year, first in line- hopefully one of many more to come.

Pictures after the jump.

The Best Buy Mobile website.


The Google Booth.


The Apple Booth and the table of MacBook Air’s.


The Belkin Booth.


The Microsoft M&M’s

Immediately after the keynote was over, I hung around Moscone West and actually got to see Steve Jobs a little bit closer. Sidney was in Moscone South but they were not letting people onto the floor yet. After about 5 minutes of hanging around with Jobs and the media, I decided to join Sidney so we could get our hands on the new products (and livecast for The Digital Lifestyle). I ended up arriving just in time and was among the first to lay hands on the MacBook Air’s.

After spending about 30 minutes at the Apple booth, we moved on to the other parts of the show floor. Slowly, however, we began to feel the effects of limited sleep over the past night and decided to head back to our hotel room at about 4PM. When we woke up that next morning, we started to upload all the content from the keynote and show floor. Afterwards, we ate breakfast and hit Moscone West.

For those not familiar how Macworld Expo is run, they split the show floor into 2 buildings. This year, it happened to be Moscone West and South- typically it is North and South. Moscone South is filled with the booths from the large companies such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Adobe, Griffin, Belkin and more. Moscone West had some of the smaller vendors, and gets much less traffic and attention.

Knowing we lost time in the morning, we figured that we could tackle the West Hall that day. We carefully walked down each of the isles, talking with each of the exhibitors. Seeing anything interesting or funny, we would instantly start recording. Among my favorites were McAffe, who had a booth with only one person in it, preaching about Anti-Virus software for the Mac, yet counting Mac viruses dating back to OS 6 (we have an interview coming soon). We also met some really interesting people as well- a guy who converts Mac Minis to be Military Grade (VictorSystems) or the Remote Time Machine (MiraLink) people. As always, there was an endless count of iPod accessory makers which quickly got repetitive.

The West hall was a lot calmer and had a more intimate vibe than the bustling South Hall. Buried amongst the loads of iPod accessory makers were some great smaller vendors: Ambrosia Software, Aspyr, Polar Bear Farm to name a few. Before we knew it, 6 o’clock came around and we had to leave.

Part II coming tomorrow but for now, check out the EXPO video or the two interviews (Ecamm Network or MacSpeech) from the show floor.

Pictures after the jump.

The Aspyr booth.

The Polar Bear Farm booth.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-show-floor-part-i/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-macspeech/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-macspeech/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:49:26 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/29/macworld-interviews-macspeech/ [See post to watch QuickTime movie]
YouTube
iPod-Ready (56 MB)
High Quality (73 MB)

In the MacSpeech booth, a representative demoed their new software to us called Dictate. Dictate is speech software that allows you to dictate commands and sentences to any program in OS X. For those familiar with iListen- Dictate is not just a new version- it is completely redesigned. From what we saw the software was extremely accurate and seemed very intuitive. From MacSpeech: “Written from the ground up for the Mac, MacSpeech Dictate’s features, accuracy, and capabilities make it as fun, productive, and intuitive to use as the Mac itself.”

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-macspeech/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-ecamm-network/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-ecamm-network/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:32:50 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/28/macworld-interviews-ecamm-network/ [See post to watch QuickTime movie]
YouTube
iPod-Ready (29 MB)
High Quality (40 MB)

We were drawn to Ecamm Networks booth by their iLidz hat which was on display. They actually have a lot of neat software products: iChatUSBCam (to use USB cameras in iChat), iPhone Drive for file storage on the iPhone or iPod Touch and DockStar for customizing the Mail dock icon. As explained in the video, “We are a software company, but every year we like to find something really unique to bring to the show.” Last year, they created the Huckleberry mirror for your built in iSight.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-interviews-ecamm-network/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/video-is-encodingand-more-updates/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/video-is-encodingand-more-updates/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:32:32 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/28/video-is-encodingand-more-updates/ I have to apologize for the lack of updates today- we have been busy encoding the gigabytes of interviews from Macworld. Late, yeah we know, but there is only two people running this site! Regardless, I have readied a bunch of interviews that will be appearing over the corse of this week (as they finish rendering). Additionally, Sidney and I will be recording a podcast on Wednesday which you should see later this week. Of course, you can expect the regular text posts as well (just not today). So keep tuned for the interviews- there should be at least one out within the hour. Feel free to contact us via email, Twitter or on AIM (theilife) with any questions, concerns, etc.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/video-is-encodingand-more-updates/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-ii/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-ii/#comments Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:49:47 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/25/macworld-keynote-part-ii/ This is a continuation of Macworld Keynote Part I and, Macworld Registration Part I and Part II.

Sidney woke me up at about 6 o’clock, explaining that they were preparing to let us in. The line was jumping with excitement. The once empty Super and Platinum pass line was now full of people, to the end of the Moscone Center, down 4th Street! The media were finally beginning to fill there designated spot and the “General Users” line wrapped around Howard to 5th Street. By 6:30AM, everyone was standing in line formation- preparing to enter the Moscone West.

At approximately 7AM our line leader let us inside, guided by two Apple employees, and we lined up around the second floor. Everyone sat down and used the bathrooms durring the hour we had to wait for the VIP’s to slowly move in. We were being told- as rumored- not many of the “General Users” were going to be admitted because there were almost 1,000 Super and Platinum Pass users ahead of them (plus VIP’s and media). I was laying on the floor, gathering up energy for the Keynote while bomb sniffing dogs were circling around us.

After the wait was over, we were escorted up the escalator in pairs, to the third floor. As we reached the top, the large Garage doors were open and our line broke up into a scramble for seats. Because I was the first one in, and walked ‘briskly’, I made it up to the second row behind the VIP section. This second section was already infiltrated with VIPs- but I was sitting amongst them!

Once I got my seat, I quickly booted up the Nokia N95, connected via Bluetooth Modem and began to liveblog and take pictures. About halfway through I noticed the page would occasionally 503 “Server Busy”- which was not because the server couldn’t handle the load- but because our hosting company decided to limit our usage of the server. They later threatened to terminate our account if we didn’t upgrade- but luckily we were pardoned. (Thanks SiteGround!)

Throughout the Keynote, Sidney was hanging out in Moscone South maintaining the feed. When the Keynote was over, he went downstairs and began to take pictures of the new Apple products. I hung around the keynote a little bit to watch Steve demo the MacBook Air to the Media. After about 5 minutes, I went and joined Sidney across the street.

We spent a good amount of time at the Apple booth, but also explored some of the other booths in the South Hall until about 4 o’clock- when we began to feel very tired (for some strange reason). We decided for our sanity and health, we should go back and take a nap.

This was, in its entirety, our Macworld experience up until Tuesday. Stick around for more stories of our journey to the world of Macs tomorrow!

Meanwhile check out some images after the jump.

Looking down at the line upon entering.

Our first line leader, to the second floor.

Our second line leaders, waiting to bring us upstairs.

Fellow Super and Platinum Pass holders waiting on line.

Our second line leader.

Looking down at the line, about to enter the keynote.

Finally entering the keynote.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-ii/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-i/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-i/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:14:40 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/24/macworld-keynote-part-i/ This is a continuation of Macworld Registration Part I and Part II.

After Sidney and I registered we split up- I went to my AppleScript workshop and he went to start the Keynote line. Sidney waited, for the most part, by himself until about 12PM. I got my lunch from inside and took his place for about an hour from 12-1PM. Within this time, at approximately 12:30PM, the second and third people showed up for the Keynote line. Sidney came back with his lunch, and I continued on to my AppleScript workshop.

From what I hear, two guys from IDG came out at about 2:30PM and informed us that the line was going to be “different this year.” They told us that they were splitting the lines up outside (opposed to inside), lining the Media, Super Pass and Platinum Pass users down 4th Street, and the “General Users” down Howard Street. Contrary to years past, where the line consisted of a heterogeneous mix of badge types- all of my ‘linemates’ packed there stuff up for the “General” line and left us alone.

This came as a major disappointment to us- I was blessed with a Super Pass but Sidney only had a Floor Pass (with no Keynote access). Our hopes were to actually wait in line with everyone else! However, not deterred with the bad news, we moved our stuff down two poles to leave room for the media, and continued waiting in our new line. Throughout the night, Sidney and I journeyed back and forth to the “General” line to speak with our friends and stay sane. But unfortunately, we were not joined with anyone else on the Super Pass line until about 1:30AM.

Later that night, at 3AM, there were a total of about 8 people on line and the cold had begun to sink in. A friend from the “General” line (which had grown to almost 50) invited me to go to his hotel room and sneak out blankets and pillows for the other guys in line. At this point, San Francisco was shut down- all the bars and local shops we were using for Bathrooms had closed, and there were no places open except Dennys.

Sidney and I finished coding the AJAX app and SMS updater around this time, so we started charging all of our dying gadgets and computers at our power station (pictured below). We noticed some media presence beginning as Gizmodo and TUAW made rounds, of course ignoring us as the true first on line (but we did get an awesome TUAW T-Shirt!). I fell asleep at 4AM, so my memory is a bit faded, but at 6AM- I was awoken by the growing line.

Look out for Part II tomorrow!

Pictures after the jump.

TheiLife Power Center.


Looking at the line down Howard Street.


A close up of the line down Howard Street at about 1AM.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-keynote-part-i/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/a-summary-of-macworld/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/a-summary-of-macworld/#comments Mon, 21 Jan 2008 03:52:53 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/20/a-summary-of-macworld/

After a very intensive week, with memories fresh, is time to reflect upon Macworld. This was my first Macworld, I actually won a Super Pass through the Mac Observer! The entire Macworld experience was amazing! It was the first time I was surrounded with people who are as obsessed with Apple as me not to mention, meet all the developers whose products I use everyday.

When we arrived to Moscone West Monday morning, we were met with a large, yet orginized line wrapping around the Moscone Center- very unlike other lines we’ve seen in New York City. The line was quick and painless and once inside I printed my badge from Axiotron, which is another story within itself.

Once inside and registered, we split up- Sidney went to start the keynote line, and I went to my AppleScript workshop. Durring my lunch break, I visited Sidney and let him use the facilites and eat food. You can read more about our line experiences here.

The workshop was interesting, and I also got a chance to peek around to the other workshops as well. After Monday, however, I didn’t get much time to go to my workshops and conferences because between waiting on line for the Keynote, the Keynote itself, and the show floor, there was no time to spare!

Now with some free time, I can sit and reflect upon the past week- so expect a number of articles about the many events. You should also start seeing all the interviews we conducted, coming up over the next week as well.

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/a-summary-of-macworld/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-expo-video-expo/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-expo-video-expo/#comments Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:01:29 +0000 Sidney San Martín http://theilife.com/2008/01/20/macworld-expo-video-expo/ Joining the “Boom” Macworld video, “Expo”, is the recap of the actual Macworld Expo. It comes from hours of footage obtained while on the show floor over the past week. This will be the last recap type video from Macworld, we are working on uploading all of the interviews with exhibitors shortly. Again, apologies for the lack of High Quality, our Hotels internet connection doesn’t allow for fast uploads.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]
YouTube
iPod (55 MB)
High Quality (74 MB)

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-expo-video-expo/feed/ 1 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-videos/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-videos/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:52:12 +0000 Sidney San Martín http://theilife.com/2008/01/17/macworld-videos/ Finally we’ve sorted through (a few of) the tapes and tapes of video from our trip to San Francisco (including Macworld) and have put together a cool video recapping our time so far. It’s not done — look for a more polished release soon and many other videos to boot.

[See post to watch QuickTime movie]
YouTube
iPod (59 MB)
High Quality (75 MB)

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-videos/feed/ 1 http://theilife.com/2008/01/from-macworld/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/from-macworld/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:57:54 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/16/from-macworld/

We slept in late after being up for 48 hours (and being first in line). Twenty-something hours of sleep, to be exact! But, we are again alive and awake — ready to continue coverage from the show floor. We should start uploading videos and pictures later this afternoon with text updates fairly constant, throughout the day. Currently I am uploading photos from yesterday on Flickr — so after the jump, check out the slideshow!

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/from-macworld/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/22-hours-1-keynote/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/22-hours-1-keynote/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:44:57 +0000 Sidney San Martín http://theilife.com/2008/01/15/22-hours-1-keynote/

We’ve just finished our 22-hour stint on the keynote line, and I’m joining you live from… Moscone South. No opportunities presented themselves for me to be admitted, so I was forced to part ways with Matt as he entered the building just minutes ago. I’ll be here throughout the keynote, monitoring and maintaining the liveblog. If anything at all’s awry, drop me an email at sidney@theilife.com or a message on GTalk (SidneySM).

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/22-hours-1-keynote/feed/ 3 http://theilife.com/2008/01/something-is-in-the-air/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/something-is-in-the-air/#comments Sat, 12 Jan 2008 04:27:14 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/11/something-is-in-the-air/

So, again, I apologize for the lack of content over the past few days. Sidney and I have been working hard to get the AJAX and SMS updaters working (and properly!) and packing. Early tomorrow afternoon, Sidney and I are flying off to SFO. You can track us and our flight here (Continental Flight 1702). We will be beginning our extensive Macworld coverage on Sunday. Again, sincere apologies for the lack of updates over these past two days! If you are going to Macworld, drop us a line — we look forward to seeing new faces!

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/something-is-in-the-air/feed/ 0 http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-rumors-iphone/ http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-rumors-iphone/#comments Tue, 08 Jan 2008 15:32:35 +0000 Matt Dodd http://theilife.com/2008/01/08/macworld-rumors-iphone/ For the coming days leading up to Macworld, I will be releasing a series of articles focused on specific rumors slated for Macworld 2008.

Todays article is about the rumored iPhone updates and enhancements.

On January 9th, 2007, Steve Jobs finally broke the rumors and announced the iPhone. Today, one day short of it’s first birthday, the world is wondering what the next iPhone has in store for us. There are many rumors regarding the iPhone at Macworld 2008- some predicting just a firmware update while others believe the introduction of the iPhone 2 is eminent. Somewhere in between the broad line of speculation lies the truth- we are definitely going to hear something about the iPhone next week.

The cell phone industry is extremely hard to keep on top of. From the four major carriers in the US all releasing products through a myriad of hardware companies, all running different firmware- some even Operating Systems. The iPhone has broken many of the molds of the cell phone industry but the competitors aren’t sleeping on it (like with the iPod). LG is offering arguably the closest competition to the iPhone, the LG Voyager, which is offered by Verizon Wireless.

All of this keeps extra pressure on Apple, who is already busy leading the market with the iPod and keeping the Macintosh (and it’s OS) shiny for those three percent of the world. The iPhone, while revolutionary- is now a year old, which is about mid-aged for a cellphone, and basically outdated for an iPod. While they can’t re-re invent the wheel, Apple can keep it’s consumers (and critics) happy by adding small refinements and refreshes. This can come in the form of firmware updates or hardware refreshes.

The upcoming February iPhone SDK will certainly please all, and we can begin to see the true power of the iPhone unfold as they progress. The upcoming 1.1.3 update looks promising (if the pictures are actually real). However, hardware wise- the iPhone could use 3G and a storage bump- to name a few. We should definitely see something pertaining to the iPhone at Macworld.

The Verdict: Macworld last year was mostly occupied by the iPhone announcement- however I think that this year, an emphasis will be placed on the Mac. We should look forward to seeing an announcement or two pertaining to the iPhone, from the sales to a firmware update. We probably will not hear anything about 3G (or the iPhone 2) this early in the year.

---

What to expect:

•Sales Figures- How the iPhone Preformed throughout the Holiday season, maybe the 5 million, but probably not that high. (100% chance)
•Firmware 1.1.3- We should expect a firmware update, possibly coinciding with other (iTunes) annoucements. (90% chance)

What is possible:

•iPhone storage bump- Add an 16GB model or replace the 8GB. (50% chance)
•iPhone 2- With 3G and higher storage capacity. (30% chance)
•iPhone Nano- Rumored for a September release, with a smaller price point and less features. (10% chance)

]]> http://theilife.com/2008/01/macworld-rumors-iphone/feed/ 0