Apple Let’s Rock: The Unveiling
As I focus on the live streams of Apple’s Let’s Rock event in San Francisco, I’ll be updating this post to let you know which of the many online predictions and rumors were true.
I have my fingers crossed for an AppleTV update, and I know our writer Jonathan is holding out for a really great iPod. Stay tuned for an off the cuff, note style post as I follow along.
Keynote: Jobs immediately acknowledges the premature obituary and moves on – classy, and classic Apple.
iTunes: HD content added, NBC content returning, iTunes 8.0 confirmed. HD content will be more expensive, which is not so good but understandable. Includes viewing albums by album cover/album browsing and video, TV and movie functionality. Cool, but low “wow” factor so far. Will be available for free download today in the Apple store, once the store comes back online.
The “genius” playlist is revealed (apparently with a very iPhoto like interface, according to reports of the clip shown). One click playlist creation that automatically puts songs together that go together. This does little for me – I don’t even like the Party Shuffle now, I make fairly precise play lists that include songs that often do not go together, but I can see the appeal for others. The “genius” sidebar also includes recommended tracks and other features.
iPod: Finding out that iPod has almost 3/4 of the US mp3 player market with a 74% share. I knew it was popular, but how popular is a surprise. The classic iPod is going to the all thin version – no more thick iPods. I think most of us have a thin one already, so this makes sense.
The photos of the iPod Nano that have been going around are confirmed as true – it will be longer and have a bigger screen surface. It will be out in time for the holiday shopping season. The fact that this Nano is the thinnest iPod made and has a curved aluminum design is neat, but not earth shattering. I’m still hoping for more excitement further in to the reveal.
OK, the ability to view landscape mode, the use of the Touch accelerometor, and the ability to build real time playlists and other things by holding down the middle button to bring up a new menu is pretty cool. +1 for Apple with those features. The fact that they come in colors and ship today also gets a nod of approval from this Mac lover. Jobs is talking about a new earphone style as well, with 2 drivers in each side (woofer and tweeter). If they actually did manage to improve the earphones that will be wonderful – the sound in their old ones has never been good. The inline remote feature is pretty cool, assuming the sound quality has improved enough to use the included earphones.
iPod Touch gets better with inline speakers, volume control that is finally integrated properly (this was in hot demand), a thinner design, genius playlist integration and the App store built right in. Apparently they have built the Nike + iPod functionality into the iPod Touch now, which is nice. Now we are talking about the App Store and looking at games and a demo. I’m hoping that we won’t spend as much time on the App Store this time, WWDC was enough App Store coverage for me.
More App Store talk – focusing on games, including Spore Origins. It looks like we’ll be on the App Store Games for a while. Again. Not that there is anything wrong with games, but I can find out about new ones on my own. Still hoping for more “wow” factor from this event. Meanwhile they are talking about Real Soccer 2009. Steve calls the iPod Touch the most fun version they’ve released. I kind of want an iPod Touch now to replace my Classic thin 30GB.
New software for iPod Touch and iPhones announced that fixes a bunch of bugs. The most important one is TIME – it is supposed to backup even faster than before thanks to the fixes in 2.1.
I just discovered Jack Johnson is the number one selling male artist on iTunes. Really?? The “Bubbley Toes” guy is the best we can do for popular music?
(Side note and disclaimer: I am getting my information via the delayed video streams of the event)
Takeaways from the event include the gauntlet being thrown in the portable game industry, with Jobs declaring his devices the best portable game units on the market.
Also stressed was improved battery life for the iPod line and a concentration on being “green”.
Overall impression: The Genius playlist should be pretty cool for people who use plug ins like MoodyTunes and the existing Part Shuffle and rankings. The new designs are very attractive, and the gamer gauntlet being dropped should make the lead up to the holiday season a lot more interesting. Overall, not bad.
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