Special Apple Event Scheduled for September 12

davidmcg writes "Macworld are reporting that Apple is hosting a special media event on Tuesday, September 12th 2006 in San Francisco, CA at 10AM Pacific. The event will also be simulcast to a location in London where journalists have also been invited. The invitation to the media was entitled It's Showtime — suggesting Movie-related announcements. Rumors sites had originally expected iMac updates during the event, but Apple surprised everyone with iMac and Mac mini updates last week. This leaves iPods, a Movie Store and the possibility of a new streaming Media device for the Tuesday event."

Comments

Well duh.

[popeyethesailor]

This leaves iPods, a Movie Store and the possibility of a new streaming Media device for the Tuesday event."
Oh wow. I thought it was a new musical with Steve Jobs as the lead with a consort of white furry bunnies.

Re:Well duh.

[Bruce McBruce]

Maybe by "Showtime" they refer to destroying Mars as a display of the iStar's power.

Widescreen movies

[zoeblade]

16:9 touchscreen ipod would be mighty sweet

I love the way no one is even considering the possibility of 4:3 ratio film downloads, even though the 5G iPod's screen is small enough as it is without films taking up even less of the 320x240 resolution if they're going to remain backwards compatible with it. Sure, a widescreen iPod plus film downloads that you'll need to upgrade to the 6G in order to watch on the go seem likely, but it still amazes me how quickly people will refuse to put up with something like pan and scan, the format everyone watched films in at home until only a few years ago in most people's cases.

It's like there's an unwritten agreement that we'll never speak of VHS ever again, like it was an embarrassing mistake that it ever took off in the first place.

Re:Widescreen movies

[MichaelSmith]

It's like there's an unwritten agreement that we'll never speak of VHS ever again, like it was an embarrassing mistake that it ever took off in the first place.

It was the tubes, no, not the ones the internet uses, the ones which people used to watch pictures on. If you make it wider you have to make it deeper so you may as well make it higher and then you have a square screen again.

Re:Widescreen movies

[TomHandy]

Well, a lot of people "put up with" pan and scan for a variety of reasons; in some cases they didn't have much choice (only "full screen" versions of certain movies were easily available). In other cases, a lot of consumers were convinced that "pan and scan" was better because they didn't like those "black bars" at the bottom and top of their screen.

I think the success of wide screen has at least something to do with consumers becoming a bit more savvy about buying movies....... I think that more consumers have gotten used to the idea of the black bars (one reason why I think television has become more willing to show "widescreen" TV shows even on standard def broadcasts), and they also seem to have more of a realization that "pan and scan" was not as good, causing a lot of the original film to be unseen.

You mentioned VHS, but it's not like the whole "widescreen vs. full screen" issue stopped with VHS and the advent of DVD. Even today you can still find some movies releases in both Full Screen and Widescreen versions. But I think you'll find that the "full screen" versions of some movies are more likely to end up in the "bargain bin" sooner, as more people are rejecting it.

Conceivably some people will put up with "pan and scan" if they have older devices like the Zen Vision M or 5G iPod.

But I think that anyone actually concerned about watching full length movies on the go is more likely to buy a Zen Vision W or a new widescreen video iPod.

-Zadillo

Re:9/11

[TomHandy]

That's true, people might have forgotten it was the anniversary of 9/11 if they didn't see it on Slashdot.

Re:9/11

[TheRaven64]

This is a news website. Precisely how is dredging up something that happened five years ago newsworthy?

A question many people frequently ask the editors...

Re:streaming media device

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

the point is I only have 1 computer - a laptop I take with me to work and home every day.

at home I have wireless:
keyboard
mouse
internet
speakers
phone (sync + remote)

why NOT have everything wireless if it can be?
my laptop is only 3 feet from the monitor because it HAS to be to use the monitor.

and if it makes my computer easier to use and I'm willing to pay for it who the fuck are you to stand in the way of progress?

iTunes 7

[Jacob Moogberg]

I'd say that iTunes 7 is also a given:
- last year, iTunes 5 then iTunes 6 (iTunes 5.1 in all but name) were released within a month, mostly to make iTunes release version coincide with the business year. iTunes 6 = 2005-06. iTunes 7 = 2006-2007
- update of some core components to include the movie store
- need to address the competition, particularly WMP, whose ergonomy is improving with v. 11, especially concerning visual interface and the use of artwork.

iTunes is still well thought as a MP3 player but Apple needs to put some more buzz and hype into it as it hasn't much evolved for the last two or three years. It's the piece of Apple music strategy that has been the least covered by rumor sites for the last few months but it's determining none the less.

Re:iTunes 7

[ben there...]

It'd be nice if they dumped QuickTime non-Pro and put all non-Pro QuickTime functions in iTunes.

No, that would really suck.

I don't want to open up iTunes just to watch a movie I downloaded/purchased from the web.

Re:9/11

[dunkelfalke]

what happened on the 9th of november?

Re:guess I'm just a skeptic

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

for me better is all about the user experience. I don't believe there is anyone creating anything even remotely close to iPod + iTunes + iTMS, and some of the players put out there with better hardware specs than iPods treat their users horrifically (the one suggested by the other replier can't autosync and can't browse by artist, album, or genre!).

every aspect of Apple product design is an order of magnitude greater than their nearest competitor. and every great new product Apple releases makes the integrated experience even stronger. so I don't expect to even consider moving away from iPod in the near future but am still curious what "the best of the rest" is.

standing in the way of progress: telcos

[Gary W. Longsine]

and if it makes my computer easier to use and I'm willing to pay for it who the fuck are you to stand in the way of progress?

I guess that depends if they happen to be an executive at a telco. I've noticed that far fewer Macintosh owners use bluetooth to sync their address book to their phone than one might think. The reason? For certain phone companies including at least Verizon and Quest, the vendors offer almost no bluetooth enabled phones to start with, special models of the same perfectly good phone with the bluetooth hobbled to worthlessness by custom firmware.

The executives at the telcos are holding up progress because they want to be the only company to sell $1.99 ring tones to their customers and they all have fantasies about setting up their own iTunes style online stores, too. The telcos are standing in the way of progress for, literally, hundreds of millions of people (2 Billion served).

??? Think of the children!

[Gary W. Longsine]

Apple made the right decision updating the iMac to a 64-bit processor and using the low power version of the same 64-bit dual core chip family in the product. How many tons of coal will be saved over the lifetime of the first million of those iMacs sold, compared to the same system were it to use the desktop chip, whose primary technology advantage from the home user's perspective would have been that it runs hotter and slurps more electrons.

Re:About ready to quit reading Slashdot...

[argent]

You don't read slashdot for the comments?

I'll bet you read the articles in Playboy too!

Re:Letdown of the week

[laffer1]

In case you haven't noticed, iMacs are consumer systems. They also have a small form factor and have had heat issues in the past. A laptop chip is exactly what is needed. If you want power, buy a Mac Pro. Apple doesn't fill the in between market like dell tries to do. You either buy a workstation or a light, friendly desktop.

I'm seriously considering a new iMac now that they are 64bit. That was my holdup to the mac intel switch. I need something I can test emt64 based stuff on. And no, i don't just plan to run OSX on it.

I'm sick of the expensive power bills associated with running a bunch of systems. At any given time I have 2-6 computers running here. It adds up.

An iMac is no gamer rig, its just a desktop for your mom to surf on. I tend to use Macs for everyday tasks like watching video, iTunes, email, surfing and basic programming tasks. Its similar to people who complain about MacBooks not performing well. They are lowend. They are not gamer rigs. Now if you buy a Macbook Pro and it overheats playing WoW you have a reason to bitch.

I wish people would stop anticipating apple announcements so much. Its always a letdown if you wish for the moon. I do believe apple needs to do something innovative with the iPod and iTunes. Its time. If they blow this one, I suspect a larger move to other players. I might even consider it.

please be a phone, please be a phone

[bunions]

Dear Steve Jobs,

Just make a goddamn phone already, Jesus fucking Christ!!

Sincerely,

bunions

Re:streaming media device

[HTH NE1]

the point is I only have 1 computer - a laptop I take with me to work and home every day. at home I have wireless keyboard, mouse, internet, speakers, [and] phone (sync + remote). why NOT have everything wireless if it can be? my laptop is only 3 feet from the monitor because it HAS to be to use the monitor.

So you just plonk it down on the desk and it knows to associate with the nearby peripherals? That reminds me of this bit from one of my favorite authors, Douglas Adams (RIP):

"How... does it work?" he said, trying to make it sound like a casual enquiry.

"Well, it's really terribly simple," said Reg, "it works any way you want it to. You see, the computer that runs it is a rather advanced one. In fact it is more powerful than the sum total of all the computers on this planet including - and this is the tricky part - including itself. Never really understood that bit myself, to be honest with you. But over ninety-five per cent of that power is used in simply understanding what it is you want it to do. I simply plonk my abacus down there and it understands the way I use it. I think I must have been brought up to use an abacus when I was a... well, a child, I suppose.

"Richard, for instance, would probably want to use his own personal computer. If you put it down there, where the abacus is the machine's computer would simple take charge of it and offer you lots of nice user-friendly time-travel applications complete with pull-down menus and desk accessories if you like. Except that you point to 1066 on the screen and you've got the Battle of Hastings going on outside your door, er, if that's the sort of thing you're interested in."

But of course there the logic is in the computer controlling the desk, not in the laptop.

It also reminds me of Apple's PowerBook Duo and its DuoDock.

Powerbooks?

[david-bo]

What about updated Merom based Powerbooks? All major PC brands has announced Merom based laptops. Apple can't lag that much without losing brand value etc.

Ooh, and I want to order a new Powerbook ASAP!