The Apple TV is a great example of the typical first generation Apple product. At first it seems to lack features that make it worth the high price Apple is asking for. Just like the iPod and many other Apple products, the Apple TV will probably follow in iPod’s footsteps and eventually become that “must-have” device that every home will have. It will just take about three to four generations to catch on. In my opinion the Apple TV is going to have to meet these requirements to start flying off the shelves:

1. HD content.
2. Much cheaper price. Nothing above $199.
3. Rental movie downloads.
4. An iTunes store for the Apple TV possible.

5. Apple, give up .Mac or make it free

I know many proud .Mac subscribers may disagree, but I just do not understand how the services Apple offers in its .Mac subscription is close to being worth $99. It offers sub-par bandwidth and memory restrictions and packaged with a lot of bloatware that can be substituted for free alternatives. Apple’s already shown its lack in .Mac when it announced its compatibility with Yahoo mail’s mail-push functions and saying they will offer free email addresses and these special push functions to all iPhone customers. Give it up Apple, .Mac is a failure. The only way you are going to start getting subscribers it to either make the price worth the features or better yet, make it free!

4. Updates for iWork and iLife

We’ve all been waiting since January for an update to our iLife and iWork suites of applications, and for the first time since iWork ‘04 Apple didn’t release the new suites at Macworld. We’ve speculated the past four months and made rumors of when the new suites will be announced, but still no details on the suites have been released by Apple. Many are anticipating the new iWeb 2.0 release that hopefully will have FTP/SFTP features and new, richer, cleaner templates. Others are waiting for an update to Garageband and the other old iApps.

Many iWork users are waiting for a spreadsheet application to compete with Microsoft’s Excel program. Looking at some of the screenshots of Office 2008 for Mac and playing with Office 2007 for Windows, I feel Apple really needs to improve the interface and friendliness of iWork to really make it work. I’m a big fan of the iWork suite but the current “Inspector” interface simply doesn’t compare to the ribbon interface in the new Office suites from Microsoft. We’ll see how Apple can implement the Inspector interface in the next iteration of the iWork applications and hopefully make it a little easier to use without involving dialogue boxes and extra windows, etc.

3. iPod Update to at least iPhone specs

The current iPod is really an embarrassing video player compared to both the Zune and Apple’s new iPhone. It wouldn’t take much to turn the current iPhone product and sub in a hard drive (or a lot of flash memory) for all of the phone innards and make a killer music, video, media, internet-browsing device. Hopefully this new iPod will at least match its competitors and include a built-in Airport wireless adapter to browse websites (just like the iPhone), download media from the iTunes store, sync with your Mac or PC, connect to an Apple TV, etc. Maybe these features sound a little idealistic, but it surely is possible and would be very well received. Knowing Apple, a November release date sounds likely; however knowing Apple, you can never bee too sure.

2. Interface Updates to Mac OS X – Illuminous

It was a hot topic discussed on Appleology a while back, but its still a very important topic since we haven’t had any updates since. In my opinion, user interface and user experience is pretty much 75% of what is great about using a Mac. but I’m ready for Apple to impress me again like they did with Aqua. I want a really rich user-interface that has more feeling and depth. And it all comes back to the idea of Illuminous and a new generation of user interfaces for the Mac. Apple’s going darker, sleeker, shinier with every product they release. The iPhone, Apple TV, iTunes 7; they all have that same interface that we nicknamed “Illuminous”. Now it’s Mac OS X’s turn for a change. Leopard’s resolution independence features along with the progress Apple’s made developing Multi-Touch interfaces with the iPhone and integrate that technology with OS X and run with it. The result could change the way users operate with their computers forever. And if Apple can’t get this far by June, hopefully they will at least match Vista’s impressive GUI.

1. Lower Prices on All Consumer-Level Macs

Price has to be the biggest complaint from potential switchers whenever I try to persuade someone to consider buying a Mac. They don’t care if Macs last longer or consider the bundled software, when they are thinking about buying a computer all they only care about the price of the computer. If Apple really wanted to maximize their market share, they would have lowered their prices on all of their Macs by now. When it comes to most of the consumers today, all they want to hear is price and Apples simply can’t compete with notebooks starting at $1099.

The floodgates of Apple’s R&D departments flew upon us today and shocked us all. The buzz and publicity the keynote has attracted has made both geeks and consumers froth with excitement and made the Intel transition sound unimportant.

Evolving into a consumer electronics company

Today Steve Jobs introduced the new corporate name for Apple Computer; “Apple”. Onstage Steve concluded that Apple is no longer just a computer company with the assortment of non-computer products that they sell.

Steve also made it clear once onstage that the keynote was not going to be centered around Macs and Mac OS X. That meant the rumors concerning iLife/iWork ‘07, additional Leopard previews, octo-core Mac Pros, Intel Core 2 Mac Minis, etc. did not come true. Alex Lindsay of MacBreak made an interesting point that

1. Apple did not have enough time to release all products expected to be released in an (already extended) two-hour keynote.
2. Apple wanted to make clear that the iPhone was the big announcement and not for it to be clouded by additional product announcements concerning Mac and Mac OS X. (Such as the ROKR and iPod Nano Keynote).

And as Apple is spreading its focus across the consumer electronics industry, it now has new competetives it never had before, such as Palm and RIM. Apple’s strong foundation with a large user-base and a strong will for innovation, they should have no problem.

More Mac-related product announcements soon?

Even though Steve said he wasn’t going to talk much about the Mac platform today, chances are the traditional announcements won’t go forgotten and they will introduced a few weeks from now after the buzz over the iPhone and AppleTV settle. However, it appeared as if the demo Mac was running a newer version of Keynote with new text effects, including spark and the ‘pass-through’ effects, and new graph gradient textures.

The iPhone is the iPod Killer

Whoever thought the iPod killer would be a product made by the company who made the iPod? Steve made it clear the Zune sure wasn’t going to be the iPod killer, as some thought when they heard of the Zune. But today’s iPhone announcement ended up embarrassing Microsoft and its Zune player and just shows how Microsoft is always a copier and never an innovator.

The Consumer Electronics Show and Macworld Conference & Expo coincided today. However, even with CES’ large popularity and publicity, most of the news from today’s CES news coverage was overshadowed with the revolutionary announcements in San Francisco today at Macworld.

I talked to people here who have seen the Apple phone and they were practically frothing with excitement. But even if it were more reasonably priced, it will be primarily attractive to early adopters and those who either have to replace their existing phone or whose cellular contract is up.

An iPhone without a phone?

The downside to the mobile phone market is becoming compliant with each independent wireless provider and saturating each wireless provider’s market share. While I wasn’t surprised at all, I was disappointed that Apple chose not to partner with Verizon and Sprint to captivate more potential buyers who are already in contracts with other wireless carriers. Even if Apple gains serious market share in Cingular’s product line, it will still not make a major impact in the overall market because of the large percentage of consumers in the United States who are customers of other wireless providers, such as Verizon and Sprint.

Besides, an iPhone without the phone would be successful by itself, with built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Multi-Touch widescreen, and OS X-based. It would be very disappointing if Apple were not to eventually develop a similar product just as an iPod. People who are loyal customers to other wireless carriers and who don’t really need a phone won’t buy an iPhone, so a large market would be left untapped.

A stronger foothold in the movie industry

With addition to each of the exciting product releases, Apple has made partnership with Paramount pictures to provide over a hundred movies available on iTunes, growing the content available on the iTunes Movie store dramatically and becoming a leader in the downloadable movie industry. Paramount pictures is the second major studio to partner with Apple to sell downloadable versions of their movies. Paramount is a big studio to partner with, and it will sure trigger many more partnerships with other major movie studios.

The AppleTV will revolutionize the way many get their movie content, instead of paying subscription-based services or renting movies at their local Blockbuster, they instead just decide what they want on the couch and buy it through the iTunes store.

Partnership with Apple Corps.?

Steve seemed to really push the Beatles today, playing ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and a few other Beatles hits during the keynote. I doubt he would be promoting music that they do not currently sell on the iTunes store during the Macworld keynote, so chances of a new Apple Corps. partnership would be very likely considering the facts.

Also, the shedding of the term ‘Computer’ from Apple’s corporate name is symbolic not only of their new strides in consumer electronic innovations, but also the end to their disputes with Apple Corps. While we may not ever understand the complete details of what went on after their last settlement, but it looks as if their bruised relationship is beginning to heal.

This pretty illuminating graphic screams that they are ready to kick some ass in 2007 and onward. Apple has not looked this good since 1984 with a solid beautiful operating system, a great product line of desktop and laptop computers, a great foothold in the consumer electronic and music industry, and an-ever brighter future.

From an analytical point of view, Apple’s obviously got some fantastic products yet to be released to call the iPod and all of its Macintoshes “just the beginning”. Personally, I am on the edge of my seat to see how Apple is going to make 2007 the beginning of a new era for Apple. 2006 was a great year for Apple to lay a solid foundation for Apple to build on with Leopard, the iTV, HD content on iTunes, and new iPods (widescreen). But as always this time of the year, we just got to wait and see because nothing is for sure until Steve announces Macworld’s infamous “One more thing…”

Where would Apple be now if they had stuck with the PowerPC architecture? Would we have seen a PowerBook G5 or an sexier iBook? Would there still be a growing demand for Macs as the iPod halo starts to glow and Apple markets their products? Apple’s bold move to move over to the Intel camp was risky, but it would have been one of Apple’s biggest mistakes to have continued to produce more PowerPC machines.

I’m starting to realize the same growing trend in Macs as I’ve noticed in iPods. Macs are being used at homes, businesses, at school, on the road, and in public. Macs, especially the Macbook, are starting to get a ‘cool’ factor just like the iPod. I know many PC users expecting to buy a Mac and many parents planning to buy a Mac for their child. Even my cable guy pointed out this phenomenon when he asked me about my MacBook Pro, ‘It seems like I’ve seen more Apples the past six months than ever.’

It won’t be long until more PC users switch when they start to see more and more Macs around. It will just take some time before the majority of consumers realize you can run Microsoft Office on Macs, you can play video games on your Mac, and you can run any Windows program on your Mac.

Don’t forget MacWorld 2007 is around the corner and new products are bound to be released, including the infamous iTV (code-name, official name not released). The release of a new ultra-portable Macintosh is one of many rumors for the great event, and such a product could be the missing link between an iPod and Macs. A revolutionary product like an ultra-portable Mac could start a new progressive growth in Apple’s market share.

Lately, Apple has been working on getting rid of the reasons and excuses possible switchers have when they are undecided on getting a Mac or a PC. From that transition to Intel processors and the ability for Macs to run the Windows OS, to their focus by lowering prices significantly on Mac and iPod product lines, Apple has done a great job lately on getting rid of the excuses for not getting a Mac vs. a PC.

The WWDC 2006 Keynote featured the first product-to-product comparison of an Apple product to a Dell product with similar specifications. While many features don’t make it to the spec-list, the new Mac Pro beat out the Dell by a $1,000 price difference and significant hardware advantages, not to mention millions of software advantages that come bundled with every Mac.

The other day Apple introduced new revisions to every iPod model, and at the same time, shocked everyone (including Microsoft) with their new price-points. It is now possible to fit 7,500 songs in your pocket for only $249. Compare that price (as well as the size difference) to the original iPod 5GB price of $399. Also note that Steve mentioned in his keynote on Tuesday that Apple will soon introduce a new 1GB Nano for only $79.

It seems as if Apple is going to be working hard on lowering the prices on all of their product lines, from Macs to iPods to other Apple-branded peripherals. In my opinion, a $749-$899 MacBook would really influence the amount of switchers and ultimately Apple’s overall market share. I can’t wait for the day when you can get fully-functional MacBook for only $549 (hence the picture), but I doubt that day will come anytime soon. But now that Apple has admitted that they are working on making their models more competitive, I’m sure that they are doing all that they can to lower the prices of their products and at the same time keep the same awesome Mac-user experience.

This special event is not related to the special event taking place at the photography conference in Germany on September 25, which Apple is likely to show off a new version of Aperture or maybe introduce new products concerning photography. The September 12 event will most likely introduce new iPod and iTunes products, such as an announcement of an iTunes Movie Store, a new widescreen iPod, a new Nano and/or Shuffle, and possibly the long-awaited iPhone. The news with the Zune project should be speeding up Apple’s pace at releasing new products, maybe Apple will finally surprise us once again with a brand new concept or design that will blow everyone away.

Other rumors point to upgraded hardware for the Intel Mac Minis, MacBook Pros, and iMacs. Even though I think these rumors have merit, I have a feeling Apple will have to have an iPod+iTunes related conference sometime this fall and September 12 would be the perfect time to release such a product to prepare it for the upcoming holiday season.

After following the MacRumorsLive.com live coverage and watching the Quicktime keynote stream, I had some mixed feelings about Apple’s decision to hide some of the new Leopard features. The Leopard Sneak Peek showed off only a few features that will be found in Leopard and there was no ‘One More Thing’ product at the end of the keynote. I understand why Apple hid some of the new major features, but I was expecting a few more features to be demoed at WWDC.

However, I was very impressed with the new Time Machine backup solution and the new version of iChat. Finally Apple is creating a backup solution for Mac users who don’t own .Mac. I love Time Machine’s transparent UI and its intelligent backup system that looks like the perfect backup solution for every Mac user. The new iChat seems to deliver some of my most-wanted features for iChat, including tabbed-chatting, remote-client control, presentation tools (iChat Theater), and iSight effects. These two are so far my favorite new features for Leopard, and I cannot wait to see what’s next for the next version of Mac OS X.

After thinking about the keynote, I finally understood Apple’s game-plan for Leopard when it comes to a release date and new features. Apple originally had the release date for Leopard around late 2006 to early 2007. But thanks to “our friends up North”, Apple was forced to push the release date back behind Vista’s already delayed release day. Its obvious that Apple has to unleash Leopard after Vista hits the shelves to prevent Micorosft from copying some of the major features to be found in Leopard. Apple’s decision to keep some of the features unannounced is very smart, and it is another example of how important it is for Apple to keep these features from being leaked too soon.

Steve and his friends made several jabs at both Microsoft and Vista the other day, criticizing their lack of innovation, pointing out the obvious similarities between Vista and Tiger, and also the hilarious intro video featuring the PC explaining to all of the Mac OS X developers to take a break so Vista can catch up. Bertrand Serlet (the one who you could hardly understand, yet you felt compelled to laugh at every one of his jokes and jabs at Vista) explained Apple’s thoughts on Vista during the keynote and compared screenshots of Vista and Tiger. At the end of his explanation, he showed the new Windows Vista logo and related the logo to the fact that even though Vista has a new appearance, it is still a Windows OS.

On the flip side, its seems as if Microsoft is still struggling with Vista to make it ready for its upcoming release in early 2007. I have not given Vista beta 2 a spin, but I have heard from many that Vista still feels like like beta software, and the new Aero GUI really kills the performance when activated. As I cruised the Windows Vista feature list, I understood why Steve and Bertrand were pointing their fingers at Microsoft for copying all of Tiger’s features. It seems like every new feature that was introduced in Panther and Tiger are also being introduced into Vista. Bertrand and Steve were 100 percent right, Vista is just an impersonation of Mac OS X, and some of the “new” features for Vista have been included in OS X since the 10.0 Public Beta in 2000. I think the poster in the WWDC hall that said “Leopard: Vista 2.0″ pretty much explains both Apple’s and my feelings towards Microsoft’s progress with Vista.

I’m on the edge of my seat to see how this competition unravels into 2007. I have a feeling Leopard will certainly “Blow away Vista”, but lets hope the “Top Secret” features that Steve mentioned will really be good enough to have been “Top Secret”. My guess is a new Finder, Safari, refined UI, and some new apps will be some of the Top Secret features in Leopard.

Also note many other hanging banners are covered and also no sign of the fifth-generation iPod anywhere on the revealed banner. Maybe the chances of a new-generation iPod are greater than expected. Take in account that the PowerMac G5 on the banner is most-likely not a Mac Pro. Apple would not be stupid enough to put anything on the banner that would spoil the fun for everyone, so I highly doubt that that PowerMac G5 is a Mac Pro.

[Via One Digital Life]