Yesterday, Apple reported a record $3.38 billion profit for the 4th quarter of 2009. On the heels of such promising news, industry insiders are more anxious than ever to hear the next big announcement form Apple which will take place tomorrow at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
One of many Apple tablet renditions
There has been speculation for several weeks now in the blogosphere regarding a variety of Apple rumors leaked from “reliable sources”. While some of these rumors are far-fetched at best, a few of them just won’t go away. Here is a brief overview of the more credible rumors (in order of probability) to be announced tomorrow or in the near future.
- Apple to release the long-awaited Apple tablet – There have been all sorts of names for this project and the rumor has been around for quite some time. However, recent buzz and all sorts of photos have Apple fans excited about the possibility. The product has been described as filling the void between the iPhone and the MacBook. You can think of it as a large iPhone with wireless carrier connectivity. At the moment, this is most likely the big announcement but Apple has a history of last minute surprises.
- iPhone 4.0 OS to be announced – The new iPhone OS is inevitable but there’s a strong possibility it will be announced tomorrow as many insiders believe it will also be the OS of the Apple tablet. Will it have multitasking capabilities? I’m guessing it will since the tablet would lose some of its mystique if you couldn’t multitask.
- iLife 2010 software for the iPhone – Once again, this has been expected but it’s unclear if it will be announced tomorrow. In this case, the hope is Apple with not only announce the new iLife but that it will be available for the iPhone. Since the Apple tablet would likely have iLife and run the 4.0 OS, this rumor has promise. It would be pretty impressive if Apple has found a way to port the powerful iLife tools (iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb and GarageBand) to the iPhone.
- iPhone coming to all U.S. carriers - As you can imagine, the major U.S. carriers (not named AT&T) have been feeling a lot pressure from their customers to carry the iPhone. Furthermore, many have speculated the exclusive AT&T/Apple contract expires sometime over the summer. There are currently 4 providers carrying the iPhone in the UK alone and adding more carriers in the U.S. would certainly help them to increase market share.
- Bing added as the default search engine on the iPhone – This rumor has a lot common-sense to back it up, but by itself, it doesn’t warrant holding a special “event” to announce such a change. It’s possible it will be announced tomorrow as a bonus but more likely to be a simple press release if and when it happens.
It should be noted, the common theme for these rumors is mobility. Apple’s recent plunge into mobile advertising and and a huge commitment to the future of the mobile web should force marketers to take notice. How well is your business positioned for mobile? Do you have a strategy to be “seen” on mobile devices? It’s definitely something to think about in the next 24 hours while we wait for some of these rumors to become fact.
