Archive for the ‘ Rumors ’ Category
There are rumors that Fox and ABC will be offering 99¢ TV show rentals through the iTunes store. Currently you can buy TV shows through iTunes for $1.99 or $2.99 per episode, but cutting the cost could possibly increase what so far has been relatively light sales of digital TV shows.
Many are speculating that this new iTunes service will be announced at Apple’s music event scheduled for 10AM PDT today.
Apple is holding a special media event this Wednesday at 10AM PDT. Although they haven’t given details on what will be announced, it’s obvious by the guitar on the building and invitations that it will be music related.
Here are a few things that will most likely be unveiled:
There are also rumors that Apple will announce a new iLife and iWork, but I’m not betting on it. And of course there’s the Apple TV which is rumored to be renamed to its original codename, iTV, and run iOS. With this being a music even, I don’t think the iTV will be announced, but I hope I’m wrong.
With rumors going around about Apple radically changing the Apple TV and renaming it to its former codename, iTV, many have wondered what the remote will be like. If the rumors of it running iOS are true, the current remote won’t do the job. They could create an iPhone, iPod touch and iPad app, but what about those who don’t own any of these devices? Dan Wineman has come up with the idea of a controller that’s like an iPhone but without the screen. It has the same inertial and gyroscopic motion sensors as the iPhone 4, a multitouch surface like the Magic Trackpad, a home button and Bluetooth. It’s a cool concept, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple comes out with something else that’s revolutionary.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has some new information to add to the Verizon iPhone rumors. He says that the device is codenamed N92 and is already at the Engineer Validation Test stage, which is two steps below production. If this is true, it helps support the many rumors that there will be a Verizon iPhone this January.
From Daring Fireball:
I don’t know anything about negotiations with Verizon, and I doubt anyone does other than the highest-level executives at both companies. But I do know that engineering-wise, the wheels are turning on N92, the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4. It’s certainly not in production yet, and hasn’t reached DVT status (device verification test — like Gray Powell’s infamous stolen unit), but it is, a few little birdies claim, at EVT (engineering verification test). That’s one step below DVT, which is one step below production. So it’s right about where you’d think it would be if it were scheduled to go on sale in January. The CDMA iPhone is no longer a cold storage, keep-it-alive-just-in-case-we-need-it project.
A new report says the next update to Apple TV will adopt the name iTV (which was its former codename), while also dropping support for 1080p video output to standardize on 720p HDTV.
From Engadget:
You might remember that we broke news of an updated Apple TV headed to market just a few months ago. If your brain isn’t working right, let us jog it: a trusted Engadget source asserted that the gang in Cupertino would be releasing a $99 version of the set top box, similarly sized and packed with internals akin to that of the iPhone 4 (A4 CPU, 16GB of flash storage), and will introduce new iTunes streaming services the box could take advantage of. Well we’ve gotten a little more info on the project, and it’s not all good. Apparently the box won’t be capable of handling (or enabled to handle) 1080i or 1080p video. Instead it will only push out 720p clips. The word — and cause for much internal debate, we’re told — is that this has something to do with the A4′s inability to crank on higher resolution content, but we don’t see how that’s possible considering the iPhone 3GS could play back full HD video. Furthermore, the device will be getting apps and presumably an App Store entry, though it’s unclear if there will be cross-pollination between iPad and iPhone / iPod touch offerings and new Apple TV applications. Read more
Apple is likely to integrate a three-axis gyroscope in the next iPad, according to a UBM TechInsight analyst.
From MacNN:
The company allegedly tested a component from InvenSense, however the production model is likely to use a similar component from STMicroelectronics.
An iPad teardown revealed an empty 24-pad spot next to an STMicro accelerometer, according to an EE Times report. The empty spot could have fit a three-axis gyro offered by InvenSense. Engineers also found similarities in the signal paths of the iPhone 4′s gyro and the empty spot on the iPad.
From TechCrunch:
Sources with knowledge of this entire situation have assured me that Apple has submitted orders for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets for a Verizon iPhone run due in December. This production run would likely be for a January launch, and I’d bet the phone is nearly 100% consistent with the current iPhone 4.
I can’t say with 100% accuracy that an iPhone will hit Verizon store shelves in January, but all of the signals point that way, and it would give Verizon’s CEO some interesting things to talk about in hisCES keynote
(though he may have to refrain as CES comes before Apple’s typical January keynote). I may be proven wrong, but based on my history dealing with components and selling to Apple, a Verizon-compatible iPhone looks to be a done deal.
An iPhone parts supplier leaked these photos of what are claimed to be the front LCD and bezel of the upcoming 4th generation iPod touch. The new parts have a front-facing hole that would most likely be a camera used for FaceTime. The part is clearly marked as an Apple part, “Apple (c) 2010″.
iLounge, who has a good record of reporting Apple leaks, says that they heard about the upcoming late 2010/early 20 11 iPod, iPhone and iPad linups from “a highly reliable source.”
From iLounge:
1. New iPods. Apple apparently has three new iPods ready to go as early as this month, or as late as September. One is the new iPod nano, one is the new iPod touch, and the third one is a question mark, but may be a small (1.7”) touchscreen replacement for the iPod shuffle. There’s also continued chatter about a three-inch touchscreen that could make its way into an iPod, shaving half an inch off the diagonal of the current iPod touch. Read more
CNET is reporting that Apple may be scaling back its initial plans for a cloud-based iTunes service as it continues to struggle to reach agreements with record labels.
From CNET:
After Apple acquired Lala.com last December, the thinking among some music insiders was that Lala’s streaming-music technology could easily be plugged into iTunes–once Apple obtained the proper music licenses. Lala.com, a music service launched in 2006 and shut down by Apple last May, possessed technology that scanned hard drives for existing music libraries and then enabled users to play back the same songs from Lala’s servers via Web-connected devices. Read more
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