iPhone

Apple’s next iPhone is one many probably feel we’ve already seen in previews, since the rumor mill prior to the release of the iPhone 4S was focused more on the so-called iPhone 5. A lot of what was said about that device should probably come to pass when we do get a new iPhone next year, which Apple could well call the iPhone 5.

A release in fall is probably in the cards, since Apple would gain little by releasing a new iPhone in the early summer so soon after unveiling the iPhone 4S, so it’s hard to pin down anything definite about the device at this point; a lot can change in mobile in nearly a year, after all. But there are a few safe bets regarding Apple’s next smartphone.

First, expect an A6 processor, possibly quad-core, powering the device. Also, a larger screen and a new physical case design are almost guaranteed. I don’t think Apple would go the route of the Android-makers with anything gigantic, but a respectable 4-inch display seems likely. And while LTE still isn’t a guarantee, it’s a good bet for 2012. Near-field communication (NFC) is less certain to make the cut, since that tech still has a long way to go before (if) it goes mainstream.

iPod

Making predictions about Apple’s iPod line is definitely tough. The media player got virtually no changes in 2011 compared to 2010, and its impact on Apple’s overall revenue picture continues to dwindle. The iPod touch is still an important part of the lineup, but even its future might become a question sometime in the next couple of years.

In 2012, I see Apple finally putting its iPod classic to rest, and maybe the shuffle, too. The iPod touch will likely get the spec bump it missed this year, bringing it closer to the current iPhone 4S in terms of wireless radios and processing power, and possibly a physical redesign, too. The real question mark, and maybe Apple’s greatest opportunity to shake up the media player market, is the iPod nano.

Users have been looking for an update that brings Bluetooth on-board with the diminutive nano, making it compatible with wireless headphones (better when worn on the wrist) and possibly enabling a live data connection between it and the iPhone. I suspect that Apple skipped a proper update for the nano this year because it’s actually working on making the nano the perfect connected companion for the iPhone, thanks to Bluetooth 4.0 tech, but we’ll see in 2012 whether or not that’s the case.

iPad

Rumors about the iPad 3 are already swirling, since it seems on track for an early 2012 release. I think we’ll see it arrive around the same time as last year’s iPad 2, so between February and March, complete with the Retina Display users have been looking for since the iPhone 4′s release.

What else will the iPad 3 offer? That’s a good question, and one that hasn’t really been addressed all that much in early reports. Its features will be dictated largely by what the market demands, which shouldn’t be much judging by the current tablet market picture. In 2011, Apple ruled the tablet market without a real competitor in sight. In 2012, it will have low-cost alternatives nipping at its heels, but it still isn’t looking at any competitors who are truly shaking up the space.

As a result, I’d expect to see an iPad 3 that resembles its predecessor in most regards, with the aforementioned improved screen, as well as a slimmer design and maybe a longer lasting battery. Apple has the right recipe for success in other regards, and the iPad 3 isn’t really crying out for camera improvements or additional wireless tech. Adoption of Bluetooth 4.0 is probably also on tap, as well as an upgraded A6 processor, but I wouldn’t expect much else.

Instead of making dramatic changes or additions to the iPad, expect Apple to offer a low-cost option in the form of the iPad 2, likely limited to either 8 or 16 GB of onboard storage. And as much as I and Kevin admire the smaller, 7-inch form factor, I think Apple might keep that one in reserve for at least another year.

Macs

In 2012, iDevices won’t be the only devices getting big upgrades. Apple’s Mac division is still a big revenue driver for the company, and in the new year I expect them to focus on the products that will have the biggest role in the future of computing. The MacBook Air is the crucial device here, but iMacs, too, should be in for big changes.

The MacBook Air is Apple’s most forward-looking Mac, and it has plenty of room to grow. In 2011, the 11- and 13-inch form factors got even better thanks to much-needed processor upgrades and the addition of Thunderbolt tech. In 2012, I expect Apple to expand the line as it moves to push aside the MacBook Pro in terms of its importance to Apple’s notebook offerings. So a 15-inch Air is likely, as well as more substantial improvements to the 11- and 13-inch devices, aimed at shoring up their remaining weaknesses: battery life and storage. Higher resolution displays are another definite possibility.

As Apple’s strongest desktop product, expect iMacs to get significant updates in 2012, both externally and on the inside, too. The current iMac case design is getting a little long in the tooth, and is overdue for an update. Intel has new processors that will likely make their way into Macs in the works, and we should see them in the second quarter of 2012, so expect new iMacs around then, too. Other changes might include high-res displays like those that could make their way to the notebook line, and solid state storage as the default option on some models.

As to the rest of the Mac line, I’d expect to see upgrades for the Mac mini, but not necessarily any big improvements for the Mac Pro. Apple is clearly focusing on consumer products, and it could let its more powerful desktops languish again as a result.

Apple TV

It’s the last big question mark for Apple’s 2012 plans, the mythical iTV. I think we’ll see Apple make its move here, and introduce a television set late in the year, complete with a full App Store, Siri controls and iCloud support. Whether or not we’ll see its set-top Apple TV gets a similar upgrade strikes me as less certain, but since it could act as a gateway device the way the iPod touch does for the iPhone and iPad, I think we’ll see that, too.

This is the rough roadmap I see in place for Apple’s 2012 product plans. Predicting Apple’s plans is likely a fool’s game, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun. Let us know what you think is coming out of Cupertino in the comments.

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If Apple sticks to its release schedule for new iPod models, we’ll likely see the seventh generation nano before too long. I’m hoping for an evolutionary take on the most recent nano, with Bluetooth features for wireless pairing with headphones and push notifications from iPhone and iPad devices. What are you looking for from the next iPod nano?

Image credits, in order of oldest to most recent models: Flickr users eheçåtzin, martijnbeijk, Andrew*, marcopako , coolmikeol, and viskas.

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Monday saw confirmation that Kevin Kelley, former CEO of Kestral Bicycles, where he oversaw the building of carbon fiber bikes, is now Senior Composites Engineer at Apple Inc. Kelley is also listed as the author on a patent filed by Apple in 2009 for “Reinforced Device Housing,” which described an outer casing for electronic devices made from carbon fiber. The hire definitely adds weight to the anonymous tipster’s assertions.

Carbon fiber housing would reportedly allow for much better Wi-Fi signals between iPod devices and computers where media libraries are stored. The source claims, however, that the new housing design (which is said to have been prototyped for the iPod classic and the previous generation iPod nano) isn’t yet meeting to Apple engineer standards. It’s worth noting that the current iPhone and iPad can handle streaming of music and video just fine, and have even been able to sync over Wi-Fi when jailbroken. Android devices can also sync and stream over Wi-Fi using doubleTwist, but in my usage of those syncing features with the Galaxy Tab, the experience wasn’t anywhere near the level I’ve come to expect from Apple products. The high standards for wireless syncing that Apple has no doubt set for itself are probably the main reason we haven’t yet seen an official solution come from the company. It’s possible a different casing material could help Apple get closer to its goals in terms of transfer speeds, connection dependability and device heat during the process.

Carbon fiber casing has been a theme in recent Apple rumors, with reports indicating that the material might be used for an iPad redesign, or even in a future MacBook Air. Logically, the idea of carbon fiber makes sense, since it’s strong, flexible, lightweight and doesn’t pose the same kind of problems regarding wireless signals as does metal. Yet Apple has yet to use carbon fiber in any shipping devices. Still, confirmation that the company now has a carbon fiber expert with at least 14 years experience working with the composite in a senior, full-time, engineering staff position indicates it may be getting more serious about the material’s usage.

I’d look twice at an iPod if it could handle Wi-Fi content syncing in a way that was efficient, fast and easy. It could indeed provide some wind in the sales of sluggish iPod sales, if only until such syncing features become commonplace among smartphones. Anyone else think an iPod with some Wi-Fi mojo might breathe new life into the increasingly outdated concept of a dedicated media player?

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VLC media player, an open-source application from the VideoLAN project, finally reached version 1.0 today. The software had its original start back in 1996 as a school project from engineering students at the Ecole Centrale Paris (though it wasn’t released as an open source project until 2001).

Through many point releases before today, VLC has continued to expand its capabilities, offering support for HD codecs, a diverse set of file formats, live recording, AirTunes streaming and more.

Crazy Formats, Got Ya Covered!

VLC is based on FFmpeg, which means it supports a wider variety of codecs and file formats than your typical QuickTime or Windows Media Player can handle, such as MKV, Og, or FLAC. (There are, of course, alternatives, such as Perian and other plugins to add additional support to QuickTime, but VLC has some more tricks up its sleeve.)

Since it’s a packet-based player, VLC supports playing content that could be partially corrupted or is incomplete. This reason alone makes VLC a popular media player for torrent lovers. VLC is a great addition to your system and is a recommended download for switchers who are used to viewing AVI files on the PC, since the AVI container supports a myriad of codecs that are not all supported natively on the Mac platform.

The 1.0 release of VLC, codename Goldeneye, is available for both Intel and PowerPC platforms (though it does require Mac OS X 10.5 or 10.6) and can be downloaded here. If you’re using Mac OS X 10.4.x or earlier, you can download the previous build of VLC, version 0.9.9a, from here.

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Even though Apple does not ship alternatives to built-in programs, many savvy users grab alternative browsers , text editors and even movie players. One area where Apple seems to have a stranglehold, though, is in the general media players category. Let’s face it, almost every Mac user uses iTunes as the primary way to store, organize and playback media. iTunes is also the de-facto way to get content–music, video or applications–onto your iPod or iPhone. iTunes, to put it bluntly, is its own monopoly with no competition–until now.

Thanks to the hard work of the Pioneers of the Inevitable, Songbird is finally in its 1.0 Release Candidate stage and nearly ready for prime time. So how does it stack up against Apple’s built-in 800-pound gorilla? Can it replace iTunes for many users? Read on for TAB’s initial view of Songbird 1.0.0 RC1.

Songbird: First Look

One major difference between iTunes and Songbird is that you will need to have an Intel Mac to work with it. There are no PPC builds for this release candidate and I suspect that may be the case for the first official release as well. The 31MB download ends up taking 126MB on disk just within the Applications folder, which is just slightly less than the 136MB occupied by iTunes. Not surprisingly, Songbird makes use of the XUL framework and a host of open source libraries to do its work, all of which must be factors in the difference in resource consumption just after startup when compared to iTunes.

You will be asked to import your music after firing up the application for the first time and Songbird will either scan your system for content or it can import your existing iTunes library. While it may re-create your library and playlists item-for-item, Songbird cannot play protected AAC content due to the QuickTime add-on not working with RC1 just yet, so do not expect to play many of your iTunes store purchases unless they are either in iTunes Plus format or you have already taken measures to de-DRM your library.

You will also be asked if you want to load any extensions at this time. Songbird ships with five add-ons:

• iPod Device Support
• SHOUTcast Radio
• Concerts (including ticketing info via Songkick)
• Last.fm
• mashTape

And you can find many more in the Songbird listings.

Once the initial setup is complete, you will be greeted with a window that will seem very familiar and intuitive.

But, Does It Play Music/Videos?

As the previous window-capture shows, Songbird most definitely plays music. With the proper add-ons installed, it will even give you some details about what you are listening to.

Because it is open source, Songbird supports Ogg Vorbis content without having to fiddle with any settings and also supports MP3 and FLAC on all platforms; WMA and WMA DRM on Windows; and (once the add-on is updated) AAC and Fairplay on Windows and Mac.

Video support was “interesting” as I tried playing a movie trailer from the iTunes store (not in a DRM-format) and it played, but with a slightly different experience than one would get in iTunes.

(The video was “squished” with no way to correct it, but it played “correctly”).

Songbird does let you modify the media metadata and will display song lyrics if you have meticulously entered them yourself or utilized one of the handy add-ons to fetch them from the dark corners of the internets.

How Does It Measure Up?

Because of the virtually identical interface to that of iTunes, the experience was very…iTunes-like. Everything worked as you would expect and audio playback was indistinguishable from that of iTunes as well. Smart Playlists worked as expected along with subscriptions (i.e. podcasts). Video playback was a bit tenuous and Songbird did crash on me twice, but that is to be expected given that it is still a release candidate. The developers were even thoughtful enough to include a mini-player.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the level of support for iPods. I was not brave enough to subject my own, personal iPhone to the test, so I commandeered my daughter’s iPod and managed to perform all operations that one would expect to perform without any errors or warnings. That same iPod worked fine again in iTunes as well.

It was also unexpectedly useful to be able to utilize the tabbed-browsing capabilities within Songbird, especially when I used it to explore the “similar songs” content via Last.fm.

Tabbed-browsing was also useful when I jumped over to Aimee Street to find some tracks (it further displayed a list of files I could download immediately).

However, my experiences with the preferences system left much to be desired.

With a bit more polish and working add-ons, I could definitely use Songbird as my primary audio media player if it weren’t for the need to sync everything but music and video with my iPhone. It would also be useful to have a “remote” application for Songbird that worked on the iPhone and iPod touch.

Beyond The Player

The real power of Songbird comes from add-ons. These extensions are what make iPod support, album art download, Last.fm functionality and skinning (now called “feathering”) possible. The best way to work with add-ons is to use the “Songbird Add-ons” bookmark from the leftmost pane. By viewing the Songbird Add-ons gallery from within the application you will only be able to install those extensions that are compatible with the version of Songbird you are running, which will take quite a bit of the guesswork and frustration out of finding ones you want to use.

After putting Songbird through it’s paces, here are some add-ons I can recommend you install to get the best experience out of the application.

• MediaFlow for a cover-flow like view
• Last.fm Album Art to make MediaFlow useful
• Music Recommendations for pseduo-Genius-like recommendations
• LiveTweeter to annoy your social networking friends
• LyricMaster to read what you are hearing
• Mac Remote Control Support which enables the use of Apple’s remote control
• iTunes for an even more familiar GUI

Getting Your Hands Dirty

Because Songbird is an open project, you may contribute as little or as much as you’d like to the community of users. You can work on skins (OK, “feathers”), general add-ons or fiddle with building display panes and Songbird-specific web pages.

One very interesting idea would be to fully integrate social networking sites within Songbird itself so one could, say, monitor Twitter Search for “listening to” tweets and have them queue up in a stream from Last.fm or perhaps find a way to integrate Amazon MP3 into Songbird so that tracks can import directly into it instead of first having to go into iTunes then wait for the library sync. Personally, I’d really like to see support for Growl via some nifty add-on.

For those users that like to know where an application has made footprints on their system, Songbird will store music in ~/Music (you probably should create a subdirectory called “Songbird” that instruct the application to use it if you like your top-level Music folder tidy) and correctly utilizes ~/Library/Application Support/Songbird2 (note the “2″ on the end) for application extras. Application preferences are not fully stored in ~/Library/Preferences/org.songbirdnest.songbird.plist, but it does use it for some of them.

Scripters will be a bit disappointed as Songbird does not have a rich dictionary in any way, shape or form. Only basic application controls are available and no way to do any type of media content-based automation whatsoever. All customizations and integration attempts must be done via Songbird add-ons.

Songbird has come a very long way since the days of version 0.3 and it is definitely something the iTunes development team within Apple should keep an eye on. While iTunes bloats (though Genius is truly genius), Songbird innovates. When 1.0 finally comes out, I suspect I will have little hesitation recommending it to even the most casual of Mac user.

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