Everyone in the media was hyping up about the Sun/Google press conference that was held two days ago. People were talking about an online Office or the unveiling of a WebOS, with the purpose to destroy Microsoft one JavaScript and AdSense ad unit at a time. Instead what do we get? News that the Java Runtime Environment is being packaged with the Google Toolbar. How exciting! Was a press conference and live webcast really necessary to announce all of this? Sure "they look forward to working together in the future," but why not save all that hype-juice for when it is time to announce Google StarOffice?
Hot off the heels of that lackluster announcements, Apple announces they are holding a "One more thing…" event on October 12. For those not familiar with "One more thing…", it's Steve Job's trademark phrase for that bombshell he drops during the last few minutes of a keynote, right about the time he's half-expected to close up the keynote with boring marketshare numbers and vague forward-looking statements. Anyway, speculation immediately started on whether this is an event for the long-rumored video iPod and mockups immediately started sprouting all over the place.
ThinkSecret, an Apple rumor site with a decent success rate, posted an article stating that the event's purpose is to announce new PowerMacs and PowerBooks. The question is, why would Steve go out of his way to invite the media to an event showcasing already obsolete incremental upgrades to machines on a dying platform? I personally think he wouldn't. On the other hand, the nano has a profit margin of about $100, so Apple may not want to cannibalize nano sales just yet (but would a video iPod and the nano have the same target market anyway?). This event also falls just a day after Apple's earnings call, so this would be a great way to kickoff a new quarter. As such, I'm expecting nothing short of a new iPod (video or not) to be announced at this special event, but if the event does turn out to just be the announcement of new PowerMacs and PowerBooks, both me and the markets will be sorely disappointed.
Technorati Tags: apple, google, sun, announcements, hype, ipod, video ipod, rumors
