Earlier this morning, Apple announced another media event for this coming Wednesday (October 20th, 2010). The invitation is traditionally nebulous: the Apple logo slightly turned revealing, what appears to be, a lion behind it. Written below, “Back to the Mac.”
A few months ago Steve Jobs made news when a consumer emailed, his famous email address, to ask why Apple had seemingly abandoned the Mac OS, spending all of their time on iOS: this year’s developer’s conference was dedicated 100% to iOS (iOS powers iPhones, iPod Touches and the iPad). Steve responded, telling the concerned user “…not to worry.”
Apparently, Steve wasn’t lying: The invitation (pictured above) clearly reminds us all that Apple is dedicated to the Mac platform and isn’t abandoning it anytime soon.
In a recent Apple patent filing, the company applied to trademark a Mac that could stand upright (like a traditional iMac), but also kneel down, possibly transitioning to iOS and better suiting itself to touch interaction.
Microsoft has supported touch with their OS for some time now and they even advertise it with many of their licensed desktops and “tablet” PCs; the problem is that Microsoft has never modified their OS to truly adapt to touch. Instead, they’ve simply supported hardware that will allow you to touch your screen. Trying to touch something small is still one hell of a task. After all, there is a reason most of these devices ship with a pen-like stylus —- our fingers are just too big.
Apple, on the other hand, has recognized that touching an operating system designed for a mouse is not only unpleasant, it’s unacceptable. Their iOS was built specifically for touch. The question at large is, “will Mac OS X somehow integrate with iOS?“ Could a hybrid Mac be on the horizon?
While we won’t know what Apple has up their sleeves until the 20th, that won’t stop us from hoping speculating: One can reasonably assume that we’ll see a preview of what OS X.7 will look like, perhaps even a release timeline (i, personally, doubt we’ll see it released during this time). But, here’s hoping to something MUCH more exciting…
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During Steve’s keynote in early September, he finally admitted that the AppleTV was no longer just a hobby; Jobs and the other folks at Apple finally felt as though they had figured out what consumers wanted in an entertainment companion. The AppleTV went from an expensive, lack-luster peripheral to a small, reasonably priced, internet streaming device. Now featuring $0.99 tv show rentals, streaming HD movies, Netflix and AirPlay, the AppleTV has been posititioned to finally take the world of “home entertainment” by storm. But, will it?
Earlier this summer Google announced ”GoogleTV.” While GoogleTV will offer similar features to Apple’s device, Google is hoping to infiltrate more consumer homes by building their “device/feature-set” into new consumer television sets.
While Apple has beat Google in getting their device to market (the AppleTV is available now, while GoogleTV devices and tv sets won’t start showing up until November 2010), the holiday season is still upon us; it will take a while to figure out exactly who’s winning/won the competition.
What i find interesting, in recent news, is that Google has started showing off their device integration AND their new “remote control” (pictured left). While Apple prides itself on simplicity (their remote has only 3 buttons), the Google device looks a lot like the massively advanced/complicated scientific calculator i used during the latter half of my high school career — the TI-92.
I still think the world is plagued by having “too many remotes” in their living room: there is one for the audio receiver, the tv, the cable box, the dv-r, etc. Who wants another remote? Further, how FEW people would NOT be intimidated by seeing a remote (for a TV) like this!?
I’m a little baffled surprised that Google thinks introducing this complex remote is a good and inviting idea.
What do you think?
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