Today's the day!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 9:27AM 
There's not really much more to be said about the Apple iPhone event scheduled for later today.
The absence of any credible "leaked" iPhone 5 photos, does give me concern that we may not see a redesign of the iPhone form factor.
I had hoped we'd see a restyling of the iPhone based on the iPad - thinner, metal back, slightly bigger screen. I figure that Apple needs to differentiate the new release of the iPhone from the old, especially since it's been such a long time since the release of the iPhone 4.
Who knows, perhaps Apple have been even more stringent on security since the stolen iPhone debacle, and we will see a new form factor in the brand new iPhone. I certainly hope so.
Based on the amount of press, it looks like a new iPhone 4S is on the cards. Cheaper but more powerful than the existing iPhone 4, but with only 8GB storage (Yes, I said RAM before it was pointed out to me - I'm old school).
This would be the perfect phone for all those people with iPhone 3GS's who don't want the top of the range device.
It may well be that the hardware is not the primary focus of today's announcement.
If Apple are ready with "iPhone Assistant", it is possible that this could overshadow the iPhone announcement and be a huge deal.
Don't just think voice recognition, think Artificial Intelligence.
Think total control of your device and full voice integration with local and web applications - could be huge!
Since Apple's purchase of Siri several years ago, we've been waiting for the emergence of this technology and the strap line of the invitation for today's event - "Let's talk iPhone" - seems to be the clearest indication yet that it's now ready for primetime. Unusually, Apple haven't updated the current iOS5 beta in over a month, another clear indication that something is being rolled into the build that they don't want anyone to see until launch. I expect the iOS5 GM to be released today.
The other facet of today's announcement which may prove to be significant, but which isn't getting much press is iCloud. I expect Apple to release more details about iCloud and the official launch date. This will be wrapped up with iOS5, the new iPhone(s) and the release of OSX 10.7.2 with support for iCloud baked in. Not forgetting new versions of iLife and iWork with full support for iCloud. The iLife and iWork may not be announced in the Keynote but they will soon follow. It will be interesting to see if they take the opportunity to enhance the applications or just release iCloud enabled versions.
If they could release a version of iWork with significantly upgraded features, full iCloud integration to seamlessly sync documents between the Mac and all your iOS devices plus the bullet proof autosave and versioning of Lion on the Mac, they could turn iWork into an even more capable business tool that it is now.
The question remains, will the iPods get a look in?
What about Apple TV?
Possible but unlikely.
The iPods may get a mention, just to introduce changes to the range for Christmas, but I don't think the Apple TV will get a mention.
As far as personalities, my bet is that Tim Cook will open up with the business side of things and say some nice things about Steve. The individual segments will be handled by Scott Forstall (iOS), Eddy Cue (iCloud) and Phil Schiller (Lion).
But who will announce the iPhone?
My gut feeling is that it will be Tim Cook or at a long shot, Jony Ive. Previously only appearing on video, I wonder if Jony has the presentation chops (or has been coached enough) to start to take more of a role in the public eye?
We'll know all these things soon enough.
See you at the LMUG meetup!
Apple
Reader Comments (1)
I really don't get people's fascination with voice recognition. It will always have a few niche uses (not least for accessibility), but the idea of an office, train or any other enclosed space full of people talking at their phones or computers has always filled me with horror. It's bad enough being forced to listen to their half-conversations on mobile phones at the best of times, without having to listen to them trying to talk to (and doubtless ending up having to repeat the same thing over and over at) an inanimate object as well!