AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

This is just something I made up while chatting with Dave the Mobile Warrior on Skype last night about Apple's unexpected exit (unexpected from the standpoint of folks who were not graced to insider information).  But when Apple VP Phil Schiller takes the stage as the keynote speaker traditionally reserved for Steve Jobs, just what kind of position is he being put it?  So, we dreamt up a cool scenario for the last Macworld Apple will participate in. Schiller goes on stage and goes through his routine.  Great Christmas.  Great quarter they just had.  Billions made.  Then he tells folks the iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pros will all be updated.  Though it all, Phil gets forced ethusiastic applauses because of the impossible situation he's put under.  He knows it. But then he says, "we've got a special guest I like to bring out to talk about the next revolutionary product from Apple.  You all know him.  Steve Jobs!". Crowd goes wild...

I had planned on posting some updates about portable gaming over at Onxo but that's on hold for a bit as we absorb the great news about Konami's mobile plans for Apple's mobile platform. You read it correctly.  Four games from powerhouse Konami.  Big bad KONAMI!  What are the games? Silent Hill:  The Escape Frogger Dance Dance Revolution And here's the big one: Metal Gear Solid Touch! No word on when these games will be coming to an app store near us.  But this bit of news makes up for the sadness I feel from Apple pulling out of Macworld and knowing that Macworld 2008 was Jobs' last keynote.  Back to gaming. Sega's presence with Super Monkey Ball was a great coup for Apple.  But since then, we haven't had a lot of power house developers from Japan joining the iBandwagon.  And these games aren't just any lowend games.  These are legacy titles we're getting from Konami. This new development does help Apple make the case that the i...

Who to believe?  Some analyst believes there will be a netbook at Macworld 2009 or some facts that point to the contrary? Well, Computerworld is reporting an analyst who admitted that he has no fact to back up his assertion that there will be Apple-branded netbooks next month at the annual Mac event in San Francisco.  Backed up his line of reasoning well though. It's a lot alone the line of what Onxo (me and my fellow mobile warriors) believe about what Apple's answer to the netbook will be.  However, we're not likely to see anything new when Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP gives the keynote, as indicated by Appleinsider.  You read it right.  Philip Schiller.  Get to know him.  Steve P. Jobs will not be delivering the keynote this year.  And that is exactly why it's very unlikely Apple will be introducing a new product line. Again, we believe desktop Macs, iMac, Mini, and Pro, will be updated.  And that'll be about it....

If a report from WSJ is correct, that may indeed be the case.  According to November computer data from NDP Group Inc.  Mac sales lost 1% compared to November of 2007 while the PC market grew 2% from the same period last year.  WSJ is reporting this as evidence that Apple has begun to suffer from the recession US consumer are going through and there is worries that this will carry into 2009. So, should be we worried for out favorite fruity consumer electronics company?  Well, my initial reaction was to think that WSJ was likely wrong in its reporting.  Something about the data they nickpicked to make Mac sales look bad compared to the rest of the industry.  Well, this is WSJ so I'm doubting that to be the case.  This isn't Marketwatch's Dvorak after all. Anyway, the official numbers from Apple is what count in January.  But given that Apple refreshed the Macbooks for Christmas (and the Holidays) but not the iMacs, that could have had an impa...