[Robo]

Go to apple.com. Just, apple.com. Or Engadget.

Weeeeeird.

Streaming service ahoy?

[chucker]

http://twitter.com/arepty/status/4193215804604417

Look at the words, people. “That you’ll never forget”. It clearly means they’re including a calendar in iTunes 11.

[Brave Ulysses]

A bit out of character for Apple in recent times.

Also surprising that no rumors or anything have been leading up to it.

But what would be significant enough to build hype like this but not need a formal presentation?

[Robo]

Last November, they introduced the redesigned iMac, redesigned MacBook, and Magic Mouse without any fanfare. They were just, poof, on the website, IIRC.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by Robo Last November, they introduced the redesigned iMac, redesigned MacBook, and Magic Mouse without any fanfare. They were just, poof, on the website, IIRC.

With the exception of the Magic Mouse, the iMac and the MacBook don't really need explanation. They don't bring anything new that is worth highlighting by Steve. The Magic Mouse (trackpad) appears to be a product Apple reluctantly released and that Jobs doesn't really care for.

[torifile]

Streaming. It's got to be. They've been testing their network's ability with the live streams. Maybe live streaming of music events, akin to YouTube Live?

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses With the exception of the Magic Mouse, the iMac and the MacBook don't really need explanation. They don't bring anything new that is worth highlighting by Steve.

Hrm? The new iMac got the full Ive-narrated promotional video treatment. It remains the only product that Apple has made a fancy promotional video for without a fancy launch event to view said fancy video at.

Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses The Magic Mouse (sic...Trackpad) appears to be a product Apple reluctantly released and that Jobs doesn't really care for.

Gestures seem very important important for Lion. I don't think a mouse with gesture support was "reluctantly released" at all.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by torifile Streaming. It's got to be. They've been testing their network's ability with the live streams. Maybe live streaming of music events, akin to YouTube Live?

I'll be curious if instead of inviting the press to appear in person, they have a Live or On Demand streaming presentation with Steve at 10am.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by Robo Hrm? The new iMac got the full Ive-narrated promotional video treatment. It remains the only product that Apple has made a fancy promotional video for without a fancy launch event to view said fancy video at.

They have always had a promo video for the iMac.

Gestures seem very important important for Lion. I don't think a mouse with gesture support was "reluctantly released" at all.

Steve has never talked about the actual mouse though. If anything I think they realize it doesn't work very well. Just look at the difficulty during the Lion presentation.


Either way, it doesn't matter, this is out of the norm for Apple and is a bit difference than evolutionary and overdue hardware updates on a Tuesday.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses They have always had a promo video for the iMac.

Apple didn't start doing the whole Ive-narrated fancy promotional video thing until the unibody MacBooks in 2008.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by Robo Apple didn't start doing the whole Ive-narrated fancy promotional video thing until the unibody MacBooks in 2008.

Are you serious?

They have been around since 1999 at least.... "The Look of Love"?

edit: You are missing out on a decade of lustful apple promo videos, very sad! Especially since they all have your guy in em.

The Look of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Y8XYrfJNU

[psmith2.0]

Has to be the cloud/NC thing (they built that place for something).

Being iTunes-related, it'll stream/store your music and other stuff, I guess? And then, yes...the subscription service maybe?

Oh, and the Beatles on iTunes.



j/k

[psmith2.0]

Actually, I think I know what it is. They will announce they're going back to their old (better) iTunes logo!

[709]

iTunes 11.

[Brave Ulysses]

Well, another interesting thing is the betas of iTunes and iOS 4.2 have been relatively public (for better or worse) and have gone GM. Neither of which shows much evidence of significant iTunes changes or any sort of tie-ins to a streaming service. I would imagine there would have to be slight UI changes in iTunes and iOS's iPod app to work with a streaming service or a subscription service. There is that weird Mobile Me/iTunes login option though.

The only iOS 4.2 version we have not seen yet is the one for Apple TV. Which we also know is coming but has not been tested or released to the developer community.

Is it possible whatever announcement tomorrow could initially debut on the Apple TV first?

[psmith2.0]

Are there different tiers of testing and deployment, where higher-up, more-trusted testers could be made aware of functions/abilities and are less likely to leak them?

Bear in mind, there's nothing promised tomorrow other than an announcement. Whatever they say/unveil tomorrow might be 1-2 months away from actually taking place, and the testing would begin (iTunes 10.1.x or even 10.2) after tomorrow, once the cat is out of the bag?

I'm not really expecting any actual product or service to kick off tomorrow because you're right...there would be signs, leaks and rumors swirling all around and we'd have a super-good idea of what's about to take place.

But Apple does this a lot, so it wouldn't be anything new or weird (announce something months before it's actually available for use).

I guess they realize they couldn't test such a thing in secret, and that word would get out and their big cloud service thing would be outed and introduced in drips and dribbles, via broken NDAs and rumor sites. So they go ahead tomorrow and announce it on their terms, and apply the RDF as needed to help build some hype and excitement.

Then, when the leaks do come and we see all these references to (and buttons for) CloudPlay and iStream and blah, blah, we'll already know what's going on.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Are there different tiers of testing and deployment, where higher-up, more-trusted testers could be made aware of functions/abilities and are less likely to leak them? Bear in mind, there's nothing promised tomorrow other than an announcement. Whatever they say/unveil tomorrow might be 1-2 months away from actually taking place, and the testing would begin (iTunes 10.1.x or even 10.2) after tomorrow, once the cat is out of the bag? I'm not really expecting any actual product or service to kick off tomorrow because you're right...there would be signs, leaks and rumors swirling all around and we'd have a super-good idea of what's about to take place. But Apple does this a lot, so it wouldn't be anything new or weird (announce something months before it's actually available for use). I guess they realize they couldn't test such a thing in secret, and that word would get out and their big cloud/server thing would be outed. So they go ahead tomorrow and announce it on their terms, and apply the RDF as needed to help build some hype and excitement.

That sounds about right.

Although, it still seems as if the timing of iOS 4.2 and a big iTunes announcement is too much to ignore.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Are there different tiers of testing and deployment, where higher-up, more-trusted testers could be made aware of functions/abilities and are less likely to leak them?

We don't know. However, betas available to iOS developers are not necessarily reflective of the feature set of finals. GMs (golden masters), OTOH, ought to be, so there's little chance that the actually released 4.2 differs from what's been available to developers for a short while — with the exception of the iPad, which has seen a GM re-release.

That said, portions of iTunes as well as of the iTunes-related apps on iOS (e.g. "iTunes") are downloaded from the Web.* If I recall correctly, the Ping UI was added to the iOS iTunes and App Store apps with no update at all, and long after the last update, so the application has (and needs) no knowledge of the whole Ping social network for its client-side features to work. It's therefore conceivable that, should something like a streaming service get introduced, they'll roll it out without any client update at all, and host it entirely in "the Store side of things".

*) For iTunes 8 and before, this is done entirely in a custom XML dialect that is essentially serialized Carbon UI elements, a bit like XUL and XAML. For iTunes 9 and newer, this is part HTML through WebKit and part the same custom XML dialect. I assume the iOS apps work similarly.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Are there different tiers of testing and deployment, where higher-up, more-trusted testers could be made aware of functions/abilities and are less likely to leak them? Bear in mind, there's nothing promised tomorrow other than an announcement. Whatever they say/unveil tomorrow might be 1-2 months away from actually taking place, and the testing would begin (iTunes 10.1.x or even 10.2) after tomorrow, once the cat is out of the bag? I'm not really expecting any actual product or service to kick off tomorrow because you're right...there would be signs, leaks and rumors swirling all around and we'd have a super-good idea of what's about to take place. But Apple does this a lot, so it wouldn't be anything new or weird (announce something months before it's actually available for use). I guess they realize they couldn't test such a thing in secret, and that word would get out and their big cloud service thing would be outed and introduced in drips and dribbles, via broken NDAs and rumor sites. So they go ahead tomorrow and announce it on their terms, and apply the RDF as needed to help build some hype and excitement. Then, when the leaks do come and we see all these references to (and buttons for) CloudPlay and iStream and blah, blah, we'll already know what's going on.

Seems like the prior leaks have been hardware, like all the stuff outed by that Vietnamese cellphone stand. This software stuff (like, what is that NC data center for anyway??) still seems to be held close to Apple's vest. Since the software stuff is all internal Apple probably has an easier time of keeping leaks to a minimum (who wants to be the next worker bee?).

[Satchmo]

Clearly a point to streaming music and video.
Pause a movie on your iPad and it 'remembers' where you left off when you unpause on your AppleTV.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend Seems like the prior leaks have been hardware, like all the stuff outed by that Vietnamese cellphone stand. This software stuff (like, what is that NC data center for anyway??) still seems to be held close to Apple's vest. Since the software stuff is all internal Apple probably has an easier time of keeping leaks to a minimum (who wants to be the next worker bee?).

Not really sure if that is true. We have heard quite a bit about iLife and iWork updates and potential release dates. Not as detailed info on features though.

Usually with iTunes we hear quite a bit of rumors in regards to content deals because content providers have loose lips and leak discussions to help their cause.

The only thing we have heard is that 90 second previews will be added to iTunes and that Apple was trying to block Spotify and pressure labels about Spotify.

[beardedmacuser]

Originally Posted by Brave Ulysses The Look of Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2Y8XYrfJNU

Woah... Ive had hair! I still think the G3 blue & white PowerMac was the most beautiful Mac ever made. The pink slot-loading G3 iMac comes a close second. I still have my pimped 1 GHz G3 PowerMac; I can't make myself throw it out yet.

[Gargoyle]

Well, Unless the update servers are on a go-slow, I am guessing that the iOS 4.2 release might be tomorrow with a few things Apple have managed to keep under wraps! Perhaps AppleTV related.

As already mentioned, the iOS dev seeds are GM and todays iTunes 10.1 lists syncing with iOS 4.2 devices, and AirPlay as two of the main things. I have updated iTunes and the remote speakers link in the bottom corner has changed to a "TV Screen" style icon - so iTunes is ready but I cannot yet select my AppleTV for film playback!

I think if they had managed to do some deals with NetFlix, LoveFilm, BBC iPlayer type services would be worth shouting about.

[thegelding]

iPorn....nuf said (or is it muf said?)

g

[bassplayinMacFiend]

Originally Posted by thegelding iPorn....nuf said (or is it muf said?) g

Well, if the muf starts saying stuff I'd tell you to lay off the acid.

[zippy]

Originally Posted by beardedmacuser Woah... Ive had hair! I still think the G3 blue & white PowerMac was the most beautiful Mac ever made. The pink slot-loading G3 iMac comes a close second. I still have my pimped 1 GHz G3 PowerMac; I can't make myself throw it out yet.

When I first read this post, I mentally inserted an apostrophe in the "Ive" - as in, you were claiming to be Jonny Ive. Muh head almost assploded.

[beardedmacuser]

Originally Posted by zippy When I first read this post, I mentally inserted an apostrophe in the "Ive" - as in, you were claiming to be Jonny Ive. Muh head almost assploded.

shhhh... all that hot sunny California lark is just an elaborate hoax, secretly Ive lives in cold dark wet Yorkshire.

[Kickaha]

'Never forget': cloud backups? Can't see the relation to iTunes, of course.

Unless it's combo streaming/permanent 'backup' of anything you ever bought... "Stop backing up your purchased media! Let us store it, and you can download another copy at any time..."

It is, after all, just a twist on streaming.

[Mugge]

Since the iTunes app was just updated, I'm most inclined to believe that it has something to do with the content. Though, I have no idea what.

Personally, I would like to be able to have the same purchasing/rental options as you Americans, but I guess that wouldn't count as a day never to forget for those who already have it.

[Xaqtly]

Yeah that's what gets me. What is Apple doing that's so groundbreakingly unexpected and awesome that "you'll never forget" it? It can't be another version of iTunes, so it has to be some kind of feature.

The removal of all DRM? Like on movies, tv shows, everything? That's just about all I can think of that would be on the level of "you'll never forget this".