AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

As you know by now, Apple just updated the iPod lineup. Well, I'm just gonna briefly talk about the nano. As squarish as it is, the 6th generation iPod nano with multi-touch is just a precursor to something better next year or the year after: an iPod Touch nano. With the smaller body, the new nano is definitely an update, but not necessarily an upgrade. For me, I'm going to be picking up a 16GB 5G green iPod nano from Amazon and forgo the 6th gen squared body multi-touch iPod nano. Why? Well, first, it's $20 cheaper than the 6G nano. Plus, you can still play video and has a video capture, even if it is not the greatest quality in the world.

Everyone thinks yesterday's announcement was about new iPod touches with the dual cameras and the redesigned nanos. But the biggest news for iOS and iTunes users is Ping. For video fans, Apple's TV rental for Apple isn't the biggest news. It is what wasn't said. First Ping. Ping is a social music site based in the iTunes application on Windows, Macs, and iOS devices. After downloading and signing on, it felt a bit sptartan when you compare it to Facebook and Myspace. But that is what Apple products are like in the beginning. In time, Apple wil add new features and functions. Widgets and games may be normal. Imagine having Ping on your Apple TV as well. Plus, what about adding video and app discovery? Well, it makes sense that all that will happen in time. First, video rental was just made available yesterday and Apple TV won't be out for another month. Apple will likely wait until there are more rental content before allowing video discovery and following on Ping. ...

I don't know what to make of what we saw yesterday. Fantastic update to the old work horse lineup? Definitely. A hobby inches towards being another pillar of the Apple digital strategy. You bet. My order of the iPod Touch? Yup. Well, no. Yes, sorta. We'll see. That's where I am right now. After work, I called the Pasadena Apple store to find out when the new gears will be in store. Next week I'm told. Fine, I think I will go in and check things out before I jump headlong into this. I had ordered a 32GB iPod Touch almost right after Steve Jobs finished up yesterday music event. Then later in the afternoon, I cancelled it. Not because I had a change of heart but I really do want to go into the store to see for myself the quality of the video capture and use of the Facetime feature. Yeah, I have used the Facetime feature in the iPhone but this is the iPod Touch. And as with any new Apple product, you'll want to make sure Apple has gotten the kinks out...

I know there are those who think tomorrow's Apple event will be a game changer in mobile tech and transform how we consume media, specifically, video. While I hope for that to happen, I am no in that camp. As a matter of fact, I think tomorrow's event will be routine. Well, for Apple, it's routine. For other companies, it might be extraordinary. But that's a post for another time. For now, we can expect Apple to push consumer technology further by bring some iPhone 4 features over the iPod Touch. That much we are certain. Anything else would just be icing on the cake. Anyway, tomorrow's event will be streamed live over the Internet. I think that alone should make this a memorable Apple media event.

There was very little Apple related rumors that tell us about what we'll see 10am on September 1st. Frankly I am quite surprised. Sure, there was a lot of talk and rehashing of what we already knew as far as rumors go from last week. Rather, confirmations of rumors. So while I had hoped to get through Monday on what I thought would be waves after waves of blogs trying to outdo one another, there was nothing. But there are two developments worth noting. First, Roku dropped the prices of their players by up to $30. This is significant because it's high time that Apple do something about their Apple TV hobby, which even as hobbies go, it isn't one worth keeping. Second, Nintendo, who thinks it has something with 3DS but no until 2011, dropped the prices of its DS lineup. I have always maintained that the iPod touch isn't a true portable gaming device but a mobile computing device that happens to play games well, it appears that Nintendo and Sony now believes the iOS devic...