Jobs to Keynote MW Tokyo

[arn]

Matt writes in with the official link that Steve Jobs will keynote at MacWorld Tokyo:

http://www.idg.co.jp/expo/macworld2002/en/20020304.html

IDG today announced that Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, will deliver the opening keynote address at Macworld Tokyo 2002, the largest Macintosh event in Japan. This year's Macworld Tokyo will take place at Tokyo Big Sight March 21-23, 2002, and the keynote is scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at 9:30 a.m.


Whether or not it is to be webcast is not yet clear...

[elgruga]

It has to be something worth Steve's time. So we can perhaps look forward to some hardware announcements.

Its in Japan.....hmmmm. Home of all things smart and small......hmmmm.

May I bring up.....drum roll.....the iWalk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alright, I know its unlikely, but I really do think that the iPod's capabilities added into a PDA would be a huge success for Apple.

Thats my 10c.

[krossfyter]

iWalk does sound like iWok....Japan is an appropiate place for such a thing aye?! Heh! Not so funny right?....well i had a little laugh.

[mymemory]

Last year Steve went to Tokio and I guess just the iPod came out. I do not think something big is gonna happen.

[arn]

Originally posted by mymemory
Last year Steve went to Tokio and I guess just the iPod came out. I do not think something big is gonna happen.

iPod wasn't released at MW Tokyo...

it was released with just a press conference

arn

[dongmin]

SmartDisk just lowered their price on their 5gb firewire drive that uses the same drive mechanism as the iPod. It could just mean that they have a large inventory of these drives that they want to clear out. But it could also mean that the mechanism is much cheaper now than they were six months ago.

I see Apple slashing prices on the 5 gig iPods, to $299, and introducing 10 gb iPods at $399. This is a conservative guess on my part.

Also, I doubt Steve would get up on stage just for a price cut, so new features are definitely in the works. I wouldn't expect anything dramatic, like Palm OS compatibility, but maybe something modest like voice recording capability or ability to encode mp3s.

[erova]

gave us 101 blue dalmations and a bouquet of flowers...rip, mix, burn, baby.

[nero007]

Originally posted by dongmin
SmartDisk just lowered their price on their 5gb firewire drive that uses the same drive mechanism as the iPod. It could just mean that they have a large inventory of these drives that they want to clear out. But it could also mean that the mechanism is much cheaper now than they were six months ago.

I see Apple slashing prices on the 5 gig iPods, to $299, and introducing 10 gb iPods at $399. This is a conservative guess on my part.

Also, I doubt Steve would get up on stage just for a price cut, so new features are definitely in the works. I wouldn't expect anything dramatic, like Palm OS compatibility, but maybe something modest like voice recording capability or ability to encode mp3s.

I'm with you on this one.

[kidtronix]

or new powerBOOK! :p :p :p

[theranch]

G5's out of nowhere....bam! Everyone is dancing in the streets!

Ok...not likely more like a MWNY announcement.

[Gelfin]

Oh, great, now I get to calculate transpacific time zone changes to figure out when the webcast will be (if there is one). 9:30am on Thursday in Tokyo is, what, like 5:30pm on Wednesday on the West Coast, right?

[IndyGopher]

While Mr. Jobs *not* doing the keynote would have been a pretty definite indication that nothing was coming, I think you are reading too much into him DOING the keynote. He was set to keynote Paris last fall, before the 9/11 ugliness, and the only thing that came out within months of that was the iPod, and optical drive rearrangement in the PowerBooks...

Now, with the "12 o'clock" anniversary of OS X coming, I very much believe he could come on stage, and talk for an hour or so about "how far we've come" with OS X, etc and either announce a date for 10.2, or even announce its immediate availability... or that all 3 models of iMac LCD's are shipping.. Apple knows good and well how important Japan is to them, and I think he would go and do the keynote purely on a PR basis even if he had nothing at all to announce.

Sure, I would LIKE to see 19" LCD's, new PowerBooks, shipping notice on the GF4 Ti cards/upgrades, a PDA, and an Apple-branded all-wheel drive hydrogen fuel-cell-powered Mini-SUV with built-in XM radio receiver and entirely voice-activated ammenities.. but that doesn't mean it'll happen. However, I think that car is more likely than that iWalk thing.

[foofan]

If you go to http://www.ipod.com, you are lead to apple's site. if you go to http://www.iwalk.com, you are taken to someone's personal site. If apple was going to release a product with the name iwalk they would have gotten that domain. correct?

[Quark]

Apple has repeatedly stated that there will be no new hardware in the current four computer hardware quadrants for quite a while.

I think, as I have said before, that this leaves the digital devices wide open.

I think that there will be a digital camera announcement in Tokyo along with iPhoto 2.

Not sure about the iPod updates, that may be a smaller announcement, like they did with the PowerMac updates.

.
.
.
Here we go again! I just finished paying off my new iMac, now I have to buy the next great thing that Steve will dish out... if in fact he will present something new.


Quark

[svanstrom]

I want to be as positive as possible, but let's look at the facts...

* The asian market.

The asian market, esp. Japan, is a place where the design and products of Apple should be a made success, but that just isn't happening right now. Apple (Jobs) is trying to show people that Apple is present there, and they do value him showing up in person more than any other market.

* Jobs doesn't show up emptyhanded.

Ok, we do know he'll bring something, and doing some guessing we can get some of it right:

First of all, new computers isn't happening, at least not desktops. Apple took a major(ish) step not long ago, and the best they could do would be a new top model.
Such a model could be a dual 1.2 GHz, but the supply would be somewhat limited; and since they'd have to move all machines up a level the limited supply would do more harm than good... 1.1 GHz could happen; but I dobut it.

Quads? Naaaah... unless pure G5's will be seriously delayed I doubt we'll see quads with G4's; and all the other improvements (RAM-type, busses and so on) will most likely not happen either. By waiting with all that the G5's will look, and be, a lot more impressive... besides, all that is a major step that doesn't really fit right now.

iPod 2? Hmmm... this is a though one, at the same time as it is possible to include a larger HD for the same price, well, at the same time as we have that the cost of the iPods needs to come down somewhat to really reach a large market. On top of that we have the advertising talking about 5 Gig as all that you'll ever need... AirPort-card? Nice idea, and the thing needed for me to get one; but I doubt it.

So what will he show? Not a new gadget; a camera would just be someone elses product with an Apple on it, which isn't really his kind of thing, and a PDA ("iWalk") doesn't really fit either...

To begin with there will be lots of numbers showing how great they are (last time it was the iPod, now it will be the new iMacs), and then there will be Photoshop... Palm-software is close enough to be released "for real", but I doubt it will leave beta before late spring.

AirPort moving to 802.11a? Nope, won't happen; at least not for a long time. 802.11a requires new hardware, and isn't compatible with 802.11b; they could switch to a new compatible standard though, but I don't think they have the software ready yet.

Updated TiBook? Yes; PowerBook G4 is the powerline of their portables, but it's way behind compared with the rest of their products; it's also the product that the asian market would love the most... it's portable, stylish and powerfull... I'm about 85% sure that we'll see a new PowerBook.

[MacKenzie999]

I believe it's called the iDontthinkso
:cool:

[erova]

is that lighter fluid i smell?

somebody get me a match...i think gocyrus switched names

[Rower_CPU]

It's too soon for iPhoto2...

What exactly does "no new hardware" mean? No updates to any of the product lines, or just no brand new machines (G5s)?

I think an OS X update would be more likely than anything else, but price drops on hardware would be welcome (LCDs).

[Gelfin]

Originally posted by foofan
If you go to http://www.ipod.com, you are lead to apple's site. if you go to http://www.iwalk.com, you are taken to someone's personal site. If apple was going to release a product with the name iwalk they would have gotten that domain. correct?

iWalk is provably the wrong name because it's a stupid name. Somehow the SpyMac guy has gotten it in his head that it's cool, though, and he keeps trying to attach it to his fake PDA designs. Even if it didn't suck, Apple would never use the name "iWalk" for that reason. If the SpyMac dude will fake PDAs to draw in traffic and increase his ad rates, don't you think he'd jump at the chance to try to hit Apple for cash by saying they released a device with the name he came up with? After all, since he just set the design free on the Internet (name and all) instead of sending it to Apple, a court might find that he isn't subject to Apple's draconian-but-understandable unsolicited idea submission policy.

[Gelfin]

Hey, sorry to double-post, but this idea just occurred to me: What if Steve is finally announcing an Apple Store in Tokyo? I mean, I've heard a lot of folks in the forums complain about the general crappiness of places to buy Apple products in Japan. I can see where such an event would merit a personal announcement from His Steveness.

Standard Disclaimer: No evidence, just a passing thought.

[svanstrom]

Originally posted by Gelfin
Hey, sorry to double-post, but this idea just occurred to me: What if Steve is finally announcing an Apple Store in Tokyo? I mean, I've heard a lot of folks in the forums complain about the general crappiness of places to buy Apple products in Japan. I can see where such an event would merit a personal announcement from His Steveness.

Standard Disclaimer: No evidence, just a passing thought.


Hey, that could be it; it's very much needed. :)

[arn]

Originally posted by foofan
If you go to http://www.ipod.com, you are lead to apple's site. if you go to http://www.iwalk.com, you are taken to someone's personal site. If apple was going to release a product with the name iwalk they would have gotten that domain. correct?

ipod.com didn't point to Apple until the day of the ipod announcement...

arn

[arn]

Originally posted by Rower_CPU
It's too soon for iPhoto2...


Well, perhasp for iphoto 2 - but there were rumors for a smaller iphoto update.

arn

[krossfyter]

Originally posted by arn


ipod.com didn't point to Apple until the day of the ipod announcement...

arn


okay. but did it exist before as someone elses doman name?

[arn]

Originally posted by krossfyter



okay. but did it exist before as someone elses doman name?

yes it existed and pointed to a badly designed unrelated website.

Actually... here's an archive of it in early 2001...

http://web.archive.org/web/20010924220636/http://ipod.com/

But this is not what it looked like right before Apple announced the iPod... it had some content at that time.

arn

[krossfyter]

hmmm thats very interesting. so apple did not come up with that name. i always thought they did. or did they and it turned out someone already had that name? they bought that name right...whichever the case?
so iWalk could be possible regardless if the name exists already and has a site. or am i not undestanding something here. im not much on copy right related issues.

[foofan]

apple has registered the domain iSchool.com . what does this mean?

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by arn


yes it existed and pointed to a badly designed unrelated website.

Actually... here's an archive of it in early 2001...

http://web.archive.org/web/20010924220636/http://ipod.com/

But this is not what it looked like right before Apple announced the iPod... it had some content at that time.

arn

I bet, if that splash screen is anything to go by, it was REAL good content too.
;)

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by foofan
If you go to http://www.ipod.com, you are lead to apple's site. if you go to http://www.iwalk.com, you are taken to someone's personal site. If apple was going to release a product with the name iwalk they would have gotten that domain. correct?

And a BAD personal site at that.

[Xapplimatic]

My prediction:

• Color screen iPod2 plays Quicktime video.. has 10 GB drive. Same size.
•*Minor updates to iTunes and Quicktime to handle improved and expanded iPod2 syncing.
• No "new" Macs. Speed bumps on the PowerBook G4 and Power Mac G4. PowerMac at 1200 MHz, PowerBook @ >800 MHz. iBooks won't have an update until the G5 comes out and G5s can be put into PowerBooks. When that happens, iBooks go G4 -- OR -- Apple will use low end G4s in the iBooks and use simply MHz as the differentiator in terms of standard consumer and professional models like they are currently with the iMac and PowerMacs while the G5 is a big long wait in line.

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by foofan
apple has registered the domain iSchool.com . what does this mean?

Apple are going to start making schools out of 1" think titanium of nothing but a new G5 super computer sending ciriculum via new Airport technology that ports information from binary data to brainwaves.

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by Xapplimatic
My prediction:

• Color screen iPod2 plays Quicktime video.. has 10 GB drive. Same size.
•*Minor updates to iTunes and Quicktime to handle improved and expanded iPod2 syncing.
• No "new" Macs. Speed bumps on the PowerBook G4 and Power Mac G4. PowerMac at 1200 MHz, PowerBook @ >800 MHz. iBooks won't have an update until the G5 comes out and G5s can be put into PowerBooks. When that happens, iBooks go G4 -- OR -- Apple will use low end G4s in the iBooks and use simply MHz as the differentiator in terms of standard consumer and professional models like they are currently with the iMac and PowerMacs while the G5 is a big long wait in line.

Colour screen that plays QT would be FAR to expensive to be made true considering the current price of the iPod.

You could count how long since G4s went to DP 1GHz in weeks, no speed bumps there.

[Xapplimatic]

Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen


Colour screen that plays QT would be FAR to expensive to be made true considering the current price of the iPod.

You could count how long since G4s went to DP 1GHz in weeks, no speed bumps there.

It really wouldn't be a major undertaking for Apple to throw in a 1.2 GHz model since it wouldn't be a new type of chip.. hence no changes to the motherboard or anything other than slipping higher rated chips into the PCB light-guided automatic board stuffing machines would really be needed..

Apple is under great pressure right now to further differentiate professional from consumer lines being that iMacs are using 800 MHz G4s... The current Power Mac line-up starts with .. oh, that's odd... 800 MHz! 800 MHz Power Macs aren't going to sell so well against an 800 MHz iMac with a built in screen and SuperDrive. Since Apple can't boost the bus speed anymore because current G4s are limited to 133 MHz bus interface speed, they don't have a choice except to distance the two lines by boosting the processor speed more on the professional end. Although it would have been unprecedented in the past, it's possible that Apple may choose to boost the PowerMac speeds one notch again in less than two months since the last speed bump just due to the pressure to distance pro and consumer lines.. and to do so wouldn't take any real investment because it wouldn't require changing anything other than which version of the 7455 they throw on the boards.

I think the real question on this isn't what Apple did in the past, but what is currently available from Motorola.. Since Motorola seems to keep tight lipped on that end to everyone except Apple.. we'll see.

[madamimadam]

The problem comes with customer satisfaction, though and current limitations. Apple is #1 for satisfaction and pulling out a new, faster processor straight away is NOT good for making your customers happy. In the field of limitations, if it takes a DP1GHz to make the top model look better than the middle model, a 1.2GHz processor would not perform well at all... looks like the G4 has been pushed to its limit and now they are liking the last remaining juices clinging to the insides.

[Rocketman]

Originally posted by arn


Well, perhasp for iphoto 2 - but there were rumors for a smaller iphoto update.

arn

This is pure speculation, right?

I think it is worth it for Steve to go there to reannounce the iMac G4. It is a product well sited to space conscious Japan.

I do not predict new US hardware. I hope for a digital video capture device ala ipod.

What Japan likes is cool stuff. Steve is in his zone there. He has something cool to show: iMac G4.

Jerry

Never miss the obvious.

[Kid Red]

From what I read on another board, Steve has done the Tokyo show before with nothing to show, he simply spoke about stuff. So I wouldn't be expecting anything.

It would be nice to see, iPhoto2, iDVD2 and 10.2 tho

[Xapplimatic]

Originally posted by madamimadamtimallen
...In the field of limitations, if it takes a DP1GHz to make the top model look better than the middle model, a 1.2GHz processor would not perform well at all... looks like the G4 has been pushed to its limit and now they are liking the last remaining juices clinging to the insides.

While I agree that quickly pushing out new models wouldn't sit well with people who just bought the DP 1 GHz models, Apple has done similar things with other models like adding Combo Drives to G4 PowerBooks after a new model is introduced.. While it gets moans of malcontent from existing customers, it has happened before. As for a 1.2 'not performing well at all'.. I wasn't implying that they would have 2 DP models.. Simply that they would shift the models.. example:

800 -> 933
933 -> 1GHz
1GHz DP -> 1.2 GHz DP

This shift would put PowerMacs clearly above the iMacs both in terms of bus speed and processor speed and provide a better dividing line between pro and consumer stuff.. clearly the move to G4 was a major boost for iMacs and very conspicuosly has narrowed the gap between them at least in terms of processing power. Of course a dual 1.2 GHz would perform well because it would then be the top model. The problem likely at this point is that Motorola has no such beast.. Even though the rumors sites that there were claiming such things before the dual 1GHz was released, Motorola ads only pump a 1 GHz chip. That's either because Motorola has nothing higher or as a courtesy to Apple's lineup, they're holding back and letting Apple's use of the chip drive their marketing campaign (doubtful).

[madamimadam]

Originally posted by Xapplimatic


While I agree that quickly pushing out new models wouldn't sit well with people who just bought the DP 1 GHz models, Apple has done similar things with other models like adding Combo Drives to G4 PowerBooks after a new model is introduced.. While it gets moans of malcontent from existing customers, it has happened before. As for a 1.2 'not performing well at all'.. I wasn't implying that they would have 2 DP models.. Simply that they would shift the models.. example:

800 -> 933
933 -> 1GHz
1GHz DP -> 1.2 GHz DP

This shift would put PowerMacs clearly above the iMacs both in terms of bus speed and processor speed and provide a better dividing line between pro and consumer stuff.. clearly the move to G4 was a major boost for iMacs and very conspicuosly has narrowed the gap between them at least in terms of processing power. Of course a dual 1.2 GHz would perform well because it would then be the top model. The problem likely at this point is that Motorola has no such beast.. Even though the rumors sites that there were claiming such things before the dual 1GHz was released, Motorola ads only pump a 1 GHz chip. That's either because Motorola has nothing higher or as a courtesy to Apple's lineup, they're holding back and letting Apple's use of the chip drive their marketing campaign (doubtful).

Don't you just have to wonder about the future of the iMac when it is using a processor at speeds that are almost its maximum. Surely they have something up their sleeve there.

[erova]

i wonder if any of us could find the difference between a 1.2 DP and dual gig....hmmm....just remember a year ago (10 months) the latest and greatest was the 733 with the navy face...i like to think my craft relies less on the machine (a la .2 gig) and more on the user...needless to say, i put in my order for a dual gig yesterday...(okay, so my job placed the order...)

[Grokgod]

Since when is 200 Mhz more cpu speed not a big difference?
Wait a sec on a dual thats 400 Mhz!
Hell when the Powerbooks came out that is all they had, 400 Mhz.

I think thats a really big speedbump and I would happily take it.

I dont think that your ability with your craft is going to speed up a render or the time it takes to complete a video render or 3d render. We need all the speed that can be mustered!

Bring it on, Steve.

Also the PowerBook speed bumps are manditory!

Or I will rebel!

[abe]

I guess we'll see:

- PowerBook G4 speed bumps

- MacOS X 10.2

- iPhoto updates (photo print services now available in asia)

- GeForce 4 introduction with some games

- Macromedia on stage (Flash MX, preview of Dreaweaver MX)

- Photoshop 7

to be continued ...

[elgruga]

OK.

The www.iwalk.com site isnt showing anything at all right now.
Apple have got something in the works - everybody has explained why it isnt going to be the heavy iron, so its gotta be the little stuff.

(I love the iWok comment - V. funny!)

One bet is iPod 1.1, with some new features......but how far can you go with a hard drive and a little screen?
Add a slightly bigger screen - easy, but what for?
Add Airport to it - why?
Bigger drive - who needs to keep 2000 songs at one time?
None of these is going to set the world on fire.

My only doubt about the PDA is that it might harm iPod sales if it had a drive in it.
Then again.......if they drop the iPod price anyway, it wont.

I am predicting iWok!

Price will be $699 USD, 5 gig drive, airport capable, MP3's, etc etc.

[elgruga]

iWalk site is up again - actually this is very 'Jobs' this site...........

And I just sold my spare Newton - I have $200 already to add to my iWok fund!

Yeehah!

[krossfyter]

IWOK!


whos site is that?

[svanstrom]

Originally posted by krossfyter
IWOK!


whos site is that?

Registrant:
6dVision Corporation (IWOK6-DOM)
442 Adelaide street West
Toronto, ON M5V 1S7
CA

Domain Name: IWOK.COM

[StuPid QPid]

iWoks? Weren't they those stupid cute bears in Return of the Jedi? ;)

Otherwise an iWok would be great. I could sit on the couch with my Airport enabled iBook, and be able to cook my latest stir fry in the kitchen without having to get up. With a 5 GB hard disk, I could have a complete japanese / chinese / korean recipe book on that thing. The color screen could give you a preview of your meal before you cooked it. Maybe with an internet connection, you could also order the ingredients online and get them personally delivered courtesy of Apple? Of course there would need to be an "i" application, perhaps iStirFry or iSushi?

Wow! I love oriental cooking. Go for it Apple!

[kiwi_the_iwik]

What about those ongoing rumours about the development of an Apple Digital Camera...

...iCam, perhaps?

A 4 Megapixel camera that uses solid-state recording of pictures on an iPod-style hard drive (perhaps the new 10Gb?). The FireWire link remains, for fast transfer of pictures via iPhoto.

Ta-daaaa!!!

Whaddya think???!??:D

[OSeXy!]

Originally posted by kiwi_the_iwik
What about those ongoing rumours about the development of an Apple Digital Camera...

...iCam, perhaps?

A 4 Megapixel camera that uses solid-state recording of pictures on an iPod-style hard drive (perhaps the new 10Gb?). The FireWire link remains, for fast transfer of pictures via iPhoto.

Ta-daaaa!!!

Whaddya think???!??:D
Hmmm... yes.

Return to key lime anyone?

http://www.isnap.com/

[krossfyter]

Originally posted by StuPid QPid
iWoks? Weren't they those stupid cute bears in Return of the Jedi? ;)

Otherwise an iWok would be great. I could sit on the couch with my Airport enabled iBook, and be able to cook my latest stir fry in the kitchen without having to get up. With a 5 GB hard disk, I could have a complete japanese / chinese / korean recipe book on that thing. The color screen could give you a preview of your meal before you cooked it. Maybe with an internet connection, you could also order the ingredients online and get them personally delivered courtesy of Apple? Of course there would need to be an "i" application, perhaps iStirFry or iSushi?

Wow! I love oriental cooking. Go for it Apple!


iwok ewok iwok ewok.


saying that over and over out loud could put you in a psychiatric ward.

dig it.

[yamadataro]

Here's some MW Tokyo related info from Tokyo:

According to a number of articles published by Macwire (a Mac-only online magazine by ZDNet Japan):

- Apple officially confirmed that no new product will be annouced at MW Tokyo. (*This news was released a couple month ago. Apple might have changed their mind since then.)

- Apple has officially announced that they'll webcast MW Tokyo keynote. It'll take place at 9:30AM on March 21, 2002 (Japanese Standard Time: JST) (Article dated March 4)


Here's what I think: Apple has webcasted keynote from Tokyo last year, but they didn't have new products. Because there are about gazillion Jobs fans in Tokyo, he might be doing the keynote for the sake of amusing them (and me). Of course I'd love to see some new stuff, but I wouldn't be too excited about new release speculations ;)

All right guys, this is all from Tokyo.

[crassusad44]

So what will happen during MW Tokyo?

- one hour long «Mac OS X is so coool, and I'm going to tell you all about it once again» blah blah blah...

- iMovie 3!

And for the pro users:

- DVD Studio Pro 1.5 (or maybe 2.0)

- Adobe shows Photoshop 7.0 in action (combined with their other OS X apps)

- Macromedia (Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks)

And maybe (I sure hope so):

- revised (not new) powerbooks (733 and 867?)

- new ipod

Well, that would actually be a dang great show... :p