iPod Touch videocam: It’s not over yet
Adding more fuel to the rumor fire about whether the lack of cam-equipped iPod Touch is a temporary delay or a never-product, a UK dabs.com flyer was spotted advertising an iPod Touch with “Built-in video recorder & WiFi”. This was a publication error as said features are not currently available, as we know all too well, but it does lend credence to commentators who say that the device was pulled at the last moment.
Here’s hoping for the Apple Store to come mysteriously down sometime before Christmas and to come back up with enough cam-equipped iPod Touches for Santa to fit in his bag.
Neil Berman
Zune HD is a sellout, but is it better than an iPod Touch?
Early indications tell us that the Zune HD has been selling out at Amazon, BestBuy and Newegg. Is it actually a more desirable device than the iPod Touch or is this just an initial flurry of fan purchases?
I’m not going to review the two devices here, as plenty technical articles have already been written about how the Zune HD has both the design and quality playback edge over the iPod Touch. From a pure stored media reproduction perspective the Zune HD seems to be the superior PMP with slicker hardware and cooler software.
But consumers now expect more than just media playback, and this is where the iPod Touch fights back. Yes the Zune HD has a browser, but Safari on the Touch is better. The Touch also offers an email client and YouTube playback. The Touch might not have got it’s camera yet, but let’s not forget it is a gaming platform.
This flexibility, rooted in the App Store, ultimately makes the iPod Touch a stronger platform than the Zune HD. The Zune HD does have a selection of applications available, but its ad-based revenue model makes little sense in the face of ad-free 99 cent apps for the Touch.
Ironically the largest thorn in the side of the Zune HD’s third party app growth may be Windows Mobile. It makes every bit of sense for the Windows Mobile and Zune platforms to merge, just like the iPhone and iPod touch share the same OS. But right now Windows Mobile and Zune feel too far apart, which may ultimately harm third party app growth on both platforms.
As I said prior to the Zune HD’s release, the device brings technical superiority, but the iPod Touch is probably a more fun and flexible platform even without the camera we were hoping for. Ultimately the buying decision depends upon what you want to do with your device, but it’s now a harder decision than ever.
Neil Berman
Stay calm and breathe normally
Warning: I’m haven’t fully recovered from today’s stratospheric letdown. I’m still angry that my planned trip to the Apple store on 5th Ave was cancelled at lunchtime. I’m hot under the collar that I still have the cash that I totally expected to part with this evening.
So it went down like this:
Steve’s return was obviously a wonderful moment and a great achievement on his part. After that the regular stats rundown took place. iTunes 9 looks cool, liking the LPs, loving the music sharing. Not a convert yet but it’s looking like a more welcoming platform.
iPod Touch makes an entrance, games start. Getting psyched on the games, going wild for the games, Madden (nice), Nova (WOW) and with a video cam on the back this is just gonna be SICK.
Just one more thing: Video Camera. Wallet…check. Subway ticket…check. Cancel dinner with Zune HD…check.
BOOM
Nano.
Awesome, this is gonna be so swee… Wait…NANO!!! Whaaaa??? Deflation takes hold of my entire body, I’m entering shock, emergency room on standby.
Epic disappointment. Legendary letdown. Quick mental review; the obvious contender for a cam, with its big screen for editing, WiFi for instant YouTube action and a processor which can allegedly handle HD video goes cam-less whilst an offline tiny-screened music player gets a VGA video-cam.
Whaaa???
Like I said, I’m still a bit emotional about this, but I guess that’s the risk of believing the rumors so many of us thought were true.
Neil Berman
The App Store Shenanigans Continue…
Another day, another hilarious Apple App Store Story. This time it’s a censored dictionary.
I say keep ‘em coming, the most talented comedian couldn’t write this stuff.
Neil Berman
Neil Berman published by PMI
So my recent lacks of posts can be explained by:
a) An unhealthy addiction to Halo 3, tinkering with the Windows 7 Beta and wondering whether the BSG finale would be lame or earth shattering finding – we now know
b) Feeling 24/7 ecstatic that the iPhone & iPod Touch will be getting stereo bluetooth. Praise be! Can’t wait to see the wireless cans Apple will hopefully release…where will all those soon-to-be-unwanted white wires go?
c) Writing a Project Management paper which PMI published today
The correct answer is the absent d) All of the above.
Today PMI (Project Management Institute) published my paper entitled “The Project Manager’s Three Critical Factors in Career Development” on their website at www.pmi.org. The paper can be found in the Resources section in the Library under Leadership. Hope you enjoy reading it.
With that said I have been spending an unreasonable amount of time tinkering with the Windows 7 Beta and will post soon about the mainly good and not very much bad. Darn it I can’t believe BSG is over…bring on Caprica!
Neil Berman
CES 2008 News: Media Players
Useful features include a stopwatch and countdown timer for helping out at the gym. The Zen Stone Plus also has a voice recorder. The 4 GB version should be available soon, whilst the 2 GB version is already in stores undercutting the iPod Shuffle by a significant margin.
The new addition is otherwise the same as the existing range of 4/8/16 GB Zens offering video as well as music playback. There is an SD slot for extra expansion, but no wireless capability, unlike the new Zune…
which is easy to navigate and looks super-cool. The screen is vivid, video runs well and Zune Marketplace has one million DRM-free songs available. The real killer punch though is the wireless PC sync’ing and Zune to Zune sharing (see top). We’ll have to wait until Macworld on Jan 14-18th to see if Apple brings similar functionality to the iPod.
which danced around singing music from its onboard speakers. Sansa’s recently released Shaker was also on display, looking cute as ever in its pepperpot-like shell.Predictions for 2008
1. Ultra Mobile PCs: Various form factors continue to emerge without mass-market penetration until 2010.
Innovative UMPC products continue to come to market with no all-conquering form factor. Price, size to weight ratio and successful keyboard/mouse implementation are the biggest factors to achieving good sales. Solid state drives become increasingly prevalent across UMPCs, which benefit from the resulting weight, speed and energy efficiencies. UMPCs fail to win mass-market penetration until 2010 when the laptop market is saturated and consumers see the UMPC as a more portable extension to their now-indispensable laptop.
2. Laptop market: Laptops become fashion accessories, mainstream consumers reduce focus upon technology as most machines will have key features.
Comparative features between models converge and manufacturers have difficulty differentiating themselves based upon technology. Increasingly in 2008 consumers base laptop buying decisions upon image. Laptops start to become mainstream fashion statements by the end of the year. Similar to the clothing market, the cost of buying into the image falls as mainstream manufacturers mass produce designer-style laptops and all-in-ones. Apple’s computer division comes under resulting pressure and the recessionary economic environment forces it to launch a budget MacBook.
3. Digital cameras: Cellphones put pressure on lower end of market.
By the end of 2008, the lower end of the digital camera market starts to come under pressure from cellphones. It is the start of the market’s decline towards a predominantly enthusiast consumer base by 2012.
4. Music downloads: More choice and more DRM-free tracks; iPod market share under pressure.
Driven by pricing pressures, sufficient numbers of record companies break their relationship with Apple. This reduces iTunes’ market share and puts pressure on the iPod range. The principal benefactor is Zune Marketplace, which also gains market share through mass availability of DRM-free downloads.
5. Video downloads: Lots of adverts but no popcorn.
Mobile pay TV and video downloading fail to take off due to pricing concerns from the studios, who fear a repeat of what happened with the music industry.
6. Cellphones: Apple successfully widens product mix amongst consumers, but fails to penetrate corporate market; established players continue to lag behind on user interface but move ahead on technology and features.
iPhone 2.0 comes out and the original model is reduced in price and made available at a new tariff to achieve broader market penetration. Corporates experience increased employee pressure to support iPhone but decline to do so due to security and strategic infrastructure compatibility issues. WiFi VoIP cellphones remain a niche market. LG and Samsung become main emerging threats to Apple in the fashion-conscious market. SonyEricsson continues to lead in music and camera implementation. Nokia’s N-series leads consumer data implementations. HTC originated smartphones fail to win significant market share from RIM in the corporate sector, whose Blackberry devices continue to become more multimedia and consumer orientated.
7. Processor technology: Energy saving on the road and cores races on the desktop.
Exceptionally low voltage x86 instruction-set CPUs start to emerge, allowing smartphones and other highly power-conscious ultra-mobile devices to achieve greater convergence with mainstream PCs. Laptops benefit from further processor energy saving technology. Desktop marketing becomes driven by the number of cores in a processor, but beyond a certain point mainstream operating system and application code fails to derive corresponding performance benefit from this race. OS releases and applications play catch-up in optimizing themselves for multi-core implementations.
8. Gaming: Wii gains wider appeal, PSP vs. DS goes to round two.
The release of Wii Fit gives Nintendo’s platform mass cross-generation market penetration. Playstation 3 finally gets flagship games but these come too late to challenge Wii for global dominance. However Blu-ray’s victory over HD-DVD boosts PS3 sales. Details emerge about the next generation of PSP and DS gaming handhelds. Gyroscope tilt controls and vibration feedback are built-in, as are webcams giving VoIP capability. PSP 2.0 gets two joystick controls. Rumours continue to circulate about an Xbox handheld, but this only arrives in 2009 when the Xbox 360 brand is more firmly established globally.
9. Home entertainment: OLEDs light up living rooms…of the rich and famous, next gen DVD format war continues throughout the year.
Organic LED displays provoke plenty of excitement but fail to enter the mass market yet due to prohibitive cost. It takes until 2010 for prices to start becoming genuinely affordable. The HD-DVD vs Blu-ray format war comes to an end, with Blu-ray winning following studio support.
10. Biggest 2008 rumour which does not become a successful production product: Apple UMPC
So many core Apple multimedia applications require substantial CPU, graphics and screen real estate resources that there is no mass market for an Apple UMPC. The fact that current Apples ship with such serious Intel Core 2 Duo power compared to most PCs means that an entirely new application suite would be needed for an Apple UMPC to be useful on a low power platform. This would be too risky for Apple in 2008, given that the UMPC market is so small and its stylish computer ranges will come under unprecedented pressure from competitors as well as economic recessionary forces.
Neil Berman
theONbutton
Turning the world on, one gadget at a time.
