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More 'Brick' Info Coming...
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Guys! I just searched Google images for "Hulk Laser" because I was sure it was a Gamma-ray, and lo and behold:
It's a Dragon Lasers 250mW Hulk. What this has to do with Apple, I still don't know.
EDIT: I see I wasn't the first to find this.
It's a Dragon Lasers 250mW Hulk. What this has to do with Apple, I still don't know.
EDIT: I see I wasn't the first to find this.
Gamma ray?
No portable lasers with gamma rays here pal. I'm already happy that blue ones exist
It won't be an external USB media hub - it'll be an ExpressCard one
If it's going to be an external laptop media brick it would be more likely to be an ExpressCard 2.0 (PCIExpress either 2x, 4x or 8x - can't remember which - this is "said to be on track for a "second-half 2008 / early 2009" delivery" according to Wikipedia) speed external graphics system.
Asus came up with this with their RoG XG Station (that's ExpressCard 1.0 external graphics/USB/multi-channel sound, and gets about the same performance as the ATi card in my MBP). It never came out though, sadly. I was going to get one for my MBP. As it's expresscard (basically slightly slower than PCI Express), you don't need to write many drivers for it - just for the bridge card. If you had a sound card/graphics in it, you could use the original drivers for those.
If it's going to be an external laptop media brick it would be more likely to be an ExpressCard 2.0 (PCIExpress either 2x, 4x or 8x - can't remember which - this is "said to be on track for a "second-half 2008 / early 2009" delivery" according to Wikipedia) speed external graphics system.
Asus came up with this with their RoG XG Station (that's ExpressCard 1.0 external graphics/USB/multi-channel sound, and gets about the same performance as the ATi card in my MBP). It never came out though, sadly. I was going to get one for my MBP. As it's expresscard (basically slightly slower than PCI Express), you don't need to write many drivers for it - just for the bridge card. If you had a sound card/graphics in it, you could use the original drivers for those.
Aaah, I see... It's a WROM device (WRite Only Memory). They are very safe, but a pain should you ever need to access the information stored in it.
it's a media/home server
Brick is a media/home server
it will run a cut down version of server 10.5, enable you to put all your media (importantly the itunes DRM'd stuff), calendar, email. This can be served or slung locally or out onto the internet
Ties in with MobileMe to do the push bits, ties in with AppleTV nicely, ties in with Time Machine (it will work as a Time Machine Backup centre) works with all macs.
It is the central hub of all current Mac products.
Or its just a totally made up rumour.
Brick is a media/home server
it will run a cut down version of server 10.5, enable you to put all your media (importantly the itunes DRM'd stuff), calendar, email. This can be served or slung locally or out onto the internet
Ties in with MobileMe to do the push bits, ties in with AppleTV nicely, ties in with Time Machine (it will work as a Time Machine Backup centre) works with all macs.
It is the central hub of all current Mac products.
Or its just a totally made up rumour.
The term eBook is to limiting!
In any event don't think of this device as an eBook but rather as a small tablet computer. One of it's functions would be competeing against eBooks but since this is an Apple product it will do much more than that. Exspect it to be an iPod, an eBook and a small tablet computer all rolled into one.
While I have little hope that Apple will ever release a full size tablet I do expect them to release larger Touch based devices. The right sized tablet could be a huge productivity booster for a huge number of different customers. The fact that one segement of that customer base is people looking for an eBook reader is just icing on the cake.
I dechiper what has been said so far as meaning there is no market forvsingle function devices. There is certainly justification for carrying books around in electronic form, but there is high resistance to single function devices.
Dave
Nothing wrong with that, frankly Appleinsider has posted stuff that never panned out. The thing here though is that there have been a lot of rumors circulating about Apple's development of new platforms. So it is not impossible that they have a line on such hardware code names.
First off if you know anything about Apple you would know you can't take anything said about potential platforms at face value.
In any event don't think of this device as an eBook but rather as a small tablet computer. One of it's functions would be competeing against eBooks but since this is an Apple product it will do much more than that. Exspect it to be an iPod, an eBook and a small tablet computer all rolled into one.
While I have little hope that Apple will ever release a full size tablet I do expect them to release larger Touch based devices. The right sized tablet could be a huge productivity booster for a huge number of different customers. The fact that one segement of that customer base is people looking for an eBook reader is just icing on the cake.
I dechiper what has been said so far as meaning there is no market forvsingle function devices. There is certainly justification for carrying books around in electronic form, but there is high resistance to single function devices.
Dave
Projector!!! In a MacBook!!! I can see it now!
Or... They will use a lazor thing like on UFOs to get your wallet out your pocket!
Or... They will use a lazor thing like on UFOs to get your wallet out your pocket!
I was actually thinking about something along those lines a couple years ago, but not for input. What if you had an iPod shuffle (2gb/4gb) that was similar to the old form factor (USB drive shape) that, when you hold down the center button projected a monochrome menu system onto the wall/desktop/whatever you aimed at.
Now, couple that with a little gyroscopic stabilization so that the menu doesn't jerk all over the place when you use it, and a couple accelerometers that can detect small flicks of motion (which aren't translated into the projection because of the stabilization) and you could control the menu selection pretty intuitively. It would certainly be a pretty neat gadget.
Alternatively, coupling a mini-projector and a virtual laser keyboard into an iPhone esque chassis would let you use a device like a PDA when on the go, but set it on a table near a wall (or a little fold up screen) and it could be a decent laptop, maybe using the touch screen as a track pad (assuming it was able to use a BT keyboard/mouse as well).
Both of these are really unlikely, imo, and I think the much more plausible idea is that brick refers to "breaking Windows" and Apple will ship a $499 netbook (either along side the mini or replacing it) with the Atom chipset. They control a huge amount of the flash memory market, and their ties to Intel might help them get either good pricing or the newest technology. A $400-$500 netbook with a ~1.8-2ghz Atom, 10" 1280x800 LCD, 1gm RAM, 16gb flash drive, the standard OSX and iLife in the box, but also start bundling a free copy of iWork and a free year of MobileMe and it could really be a Windows killer. With the tight integration of OS nad hardware I think that it's very possible for Apple to really leverage even cheap integrated GPUs like the x3100 for media decoding and interface drawing, freeing up the CPU for other work. It's perfectly conceivable that they could do hardware supported 720p24 h264 decoding, i.e. the iTMS HD standard, making it a really great portable media machine.
Add a fearture to automatically use your iPod touch/iPhone as a WiFi NAS for file storage as well as access to the media on there and it would be a great travel system for most people, and enough computer for a lot of people to use it exclusively (my wife, for one).
They have been saying Apple's working on the "lowest priced Apple notebook ever" and the idea that "Brick" refers to smashing Windows it the most probable to me...
I bet the next macbook (pro)'s do not exsist.
Apple's transition product is a shift from hardware/software to pure software.
The new macbook (pro)'s will be delivered in software, you'll see.
Apple's transition product is a shift from hardware/software to pure software.
The new macbook (pro)'s will be delivered in software, you'll see.
OH OH OH!!!!
Apple has perfected the holodeck technology from the Star Trek series and brought it to reality.
THAT would be a definite game changer.
Speaking in a gaming sense, wouldn't THAT be the brick that would kill Windows lead in gaming???
It's quite obvious whats happening here. Apple is going to cut the moon into the apple logo with their new laser. DUH.
Home server
Is no one listening to the sensible answers here? Yeah, sure the laser makes no sense. If it did, Apple's PR ninjas would be round Seth's place right now making him talk - it has to be cryptic.
Chances are:
1) The laser is a reference to Blu-Ray in the device (green being a good-old red herring. Red. hehe.)
2) The device is a home hub using wireless USB that allows ALL ports to be removed from Apple devices so they can be even sexier and smaller. The ipod nano will disappear following the move to WIRELESS IPODS next year, as it's too small to see.
3) The main advantage is that it allows all devices in the home to share the same guts - shared storage, access to monitor etc (beefed up screen sharing so to speak) optical drives (Blu-Ray) so it's everything the Mac Mini and the Apple TV should have been a couple of years ago. We just needed the wireless tech to be there. Now it is.
4) If it has anything to do with MobileMe, it will be a frickin' disaster.
If it's anything else, I'll eat my super-secret laser wielding Apple insider.
Is no one listening to the sensible answers here? Yeah, sure the laser makes no sense. If it did, Apple's PR ninjas would be round Seth's place right now making him talk - it has to be cryptic.
Chances are:
1) The laser is a reference to Blu-Ray in the device (green being a good-old red herring. Red. hehe.)
2) The device is a home hub using wireless USB that allows ALL ports to be removed from Apple devices so they can be even sexier and smaller. The ipod nano will disappear following the move to WIRELESS IPODS next year, as it's too small to see.
3) The main advantage is that it allows all devices in the home to share the same guts - shared storage, access to monitor etc (beefed up screen sharing so to speak) optical drives (Blu-Ray) so it's everything the Mac Mini and the Apple TV should have been a couple of years ago. We just needed the wireless tech to be there. Now it is.
4) If it has anything to do with MobileMe, it will be a frickin' disaster.
If it's anything else, I'll eat my super-secret laser wielding Apple insider.
iReactor is a cold fusion reactor brick in your pocket that powers your entire digital life* wirelessly.
*Except iPhone 3g, which will put such a drain on the reactor that it will explode within 3 days of use. If you turn off 3g, location services, bluetooth, wifi, and dim the screen down to 25% it will last for approximately 5 days before killing everyone in your state.
*Except iPhone 3g, which will put such a drain on the reactor that it will explode within 3 days of use. If you turn off 3g, location services, bluetooth, wifi, and dim the screen down to 25% it will last for approximately 5 days before killing everyone in your state.
Seriously though, I'm hoping for an iBox and iBox Pro gaming console.
Think clean design, accelerometer control of the Wii, with the horsepower to beat out an xBox or PS3, built in iSight, with the best integrated media interface ever seen on a console.
They could announce specs, and then bring in a bunch of developers like they have with the iPhone and release it sometime next year before Microsoft or Sony even have time to get out their next gen console. Apple has learned a lot lately about how to deal with thousands of devs and game makers.
Think clean design, accelerometer control of the Wii, with the horsepower to beat out an xBox or PS3, built in iSight, with the best integrated media interface ever seen on a console.
They could announce specs, and then bring in a bunch of developers like they have with the iPhone and release it sometime next year before Microsoft or Sony even have time to get out their next gen console. Apple has learned a lot lately about how to deal with thousands of devs and game makers.