Apple’s events are followed by millions and reported by thousands. As the whole tech world gears up for another Apple event, which we believe is the biggest in the history of iOS / iPhone, partly given the stiff competition from Android and partly due to the shift in industry towards social integration, cloud and new network technologies like NFC and LTE. Another reason why tomorrow’s Apple event is going to be watched closely is, that this is the post Steve Jobs era for Apple. Tim Cook has finally taken over as the CEO of Apple and the world wants to see if the magic remains. Here is what we might hear at tomorrows ‘Lets Talk iPhone’ event.
Corporate Announcement, New COO?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigned recenly from his post of CEO and currently Tim Cook leads Apple. Steve Jobs remains as the Chairman of the board and we wonder if a new COO would be announced by Tim Cook? Tim Cook would be making his first public appearance after Steve Jobs resignation and we would be eagerly tuned in to see what corporate announcements are made at the event.
Sales Drill
This is regular Apple, an event starts with milestones. x million of iOS users, App downloads, iPad sales, iPhone 4 sales etc. We would expect Apple to throw numbers about its dominance in the tablet market, perhaps even tease the competition. Apple also has plenty to speak about its retail stores and new openings. Back at WWDC, Apple announced arrival of OS X Lion and the same has been out since a few months, download figures and response to that can also be announced given that Windows 8 was revealed recently. But Apple might well focus on the iOS ecosystem building up to the iPhone announcements.
iOS 5 In-Depth
Apple is changing a lot of things with the iOS 5, be it multi-touch gestures on the iPad, split keyboard or the notifications center. OTA (over the air incremental) updates, wireless syncing to iCloud and a lot more. Again Apple has demoed iOS 5, developers have it, it has been looked into but surprises are bound to come in with new hardware.
We still don’t know what new goodies in iOS 5 would turn-up, but ‘Assistant’ a whole new way of voice commands / navigation is said to be in works. And then new hardware sporting iOS 5 would look so much better.
New iTunes
With iCloud, a cloud integration to iOS, Apple cuts the cord. You no longer need to activate an iOS device with a PC or Mac with iOS 5. You don’t even need to connect to iTunes to update your iPhone, you have over the air updates coming your way. So what happens to iTunes as we know it?
We are hearing rumors since sometime that iTunes is being built from ground up to better reflect all the apps and iCloud integration that has changed the dynamics. iTunes is one of the things about Apple that is criticised often and Apple might want to show a new iTunes here, something lot less frustrating, built from ground up for 2011 needs sounds good.
iCloud Web Interface
When Steve Jobs announced iCloud at WWDC, he didn’t mention all the details about it. iCloud.com is real and developers are using it. Apple would officially show off the online interface and functioning of iCloud at Lets talk iPhone event. After Steve Jobs himself mocking the earlier Mobile Me, we wonder what does Apple have in store for iCloud. This would be interesting!
The Facebook Angle
Apple and Facebook have a long history. Both also have a common rival, Google. While Apple and Facebook couldn’t come to terms on Facebook integration for iTunes Ping social feature, rumors also claim that Facebook integration on iOS 4 was pulled out due to negotiations between Apple and Facebook failing. The iPad app for Facebook isn’t out either, Apple has sold millions of iPads, without Facebook, its top selling app for iPhone / iPod touch.
Fast forward to September 2011, Apple has an event scheduled that would see iOS 5 going official with twitter integration. Apple has already demoed the same. But hopes are that Facebook and Apple have reached an agreement to do something meaningful. Now be sure that Microsoft has a stake in Facebook and Facebook is one of the best features of Windows Phone, keeping that aside, what can Facebook do with Apple?
Facebook has a HTML5 initiative that seems to be backed by Apple in lieu of an iPad app. No clue on what the backdoor discussions were, Apple and Facebook have probably lined up some announcements for tomorrow. Perhaps a full Facebook integration alongside Twitter in iOS 5? Or just a revamped iPhone app with iPad app? Questions remain on to what extent, but some Facebook love is expected at tomorrow’s Lets talk iPhone event.
NFC / LTE Roadmap?
NFC is buzzing. Google has their Wallet, Nokia has their Belle lineup with NFC, Samsung already has few models out with the technology embedded into it and we are waiting for Apple to make the move. In fact even Windows Phone 7.5 Mango has a NFC feature allowing hardware makers to use the technology. Now we honestly don’t expect NFC to come in @ Apple iPhone in 2011. We doubt. But we would look forward to listen to comments from Apple on this. We had a pretty interesting remark from Jobs about Blu-Ray in the past, something on NFC from Cook?
Another very very interesting topic for us is LTE. Major Android releases in US are LTE enabled. There is a debate if LTE chips that exist today are good enough to allow decent battery life, but Apple sure has its competitors bundling LTE. The demand and coverage is rising for LTE and we are keen on seeing Apple’s stand here. Rumors have suggested 21Mbps HSPA+ on the next iPhone, dual mode for both Verizon and AT&T, but we don’t know what is happening on the LTE front. Lets wait and watch!
iPhone In New Colors, Apart From Usual Black and White
We have seen mock-ups, leaks that turned out to be untrue, but we still hope that the new iPhone comes in new colors. Apple did so many amazing colors with the iPod, they believe in the concept of choice of colors. Given that Apple has had issues producing White iPhones in the past, this may not happen, but if a new design iPhone is coming up, Apple might just offer one of more new colors in the range. We would wait to see what comes out of Cupertino on this front.
iPod touch 5th Gen, Larger Display?
Now, this is time when Apple refreshes its iPods. iPod touch 4G is a year old, would Apple reveal a new iPod hardware at an iPhone event? Ideally we would like to see Apple just sticking to the iPhone and focusing on it, making an impact. But then what happens to the new iPod? One more thing, a new iPod touch with a larger touch screen? An iPhone might not get a larger touch screen, a iPod might well get it!
Steve Jobs
Now, Steve Jobs has resigned as the CEO. Fine. He has obviously done that due to health issues, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t around. He is still the Chairman of the board and looked upon by Apple employees / community. How about Steve Jobs, the man himself revealing the new iPhone. We so expect Steve Jobs to make ONE last appearance at an Apple keynote. The event is in Apple HQ, not elsewhere. Or probably Steve Jobs might just be around as a audience member, we don’t know yet. Let us again, wait and watch.