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2013年6月4日星期二

Signs point to Apple introducing new music service next week [feedly]

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It's coming down to the wire: will Apple have the necessary rights in place by next week in order to launch its planned streaming music service at WWDC? According to various leaks from music publishers over the last couple of days, it appears Apple's plan is coming together.

The New York Times says that Apple is close to having all the major music labels on board for recorded music rights, but there are two who still have not signed on completely:

Apple has signed a deal with the Universal Music Group for its recorded music rights, but not for music publishing — the part of the business that deals with songwriting. Over the weekend, Apple also signed a deal with the Warner Music Group for both rights. It is still in talks with Sony Music Entertainment and Sony's separate publishing arm, Sony/ATV.

The WWDC keynote starts at 10 a.m. PT Monday, so Apple has about five days to get all the necessary deals in place so it can announce a full library of streaming music that potential users would expect. Apple has been in these situations before — most notably with ebook publishers right before the launch of the iPad — and Eddy Cue, SVP of Internet Services, has come through.

Details about what Apple is building — a streaming, radio-like service to augment its paid download iTunes service — have been leaking out since late last year. But one of the major aspects is still uncertain: pricing.

Bloomberg Businessweek's latest report indicates the business will be ad-supported. That could indicate that there won't be any membership fees, such as those Google is charging ($9.99 per month) for its Google Play Music All Access service. Apple's iRadio ads will reportedly be served via iAd, the service that was originally launched to place ads in iOS apps. That business apparently isn't doing so hot, so it will shift focus on placing ads from large brands in a user's iRadio music stream.

But most significantly: even if the service is announced on Monday, it's probably not going to be ready to use until the fall. Bloomberg's sources said the music service will debut at the same time as iOS 7, which will likely be introduced sometime in September, as iOS 6 was in 2012. So no matter what, Google's streaming music service looks like it will hit iOS before Apple's does.

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Galaxy S4, HTC One can’t take the wind out of iPhone’s sales [feedly]

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Apple hasn't been getting much love on Wall Street in recent months, but new research suggests Apple's iPhone line is holding up nicely against recent challengers from Samsung and HTC. Mark Gerber of Boston-based brokerage Detweiler Fenton did some digging and found that sales of Apple's iPhone in the U.S. are still strong despite the recent launches of Samsung's Galaxy S4 and the HTC One. What's more, Gerber says that iPhone 5 sales continue to make up a healthy portion of total iPhone sales, which will certainly come as good news for investors keeping a close watch on Apple's margins.

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Jony Ive’s redesigned iOS 7 already called ‘far superior’ to other mobile platforms [feedly]

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Apple has been very quiet so far this year, but Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry thinks that the past six months have been time very well spent for the company's efforts to overhaul its iOS mobile operating system. As Barron's reports, Chowdhry has released a new research note detailing his and his colleagues' travels to several different tech conferences over the past several months, where they've interviewed between "400 and 500 people a month." Their conclusion based on those conversations is that Jony Ive's redesigned iOS 7 not only "has a very simple, clean and uncluttered UI" but is also "far superior to anything that is available out there." How confident is Apple in iOS 7? So confident that Chowdhry thinks "Apple will aggressively go with patent infringement for each and every competitor that may have even tried to copy a small feature from iOS 7."

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Apple Begins Decorating Moscone Center for WWDC 2013, 'Where A Whole New World's Developing' [feedly]

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Apple has begun decorating the Moscone Center ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference next week. 9to5Mac has posted one image of a banner inside the building featuring the tagline 'Where a whole new world's developing'.

The banner use the same color scheme as the WWDC invitations sent out in April.

Wwdcbanner

MacStories has also shared an picture of workers installing WWDC graphics on the outside of Moscone.

Mosconeoutside 1

Workers will continue installing graphics throughout the day and readers are encouraged to send their photographs to tips@macrumors.com.

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WWDC 2013: What are the odds we'll see new designs? [feedly]

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The days leading up to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference are always a frenzied affair, a bundled mass of nerves and anticipation filled with rumors, spy shots and black-draped banners. But this year, the stakes are even higher. Since last October, Apple hasn't held a single press event outside of quarterly conference calls, and the only two "new" products we've seen were a 128GB iPad and an iSight-less iPod touch.

That's more than half a year without a single release, refresh, revamp or redesign. So, it's only natural to expect big things from this year's keynote.

But like any Apple event, people are sure to be disappointed. Everyone wants what they want, and when Tim Cook inevitably doesn't bring it, there will be dashed hopes left all over the Internet, no matter how outrageous they were to begin with. So before the big day arrives, I thought I'd help temper expectations a bit by breaking down the odds — with an emphasis on design, of course.

iOS
Redesign odds: 1/1,000

There's no surprise here: Apple's been showing off the latest version of iOS at WWDC for years. Usually, it just cleans some stuff up and adds a couple new features, but this is the first year that we're expecting to see the first bona fide redesign of Apple's mobile operating system. Tim Cook already teased us at D11 when he called Jony Ive "really key" to iOS 7, so we know it's coming. It's just a question how far he goes.

OS X
Redesign odds: 1/500

Not quite a lock, but pretty darn close. Even though OS X has never had a radical version-to-version redesign, it's quite remarkable just how different Puma and Mountain Lion really are. Each successive release has gotten a little more refined and lost a little more gloss, and OS X 10.9 will probably bring more of the same. It's possible that we just get a bunch of new features, but it's doubtful; in fact, if Ive's influence spreads to the desktop, we could be in store for a whole new cat.

Mac Pro
Redesign odds: 1/100

It was about a year ago when Cook hit up Facebook with some bad news: The "really great" Mac Pro redesign would have to wait until 2013. With supplies across the net tightening and rumors that the production of the Mac Pro will soon shift to the States, it seems as though Apple's tower of power is poised to return to its WWDC spotlight. After all, if developers aren't going to plunk down a couple grand on a fancy new Mac Pro, who will?

MacBook Air
Redesign odds: 2/1

The MacBook Air might be the most desirable computer around, but it hasn't seen a redesign since 2010--and it's still saddled with a non-Retina screen. Apple has been understandably slow to roll out the pixel-perfect displays, but with both MacBook models already sporting them, it only seems natural that the Air would get some resolution love, too, and a nice new enclosure to go along with it.

Apple TV
Redesign odds: 5/1

We all love our Apple TVs, but we've been waiting an awfully long time for Apple to open up its platform to third-party developers. Since its unveiling in 2007, Apple has gradually tweaked the design and OS of its digital media receiver, but we're still waiting for the big one. Just last week, Cook talked about a "grand vision" for Apple's television plans, so could Apple TV finally be ready to graduate from being a hobby? I think it's a pretty good bet.

Thunderbolt Display
Redesign odds: 10/1

It's easy to forget that Apple still makes a standalone display. But if the Mac that needs it most finally gets a built-in Thunderbolt port to go with its snazzy new design, it's possible a new Thunderbolt Display might be in tow. If so, you might want to put a side bet on a razor-edge design to match the iMac.

MacBook Pro
Redesign odds: 50/1

A week ago, I would have given this 100 to 1 odds, but recent rumblings suggest Apple is looking to tweak the MacBook Pro's enclosure again, despite having just unveiled a redesign at last year's conference. I'm still not sold on it, but the odds have gotten considerably better.

iWork
Redesign odds: 100/1

I'd mostly given up on any future iWork updates, but there's been a glimmer of hope recently in the form of a few new job listings. Here's the deal: If every iOS app is updated to mesh with iOS 7's new look, then the iWork family will surely follow suit, but I'm thinking we're more likely to see it in the fall with all the new iOS hardware.

iPhone/iPad
Redesign odds: 500/1

Even before Jim Dalrymple's de facto "nope," it seemed extremely unlikely that we would see new iOS hardware in any form at WWDC. There was a time when Steve Jobs used its stage to unveil the new iPhone year after year, but those days are over, and they're not coming back. If you want to believe, you still can, but the odds are about as long as they get.

Apple television
Odds: 1,000/1

Don't hold your breath. It's not happening.

Find Michael Simon on Twitter or App.net @morlium.

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WWDC 2013: What are the odds we'll see new designs? [feedly]

Shared via feedly // published on Mac|Life - All Articles // visit site

That's more than half a year without a single release, refresh, revamp or redesign. So, it's only natural to expect big things from this year's keynote.

iOS
Redesign odds: 1/1,000

OS X
Redesign odds: 1/500

Mac Pro
Redesign odds: 1/100

MacBook Air
Redesign odds: 2/1

Apple TV
Redesign odds: 5/1

Thunderbolt Display
Redesign odds: 10/1

MacBook Pro
Redesign odds: 50/1

iWork
Redesign odds: 100/1

iPhone/iPad
Redesign odds: 500/1

Apple television
Odds: 1,000/1

Don't hold your breath. It's not happening.

Find Michael Simon on Twitter or App.net @morlium.