Ha, cause I have some deep insights and inside info, right? Not so much. Just a few thoughts:
* No iPhone, or if there is, it’ll be VoIP only (there are about 100 reasons why Apple can’t just poof into existence a new phone network, and while its possible they’ll just release a handset that cell carriers can market, doing that while still maintaining the Steve Jobs “perfection” seems difficult/unlikely.
* Lots of fun new home-networking gear. Pre-N routers will replace AirPort Extreme, Express may receive an update as well, the “iTV” product will launch and have Pre-N support as well.
* HD content in the iTunes store and playable on the iTV.
* Perhaps another piece of “Apple in your living room” kit.
* New features for the video on the iTunes store, such as closed captioning and alternative-language tracks and menus and chapters (hope, hope).
That’s about all I can think of. Maybe a ultra-portable, but that’s unlikely. We’ll see in a few days. If there is an amazing “one more thing” I feel like its most likely going to center around digital media in the home, although I suppose Apple could boldly surge into some as-yet-identified new market. Really don’t think it’ll be phones, though (he says, preparing to eat his words).
*Edit 8 Jan 11:54pm*: If the _WSJ_ says there is going to be a phone, then I guess there is going to be a phone.
How about something for the corporate world?
Also remember (re: iPhone) that the rest of the world uses GSM exclusively so they could easily release a GSM phone with no help from the networks. And with everyone doing GPRS/EDGE/3G, etc…they could even build a music wireless store without any outside help (*extra data transmission costs may apply)
Oh, and the little image thingy above the post says that it was “Posted -1 years, 12 months ago” which I suppose would be…today.
I can’t think of a single instance of Apple launching something outside of the US first, or, for that matter, ofering something exclusively outside of the US as well. And unlocked phones in the US? Ick.
Would be neat if it happened, though.
Corporate, corporate…upgraded Mac Pros? New bigger LCDs? I suppose. About time we get some fancy new Cinema Displays. Standard hardware bumps, though, aren’t big news, I don’t think. Maybe some new piece of software? I can’t think of anything, except perhaps an “embedded” Mac OS. 😛
Well legally now all carriers can unlock the phones of the other carriers as a specific DMCA exemption, so unlocked phones in the US are a reality and will become the standard.
While I love the idea of unlocked phones, I don’t think it will catch on in the US. For most people, there are only 4 wireless carriers available. Two are incompatible with the other two (Cingular and T-Mobile vs. Verizon and Sprint). If you’re leaving Verizon, what are the chances (assuming a totally random picking method) of you choosing another CDMA carrier? 1 in 3. Sprint also refuses to activate anything without their logo on it (maybe they’ve changed the policy since I last looked at Sprint).
Also, I think that the exemption for unlocking might have just been for users (from the second-hand reports I’ve read – not that it makes a big material difference).
To be honest, if I’m going to be tied to a contract, I might as well get a highly subsidized phone out of the deal. I’d love it if the carriers charged me $5 less per month and I could buy any old phone without the subsidy, but I don’t see that happening.
C’mon iPhone! iNeed to talk!