Mar 07
MoggyApple, Keynote Event, Rumor, iPhone/iPod touch
In today’s strain of boredom, I had a look at Apple’s iPad pricing, and decided to work out what the most probable prices for the device will be when it gets released here in “late April” (cheers, Steve, you promised us late March back in January).
For starters, these are the confirmed US Dollar prices in America:
And then, I did a bit of Maths.
- Firstly, taking a direct exchange price into GBP at today’s exchange rate
- Then adding 17.5% VAT
- Then adding an average inflation based on other Apple products and their UK pricing
- Then making a logical decision of UK price points.
You can see all my working out in this PDF document.
And then, I finally came to these 6 price points. Lets see how close I am when the real prices get released 
Update (9th April ‘09): It’s been a month, and since then, the exchange rate has changed (for the worse!) from 0.661 to 0.651, meaning the prices could be a bit more that this. Having said that, I doubt it will make too much difference…!
Jan 24
MoggyApple, Keynote Event, Mac, Rumor, iPhone/iPod touch
On Wednesday, Apple will be holding a media event in San Francisco to release a “new creation”. It’s very exciting news in the world of Mac-fans and alike, they all have one thing in mind… a shiny new touchscreen device from Apple… somewhere between the iPhone and a Mac.
It sounds pretty cool… but I’m not so convinced.
First of all… every single tablet that has ever been released has been, to say the least, shit. Low battery life, big bulky things, little point or use, etc. Then there is the eBook, such as the Amazon Kindle… and every single one of those has been… er… shit, and lacking the functionality a standard computer would have.
Next, what will the point of this device actually be? There is nothing I can’t do with the aid of my MacBook Pro and my iPod touch. Both have internet. Both have email. Both have Mac applications and App Store apps, respectively. The thing that differs, really, is the hardware. My MBP is 15″ in size, well beyond 4 times the size of the 3.5″ we seen in the iPhone. I also have a physical keyboard, mouse, trackpad, webcam, etc. It just makes more practical sense, so long as you don’t mind the size, to have a laptop… and if size is the problem, a netbook. The success of the iPhone and the iPod touch is because of the ecosystem and environment of apps, touchscreen, 3G networking and elegant looking iPod, all in a pocket.
My worry is that because of the “ecosystems”, as I have labelled it, around the Mac and the portable iPhone/iPod… is there really room for another ecosystem like that in the middle? This brings me on to what sort of operating system this device will run. So far, people have said either iPhone OS or Mac OS X. Of those two, I would much, much prefer OS X, but it seems I am not fitting the majority of opinion. Though I think we will see a clever integration of both. It makes me wonder if there will be an almost “dumbed down” version of OS X for this device – but still with support for Mac applications, or even iPhone apps. I wouldn’t like to see the latter, personally, as screen resolutions, mixed up features, etc. will all go horribly wrong along the line somewhere.
Oh god, then don’t get me started on the name. iSlate? iPad? I’d rather not… I’d much prefer the “Apple Slate” or “Apple Pad”… since the “i” has been so overused… and the Apple TV device doesn’t have an obligatory “i”.
So what actually are we going to see? Well, who knows. I guess we’ll find out in under 96 hours time. Will I be watching? Probably. Will I be amazed? Possibly…
And here is one of my past tweets to sum up what I expect…
Update: Ok, it seems like I won’t be getting my full OS X, judging by what everyone is saying… bugger. Therefore I will bet any money that it will run a more advanced iPhone OS with a compatible version of iWork and iLife on the device. It’s either that… or the tablet will be a flop.
Sep 06
MoggyApple, Keynote Event, Music, Rumor, Technology, iPod
… as the title describes, here is my prediction for the rough transcript of the Apple Media Event Keynote this Tuesday:
- Steve walks on stage and welcomes the crowd, and gives a rant about how well Apple is doing at the moment, particularly in the Music (iPod & iTunes) sector.
- Introduces iTunes – remarks how it is the best music player in the world – but says that it needs improvement to stay ahead of the market.
- Welcomes iTunes 8.
- Features include: New and more professional visualizers, revised user interface, better compatibility for iPod, icon artwork view, and more.
- Gives iTunes 8 demo.
- Also mentions iTunes Store – and confirms the release of TV Shows, Movie Rentals and more in far more countries than currently in.
- Brings on Phil Shiller (or someone similar) to brag about how well iTunes is doing, and may cut a few pence/cents off cost of songs on iTunes.
- Back to Steve, who moves onto the iPod. Best Music Player in the world… all that sort of stuff.
- “And today, we are going to refresh the iPod line once again… [big roar] and we’re very excited about this.”
- Starts with small – here’s some more colors for the iPod shuffle, and now only selling 2GB – 1GB is worthless now.
- Introduces new iPod nano – mentions it goes back to 2G design, but has reasons for it… Pulls it out of his jeans pocket, shortly followed by revised iPod classic with same architecture (curved body, etc).
- And new revision of iPod touch, bearing resemblance to recently released iPhone 3G (ie. thinner and plastic back and available in white), while also revealing a small price drop for the whole range.
- Starts to churn everything down, but there is one more thing…
- After all these new products, we haven’t actually seen inside the iPod’s and seen the software, and gives a demo of new features and user interface changes.
- Says goodbye to everyone and leaves with some music artist to perform at the end.
So guys, remember it’s 10am start, San Francisco time – thats 6pm here in the UK BST. Hope you guys enjoy the keynote, and I’m sure many Tech sites on the web will be providing live feed coverage.
Remember above is just a guide – not actually what will happen! Don’t quote me on this!
Update: I have made a YouTube video about this.
Aug 25
MoggyApple, Music, Rumor, Technology, iPod
As we all are aware – iPod updates are imminent, while MacRumors predicts 9th September and many images have been leaked – here’s my wish list for the future iPod nano / classic software / hardware – leave me a comment with your opinions!
1) Get rid of that new messed up menu with the album artwork (not the coverflow bit, thats awesome… i’m talking about the split screen bit)! Who knows what to replace it with.. it’s just using peoples iPod nanos with no album artwork is just so frustratingly ugly! Please Apple – do something about it!
2) Give iPod’s Bluetooth – this would allow users to wirelessly sync with their computers if they have Bluetooth hardware and software on their computer – it would also allow people to send pictures / music / podcast etc over the air to other iPod’s – I believe the Zune has this already, but finding someone with a Zune, let alone 2 people together with Zune’s is pretty difficult.
3) Revert to a taller design for the nano – not as wide as current – a please don’t go any more thinner – I would feel like snapping it every time!
4) Provide a wall plug charger in the box! I know this saves Apple money but if I ever go away without my laptop there’s no way I can charge my iPod unless I have my wall plug, which cost me £19 in the first place!
5) Bring the price of the iPod Touch down! If it gets below £99 / $199 like the iPhone… I’ll get one… as soon as it’s released. No questions asked.
6) Give the touch a smaller screen – I know this won’t happen because all the App developers would have to re-design their apps and everything, but come on… my touchscreen Samsung phone is smaller… and this is a music player not a phone!!
7) Make iTunes easier to understand when uploading pictures – trying to explain to my Mum how to do so was hell gone wrong, quite litterally.
More and MORE battery life!
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