Steve Jobs talks Television at All Things Digital D8

So, the AppleTV was a hobby for Apple… shame, as I really liked the idea. I think it was more popular in the USA, but certainly here in the UK we had even less content. In the video below Steve talks about set-top boxes. In his response he sort of admits defeat, that there is no current way to bring 'better TV' to the market. Check out the video below and the full article here.

Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs - Re Macworld keynote

Today, Apple released a letter from Steve Jobs detailing exactly why he will not be giving his usual keynote speech at Macworld 2009. This is very nice to hear and reassuring that Steve is going to be OK. It reads as follows...

Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve

Apple's Board of Director's added;

It is widely recognized both inside and outside of Apple that Steve Jobs is one of the most talented and effective CEOs in the world. As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple’s CEO, you will know it. Apple is very lucky to have Steve as its leader and CEO, and he deserves our complete and unwavering support during his recuperation. He most certainly has that from Apple and its Board.

I am sure you will all join me in wishing Steve well and hoping to see him gain that healthy weight back during 2009.

Apple WWDC 08 - Steve Jobs Predictions

Before I kick things off with my customary predictions for this years WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs, I wanted to let you know about my 'Mac & Gadget Show'. We had a successful show yesterday, where we talked about what might be coming from Apple this year. Many thanks to all who participated.

I am running a special edition of the 'Mac & Gadget Show', tonight at 6:00pm (GMT) or 1:00pm (EDT) to cover the WWDC keynote as it happens. Pulling in news from all over the internet, using various news feeds, expect to hear a great overview of Steve Jobs Keynote speech. Point your browser here to join in, or to listen as things happen. I will try and bring in callers when I can (if you would like to talk live on the show), but please accept my apologies in advance if I rabbit on and miss you. I will try to accommodate your views and questions where possible.

Now, onto my predictions for this years WWDC.

iPhone 2.0 (or 3G)
It seems like a forgone conclusion that we will see the new iPhone launch, or at least announcement of features. If we don't, there will be a lot of disappointed people across the world. The new iPhone is predicted to include 3G technology for faster data transfers, GPS and ho knows, maybe even some sort of partnership with the likes of TomTom or Garmin to bring us true in-car or on-foot navigation.

iPhone 2.0 (or 3G) part 2
There have been images floating around showing a front facing camera on the new iPhone. Whether these are real or not, many 3G mobile handsets offer video calls, so why not Apple's iPhone. With OS X built into this little box of technology, iChatAV is an obvious progression for the device. I think that this new feature, coupled with upgrades to the .Mac service could well round up the iPhone announcements today.

Mac Mini Version 2
For quite a while now, it has been predicted that the Mac Mini will face the chop. Well, CrunchGear have posted these rather tasty (if somewhat blurry) images of Mac Fusion. A new even slimmer miniature Mac. This all-aluminum enclosure certainly looks tasty and if we see a slight ramp up from current Mac Mini specs, along with a slight price drop, then hurrah for Apple... I will buy one for sure.
Why might we not see this? Well, it would hurt sales of both the current Mac Mini (if they keep this line going) and also the AppleTV.

iPhone Goes Large
Over the past few weeks there have been loads of mini laptops (or sub-notebooks) announced from the likes of Acer, Asus, HP, MSI and Dell (to name just a few). Apple must be sitting up and taking notice of this, after all, they would be stupid not to. People love to communicate whilst 0n-the-move nowadays, and the likes of these new devices really do fit the bill. For example the MSI Wind, you get a nice keyboard, Intel Atom CPU, 10-inch screen, 80GB hard drive, all for around £300. The only downside is that it runs Linux or Windows XP.
Apple can do this product right, with the all important Mac OS X operating system. Give us a tablet computer, based around the iPhone, but twice the size. Add onto this a real keyboard, maybe a wireless unit that can sit separate or snap onto the screen and wow, they will sell truck-loads.

Mac OS X 10.6 'Snow Leopard'
I don't think we will see this, as Leopard in its current 10.5.3 guise is just too new. Maybe I will be totally wrong on this one.

An exciting day for us all. Join me on Talkshoe for the Mac & Gadget Show for the news as it happens.

Apple Event Regent Street London - Mum is no longer the word

The 'Mum is no longer the word event is due to start in London today at 10am. The likeliness is that we will see the launch of the iPhone in the UK, with carrier details, pricing, and possibly even stock. Steve Jobs is here too, so it must be a big thing. We will be bringing you news as it happens…

Update 1 - The O2 Store is currently offline. This could be an early indication of something about to be added to their store. Strange the Apple Store UK is still online.

Update 2 - OK, Steve has stood right up and announced the iPhone is with O2. £269 gets you the 8GB iPhone, on sale November 9th.

Update 3 - New advert for the UK. Well, same one as the US, but with a British voiceover.

Update 4 - Matthew Key from O2 UK is now up on stage. He is really excited about the iPhone , quote "I knew it was a breakthrough product".

Update 5 - Available through Carphone Warehouse. Unlimited data on £35, £45 and £55 tariffs. Sad news is that there is no 3G.

Update 6 - The Apple Store UK (online) is not available. This happened why I was busy bringing you this news.

Update 7 - Steve back on stage for Q&A. Why no 3G? It is due to 3G chips using too much power. This would take the iPhone down to 2-3 hours, the iPhone currently gives 8 hours. 3G is something we think we'll see later next year.

Update 8 - Partnership to bring over 7,000 wi-fi hotspots to iPhone users in the UK. These are via Cloud and are FREE.

Update 9 - What about iTunes activation? Yes, this works the same, allows you to select your plan and then activate.

Update 10 - What is the contract length and is unlimited data really unlimited? 18 months contract. 1,400 internet pages per day limit, over this would break the deal as part of the fair usage agreement.

Update 11 - Big question; Is unlocking a concern? Steve; "It's a constant cat and mouse game, we have the same thing with the iPod and music." Steve is not sure if they are the cat or the mouse.

Update 12 - Matthew Key is asked if he was aware of the iPod Touch coming out when he was negotiating the iPhone deal. He completely dodges the question.

**BIG NEWS** 10:33am The O2 online store has been updated with the iPhone Coming Soon page. You get free voicemail on all tariffs and special roaming rates. The £35 tariff gets you 200 minutes of calls and 200 SMS, £45 gets you 600 minutes of calls and 500 SMS, and £55 gets you 1,200 minutes of calls and 500 SMS. Unlimited data and unlimited wi-fi (with conditions).

Here is a screen grab of the O2 iPhone Tarrifs;

There were a few more questions about if the 2-megapixel camera is good enough for the UK, to which Steve replied that the camera is great. Plus 1st October will see the unlimited data plans rolled out to all existing O2 UK customers. That's it, announcements over, now to get our hands on an iPhone as quickly as possible.

Apple Store UK (online) is now back up and running, just with a new page accessible from the main store to one showing the iPhone available November 9th, plus the chance to sign up for more info. The main Apple website also features this iPhone page. Carphone Warhouse also updated with an O2 graphic, details and pricing on this page.

Apple Event - Wednesday 5th September

Well, the Apple Event is just about to kick off (6pm GMT) today and we will try and scour the various news sites covering the event and bring you all the best bits. Keep updating your browser…

UPDATE 1
17:50GMT all Apple Stores are down, so in true Apple form (as if we didn't already know) we will be getting some new products today, and most likely available to order today too. Let's hope they ship today as well.

Well, why we are waiting for things to kick off, just a quick chance to keep my fingers crossed for a new touch widescreen iPod. I use my iPod everyday and would like to have the chance of a much bigger screen.

UPDATE 2
Steve takes to the stage and updates everyone with some iTunes facts and figures. 600 million copies of iTunes out there and 3 billion songs sold in the iTunes Store.

UPDATE 3
New version of iTunes will be available tonight, to support some new features including 'Ringtones'. There will be 500,000 participating tracks, and for an additional 99 cents you can also have this as an iPhone Ringtone. So in iTunes a little bell icon appears next to the available tracks, you select it, use the Ringtone Builder to select up to a 30 second portion of the track, do a fade in and fade out, get it how you want it before you click-to-buy. Then when you sync your iPhone it takes the ringtone over to your device. This new feature will be switched on in iTunes next week.

UPDATE 4
The complete range of iPods will get a refresh today, starting with new colour Shuffles (yawn).

UPDATE 5
Next up is the Nano. It is a new size, sort of squat, all metal design, widescreen, plays video. Comes in black, silver, blue, green and (product) red. 2-inch screen with 320x240 resolution (same as the current 5th gen iPod). Click wheel is still there, but this baby is really thin. Three games bundled with the new Nano, including Vortex. ou have also got Coverflow for videos and music. This thing looks great, sorta like all the features of the 5th gen full size iPod into the new sexy Nano, oh and by the way, the black version looks very cool indeed. It also seems like the new UI has a split screen, where you scroll through video titles on the left and get a snippet view on the right, very nice.
The battery will give you 24 hours of music and 5 hours of video playback.
Available in stores this weekend, shipping now, 4GB just $149, 8GB $199, fantastic.

UPDATE 6
Now the full size iPod, with a new name, iPod Classic. Full metal design, thinner, starting at 80GB, but with a massive 160GB version, that is still thinner than the 5th gen 80GB.
Battery life for the 80GB is 25 hours music, 5 hours video. The 160GB gives you 40 hours music and 7 hours video. Prices are very apealing with the 80GB costing $249, and the 160GB for $349. All new iPods available now, shipping today.

UPDATE 7
Wow, this is a good 'un. We get another brand new iPod. As we already guessed, based on the iPhone but even thinner. Yes, the touch screen iPod is finally a reality. Same 3.5-inch screen, same design, UI allows you to view photos and pinch them to zoom in and out. Coverflow and nice large album art. Wow, how many times can I say wow in this update.
Same user interface including a home screen (as on the iPhone).
It also has wifi, so this is great news, we may get internet features... yes, we get Safari on the iPod Touch, wow! this is fantastic news. Google, Yahoo and YouTube all built into this baby.
Steve also did a demo of FaceBook on the iPod Touch, this website looks fantastic on the device, I cannot wait.
Downer, seems like we only get 8GB ($299) or 16GB ($399) models that both ship this month, kinda cripples an iPod only device, this is OK for a mobile phone, but not an iPod, I hope Steve gives us more.

UPDATE 8
One more thing... iTunes WiFi Music Store. Hmmmmm. Same price structure, if you see a track you like, you can preview it, then buy it, download over WiFi and then when you next sync back at home the tune is copied over into your iTunes library. You get New Releases, Whats Hot, and Genres buttons across the top of the iPod Touch screen, or you can search for any artist/album. The new iTunes Wi-Fi features will also be rolled out to the iPhone as a software update.

UPDATE 9
Starbucks partnership.. when you are in a Starbucks a fifth button appears on the screen. If you like the song playing at the time, you can buy it with one click... cool. You can also browse the last ten tracks played and buy them too. You also get free iTunes Wi-Fi Store access when you are in a Starbucks without the need to log in with any sort of password (which seems pretty obvious if they want to sell tunes).

iPhone UPDATE
8GB model being reduced by $200 to $399. 4GB iPhone is gone.

So that's it and wow what an event. New iPods all round, new WiFi downloadable tunes, and some coffee... now where is my credit card?