IP Democracy: Showtime Tomorrow: Apple's Big Announcement

Just about the time Jeff Pulver’s Video-on-the-Net conference is getting into full swing tomorrow, Apple’s iconic CEO Steve Jobs will be unveiling something big. By now everybody knows that one item on Apple’s agenda tomorrow is the announcement of movies for sale at iTunes, with Disney presumably the first studio to agree to sell feature-length films on the popular video and music portal.

More speculative is whether Apple will finally release its bigger screen iPod — I say yes, because why announce movies and not the better device on which to watch them? What point would Apple have for delaying the bigger screen iPod marketing push when it dovetails so nicely with long-format video content such as films?

Now, the New York Times’ John Markoff is suggesting another juicy tidbit for tomorrow: one or more announcements that center on the delivery of video straight into living rooms. Apple of course makes computers and one rumor (sounds like real guesswork to me) is that Jobs will announce living-room-ready versions of the company’s least expensive computer, the Mac Mini.

Another “possibility” is a Wi-Fi technology that connects Macs and PCs. We’ve all been through this before with Apple — speculation about what exciting new products Jobs will announce reaches a fevered pitch the day before these oh-so-effective marketing stunts.

As if selling movies on iTunes and a bigger screen iPod weren’t enough…whatever happens tomorrow, it’s bound to be the talk of Video-on-the-Net.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on September 11, 2006 7:53 AM to IP Democracy