Apple appears to be encouraging MobileMe subscribers to connect their accounts with their Apple ID.

It looks like Apple is making it possible for iOS-device owners to use MobileMe by signing-in with their Apple IDs – and perhaps, tie together their existing accounts. In this one small step lies the key to an amazing array of functionality.

The Apple ID is used in many places: on the desktop for authorising a Mac/PC with an iTunes account, in the iTunes Store for making purchases, setting-up and using a Ping (and perhaps, one day soon, Facebook) account, storing and sharing documents on iWork.com, and using FaceTime on the Mac as a core account (with MobileMe or other email addresses added afterward). It’s also used when making purchases from the Apple online store. In time, it’s safe to assume it’ll be used on the upcoming Mac App Store, too.

MobileMe, on the other hand, is used primarily to synchronise email, contacts and calendars, along with bookmarks and, if you like, System Preferences and even Keychains across Macs.

So, to echo Steve Jobs, What if an Apple ID and a MobileMe account got together? I think the offspring would be nothing less than revolutionary.

Next Steps

An AppleID/MobileMe hybrid brings the Apple universe together, both on the Mac and on iOS devices. I suspect next summer’s release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion may prove to be the final leap from today’s sort-of-connected world, to an always-connected world, where the simple rule is: Wherever you can use your Apple ID, you have access to your Email, Contacts, Calendars, Bookmarks, Music, Movies, Pictures, Ping, all your iWork documents and all the software you ever bought in both the iOS and Mac App Stores. All of it ready to be streamed or downloaded, some of it automatically, most of it on-demand.

If the new MacBook Air truly is the future of MacBooks, it’s a much more likely future. If we want our notebooks to be thin, light and go for days on a single charge, we must be prepared to ditch today’s optical and hard drives. Flash storage can fill the gap, but it’s too expensive to store all the media users want access to. Streaming data, therefore, presents the best next step, practically and economically, in personal computing.

If you’ve ever bought a Mac and enjoyed the experience of seeing your MobileMe data populate your Address Book, iCal and Mail apps, imagine being able to take the process much further, and watch all your software, multimedia and personal documents also become available… all because you signed-in with a single username and password. Authentication could even be handled by your iPhone, if rumors prove true.

There’s nothing really comparable to this on other platforms and for ordinary consumers. Windows Live connects Microsoft’s Hotmail, Photo Gallery, Skydrive and a few other services in a loose manner, but it’s pretty fragmented and doesn’t show signs of becoming a cohesive solution any time soon. Google’s ecosystem is a strong contender but remains devoid of the spit-and-polish and ease-of-use for which Apple’s products are famous.

Of course, for all of this to be a practical and reliable really would require a truly enormous state of the art data center. If only Apple had something like that…

The Work Does Itself

This is also, incidentally, why Apple will never buy Dropbox: They don’t need to. Dropbox is a service that depends on users manipulating data directly in the file system, and that’s a paradigm Apple wants ordinary users to abandon.

In this hypothetical (and, I can’t help think, inevitable) scenario, Apple will provide its customers with ample cloud-based storage as they need it. Users may well enjoy dozens of gigabytes of storage, but never know it. Nor would they ever need to know it. They’ll know only what matters: that they can stream their iTunes library to their devices quickly and in high quality, that their photos are available anywhere they have a connection to the Internet, that the Keynote presentation they started this morning on their MacBook can be finished this afternoon on their iPad without the painful export/import silliness they suffer today.

Connecting the Apple ID with MobileMe is, at least for consumers, the first step toward an exciting new future, one for which Apple has been building the foundations since .Mac was launched in 2002. The pieces are almost all in place, and with Apple’s massive new data center online and Lion available next summer, I think we’re about to experience the most transformative personal computing revolution since the Macintosh itself.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• Why Humans are the Biggest Threat to Cloud Adoption
• The Case for Open Source Search in the Enterprise
• How Regulated Industries Can Move Toward the Cloud

Something sort of hit me in the head while reading the New York Times as Bob Marley played into my earphones: I have no visual or performance signs that a song is playing other than the music entering my head. Bob Marley is singing “No Woman, No Cry” and the iPad doesn’t signal to me that it’s actually doing that, which feels magical, but it made me think about the future and how Apple  is shaping it.

In 2001, my iBook G3′s 500Mhz CPU would be 50 percent utilized while playing high quality music through the speakers. That number has dropped to basically zero while playing the same song on my Core i7 iMac, but iTunes is still open, taking up screen space even if it’s minimized or hidden. I know iTunes is open but the way I interact with iTunes hasn’t changed since iTunes 1.0 was released 10 years ago. The way my Macintosh organizes folders, plays music, and manages windows is unchanged, and it still takes a certain technical proficiency to understand this even if it is an easy-to-use Mac.

Today, while music played on my iPad and I was reading the news story, I thought about how there’s nothing showing a song is playing other than a play icon at the top of the screen. When I change the page or zoom in to a photo, nothing about the iPad’s performance is compromised, even if that song is heavily compressed. Music is playing, and my iPad doesn’t mind.

No other consumer electronics company has done this.

That’s a bold statement coming from a guy that uses Apple products almost exclusively, but I’ve been looking for a product like this for years. The iPod did this, but when you clicked a button on the device, it would show you the currently playing song. It was single-purpose, even if it did come with a way to view your calendars (only view, not change). Devices like my Palm Treo did this, but the music app would crash, and browsing the web would have a 50 percent cut in performance while playing music. Yes, it’s been four years, and the Treo was much slower with fewer resources, but Apple has set us on course to a point where our kids won’t have that feeling of, “I shouldn’t open my web browser because the music might skip.” For those of you who used the original iPhone extensively, music skipping was very common when hitting the phone with heavy tasks.

I didn’t see a huge change in how we interacted with technology until Apple came along with iOS and shook things up. The Mac and Windows experiences feel dated. There are power, usefulness and capabilities that iOS (and yes even Android devices) can’t do now, but it won’t be long before they can. In 2007, iPhone was cutting edge for having a tough screen that worked. These days, I can FaceTime with friends, download movies over the air, read the news as it happens, and always know the answer to what guy played in that movie within the time it would take to boot up the ole’ Mac and fire up Safari. Grab iPhone, slide to unlock, click Safari and search.

I don’t give Apple all of the credit, but this is TheAppleBlog, so it’s good to highlight everything Apple got right that set us in this direction. Who was going to change things and set us onto the next era of computing? Microsoft is still introducing product flops (ie. Microsoft Kin) and Google’s business model is to create and leverage technologies in order to target ads to you. I can’t think of another company other than Apple that’s continued to pioneer the technology experience. Cisco is a distant 4th, but it’s too busy powering the entire Internet to make consumer electronics. Sadly, Sony (c sne) has become more irrelevant as simply “expensive” and not as breakthrough as it was in the 90s. I still buy Sony TVs, but only because it’s Sony and not because it’s doing anything truly remarkable over Panasonic or Vizio.

Apple has set itself apart in the way it’s brought power to elegance — where the design of the software and form factor of the hardware fades away, and all you’re doing is sitting on a train, reading a news article while listening to a song. Of course, now that I think about it, that 3G connection to AT&T is ticking along as well. There was no application I had to pull up to initiate the connection (like on Mac OS or Windows 7), and there’s no thought to it. As soon as I leave the office, my Wi-Fi connection there drops and 3G starts. This kind of experience is something we all assume would be common in 2010 but you’d be surprised how many devices simply don’t do this in a way that the consumer can consume with no awareness of what’s going on behind the scenes.

I don’t know what it is but, with Apple technology, I feel the future. It’s not a stylus smartphone with a hardware keyboard; it’s not a 24″ tall tower with a big power button on the front; and it’s not a mouse with a cord attached and a floppy disk that makes this wretched click sound while reading and writing data. Apple doesn’t have any of that, and it’s chosen to integrated technologies into an experience that no other company has.

Historically, what you see in today’s high-end machines will eventually make its way to the low end models like Apple’s Airport Express getting 802.11n a year after the Extreme, or the MacBook getting glass multitouch trackpads 1-2 years after the MacBook Pro. These sort of hand me down improvements are normal, but what do these two principles tell us about what’s coming next? Does iPhone’s Retina Display give us a hint for the future of Apple’s product line?

[inline-ad]Currently, most of Apple’s displays, whether they are in a desktop, notebook or a standalone monitor like Apple’s 24″ and 30″ Cinema Displays have a standard PPI (pixels per inch) ratio that is equal with most other displays from computer companies. The average is between 113-130 for most of Apple’s displays. The iPhone 4′s retina display is a mind-boggling 326 PPI which produces clarity that no other display on any device from any manufacturer can match, at least in most of the consumer tech you’ll find at the local Best Buy. Apple has raised the bar so high that every iPhone 4 owner I meet says to me that going back to the MacBook Pro or iMac display or even an iPod nano is a total joke and they’ve been spoiled by the new screen.

I vote that Apple will make Retina Display the buzz word of 2011 as every product receives this as the key feature and trust me when I say that users (myself included) will shell out the cash to get the same clarity and crystal clear display quality that we’ve become so accustomed to on our iPhones. I could be wrong, but Apple has already laid the ground work for Retina Display in every Mac. A look at Apple’s Dev Center docs reveals a technology known as Resolution Independence. Here’s the intro:

In the past, developers could assume that the resolution of screen displays was 72 dpi and that one unit in the application’s drawing space corresponded to one pixel. Specifying a 100 x 200 window in the application would result in a 100 x 200 pixel window onscreen. However, with the introduction of LCD displays with higher pixel densities (often well over 100 dpi), maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between drawing units and screen pixels can result in images that are too small for most users.

The solution is to make the drawing sizes specified by the application independent of the display’s pixel resolution and allow arbitrary scaling between the two. Depending on the type of application, the user interface, and the drawing technologies used, you may need to update your code to provide the best user experience on a resolution-independent system.

Of course, Apple added this to make things easier on developers as displays produced by Apple do fluctuate such as ordering a 15″ or 17″ Macbook Pro with the high-resolution display should yield a clearer experience for users and this is thanks to resolution independence. However, this minor technology can be leveraged and must be leveraged if Apple were to ever bump that spec from a measly 113 PPI to upwards of 326 PPI like we see on the iPhone 4.

I’ve been very vocal about Apple’s inability to keep up with resolutions that competitors like Dell provide on its notebooks. A 15″ notebook from Dell has had resolutions that triumph over Apple’s for the longest time. Of course, those insanely high specs generally lead to text that’s simply too small to read, but it’s an option that Dell offers which Apple does not and the only way to completely shut down one of the only advantages a Dell has over a Mac is to up the PPI to Retina Display levels.

Of course, there’s much more involved. Only a handful of Macintosh computers have the IPS (In-Plane Switching technology) that you see in the iPad, iPhone 4 and Apple’s flat-panel iMac. That’s something we’ll start seeing in Macs very soon and possibly before Retina Display makes its way to our computers. Apple has spent the last three years slowly moving each display to LED backlighting which reduces energy use but also offers a more accurate and complete back lighting and instant-on without the need for a warm up.

It’s an easy prediction to say that Apple will improve its displays, but it’s obvious that Retina Display is just the beginning and it’s a sign of things to come. When our eyes grow so used to the iPhone 4′s gorgeous display that we find ourselves preferring it over our Macs, Apple will release new computers that offer the same technology and we’ll be lining up to get them. Trust me.

I’ve been using an iPad as my sole computer at home for the past two weeks. For the most part, its been wonderful, but there are a few things that make it obvious that the iPad is not a complete replacement for a Mac, at least not for me. For my parents, neighbors, and most normal people who are not obsessed with technology, it just might be perfect. I’ve said before how simple the iPad is to use, so simple that my three-year old son has no problem launching Netflix and finding a Scooby-Doo movie to watch. For me, the friction starts when I visit a web page and want to upload a document, or when I want to organize my photo library, or, when I find something that I’d like to save. The iPad is a wonderful device, but some things are just hard to do on it. For some things, you still need a Mac.

Development is the obvious first thing that comes to mind. Xcode is not available for the iPad, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was never available for it. Xcode is one of the few applications that really eats up the screen real estate, especially when combined with Interface Builder. Compiling code is also taxing on the CPU, especially for projects with a large code base. It would be interesting to see Apple release “Xcode Lite”, a stripped down version of Xcode that only compiled iPhone OS apps, but I don’t think Apple has any desire or motivation to do that. There are a handful of web development apps available in the App Store, but none of them compete with their desktop equivalents. Even finding simple features like syntax highlighting is difficult.

College students might be a great target audience for the iPad, especially if textbooks can make their way into iBooks. However, many colleges have online components, and require the student to interact by posting their research or assignments, or participate in group chats. Using only the iPad, making it through such a course might be possible, but unlikely without falling back to a computer for certain tasks. For research, collaboration, and interaction, the iPad just isn’t enough on its own, but it’s be a great addition to a student’s backpack.

Power users demand a lot from their machines, and while developers are finding new ways to push the iPad’s abilities, most of the people I know who fall into this category are not going to be willing to let go of their collection of custom scripts. Being a power user is about bending the machine to your will, finding ways to remove all the small obstacles between you and accomplishing your task. The iPad is super simple to use, but one of the costs of that simplicity is the loss of the ability to customize and tweak.

It’s important to keep in mind that the iPad is still a 1.0 product. This is Apple’s initial foray into the tablet space, and keeping with how it rolls, it’s starting with what it considers the bare minimum. What Apple has done with the iPad is create a solid base to build its next platform on. However, it doesn’t mean that the Mac is going away anytime soon, or at all. Less and less people have needed trucks over the years, but they are still selling trucks. When you need to get a job done, there’s no substitute.

January 2010 will mark the four-year anniversary of Apple’s first Intel-based Mac, the MacBook Pro. With Snow Leopard officially dropping support for PowerPC Macs and the next version of iLife and iWork likely to do the same, a perfect storm is brewing where Apple can begin to really push OS X to maximize the potential of the Intel hardware it supports. 2010 looks to be a big year in terms of hardware updates from Apple; here’s our roundup of predictions on what’s to come.

MacBook Pro

Just like where it started four years ago with the first Intel Mac, the biggest and most exciting updates will happen to the MacBook Pro. The good news? With the classic MacBook seeing updates recently that peg its specs a little too close for comfort with its older brother, the new MacBook Pro update should arrive sooner rather than later.

In terms of processors, I predict Apple will adopt the mobile variant of the Core i5 and Core i7 quad-core processors currently found in the latest iMacs. Though these mobile variants, also referred to by their codename Arrandale, only feature two cores, they also come laden with Intel’s better-than-previously-integrated-but-not-quite-as-good-as-a-standalone graphics chipset. Rumor has it that Apple isn’t a fan of this implementation (as right it shouldn’t be, desiring a dedicated professional graphics card for its high-end portable). How this will shake out is still a mystery.

For the past three years, Apple has followed a steady trend of doubling both the entry-level amount of RAM and the maximum RAM that its high end portables can support. It’s a great tactic on Apple’s part as it combats only incremental performance gains with every new processor release. 2010 should be no different, with standard models of MacBook Pros shipping with 8GB of RAM with a ceiling of 16GB.

The big news for the MacBook Pros will be the inclusion of the first Blu-ray drive. It’s been a long time coming but Apple is ready to go for it and ready to do it right. Blu-ray Superdrives will be available as an option (if not standard) on the 15” and 17” MacBook Pros.

Taking advantage of the brilliant resolution of Blu-ray, the 15” MacBook Pro will also feature a gorgeous 1920 x 1080 resolution display, packing the same number of pixels as the new 21.5-inch iMac and the current 17” MacBook Pro. Of course, this also means the 17” will get a display bump as well. 2560 x 1440 seems like a bit of a stretch, but one can always hope, right?

In regards to storage, I predict we’ll see MacBook Pros starting with 500GB hard drives on the low-end 13” model and maxing out at 1TB or 1.5TB hard drives on the high-end 17” model. Before the year is out, the high-end models might even have an option for a 2TB drive.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air, due to it’s ultra slim and lightweight profile, will only see modest updates in 2010. Processors will be bumped to 2.26GHz and 2.53GHz (up from 1.86GHz and 2.13GHz). Hard drives on the portable will see modest size increases to 250GB SATA and 256GB solid-state drives. The next iteration of the MacBook Air will also ship with 4GB of RAM standard. Though it will be difficult for Apple to upgrade the processors, hard drives and RAM while still maintaining a profit, the price point of the MacBook Air is in a sweet spot at the moment that Apple doesn’t want to disrupt.

As a completely outlandish prediction, I predict that Apple will also release a standalone external USB Blu-ray drive for MacBook Air users and legacy users who wouldn’t mind the accessory. Price point? I’m betting $299.

MacBook

Everyone’s favorite little portable recently saw an overhaul just a few months ago. For 2010, the MacBook specs will tend towards the current MacBook Pro offerings. Standard RAM will increase to 4GB (though this may remain the max for this model) and the portable will ship with either a 320GB or 500GB hard drive as standard.

Mac mini

The Mac mini will likely see modest processor increases (2.53GHz on the entry-level and 2.6GHz on the high-end) as well as 4GB RAM and 320GB hard drives standard. Build to order options will include 1TB drives and the Mac mini with Snow Leopard Server will ship with two 1TB drives. I also predict that Blu-ray drives will be a build-to-order option as Apple is starting to recognize the importance of the Mac mini in the living room as a more robust alternative to the Apple TV.

iMac

The iMac saw a nice update in 2009 that shifted the aspect ratio of the displays from the Apple-familiar 16:10 to the more HD-familiar 16:9. As such, the entry-level iMac is capable of displaying 1080p video, if only there were a source to play it. Similar to the MacBook Pros, I also predict the iMacs will receive built-in Blu-ray drives on the high-end models, if not standard across the entire line. The iMacs will also see a shift towards the quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 chips reaching clockspeeds similar to the current Core 2 Duo iMacs (a little over 3GHz). A subsequent update later in the year could bring about even faster processors in the neighborhood of 3.2GHz to 3.5GHz. 8GB of RAM will become standard on these Macs with the ability to upgrade to 16GB if desired.

Mac Pro & Xserve

There is still life left in the Nehalem architecture as the Core i9 “Gulftown” processor will make its debut in these high-end Macs at some point next year. Manufactured on a highly efficient 32nm die, this six core processor will boost a clock speed of around 2.8GHz and outfit the Mac in both single and dual processor varieties. This essential “12-core” MacPro or Xserve will feature 8-10GB of RAM as standard and a maximum ceiling of 64GB of RAM. You don’t have to take my word for it though, just start saving pennies now.

The Elusive iTablet

And saving the best for last, we arrive at the iTablet. While many constantly peg Apple’s unreleased tablet as occupying the space between the iPod touch and the MacBook, I predict it is between the iPod touch and MacBook of 2010, not 2009. As such, I predict the iTablet to function like a Mac and run OS X. I predict the tablet to utilize an Intel Core 2 Duo processor around the 2GHz mark. Personally, I feel Apple will disappoint many if the device functions more like an iPhone (in terms of hardware specs, besting out the 3GS 600MHz processor with 256MB of RAM). While I wouldn’t expect the tablet to function as a workstation for heavy video rendering, Apple has shown a history of utilizing hardware that can pack a punch and really maximize the OS. I predict the tablet will feature between a 7” and 10” screen (personally I’m leaning towards the latter, despite rumor sites). The iTablet will also feature support for 802.11n for fast streaming of content like iTunes Extras across your local network, support for Screen Sharing for remotely administering other Macs and the ability to connect to an external display through a micro-DisplayPort connector. I also feel the iTablet will ship in two versions, differentiated by storage size (like every other Apple product ever) and feature a solid state drive like the iPhone and iPod touch. Though the iTablet may not feature a screen with high enough resolution for HD, I do believe it will support playback of HD video through an appropriate video out connector.

What’s Left?

Rumors of Intel and Apple co-developing LightPeak technology are becoming more commonplace and I predict we’ll see some announcement related to this in 2010. This high-speed optical connection might be essential to products like the iTablet that would benefit from its singular connection for power, data transfer, and HD video output. Or perhaps the technology could become employed in MacBook Pros, allowing use of one LightPeak connection to an iMac that provides power to charge the laptop, video signal carried to the iMac’s display and audio carried to the iMac’s internal speakers.

The white elephant still remaining in the room is of course Apple’s Display lineup. With a 24” LED display and a 30” display that barely beats the resolution of Apple’s new 27” iMac, I predict Apple will definitely be refreshing its display lineup. In particular, I expect the price of the 24” LED Cinema Display to drop to $699 and a new 27” LED Cinema Display, matching the same resolution as the iMac (remember, it’s 16:9, not 16:10) to arrive at $1299. I also predict Apple will introduce a new, high-end 32” LED display at $1799, the price point of the current 30” display.

All of these predictions are merely speculation, based on Apple’s history, rumor sites and published roadmaps from companies that Apple sources components from. While this article solely represents my opinion of what could be around the corner in 2010, I’d love to hear what you think or would like to see. Share a comment or two with your thoughts!

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Forecast: Tablet App Sales To Hit $8B by 2015
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

With 2009 half way over, we’ve seen a lot of updates from Apple, from new portables to new iPhones and some hot new Pro Apps, but several sections of Apple’s product lineup have not been updated in quite a while.

Products such as the Apple TV, some software titles, and others are getting a bit long in the tooth. We know our mainstream products like iPods will see an update in the next few months, but what about some of the others? What’s the deal and what could be in store?

Apple TV

Apple TV, the little iPod for your television, has not seen a hardware update since 2007 when Apple introduced a larger 160GB model. Though there have been price cuts since then, and the introduction of the “Take 2” Apple TV software, the device itself really has not seen any updates since its introduction.

Originally referred to as the fourth leg on a four-leg stool (according to Jobs, referring to Apple’s product lineup), it has since been relegated to a “hobby” and now something that hasn’t seen much attention at all. The hacking community has provided a number of plugins and add ons to allow additional functionality, but Apple has only offered small software updates for compatibility with the Remote app or other products (new AirPort base stations, etc.). The device itself runs a variation of Mac OS 10.4! With the release of Snow Leopard, will we see any updates? Apple calls it a DVD player for the 21st century. I’m quite sure a DVD player for the 21st century involves Blu-ray, so where’s the love?

Aperture

The last major version of Aperture (version 2.0) was released in February 2008. Though small updates have been released to provide support for newer camera models, Apple’s own consumer application iPhoto ’09 boosts features that make some Aperture users jealous. Face recognition and geo-tagging support are two such examples that blur the lines between those who might want to use Aperture versus iPhoto. (Aperture of course has a much different market, aiming to compete with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, but still, users do feel a bit left out.)

When Aperture was originally introduced, it was quite a performance hog. To be fair, however, at the time, most Macs were Power PC based. The switch to Intel processors as well as newer versions that included more optimized code allowed for a better experience. No doubt the introduction of Snow Leopard will also bring about further performance improvements to Aperture as well. The question remains though, after Snow Leopard launches will we see new software in October, or will we have to wait until a more appropriate time next year?

As an aside, I do recognize Apple just released new versions of Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio, but in all the fanfare, nothing has been mentioned about anything Snow Leopard specific. With all the “oohs” and “ahhs” of the performance features Snow Leopard is supposed to bring, one would think there could be several areas where these titles could take advantage.

Displays

Wow. Where to start with this one? Of all the Apple products that seem to carry an “Apple tax,” the displays rank among the highest. Rightfully they should as they are really high quality products. That being said, Apple has silently discontinued both their 20” and 23” displays, opting to replace them both by a very expensive 24” LCD display. The cream of the crop 30” display is only briefly mentioned on Apple’s website with a link to its online store. Where does the future of its displays lie? The mini DisplayPort can handle the high resolution of the 30” Cinema Display, so providing Apple could actually create an LED equivalent, it should be compatible with all of its latest products.

On the entry level side, $899 is still a hefty price for the smallest display. Looking at the iMacs, these displays are still CCFL based (cold cathode fluorescent lighting). This could explain why the LED Display is pricey compared to an entry level iMac which features a slightly smaller display but also a whole computer inside.

Another consideration for displays is the resolution they support. The 17” MacBook Pro features a high resolution 1920×1200 display that is LED-backlit. That resolution is equivalent to the resolution of the 24” LED display and looks really good, considering it’s packed into a display that is seven inches smaller.

Apple desperately needs a smaller entry-level display to replace the now defunct 20” Cinema Display, and the entire lineup could benefit from supporting a higher resolution all around.

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

These are just a few examples of products that haven’t really seen great updates lately, but history has taught us that Apple always comes through and woos its fans.

My question to you, the readers, is this: Do you think that Apple has been allocating all of its resources into completing Snow Leopard and the iPhone 3.0 launch? Or, do you think the neglect that some of these other projects have seen is because Apple has been focusing its development efforts on some as-of-yet unannounced new product, like the rumored tablet? We’ve seen some great new products this year, but even the latest versions of Logic Studio and Final Cut Studio aren’t entirely revolutionary. They didn’t even garner a media event.

My personal opinion is that this is the case and Apple has been working to complete Snow Leopard and the iPhone 3.0 OS, but has been focusing a major portion of its team on something we don’t know about yet. Remember what Steve always says: When the economy is rough, Apple’s solution is to innovate its way to success. Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• In Q3, the Tablet and 4G Were the Big Stories

With the latest version of Final Cut Studio hot off the shelves, many are scratching their heads over what Apple’s take on the future of DVDs actually may be. DVD Studio Pro hasn’t received a major update since the 4.0 release at NAB 2005, and iDVD hasn’t been updated since 2007, so is the DVD dead?

Well, that conversation has come up plenty of times before, and it always seems like the pundits are waiting for the next version of Final Cut Studio or iLife before voicing their thoughts on whether DVD production is seeing its curtain call.

Many insist that optical discs are dying on the Mac. The supporting arguments are there. The Apple TV features no optical drive, and neither does the MacBook Air. Apple has referred to Blu-ray as “a bag of hurt” and hasn’t made any obvious plans to endorse the standard any further. The only mention of “next generation” technologies is some support for HD-DVDs in DVD Studio Pro (been there for ages) and limited Blu-ray support in the latest version of Compressor.

What a lot of people fail to realize when considering why Apple hasn’t made a huge foray into the Blu-ray world, is just how different Blu-rays are from DVDs (in terms of functionality). DVD Studio Pro aims to allow professionals to create DVDs with all the great features that DVDs offer (menus, subtitles, multiple angles, multiple audio tracks, etc.). When you consider the advantages that Blu-ray brings to the table, such as support for Internet-enabled content, seamless branching, access to local storage, and so on, it’s clear that a minor update to a software title isn’t really going to break new ground in this area. Designing a tool to author these takes time. The current competition, Adobe Encore, is a great tool, but still can’t take advantage of some of the more advanced Java-related Blu-ray features. Apple needs to at least meet the current feature set of Encore to stay competitive. The company has already invested a lot of time, energy and money into the video industry with its growth of Final Cut Studio.

To say Apple is forgoing on optical media altogether would be to say it’s slowly, but surely, bowing out of the video market altogether — and nobody in their right mind would believe that is the case.

Regarding hardware, Apple realizes that most people already have some type of optical disc player in their living room, so why should an Apple TV include one? They serve different functions, just like an Apple TV isn’t going to replace your cable box or satellite receiver. (DVR on the other hand? Well, not yet anyway.) Sure, it would be nice for an Apple TV to include a Blu-ray drive, but if Apple had already included it when it first started shipping these a few years ago, it would be facing an even larger uphill battle for adoption (a la Sony and its Playstation 3).

And the MacBook Air? I’m seriously amazed at those who see a lack of optical drive in these portables as an indication that Apple is ditching the format altogether. Apple wanted to make a statement with the slimness of the portable, and it felt users of this product did not use optical discs on a regular basis. It was a smart trade-off, but hardly an indication that optical drives will start disappearing from other Macs.

If we’ve learned anything, it’s to not listen to Apple when it “writes off” technologies in its shareholder meetings. Though the company has referred to Blu-ray as a “bag of hurt” in the past, it sits on the Board of Directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association. Apple is a huge proponent of high definition (who wouldn’t be at this point?) and, as such, it realizes that more and more people are shooting in HD and need a way to present that. We’ve discussed before the limitations of the iPod and iPhone platforms as they do not support HD content, and even the Apple TV is limited in this regard. What other solution is there? YouTube? While that’s a great start, Apple is totally aware that people still prefer to have something a bit more portable and higher quality than YouTube.

My personal opinion is that Apple is working on developing Blu-ray authoring solutions (as well as inclusion of Blu-ray drives as the price continues to come down). We’ve seen a small taste of this support in the latest version of Compressor; hints of Blu-ray support in the latest version of iTunes; and I think as time goes on, we will see more support in other apps as well. In the meantime, DVD Studio Pro and iDVD will likely stay right where they are at. It’s easy to develop new themes for these apps, but why split your resources if you’re focusing on some whizz-bang, new app for Blu-ray authoring? In their current states, these applications are quite maxed out for now.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft

I’m one of those, along with many I know, that prefer people to keep their fingers off my screen when pointing to or talking about something on my computer. I hate smears. Multiply this times n when a glossy screen is present — which of course is always now with the new MacBook lineup. (Has anyone else noticed that the glossy coating on the new MacBooks is even more of a magnet for smudges than the old?!)

Then there’s the other categorization of computer users: those who keep their hands on the keyboard as much of the time as possible, and those who live and die by their mouse. Like a good nerd, I tend to be the former. But even for the mouse-lovers amongst us, it’s little more than a lateral sweep of the arm to the side and back to the keyboard. These new touch screen computers require an actual reach up and around to the screen to do whatever it is you need.

For me, these are two very solid reasons as to why the Hollywood idea of touch computing doesn’t jive with real world applications. At least not at this point in time.

The above reasons, however, highlight precisely why Apple’s multitouch trackpads seem to be hitting a sweet spot for those interested in touch computing. With this larger than life trackpad on my new MacBook (nearly three times larger than that of the new Dell I just got at work) I get the option to play with gestures and touch computing without the hassle of reaching all over the place, or smearing my gorgeous display. The current support for multitouch on Macs is still in its infancy, yet there’s a great deal of flexibility. We’ve already seen where Firefox has gotten into the mix, as has Curio (and likely others that I’m unaware of at the moment). I can only imagine that a wide array of options for leveraging this is just around the corner.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks

The Apple TV’s new found friends may have brought it up to par with several of its competitors, but does it compare to Apple’s own standards?

With a completely redesigned UI and a slew of new features, the Apple TV seems a new breed of set top box. One, oddly enough, in the same packaging we’ve seen for the past year.

Apple TV meet Apple TV

On the outside we still have the aluminum shell, slim profile and HDMI out. But like all good kids, I was taught at an early age that it’s not what’s on the outside that counts, it’s what’s on the inside. So in that regard the Apple TV seems to have faired well. With the Take Two updates, we’ve gained Flickr/.Mac galleries, 5.1 surround sound support and 1080p upscaling.

Yes I still hope for a rental subscription the likes Netflix couldn’t even compete with, and yes I would appreciate the ability to stream local broadcasts in HD. Maybe those Mac World wishes never really go away.

The Gaping Hole

Let’s go back to Mac World and combine the two big announcements:

• MacBook Air
• Apple TV Take Two

Both devices are completely aluminum. Both devices are super slim. Both devices offer media playback. Both lack a DVD/CD Drive, but ONLY ONE device does anything about it. The MacBook Air offers Remote Disc, the ability to share a CD over your network for installing software. Why couldn’t the Apple TV receive the same treatment? Adding the ability for Remote Disc within the Apple TV would be huge. Provided that it has all the media support you expect, DVD streaming over a network, etc.

According to Engadget’s article the MacBook Air doesn’t currently offer the ability to stream DVD media using Remote Disc. Probably for the same reasons, the Apple TV isn’t able to.

Apple’s Standards

Think back to the days you resorted to Winamp. If you wanted to copy the CD you just bought, you’d resort to audio ripping software that seemed quite sketchy. Then iTunes came around and the ability to import your own CDs became ubiquitous. Did the music industry suffer? Was potential profit so far gone that the industry went under? No, not even remotely.

If anything one would argue the ability to purchase individual tracks was the beginning of the end for them. Not because of cost, but because of demand. Now with digital media, users want the same ability that CDs offer. The right to transfer purchased content from one platform to another, DRM free. As a pioneer, iTunes became more than just about organizing music, it became about the ability to own your music.

Pioneering The Next Digital Revolution

So why hasn’t the Apple TV taken the same route? Apple, known for pushing the right buttons at the right time should have opted for Remote Disc media streaming as well as capturing. What I mean is, just as iTunes imports CDs, the Apple TV should import DVDs. A big stretch, I understand, but I think opening up Remote Disc could easily have been the next step in achieving this.

The Apple TV is a closed system. Content on it cannot be moved back to your PC or Mac. By demands of the hard drive, I imagine the capacity to hold DVDs would also be limited. So why not? Thinking of it on a grand scale, even if people were to rent DVDs and store them onto their Apple TV, the capacity alone would limit them. Also they are still renting the movies aren’t they? That’s still money in someone’s pocket. What if they borrow the DVD and rip it? Aren’t people doing that already? Is the movie industry suffering enough to close shop? I think to have the option for Apple seems far greater of an achievement, far more innovative than any corporate reason for why not to do it.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Apple’s Path to the Living Room
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

The iPod began a new quest for Apple. A company set on innovation has taken our hearts with a simple, compact device for music. Well, it was music at first. Now with the mobility of the browser thanks to the iPhone and iPod Touch, we can love a new device and rely on it much in the same way. The question to me, is where can they go from here?

Apple TV

Take the Xbox 360 as an example and compare features with the updated Apple TV. From what I can tell besides the current inability for gameplay on an Apple TV, you’ve pretty much got the same devices. Both network easily, both stream content, and both rent content. However, both are still dependent on the back end for music and non-rentable content.

The most recent updates to the Apple TV do appeal to me. I’m still curious why we cannot rent TV content, and why we aren’t offered a subscription model? I see the technology all around us for all the things we want as consumers, all in different projects, all in different companies. Who’s going to be the one that finally brings it together collectively for the betterment of the consumer?

Several have noted Apple’s most recent Apple TV filing for Widget/iChat patent. The example in the patent expresses the ability to have a live widget on top of a Sports Broadcast providing you with the score. Will or can it be a live broadcast streamed to your Apple TV? Will the Apple TV finally be getting a tuner to help it’s goal of becoming the ultimate media destination?

I don’t know, but either way you look at it, the Apple TV, in its current form looks set. Right before MacWorld a refreshment was rumored to consist of a vast redesign, but what did we see? Only a UI redesign with new features. The features are great, don’t get me wrong, but what’s important to note is there was no hardware redesign. The product itself is exactly the same as it was before. Great for users who previously purchased it and want to take advantage of the new features, but is it great for the users who are left expecting more?

I know for myself, I’m looking for the simple solution to everything. Naturally I’ve found Apple to be the shortest path to a great thing, whether it’s OSX, or actual devices, but when it comes to a feature I expect and don’t receive, am I only left to blame myself?

Portability

If the Amazon Kindle can feature full time wireless access, why can’t other devices? I imagine the usage from a Kindle is extremely minimal, but if, including the added cost, a one time payment can allow permanent internet access on a single device, don’t you think the world could benefit far greater if more devices offered the same permanent connection?

I’m curious to see if during the SDK launch Flash support will be announced for the iPhone and iPod Touch as has been rumored. Again only usability is affected. Hardware seems to be rumored around the year mark for a new 3G iPhone. Will it be a simple upgrade, or will a new, redesigned device be introduced? My money is on a simple redesign, possibly just a thinner profile and nothing more. I see the iPhone taking a similar course as the iPod itself. Very minor changes in the actual input method (think 3g iPod with the touch buttons), overall increase in storage, and a thinning profile over time. As far as an iPhone Nano goes, I think if you want an iPhone Nano you get an iPod Touch.

Desktop

With sales up on Notebooks, I think it’s clear the term “desktop” is due for a change. It seems more evident that laptop computing and portability are what matters to the average consumer. Does this mean Desktops and iMacs alike are a slowing trend?

.Mac and the like certainly can allow users to forgo large machines. For the average user, where Pro Apps are of no concern, even for the working professional, cloud computing is the way to manage tasks and contacts. It’s simple, efficient, and allows you to access it from anywhere. Will this create a demand for lighter operating systems such as gOS?

Your Life

Apple seems to have you covered from the desk to the plane. So what’s left in between? Besides refreshments, re-modifications and SDK launches, I think the next couple years seem pretty set. Plenty of “me toos” will pop up, but as far as innovation goes, what’s the real story?

For the record I’m not doubting Apple’s ability to stir public appeal with useful devices, I’m simply wondering what’s next. Maybe I’m asking too much too quick, or maybe everyone’s already hoping for the same, but I’m waiting to see it so I can believe it.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks