Apple confirms 'surprise' September 12 event Confirming what pomaceous-minded cognoscenti have been claiming for months, Apple has sent out press invites to a special event in San Francisco on September 12, which looks in all likelihood to be the announcement for the long-anticipated iPhone 5. The announcement begins with the words "It's almost here," followed by a large …
So just don't expect an iPad Mini either now or October... and so far not even when iPad 4 will be released.
My sources confirmed that there is none planned.
And that is a very good thing.
It would be Tim Cook 2nd terrible mistake after having put Apple at risk giving money to its shareholders, something Steve Jobs never wanted to do because then investors might start to bring any Company/Corporation down too easily.
Apple doesn't need any iPad Mini. Android 7" tablets along with bigger Android tablets and upcoming Microsoft MetroUI/ModernUI ugly childish interface won't go far beyond 20-25% of marketshare at best.
Apple has nothing to worry about. The demand for 7" tablets is almost none.
Why putting the sales of normal sized iPad models at risk to release an iPad Mini 7" that would cannibalize sales of the full iPad just because it would be cheaper?
As long as iPad is in the 50-80% marketshare range Apple just doesn't need any iPad Mini for sure.
Hmmm. And the Sept 13th update: hey! the iPad mini is here! It's going to change everything!
Seriously: it's clear that 7" tablets aren't dominating the market, but equally clear they're on the rise. Will Apple want a piece of that? Who knows. We'll find out.
Apple tends to chase newly emerging markets, such as MP3 players or web-enabled phones, rather than inventing new categories.
I'd therefore argue that the 7" tablet market's small share at present makes it a target Apple would chase, though it'll be more of a 5% Mac-style share than a 25% iPhone-style or 75% iPod-style share if a product doesn't become available soon.
"I'd therefore argue that the 7" tablet market's small share at present makes it a target Apple would chase"
Steve Jobs is known to have tried prototypes smaller than 10" (not sure if 7 inch specifically was tested though).
He decided that the sub 10" form factor was too small to properly navigate and display normal web pages while still maintaining an acceptable user experience.
Now he is dead apple are (rumoured) to be do exactly what he had said he would never do.
This move could show Tim Cook to be the new visionary at apple moving the company forward or it could be an embarrassing failure and vindicate Jobs earlier assesment thereby placing Jobs absence from apple in stark relief in the minds of punters and industry naval gazers alike.
Time will tell who is right I suppose. It's going to be interesting watching it play out that's for sure.
my issue with the
"He decided that the sub 10" form factor was too small to properly navigate and display normal web pages while still maintaining an acceptable user experience"
idea, is that, if that is the case, what's the deal with the iPhone? That's much less than 10" and seems to be able to navigate fairly well, and gives a good user experience.
"He decided that the sub 10" form factor was too small to properly navigate and display normal web pages while still maintaining an acceptable user experience."
Whilst expecting people to do the same on a teeny 3.5" screen...
And given the number of website-wrapper "apps" companies now have to produce for Ipads, it suggests that the same issue applies to Ipads. Given that 10" laptops don't have special "apps" for them, it suggests the problem that Jobs found with IOS and web browsing isn't anything to do with how big the screen is.
It would be Tim Cook 2nd terrible mistake after having put Apple at risk giving money to its shareholders, something Steve Jobs never wanted to do because then investors might start to bring any Company/Corporation down too easily.
----
Steve Jobs wasn't against giving money back to shareholders. After all, what is Apple going to do with it, save it in the bank until they someday say "we're out of ideas, we're liquidating and giving shareholders their share"? He just didn't like the idea of committing to dividends or share buybacks that would compromise the financial stability of a company. Given that Apple was paying a dividend when it came near to running out of money around the time he returned, it's not an unreasonable position.
But with over $100 billion in the bank it's beyond silly to hold on it when even if everyone in the world stopped buying Apple products at once they'd have enough money to pay their employees and keep operating as if nothing had changed for many years.
The emails at the Samsung trial proved that even Jobs' mind had been changed about the 7" tablets. There are several claims of Apple ordering large quantities of 7.85" displays that lead one to believe Apple is doing a smaller iPad (though they may call it "iPod video" or something, who knows) I doubt they'd announce it next week since they want the spotlight on iPhone 5, but maybe next month when the iPhone 5 hype is tapering off a bit and people start thinking about their Christmas lists a $299 7" iPad would be a nice addition to Apple's product line, whatever they call it.
But no, we're supposed to believe the ravings of a random guy posting to The Reg that HE knows the real story better than all the guys who actually have connections to the companies making and assembling components. Forgive me if I don't discount the rumors being reported from multiple sources because YOU say they're all wrong.
" I hope there's some good updates for iOS and some innovative (rather than incremental) refresh designs for the iMacs and the iPhone."
LOL!
You mean like
1. Sending multiple picture to multiple contacts at the same time?
2. Send to voicemail reply with message like "im driving"?
3. A personal assistant that actually works?
Yeah Samsung already has these features....
going to be a bit of a rant. Please excuse me, but this has been building up for a while and my medication hasn't come through yet.
It's a phone for fucks sake. It's not a cure for a disabling or fatal disease. It's not an invention that will change the life style for future generations like the internal combustion engine or jet engine or electron microscope........get the drift.
Its a fucking phone!
Jeez! How many bloody morons are there on this god forsaken planet that think a lump of metal, plastic and glass is worth getting so bleedin worked up about. What are you? Human or fucking brainless moronic sheep?
Sorry about that. Not my usual sort of posting but I feel better for saying it.
Well, unless you do not already have a phone and there is a vital need for you to have one e.g. you need to contact someone who can save the world from extinction, I'd suggest possibly not. Even then it would probably be too late due to the length of the queue.
Consider. How will your life be changed for the better or enhanced by spending time in a queue achieving nothing while waiting to obtain one of these new phones? What could you achieve with your life using those hours on other things and then days, weeks, months later just going into a store when there is no queue? What would having one of these devices allow you to do that would change your life forever for the better?
Or do you, as sheep, follow the leader because they must know something - rather than think for yourself?
I think people who queue for crap* like this do it for a social experience not just to get whatever item there queuing for.
I remember queuing outside a midnight opening, with a bunch of like minded people, to buy Aliens wide screen directors cut on VHS a few years back. It was a laugh. Don't think I could have managed more than the 45 odd minutes wait though between pub closing and shop opening possibly due to attention span and bladder control.
*crap, any mass consumer item.
Of course you already have the info.
Same as everyone else who believes nonsense does.
They just type iPhone 5 rumours in to Google and believe everything they read in the results.
Apple let people upgrade for free? Yeah, next up it'll be "bring in your Macbook G4 and we'll give you a Macbook Pro 15".
the latest time everyone on the internet reported about the iPhone 5 event, and then all came away looking like total retards when it turned out to be the "iPhone4 with working aerial" launch announcement.,
Seems nobody learnt anything from last time.
http://www.reghardware.com/2011/04/20/iphone_5_out_september/
Same way I picked up an iPad2 64GB/3G/WiFi hardly used at all for quite a bit off cost. Bargains always abound when a popular device passes a model upgrade. iPad/iPhone/iPod no different. I am sure the are Galaxy fondlers that sold the GII and bought a GIII the moment it arrived.
This is not an Apple gadget phenomenon. It applies in every product category.
So in other news ... bears shit in the woods, doh!
Back in the 90s, it was believed the reason Psion went from the Series 3 to the Series 5 was because the number 4 is considered unlucky in the far east. What was going to be the Series 4 was renamed to Sienna, before continuing the series with '5'.
So out of interest, did Apple still use "iPhone 4" in regions where 4 is an unlucky number?
I heard one story (I think from a review article in Personal Computer World) that the Sage IV (an early 1980s 68000 based system) followed on from the Sage II, skipping the Sage III because they'd seen that the Apple III was such a turkey, and it would be bad luck to have a version III.
On the number '4', Minolta's entry-level SLR, the Dynax 4 (Maxxum 4 in the US), was renamed the Dynax 3 for the Asia/Pacific market.
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