We'd dismiss the Newton idea as wishful thinking, and while some consumers might fancy a bigger even more video-centric iPod, iPod announcements usually come later in the year. A Mac tablet is more likely to quicken the juices of Mac developers, but we'd guess Apple would leave that for Macworld Expo in January. There's certainly no burning need for a Mac tablet now, not least because Apple executives have consistently talked about the iPod Touch as the foundation for the company's handheld strategy, not the Mac.
Besides, what's really there for developers other than the chance to sell a few more copies of apps to Apple and iPod addicts? Surely what they'd really fancy is whole new platform, compatible with their Mac and iPhone development experience, but taking them into a new arena of business?
Enter Apple's first foray into dedicated mobile gaming, a notion that's also been doing the rounds of late, but separately from the iPhone discussion. Just as the iPhone leveraged Apple's experience selling the iPod and the huge marketshare the company built up doing so, an - if you will - 'iPlay' would do the same with mobile gaming.
Apple's 'iPlay': the real WWDC highight?
Artist's impression
The iPod does this already, but in many if not most consumers' minds, the iPod is a music and video device. The success of the PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS Lite shows there's a big market for 'game first, other stuff second' devices alongside the iPod's 'other stuff first, games second' approach.
If any company was to seriously take on the likes of Sony and Nintendo, it would not only need a brand as strong as Apple's - not to menion an Apple-like marketing budget - but also the support of as many games developers as it could persuade to get coding. Unlike the iPhone and iPod, third-party software development would be key to the iPlay's success. For Apple, WWDC is the logical place to get that ball rolling.
Such a move would be well worth bringing the 3G iPhone announcement forward for - especially since it would leave the world's media try to guess in print and online what Jobs will announce instead.
The voice of caution warns that almost all the other pointers indicate a June 3G iPhone debut. But as we say, what's really there for developers that hasn't been said already?
Apple to announce handheld games console at WWDC?
COMMENTS
re itunes
i think the nigglers have a good point. for about a year now the sole purpose of updates to itunes seems to be to add more ways for me to buy things through itunes store. i can't remember the last update that actually improved the functionality of the app itself
heh
I actually have a mac, I use it for video encoding primarily during the production of my podcasts.
itunes has slid a hell of a long way since I first started using it on either OS (I'll still stream my music across the network using itunes).
There are so many things that irritate me about it now - major niggle at the moment is if I don't listen to a podcast for 2 weeks, it'll stop grabbing files and then wait for you to either manually tell it to download or you listen to one of the files, there's no option to turn this "functionality" off. The whole point of podcasts is that I listen/watch them on my time. I've since moved to using juice again.
The windows itunes is absolutely horrible (about 4 different background services running because of it) but I'm sure those same services are running in the background on the mac version too and cause slowdowns and spinny beachballs when you try to use it with any proficiency.
I got plenty of use out of the dock, carry case and powerbrick (which essentially was the sum total of the extras), at the very least you'd think that apple would bundle a carry case with the damn thing (it being portable and liable to scratching) for the price you pay for it.
Also, don't forget that a lot of the price drop would be down to the economics of the IT industry as well as cheapign out and charging for everything they used to bundle in with the device.
Also, the price hasn't really fluctuated that much. My 30gb 3rd gen cost me £320, my 60gb 5/6th gen (first of the video ipods) cost me £270-ish.. with about 3 years between them. 3 years and a £50 drop but how much are you "nickel and dimed" for the various other bits that £50 more used to get?
@Alphaxion
but your comment misses the point. You paid an extra hundred dollars in 2000-2003 for a lot of stuff people just didn't use. Now you get or four times the storage, large color screen, $100 less, and the option for you to pick and choose which accessories you want. Apple has become more environmental, so that some of it, the rest is just to give you more choice.
Your complaints about iTunes, is all because you're still using Windows. iTunes on the Mac is much more nimble since it doesn't have to deal with the absurdities of a Microsoft product running underneath. So just get a Mac, and quit complaining. Thanks.
@will
Actually, the best thing about the ipod wasn't the device but its symbiosis with itunes. itunes was what made the ipod with its frankly brilliant smart playlist and syncing system (far superior to the granular, but time wasting drag n drop).
This meant that I didn't have to do anything other than make sure my files were correctly tagged up and any new stuff I added to itunes and was caught by the smart playlists and automatically dumped to my ipod the next tiem I charged it up.
*that* was the key selling point... however, itunes has been on the decline for the past couple of years and has become a bloated 70's elvis awaiting for that one more feature/burger to give it a cardiac arrest.
Apple really need to sort out itunes and return it to the sleak app it used to be, or else its ipod sales are gonna mystically dry up should someone else come up with their own syncing solution that is as great as itunes used to be.
Also, for those who think that apple can dominate the portable console market, may they have better luck than the others who tried (neogeo, atari, wonderswan, gizmodo, nokia...) but in all seriousness, it'll be a nigh on impossible task to overhaul the 65million DSes that are already in peoples hands (mine included.. I also have a PSP but that has its own problems).
@ted
Yeah, they really care about what they sell to you. Only the highest quality and a generous amount of product when you fork out that premium.
I would advise that you compare the contents of the box you got with a 2nd to 3rd gen ipod (which is when I bought my first one, the moment they added windows support, tho I had to use ephpod because the bundled musicmatch was great example on how not to make a media application) with the contents of what you get today and see how much they care about you and your experience.
Lets see shall we?
ipod circa 2002/2003
ipod
ear phones
dock
powerbrick
firewire and/or usb cable
software
cleaning cloth
carry case (originally this was a belt clip and semi sturdy thing, 2005 this had become a low quality cloth "skin").
ipod circa 2008
ipod
ear phones
usb cable
universal dock adapter (actual dock sold separately for £30)
yeah, they're going the extra mile to make you special *rolls eyes*
