Visionary: Steve Jobs End of Macworld Dynasty?

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights. Bendrix highlights his thoughts and other lunatic fringe thinking.

January 9, 2009 marks the end of the Macworld Expo 25 year run.

Its Tuesday January 10th, 2006. I wake up at 3AM with the hope to be the first to tell my story. I am tired but energized by the excitement of the day. Steve Jobs is going to present another legendary keynote and this year its going to be big. For the past 3 or 4 years any news Apple puts out becomes an instant industry game changer. That year I really didn’t care about the big news I just wanted a simple way to express my deepest regard to the atmosphere of the festivites. I wanted to share my video experience with my brothers and sisters back in the east. Our beloved Macworld had ended in Boston 2005. I wanted to be the first of several pioneer video producers and podcasters to promote the event on the web.

I take pride in being an 18 year Apple loyalist. It’s not a blind pride but rather a thankful loyalty to a product and service that has kept me employed and has been part of my personal lifestyle since college. I used to be the guy that could predict the products with 87% accuracy. Its not a gloat, its more of a statement that I took it serious about being an expert in the field the main reason I was astute about my Apple passion. Over the years having that passion has served me well with many opportunities that have been presented due to my Apple gear, software and skills.

Its now 4AM Tuesday, January 6, 2009, I am not at Macworld this year and it happens to be the last of a 25 year run. Apple will no longer host the inescapable Macworld Expo and Steve Jobs will apparently not give his Keynote address, which If i can remember correctly has never happened at the San Francisco event since his return back to the company in September 16, 1997.

i think the world media will be watching today very closely, For Steve not to speak Apple had better have some serious announcement or they will see investor confidence in their stock plunge in a major way. I am no longer that kid who can guess with 87% about the products and services, but I will make an attempt at gauging the enormity of what may happen today:

1. Steve is not speaking because he has been unwell and almost did not speak at his last several keynotes do to his health. People have been rumoring that his cancer may be back and it was evident something was wrong with him at the WWDC in 2008. Investors were nervous then and if that was any indication then I am sure they would be less comfortable now. In this market Apple can not afford to freeze their confidence, because it will be the beginning of the end of their current stranglehold of tantalizing the world with goodies. I believe that Steve will pass the mic off to his protege. A protege that has been around for a while shadowing him. Could it be Phil Schiller the senior vice president of worldwide product marketing or Jonathan Ive the genius who brought award winning industrial designs for the original iMac, aluminum PowerBook G4 (and MacBook Pro), iPod and iPhone. Phill has the marketing savvy but not the showmanship of Steve, I have heard Jonathan speak a few times he’s got the charsma but not sure how he would work out as a Keynote guy. He’s never really been on stage to present and maybe this is the reason why. Anyway whom ever this mystical protege is he/she will have to be so dynamic and assuring that it convinces the Apple faithful and their investors. Steve and company are the masters of secrecy and they will keep us all guessing until the last minute. Will Steve actually retire today?

2. Lets look at Hardware. The basic Macbook, Macbook Air, and Macbook Pro models, the Mac Pro, the iPod nano and iTouch), and the iPhone 3G lineups were all updated during or a little after the summer. Thats pretty much everything form hardware except the iMac, the Mac Mini and Apple TV. I believe that the Mini may be getting phased out if it hasn’t already. Apple TV doesn’t really need a design overhaul and it had a firmware update this summer. Which leaves the iMac. It seems way too obvious that this is the one huge announcement that Apple will make. The last release was in April 2008 which means they are way over due. What could Apple possibly do to make it more appealing than it is… umm maybe they could make a touch screen Kiosk, or better yet they may skip the iMac again because April 2008 was not that long ago and they will wow the world with the worlds first successful “TABLET,” something that the PC world has failed miserably since Bill Gates demonstrated the first public prototype of a Tablet PC version of the Windows operating system at Comdex. Its the right time for Apple to release a Tablet with the growing success of the Kindle and the iPhone, its only logical to think that would be the HUGE news for today.

3. Lets look at Software. This is a labyrinth of an undertaking. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard came out in June of 2008 I doubt they will update it this soon its still very new. The iApps will get a push, The Pro Apps will get no push at all, because its a consumer level show not for us uber geeks. What may happen is they will probably make more Mac products windows compatable like iMovie and iPhoto, or they might just make Cloud computing a reality and have these applications for use online just like Google apps. Thats pretty far fetched but its the 25h year anniversary they have to do something that ultra cool like that. OH wait iTunes, could get its big day in the sun, I have always thought of it as a do it all application. I think it will merge with Safari as the media browser of the future. if not this year its coming soon.

4. iPhone enhancements – I think the gaming community has found a new home. I think that the PSP and the Nintendo DS may be in trouble this year. Apple will become a gaming platform in a big way this year starting with the iTouch and iPhone. I do think there will be some cool features of both products but its gonna be mostly about the games.

5. Big announcement that Apple will do some type of big partnership with some cool company, maybe like Google. Shhh you didn’t hear that from me.

Ok its now 5:57 and I’m tired of all this guessing. I just want to post this. Keep in mind I have deliberately avoided chatting with my Mac pals and the Mac rumor forums so I have no idea what they are thinking. I’ve lost my edge a bit. we shall see later on around 12 AM EST. In the meantime Njoy a trip down memory lane, of the videos that I constructed. I woke up at 4AM to tape people who had been waiting on line since 2AM. I bet there are people in line now as i write this at 2AM PST.

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Gadgets: Whats in a PSP 3000?

Portable Pixels reviews the portability of digital media in gadgets, software and related resources. We celebrate cutting edge technology but we mostly focus on practical applications & functionality.

Those of you that read my blog know that I am a media and gadget geek. I am in Hong Kong right now and on the eve of purchasing my first PSP on my long flight back to the USA. There are some reliable rumors surfacing that there will be PSP 3000 released soon. Most PSP owners are not sold on upgrading but seeing this will be my first PSP should I wait or just go for it?

With regard to the iPhone, I don’t really focus on the phone features. I am personally interested in its media capabilities as it applies to my research. The same goes for the PSP, the gaming experience is cool and interfacing is always important, but whats most important to me is the video, RSS, and media sharing capabilities. I do enjoy gaming particularly games like Soul Caliber, and Street Fighter, when I have time for such things. I think an 8 GB or 4 GB along with battery pack will be my top accessory priorities. For once I am looking for feedback before my purchase. Should I wait for this PSP 3000 or do I get the PSP slim? If anyone has any suggestions or comments please post them here or email me at codedsignal@gmail.com

- Bendrix

Codedsignal.com is a Digital Media Network featuring: Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop | Beneath the Beat: Electronica | Shanxi Nan Lu: Travel | Digital Media Tips: Web Culture – and hosts a variety of other related media properties.

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Gadgets: iPod-Touch? OR! iPhone-Upgrade?

Portable Pixels reviews the portability of digital media in gadgets, software and related resources. We celebrate cutting edge technology but we mostly focus on practical applications & functionality.

purchased an iPod-Touch (iTouch) last Friday on September 21, 2007. I boasted that it would be ‘the’ ultimate portable media experience. I thought it would be the ‘end all device’ of all devices, but boy was I sooooooooo wrong. I posted a blog a few days ago titled “The iPod-Touch my 17 year quest.” Basically its my personal 17 year journey exploring different ways to minimize my physical carrying load. The post started out talking about how I used to carry two book-bags and a portfolio case. It moved on to discuss about how I wanted to maximize my mobility by optimizing all my media and organizational data into a pocket sized device. I really thought the iTouch was my answer, but within 24 hours I capitulated and upgraded to an iPhone.

Let me backtrack for a bit… before we get into the iPhone, I want to talk about the differences between the iTouch and the iPod Classic. In a nutshell the iTouch is a touch screen mini computer. Its an entirely new kind of device experience. I guess the only thing you can equate it to is a pocket sized Tablet PC. Hmmm did I hear someone say Tablet Mac???

All iPods to date have a 320×240 viewable screen, but this new iTouch has a 480×240 viewable area. You can surf the web off of any available WIFI network, which in my city New York, thats pretty much any block. The iTouch has innovative tactile navigation feature’s, a lot of double tapping, pinch resizing, and scroll pushing with your fingers. It also offers a single physical ‘home’ button that gets you back to your main setup. This is truly something yet to be experienced in the mass computing market. Its so refreshing, that even the non techies seem to be geeking out over its futuristic qualities.

The iTouch has everything I need, video, audio, internet and easy to access data. As a portable media strategist these are the key features I need to test, access and showcase my content. The iTouch is truly a remarkable device and will please a bunch of people, but for my personal tastes, I feel its a dud.

First of all there is a $389 price tag with Apple Care and It has an 8 GIG media capacity, far below what most people have come to expect for that cost. Other tidbits: no email client, no bluetooth, no ability to take photos, no SMS, no ability to type notes, and no application hacks. On top of all of that, its 3 months behind the iPhone with consumer and expert testing. Other things Ive discovered, the video playback is not as crisp or clear as the iPhone and an active iTouch will need to be charged more frequently than an equally active iPhone. The iTouch has been striped of numerous features unnecessarily, to accommodate a slimmer and a slightly lighter feel, as a result there were no external protective iTouch cases on the market at the time of this writing (in other words its too small for an iPhone case). I have been waiting for Apple to create this all in one phoneless PDA internet device for about seven years now. Though I am terribly disappointed, I do think that if you want to see a proper upgrade of this product wait till the annual Mac World Expo in January 2008.

As I was saying earlier in this post, I took back my iTouch the next day and purchased an iPhone (btw It was a $30 restocking fee). Actually I’ve mentioned many aspects of the iPhone in this post, if you want a more comprehensive breakdown of the device check out this iPhone website link. One thing that I forgot to mention is that there are some external extras on the iPhone, that the iTouch lacks. There is a volume control in the upper left side, a silent/vibrator switch and on the back in the upper right corner there is a camera.

I have tons of geeky pals that also have iPhones. I have seen some of them use no protective case and it looks practically new. Others like me have hard core cases. I personally have a Crystal Jacket Set that comes with a film protector for the touch screen area. I have also read articles about how you should maximize the battery’s life span. For the past 3 days I have been putting my iPhone to the test and I must say that I am so overwhelmed with geek lust that I feel the need to retract a statement I made referring to the iPhone, back on June 29th, 2007

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out.

I really really really tried hard to fight the iPhone craze, but I can’t deny that Its a shockingly functional device and I’m excited to say that I actually do need it for my work. As prices come down and other mobile carriers come on board, people will swarm over to iPhones just as they have with iPods. People want an all in one user friendly lifestyle device to help entertain, capture and manage parts of their lives. Oh lets not forget that they also want to connect and communicate with others.

Apple has already shook up the entire music industry and the major media networks. Now they are taking on the cell phone market. The telecoms should be nervous because they will no longer be able to push off half assed inferior technology and services. Apple has raised the bar and now the the manufactures will feel the pressure to meet or exceed the Apple standard. The fact is Apple is preparing to double their iPhone shipment for the fourth quarter. Already there have been numerous reports of over 1 million iPhones sold in less than 3 months. I believe that this device will take a HUGE chunk out of the cell phone market in the next 3-5 years. But hey what do I know… all I know is that I no longer have to carry 2 bookbags and a portfolio case and thats plenty to celebrate about.

- Bendrix

Codedsignal.com is a Digital Media Network featuring: Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop | Beneath the Beat: Electronica | Shanxi Nan Lu: Travel | Digital Media Tips: Web Culture – and hosts a variety of other related media properties.

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Gadgets: ZAGG Inc. introduces the RockStic

Portable Pixels reviews the portability of digital media in gadgets, software and related resources. We celebrate cutting edge technology but we mostly focus on practical applications & functionality.

Because I blog and podcast about technology I always get on the mailing lists of these up and coming products that are just hitting the market. Yesterday I received an email from the SheieldZone Corp. Last year I did a review of their product, the Invisible Shield.

The Invisible Shield is a thin protective covering that you carefully stick on your iPod, cell phone or other techie device. They claimed that with this protective covering that the device would not get scratched. I naturally was skeptical. They took an iPod with the shield on it… and dropped it in a box full of nails and bolts and shook it up really hard… I shook it up really hard. Not a scratch, actually the only parts that were scratched were the areas that they intentionally left open to show the effectiveness of the product. Lets just say I was astonished at how well it worked and purchased one on spot. I currently have an invisible shield on a standby iPod that I take on the road, it gets handled a lot and its held up beautifully.

Now that you know the story … back to the email:

“Recently, we changed our name to ZAGG. Today, we change the way you listen to music. To all of our loyal invisibleSHIELD customers we’re proud to introduce the RockStic. The RockStic is a powerful iPod speaker system. It is compact, versatile, functional and is compatible with other MP3 players. Despite its small size, its speakers pack a punch, making it ideal for parties and travel. The RockStic charges your iPod too! The RockStic is available in black, silver, and vibrant pink. Order yours today and save $20 with our introductory price.”

That was the email and here is a link to the Zagg website. It looks pretty slick and cool. I am creating a new category for Products in my del.icio.us bookmarks.

- Bendrix

Codedsignal.com is a Digital Media Network featuring: Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop | Beneath the Beat: Electronica | Shanxi Nan Lu: Travel | Digital Media Tips: Web Culture – and hosts a variety of other related media properties.

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Visionary: Google Acquires Grandcentral

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights. Bendrix highlights his thoughts and other lunatic fringe thinking.

On Monday July 2nd, I received a phone message about a new Google offering. I ignored it… On Wednesday July 4th I got that same message but this time in the form of an email… Still ignored it. So earlier today I finally checked both of these messages and it appears that I am a little late with the news, but I certainly won’t be the last to blog about it.

You see I have this huge Google fetish and I love it whenever they come out with a new beta application or acquire a new company. Well there happens to be this company called Grandcentral and it was acquired by Google sometime within the past week or so. This is truly awesome news because I have been testing out Grandcentral since November 14, 2006. I absolutely love the service and brag about it to friends and colleagues all the time; but don’t take my word for it, because once Google gives the stamp of approval to something then you know its got to have some value.

Grandcentral is this online application that allows you to input phone contacts and keep that information hosted on their server. Why is this cool? Suppose you loose your phone or your computer dies or you loose your little black book? If you don’t have a backup plan, then you’re out of luck. Several months ago both my computer and my cell phone died around the same time and I lost all my contact info (well I still had the business cards).

Another good reason to join, free phone forwarding. When you first sign up for the service you must choose a city and a virtual phone number… This virtual number can be linked to your home, cell, work, or any other phone you choose (up to 7 numbers). If someone calls you, you can send them directly to your virtual voicemail. You can be listen to messages on your phone, through your Grandcentral web page, or via. email. Another reason why this feature is cool is because you are no longer tied to your home or business office. Lets say you have several employees who all have cell phones, all you have to do is input all their numbers at the Grandcentral site and elect to access that number. That number can represent your main office number and any one of your employees can either answer the call or let it go to voicemail. There can be many ways to implement the technology in the home, the office, or among groups, this is just one example.

Another awesome feature is that you can record your conversations. The average person may find this an unnecessary feature, but to a podcaster or a video blogger this could be the killer interview application they have been looking for. Its an all in one solution, no extra’s or burdensome instructions. You just inform the party on the other end that you are about to record them… when they consent… just press the number “3″ button on your phone… talk, talk, talk… and when you’re done, just hit the “3″ button again. Its that easy and the audio files reside on your Grandcentral profile page in the form of a downloadable MP3 or you can listen to the steam from the page itself.

Go see for yourself. My prediction: Grandcentral will be among ‘the’ hot new web technologies for 2007.

- Bendrix

Codedsignal.com is a Digital Media Network featuring: Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop | Beneath the Beat: Electronica | Shanxi Nan Lu: Travel | Digital Media Tips: Web Culture – and hosts a variety of other related media properties.

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Visionary: Apple Store 5th Ave iPhone Debut

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights. Bendrix highlights his thoughts and other lunatic fringe thinking.

On Friday June 29th I traveled to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York City to witness the pandemonium over the iPhone. I have been present at both the SOHO and 5th Ave Apple Store grand openings, about 9 Mac World Expo’s, and a slew of Apple product release events. Let me just say that this was a crowd that stretched a full city block and the largest police presence and gathering of news teams that I’ve ever witnessed at an Apple event. So why all the madness and what exactly is the value of this product?

Some people are interested but think the $600 price tag is steep. Others ask what’s the big deal over a stooooopid gadget that is nothing more than an indulgence. Others are griping about the exclusivity with AT&T.

The significance of this event and this device marks the beginning of a Telecom revolution. Just like the iPod+iTunes and now AppleTV are revolutionizing digital downloads and the way we view our entertainment – the iPhone will do the same. Apple will make the cellular networks and device makers step up their game – forcing them to offer services and innovations long over due. I will be blogging more on this topic over the next few weeks… stay tuned and check out the mayhem on the video clip below.

- Bendrix

Visionary: Apple Store SOHO iPhone Debut

Visionary is the celebration of extraordinary individuals, innovations, ideas and events that offer progressive or foretelling insights.

Yesterday I traveled down to the Apple Store in SOHO New York City and saw the first line brewing for the iPhone. Its absolute madness, in order to be first in line you would have had to have been there on Tuesday June 26th before noon. Some people have been camping out for a few days, but today Friday June 29th is the release date of the long awaited iPhone. The revolutionary device that I predict will change the face of the telcom industry just like the ipod is doing to music, and what iTV is about to do the broadcast and film industries.

Being a tech and mac geek I tend to have a first round adopter mentality but a second round adopter practicality. I think I am going to have to sit this one out. I am very interested in the iPhone but at a $600 price tag and the AT&T subscription, its just not exactly what I’m looking for. Actually, I’m not really the phone that excites me… its the video capabilities, the touch screen simplicity, Bluetooth, and the internet.

I will be taking a trip to the Apple store 5th avenue within the next few hours. I gather the madness is probably more intensified there… The real geeks go to SOHO the wannabe’s go to 5th Ave that’s gonna be my theme over the next few days… stay tuned and check what I post over the next 48 hours and peep this exclusive clip below

- Bendrix

Web Culture: Tubes Advertises on French Maid TV

HTTP Echoes is about insightful blog posts and web related ventures. We echo these insights and offer our thoughts on how it relates to web culture.

French Maid TV just posted a video clip on Youtube yesterday (6/26/07) and it was downloaded or viewed over 700,000+ times in less than 2 days. The clip titled “Sexy French Maid TV – How To Share Photos” is a 6:20 minute “provocammercial.” What I find utterly remarkable is how it was presented and how it craftily worked in a smart sales pitch for a new company called Tubes.

For those of you not familiar with French Maid TV, its a series of viral video “How To’s,” taught by sexy French maids. Its the type of entertainment that you pass along to friends and they to their friends’ friends. The video clips are reminiscent of Benny Hill skits minus the Benny and the lil old man. Tim Street the mastermind behind French Maid inspires the hell out of me; as a new media producer, I admire what he has done with his brand and his marketing tactics.

This particular clip was brilliant because the title “How To Share Photos” cleverly showed you how the photo feature of Tubes worked then went on to briefly mention how it was a personal sharing network “that lets you instantly and simply share photos, music, video and documents with everyone you know.”

There have been numerous advertising and marketing agencies that jump on the Youtube or Myspace bandwagon and believe that they are “in the know” with the online media space. They need to take notes because Tim and his team are leading the way and changing the rules of the game. I say give the man a Wikipedia slot already. Oh yeah… don’t tell anyone this, but its the first time that an online “video’mmercial” has actually convinced me to buy into its product… damn did I mention that its a PC product. It looks like a great lil filesharing app. Too bad because, there will be tons of mac users who would be interested in this product.

I’ve posted the clip on my blog so you can see for yourself.

Provoca’ommercial © and Video’mmercial © are my copyrighted sayings as of June 2007

- Bendrix

Codedsignal.com is a Digital Media Network featuring: Beneath the Beat: Hip Hop | Beneath the Beat: Electronica | Shanxi Nan Lu: Travel | Digital Media Tips: Web Culture – and hosts a variety of other related media properties.

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