The sky fell this week. Christmas was cancelled by Apple and apparently Steve Jobs is getting ousted a second time… according to the out-of-control rumor mongerers, at least. Reality is a crazy thing, though. Why report the truth when you can make stuff up?
MacYourself’s Top 5 Apple News Stories & Headlines of the Week for December 21, 2008:
1. Apple announces its last year at Macworld
Get the original article via Apple.com
This is the one that has dominated headlines all week. After decades of being the most anticipated Apple-related event of the year, Apple announced that 2009 will be its last year participating in the festivities at Macworld and, oh by the way, Phil Schiller will present the keynote instead of Steve Jobs. Cue the Steve health rumors, fanboy backlash, and Apple stock price tanking. The horror, the horror! Rather than analyzing the facts intelligently, most “journalists” (it’s painful to use that term to describe these frauds) went crazy and had a field day coming up with stories about how the end is near. Here’s what likely happened: Apple was tired of following someone else’s schedule and breaking their backs to have a major product to announce every January. So why not have Steve present one last time? Well, it’s probably the harsh reality that they don’t have a heck of a lot to show us this year. No big revolutionary product, no dramatic unveiling of the next big thing. Instead of disappointing investors in January when Steve has nothing of importance to offer, they lower expectations ahead of time by putting the likable Phil out there to throw us a couple of tiny goodies (Mac mini refresh? Snow Leopard demo?). Don’t fret, Steve worshippers — we’ll still see him at WWDC and Apple’s semi-regular gatherings at their Cupertino campus. Whew, that was a long one.
2. Apple’s Snow Leopard prepares to show off its spots
Get the original article via The Guardian
Reports say the next version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard, will get a demo at Macworld in January when Phil takes the stage. Don’t expect to walk into an Apple Store and get it later that day, though. It will probably be at least another month or two before it’s released to the public. Nonetheless, the original article states that Apple wants to get a head start on Microsoft’s Windows 7 coming in the June-ish time frame (like they need one).
3. It’s a nano iPhone!
Get the original article via iDealsChina
I don’t really have much faith in the validity of this one, but its been a popular topic for quite a while. Folks have been throwing around the idea of an iPhone nano since the original was announced almost two year ago. Now a Chinese-based website says they have third-party accessories for what is supposedly a to-be-released cheaper mini version of the iPhone minus the 3G connectivity. I’m skeptical since Steve Jobs has been quoted as saying that Apple is concentrating on software advancement rather than various hardware configurations.
4. Apple finally outed as mysterious PowerVR licensee
Get the original article via AppleInsider
According to a press release from Imagination Technologies Group, Apple has invested a sizable chunk of money in the company by purchasing over 8 million shares. This is significant because it gives insight into what Apple’s plans are for the future. Imagination is the maker of PowerVR mobile graphics components, which could make their way into the iPhone, iPod touch, and other similar devices. Not only that, but the new OpenCL standard coming in Snow Leopard could be incorporated into the gadgets to take advantage of that graphics power.
5. Evidence that next iMacs and Mac Minis to use NVIDIA chipsets
Get the original article via Mac Rumors
A look into some buried configuration files in Mac OS X reveal the probability that upcoming iMac and Mac mini models will feature new NVIDIA chipsets with advanced graphics capabilities. This would bring the popular desktop systems up to a level playing field with the recently released MacBook family of laptops. The only question is when Apple will pull the trigger and finally get them in consumers’ hands.
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