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Apple To Make "Music To Your Ears" Announcement
supa_k writes "According to an offical Apple invitation sent to the good folks at
MacCentral, on April 28th
Apple will make 'announcements that will be music to your ears.' It remains to be seen if this involves a purchase of Universal - something Apple offically denied just a few days ago but it will undoubtedly be the announcement of their online music subscription service and the other announcement will surely be new iPods."
...that it's really just going to be an opportunity to get drunk with Jobs and listen to Doobie Brothers really loud
Dell's been doing deals on iPods lately, probably getting rid of stock for Apple. New higher capacity iPods on the way, is my wager.
:-D
Yeah...really going out on a limb there.
At the Apple retail store I work at, we've been waiting for some sort of an announcement. People come in asking when new iPods with color screens and video players are supposed to ship, and we have to say "nothing has been announced." One guy even tried to say that we HAD announced a 970 version of the iPod, and wanted to know when he could pick it up. Hopefully this will quiet a lot of those folks.
I would like to see the new TravelStar 80GN in some sort of small iPod-ish MP3 player. Given, it's a 2.5" drive, but damn!
... or maybe not
that they keep the 5 gig and drop the price down to $200. That would bring the mp3 jukebox revolution to an even larger market. I know a lot of people who choke at $300 but would jump on one in a hearbeat if the prices was lowered to around the $200 mark. Might not be have high profit margins, but it would get lots of Apple equipment into lots of hands which is part of what Apple is trying to do right now.
*New iPods (likely will have 10, 20, and 30 GB capacity)
*New Music Download service integrated with iTunes
*iTunes 4, with music service and AAC encoding (possibly Rendezvous streaming as well)
*I would guess nothing related to Universal at this point.
-You may license this sig for only $6.99.
I started to write something here, but I erased it 'cause it was not as clever as I entended it to be, and I lost my train of thought.
Go, Jobs!!!
(groan. monday.)
Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
So my 4.1 lb iBook is made entirely out of toxic waste? That's incredible!
I'm guessing it's an iPod that comes with wireless bluetooth headphones. Bring it on Apple!
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
Mac rumors hey, the best source of 'news' we can get? forgive the cynicism, but with Apple's typical tight reign on information about just what they're up to I know by now NEVER to trust rumours. How many of the last year's worth have come true?
The iWalk?
Video iPod?
G5?
USB2?
Dualscreen powerbooks?
The best strategy is to NOT go with the rumors people, except for the dull ones.
It'll be just another iPod.
I wonder if Microsoft will be singing along with Apple? I see building competition bt/w WMA 9 series and Apples stategy for AAC (should they announce it).
I would expect to see Apple try to continue what they have done with the iPod - that is, making it easier to get your favorite artists, and listen to them, and maybe even make payment unobtrusive. Only if you have a Mac, of course. So if buying Universal is the only way to do that, then they would love to buy Universal, but chances are better that this is about some secret Apple squirrel society that is available to all Mac owners, but better if you pay.
There. I'm not fried.
Schrodinger's cat is either dead or really pissed off...
Hopefully if Apple is updating the iPod line they will add Ogg Vorbis support to the decoder. The sound quality is so much better. A 64kbps Ogg file will blow away a 128kbps MP3 and best of all it is a patent-free technology :)
--Jon Niola
where the iPod body can glow inside with different chaning colors
like the Color Kinetics Sauce LED products here
Cheers, Joel
The new iPods should be available in 10, 15 and 30 gig versions according to ThinkSecret. They also say it should also include a docking station.
For all those people who do not believe the rumor sites ThinkSecret has proven time and time again to be nearly always correct. It is not MacOSRumors. :-)
A press release announcing that there will be some announcement made next week, and it's a frontpage story on Slashdot?
News sure ain't what it used to be.
When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone.
actually, I found that the new 1.2.6 version of the ipod firmware solves the problem quite nicely; once again I can get 10 hrs of music off one charge.
http://www.iweenie.com/ipod.shtml (iweenie)
has the latest firmware, as well as the older versions and all the tools you need.
-- No Sig is a Good Sig
Since when does Apple consider that an out-of-the-ordianary enough thing that they bother to announce it a week in adavance??
If Apple does indeed buy Universal, what does that mean for it's old settlement with the music label called Apple? Apple is the label that put out the Beatles music, and they have a settlement in place that says Apple Computer cannot enter the music industry, or something of the sort. If Apple does get Universal, how can Apple Music respond? I think that could be an obstacle to Apple's purchase...
All I really want is Cocoa version of iTunes. I don't download music off the internet and I don't have an iPod. I just want the apps I use most on OS X to be true OS X apps. But all I am expecting is iTunes 3.1 with music service integration and new iPods. Hopefully Panther will usher in a Cocoa Finder, Cocoa iTunes, and Cocoa Quicktime.
1) firewire 800 (yay!) 2) bigger hard drive (duh) 3) more color schemes?
-- No Sig is a Good Sig
What, nobody is predicting that the announcement will be that Apple's decided to port OSX to x86 architecture? Crap. I guess I'll have to satisfy myself with these themes and programss for Windows XP until Apple decides to appease me.
Mod my comments down. It'll be fun.
Ok, so the event is in San Francisco on the 28th. Apple would not let its plans leak easily, but I think we can get better clues by doing some detective work.
1. Are any Universal senior executives going to be in SFO on 28th? Maybe any friends, collegues can answer?
2. Any other recording company executive planned to be in SFO on 28 - with no event planned publicly?
3. Are any major artists (somewhere read Pearl Jam) planned to be in SFO on 28th?
I am sure people can come up with more clues (flight plans, website registration - ok I know about appleuniversal.plan - what else) which can throw more light on the plans.
maybe they'll announce the rap/hip-hop inventor al gore iPod. Unfortunately, if it gets stolen, there is no controlling legal authority.
they put a iridescent apple logo on a stereo and called it "iStereo". hey - i just got an idea for a submission on one of those homebrew mac design sites!!
I also reply below your current threshold.
If Apple is starting a subscription service - they ought to seriously consider the US mobile phone model:
Sign up for one year and get a $XXX discount on one of our pieces of hardware
Imagine how many more people will sign up for a $40 monthly fee if it meant they could finally afford an iPod and have access to an easy to use music subscription service.
* iWalk.
Okay that was just stupid.
* Video iPod.
I wouldn't be suprised if there were a few pieces of hardware floating around in some r&d lab for this. Someone is eventually going to make something like this. Sony just released a portable CD/DVD player that has a small LCD screen that attaches. It isn't too much of a stretch to imagine the drive replaced with a hard drive.
* G5.
970.
* USB2.
This is true since it was recently discovered that new PowerMacs have had USB2 chips in them for a while. Drivers are now out which will enable this.
* Dualscreen powerbooks.
Probably the 17" monster, because asside from the one pc company that is making dual screen machines who else in the world would consider such a thing. Which sounds more plausible a machine with two small screens or this insanely large 17" Apple came out with?
--- I do not moderate.
...something Apple offically denied just a few days ago...
Who is their spokesman, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka Baghdad Bob)?
Karma: The shiznight, mostly because I am the Drizzle.
Reuters - Apple Computer Corp (APPL) has announced in a smashing pre-lunch event at its flashy new store in SOHO that the upcoming announcement will focus on the debut of its new pseudo-sentient home robot, capable of interfacing via bluetooth with home devices such as cell phones, bluetooth enabled computers, and the next generation of home appliances.
;)
The product is scheduled to launch with the name "iRobot....."
*DUCK*
When in doubt, parenthesize. At the very least it will let some poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi. (Larry Wall)
Yawn. Troll. We've all seen this now at least five times.
You are so clever, it's scary.
Can't wait for the two 'gay' posts next.
Cocoa does not equate to better-
Cocoa is an application framework. It will not make things faster or better or whatever, If a Carbon app is optimized it will run as fast or faster then Cocoa apps (e.g. The Finder).
Carbon and Cocoa each have their purposes, which is why they are used in OS X.
Yeah, that deserves a Slashdot article.
Posting an announcement of an announcement about an up comming announcement.
;-)
"This just in! More news will come in later, story at 11"
great marketing on their part. although universal probably likes it more then apple.
hooray! it's a sex wiki
That would be music to my ears
Every bit of speculation I've seen focuses on why (not) Apple is going to buy Universal music.
But this doesn't have to be a black-and-white thing. There have been too many stores in mainstream media for this to be completely groundless (at least, I think so), and Apple can't afford to buy Universal outright, so I believe we should expect either a partial buyout (not even a controlling share), or/and perhaps Steve Jobs taking some significant management position within Universal Music, in addition to his Apple/Pixar duties.
Even if the settlement doesn't preclude all such claims in the future, all Apple would need to do is retain the Universal brand name for its music business. The legal problem arises only when Apple starts selling music under the Apple brand name, not when Apple obtains corporate control of a different brand name that sells music.
...It remains to be seen if this involves a purchase of Universal - something Apple offically denied just a few days ago...
Make up your mind!
Thank you
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
(1) Get involved with something radical
(2) Deny involvment
(3) Accept involvment
(4) ???
(5) Profit!
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
THAT would be music to my ears.
Score: -9, Way Way Too Accurate
If apple could make money off generating rumors they'd be richer than M$FT.
.. but that's ok Apple fans love being abused.
Nevermind that actual product anouncements turn out underwhelming thanks to the hype of rumors
Anyway, i bet its a partnership with universal and a higher storage iPod. Maybe with an FM radio with or without 30 second retro recording.
Fruther proof that mac users are gay.
+1 to the Brother of reason, doth quoted above.
http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?comments=26039
"[...]April 28th, which they say is the day that the Half-Life 2 NDA will be lifted"
Yes, my tongue IS firmly wedged in my cheek.
Greater than 5 Gigs is overkill for many casual listeners. Why not drop the price a bit and keep it in the mix? Are they worried about the cheaper model pirating sales of higher margin pods?
Haven't you read any of these stories? UMG's Board meets the 27th.
Any attempt at a purchase would be announced after that; however, no one would make that big a thing of it?
Why? It would take months or more to finalize and could be blocked by any number of actions.
Music to my ears. Hm. Ok, here goes:
20G+ iPod (Apple hasn't a prayer of holding my entire music collection, but let's at least get a decent sized chunk of it, shall we?)
Bluetooth (or WiFi, whatever) connectivity.
Induction charger.
Some way to intelligently decide what should go on the iPod. The Synapse thing would be good here, methinks.
I'd like to come home, toss my wallet and keys and toys on a mat by the door, and have everything there automatically charge, sync, and get ready for the morning. Without any intervention on my part.
If Apple made an iPod / PDA comparable to the tiny Sony Clies with the gorgeous displays and included a wireless charger/sync combo, they'd have my business in a second. I would pay a $50 premium for that without blinking, and maybe $100. Convenience rather than power is Apple's game, and I'm eager to see them capitalize on their strengths in non-PC sectors.
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
Correct URL for the Ogg xtra for Director:
s /O gg.htm
http://www.directordev.com/tools/xtras/OggVorbi
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
Recently, Apple Computer was approached by beings from the Planet Zog. Zog is the richest planet in known space and all its inhabitants are so intelligent that it has no concept of intellectual property, since anybody is capable of inventing anything he, she or it needs as and when necessary. All Zog software is Open Source, mostly written in VLIW assembler by users as and when required.
Unfortunately the Zog economy is somewhat overheated, despite a rise in income tax to 99%, and Zog is looking for a way to lose some cash. They have offered to merge Apple with a Zog publicly owned corporation called "We really are Universal Music" (ZSE: WRUM), the present stockholders of Apple to retain 51% of the equity.
The idea is to introduce a music-on-demand service by which music will be directly downloaded from Zog. Zog has no equivalent of the DMCA since even the cheapest Zog pseudopodheld can crack any form of encryption on the fly, and has been recording the entire data output of the Earth for the last hundred years on the Ogg recorder in some Zog kid's bedroom. To encourage takeup of the service. the new corporation will give away all its hardware and software free for the next 20 years, and offer to replace all Macs in the field free of charge with new terahertz systems running OS MDCLX.
Jobs then demonstrated the new direct thought to text input PowerBook G93000 which projects a virtual reality 3-D image into the entire visual field, runs for a year on an AAA battery and weighs half an ounce.
Following the announcement, Microsoft shares rose $3 and Apple shares were $12 down at close of trading. The usual suspects predicted the demise of Apple within 3 weeks, citing the failure to keep up technically with the PC market, and Steve Jobs was slightly injured by a troll from slashdot complaining about file copy speed on a 9600/300. ...try to keep posts on topic
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered yesterday, and it's probably going to be a music download service. Apple has the major record labels on board to support an Apple music download service.
Supposedly, the contracts won't allow the record labels to back out if Apple buys Universal. This was the problem for Napster, because BMG thought that the other major record labels wouldn't object to a BMG-run music download service. They did, and this killed Napster as a for-fee download service.
1. Blasted to atoms in a trench in the Tora Bora mountains.
2. Squashed into jelly under the rubble of a bombed-out restaurant in Baghdad.
3. The Greenbriar, in West Virginia.
4. Syria.
.. How many times do we have to wh1ne about it?
VIDEO IPOD:
360/426x340 color touchscreen, 40GB HDD, firewire + 'proprietary' port (for AV out) + headphone jack, integration into iWatch (which replaces quicktime and DVD players) that lets you rip DVDs down into that smaller framesize in mpeg4. Throw in bluetooth and charge extra for a bluetooth remote control. $699.
Just in time for the direct-deposit tax refund!!!
Steve Jobs - What do you mean we can't use the name iRobot?
Smithers - It's already been copyrighted by another company.
Jobs - Release the hounds!
Small door opens and a pack of drooling lawyers runs to the nearest courthouse.
The above is a little lame (no pun intended), but hardly flamebait and hardly deserving of a -1! Whoever moderated it seems to have an ax to grind. I hope I get to meta-mod this one.
There's no better way to get a recording company to change their mind about your portable 'pirating' device (or iPod) then to buy it--so what if this announcement were to be that they've "acquired" a record company?
Cocoa is an application framework. It will not make things faster or better or whatever, If a Carbon app is optimized it will run as fast or faster then Cocoa apps (e.g. The Finder).
My rudimentary understanding of Carbon and Foundation event handling is that Carbon needs to poll (albeit that the call doesn't return until the event you want occurs) and Foundation doesn't. Perhaps things are done in the same way underneath, but I couldn't say.
Now slashdot is announcing announcements. Why not just wait to find out what the announcement is on the 28th then if it's news worthy publish it? Really now.
Asspussy you ROCK!
playtime for a few minutes of "Wow! that's neat."
Have you been to a mall in Asia lately?
Kids do this to mobile phone LED lights.
Any battery drain is minimal for the LED,
and the color light effect is pretty cool.
Apple knows that innovative design
gets attention and can drive sales.
And if it has Vorbis,
I'll buy it immediately.
Cheers, Joel
As long as MacOS 9 is supported iTunes will remain Carbon. MacOS 9 may no longer be shipping on new machines but Apple will still be supporting MacOS 9 for years to come. Updated versions of iTunes is an important part of that support.
It was a real simple hack: get your powerbook, buy an LCD monitor, plug it in. In some cases, you may need to hit the "Detect Displays" button in System Preferences.
Cool tip: you can set Virtual PC to full screen mode on the second monitor only. Freak people out by dragging windows across the two systems.
A team of people said to be working for Apple were approaching people in Washington Sq Park last week in NYC and asking them to sing their favorite song a capella into the camera. They were told the tapes would be reviewed, and those selected would be paid to shoot an Apple commercial in LA. I gathered the format involved people just sort of singing in a plain Switch-like background. Must be related to the music service, was my guess, or the new ipods. They said it didn't matter how well people sang. They seemed to be looking for diversity...from 3 year olds to middle aged guys to college students.
The plan was to shoot the commercials this week. Could they turn them around that fast?
Isn't it obvious? Your Mac (the 9600/300 is a fantastic machine btw) is suffering a breakdown because it has to deal with you all day, since you post this in every Apple story.
Sell it on eBay to someone who doesn't spend the time that most people are having sex/eating/watching tv/commenting intelligently on slashdot and it will be sprightly and effective again.
"User Error: replace user"
i have read that bluetooth is not able to handle the bandwith of a stereo audio signal with quality that would come close to your wired headphones. Let alone the issue of battery power.
Bluetooth cellphone headsets require MUCH less data than music, plus they work in other power saving tricks like intermittent broadcasting.
as attractive as wireless headphones seem, dealing with the battery recharge seems so damn annoying.
This just sucks. I got new 10G iPod 2 months ago. Seesh.
- The MPEG-4 Standard supports the possibility of DRM
- but it hasn't been implemented yet
- but they're working on it
I really love the acronym of that last site (Intellectual Property Management & Protection). The obvious pronunciation is "iPimp. The digital pimp for your digital lifestyle."(tm) Yes, Apple has avoided DRM so far, but it's coming.AAC has the problem of being much more processor intensive. I question whether AAC is such a good idea for something like the iPod that has lots of cheap space, only stereo output, and strict constraints on heat dissipation and power consumption.
AAC seems more suited toward digital TV where bandwidth is limited but power consumption is not. That and AAC has the benefit of being 5.1, which you'd need for something in the living room.
I highly doubt Apple really needs to BUY Vivendi Universal's music division. They could just sign a strategic business partnership to get rights to all the music. Vivendi gets a cut of the profits and Apple gets to sell Vivendi's music.
Now isn't that more realistic than Apple spending $6 billion on an industry that's dying?
Oh fuck it. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. A 604e at 300 MHz will eat a fucking PPro-200 for lunch and go back for seconds. Find someone with half a clue as to how to admin a Mac and you'll find that out. I've got a fucking 68040 40 MHz Quadra that ain't that slow.
Intellegent reasons to use a Mac would obviously be lost on you.
That's a bit presumptious.
The only things that Apple could possibly say that would be music to my ears would be:
a) They are lowering their prices to be competetive with Windows machines.
or
b) They are releasing an x86 port of OS X.
desert you fucker
Oops, I did it again! I am such a dumbfuck!
Dude, the whole Universal thing was just a giant rumor on the web. Apple never made an official announcement that they had any intention of purchasing Universal. Apple has never said anything about Universal until last week when Jobs publicly denied the rumors.
They've given off no mixed message because they never gave off a message to being with.
Pooty tweet
Why wait? I note that the scrappy Archos has long been the underdog in the MP3 player/recorders, but their MPEG4 player/recorder just won the "CES 2003 Best of Portable Video & Best of the Show", apparently.
Da Blog
I just tried it and he's right, it says all that. Big joke, evidently. Cool. Somebody mod this dude up! He deserves the Karma!
Looks like their mind is made up. YHBT. HAND.
Which is why the post was supposed to be humor, but it's damn difficult to convey subtle humor in text form.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
According to Shawn King of the "Your Mac Life" radio show, Apple is planning to release an FM transmitter for the iPod that will be more flexible and better integrated than the 3rd-party offerings. That should be music to your ... airs.
-- thinkyhead software and media
The service will supposedly be easy to use and will offer a deep catalog and the ability to purchase single songs. Isn't this what everyone has been asking for?
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
Im thinking theyre brewing up some dobly 5.1 power macs and a nice set of speakers to come with them.
Well, not necessarily anyway. I'm just hoping Digital Performer 4 (with OS X and Rewire 2.0 compatibility) will finally be announced.
Never believe a rumour until it's officially denied
"iPimp. The digital pimp for your digital lifestyle."(tm) Yes, Apple has avoided DRM so far, but it's coming.
I have no way to know what Apple is and isn't going to do with regard to DRM. Neither do you. All we have is what they have (and haven't) done in the past. I refer you again to this link. What reason do you really have for insisting that Apple is all about DRM all of a sudden?
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
Way to play into the Apple marketing machine.
So you've got some Apple marketing goons sitting around wondering how to increase the hype on "New Product X". Simple...they release an ambigious non-news item through unofficial channels it gets slurped right up. Apple fanboys will be sitting around for the next week dreaming about what it could possibly be.
This is the sort of non content that is degrading slashdot into a glorified rumor site.
haven't you guys seen this? No mention of format though.
They denied buying Universal. They didn't say they would never have anything to do with Universal. Read between the lines.
Gotta work on it, man. It definitely didn't come across that way. Good try though!
Pooty tweet
Nope, sorry, wrong guy. Can't say who for I have Karma to protect.
and they're gonna jam through the announcement so nobody hears what's said behind the podium.
that's my fantasy, your turn...
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
The iPod's "sleep mode" is the real thing that benefits from the update. I went from needing to recharge every 24 hours to needing a charge every 10 days or so. Anyone complaining about battery life should update their firmware.
Wrists killing you? Not in 2 weeks. Learn Dvorak.
Now, I know it's actually facist. But, not a surprise, in the land of the free! Oh well. They can always tell the business they drive out if they don't like Apple, TOO BAD!
Firmware? Updates? Tools???!?!?! Is THIS why I bought a Mac!?!?!
...what color will the eighth notes be on the iTunes 4 icon?
Etiquette is etiquette. He kills his mother but he can't wear grey trousers.
All I can say is that my iBook 500 MHz is much much faster than my 700 MHz PIII desktop.
Now go away.
(+1, yes)
That should be just "off".
Yeah, just like two keynotes ago when they 100% guaranteed no superdrives in powerbooks. What does jobs announce? Superdrives in powerbooks.
Yes, thinksecret is the best but even so they're wrong 50% of the time. Unless they got screenshots. They only seem to post screenshots of software they have their hands on (I assume).
Don't worry, it's not you, it's slashcode. Spaces are automaticallly inserted into long 'words' to stop trolls from mucking up the horizontal scrolling of the page by posting really really long words.
Im not homophobic at all.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
But, the rumor was also featured on CNBC, CNN, and other financial news services. That makes me pretty sure that is going to happen.
But by the time I could afford one, Apple would have the G10.
Once you've found a good naming scheme, stick with it!
- Danny
Why do I get the feeling that Jobs is about to pull the proverbial rug out from under the Archaic RIAA.
Dolemite
________________
Save the World! Use a Quote!
30 GB iPods! Imagine a beowulf clu-- *slap*
sorry...
The music execs wouldn't go for it without that.
We'll see. I think it's been their wet dream to have a digital download business model that was both sucessful and had DRM. But so far nobody has been able to pull it off. The position of Mr. Jobs, however, has been "let people manage their media on any and all devices they own" etc. He's been against DRM from the start and been quite outspoken about it. (It's sort of irritating to keep running into slashdotters who believe Apple is the DRM king or something. Dunno where they got that idea.)
So who won the fight? Apple or the RIAA? I guess we'll see. I hope Steve won. Because if he did there won't be any post-purchase restrictions on the downloaded files.
You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave? Dave? Can you hear me Dave?
Maybe they could offer something like 1,000 free downloads when you buy an iPod.
It's Ogg, not OGG!
I remember when legal used to mean lawful, now it means some kind of loophole. - Leo Kessler
(1) Get involved with something radical
(1a) Stock value decreases
(2) Deny involvment
(2a) Stock value decreases
(3) Accept involvment
(3a) Stock value decreases
(4) ???
(4a) Stock value decreases
(5) Profit!
(5a) Stock value decreases
Zionist Occupational Government... why are we bringing up this anti-semitic BS here?
http://www.spymac.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo= 27110
Green, of course! :P