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Sent to you by Bill Boulware via Google Reader: Additional notes from
Apple's iPod-athon via 9 to 5 Mac by Jonny Evans on 9/1/10



It is late in the UK, I've put stuff together here and here. There's a
few facts which might be of interest to some readers, so I thought I'd
take a moment to put them down.

The Apple TV runs an A4 processor

OK, as I expected international audiences lucked out on the Apple TV.
We have no on device purchases (so no random podcasts, either), and
without access to $0.99 show rentals the product loses a lot of its
pitch for international audiences. This is compensated slightly by
Apple's move to cut the price and to make set-up of new computers from
which to stream content much, much easier — you don't need to log in or
use code numbers anymore.

A bloke from Apple confirmed the Apple TV is powered by an A4 chip. So
while I can see the system doesn't run apps yet (and lack of a drive
makes this challenging) I can't see any theoretical reason the device
couldn't in future run apps in some way, though perhaps only streamed
versions of video games controlled and hosted on an iPad. Well, so I
wish, anyway.

I also predict there will be demand in future to separate audio from
video streams. This will let people play their audio via the AirPort
Express on their huge phat music system while watching the movie on
their gazillion-inch Apple-branded TV (did I get ahead of myself
there?).

There's no video in the iPod nano

Yeah, you read that right — that small screen won't let you watch the
tiniest video in the world. And there's no camera also. Never mind
thought, it is a really nice little device. And if all you want is
music the iPod shuffle is pretty good, too.

The iPod classic

Speaking to my contacts I got no sense that the iPod classic is on its
way to the great product graveyard in the sky. I suspect Apple will
keep selling them until people stop buying them. I do think a capacity
upgrade would be nice, particularly for those who like to use their
classic to play lossless audio files. The product isn't an A-lister
anymore, but it is respected as a veteran product which opened a new
world for AAPL. And it still sells.

Apple v MySpace and Facebook

Apple's new social network for music *as Steve Jobs called it several
times* is not just what it says. It is a starting point.

Think about how Apple gets into any new industry. It puts together a
simple concept. tests it and makes it popular, then extends it
incrementally. This is why I still believe the Apple TV will one day
run apps, and also why I believe Apple's taking a new initiative to get
into social networking. Particularly now it has iAds and valuable
location-based data to use, and is developing understanding of the
value of that.

This is a nice and simple beginning. Can't wait to see the Lady GaGa ad
for it at some point in future.

Baffle 'em with B.S.

Apple always offers up a few interesting statistics at the beginning of
these events. Many of us Mac scribblers gloss over these while we wait
for the meat. It is only weeks later that we find we need them and no
one has written them down. Here's what we learned in the first few
minutes:

Apple retail

- Apple has 300 stores, Covent Garden, London was its 300th store
- Over a million people visit these retail stores some days in every
month.
- Apple runs 80,000 one-on-one sessions per week in stores
iOS 4

- iOS 4.1 update fixes the Proximity bug
- 120 million iOS devices have shipped since one year ago – that's
230,000 iOS devices per day.
- 25,000 iPad apps
- HDR photos are based on algorithmic treatment taken from three
images, it pulls out enhanced detail by doing this.
- iOS 4.1 is for iPhone and the iPod touch. Available next week.
- iOS 4.2 comes a little later this year
Apple has sold 275 million iPods since 2001. (iPhone is already
catching up. I'm sure it must be time for one of those info-graphics,
but that's beyond the call at midnight).

I'm sure some of these notes will help somebody. On a lean day, some of
these are stories in themselves. (Incidentally, in previous years Apple
has hosted a nice little party for Europe's tech hacks. This year it
didn't — that's fine, but it underlines the new austere age we're in.
Sigh).





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