Early MacWorld Predictions

Someone was actually bold enough to offer their predictions for MacWorld 2007 (January 9) over two months in advance, so I figured that I'd be so bold as to talk about them a bit. One thing that everyone assumes is a surefire is that we'll see the iTV, and even he suggests this, but I'm not sure in what capacity. I don't think that we'll be able to start buying this thing in January because it's predicted that 802.11n won't be ready until July, and I don't imagine that 802.11g is powerful enough to handle what Apple wants (read here if you're confused). It's not altogether impossible or anything, but I think it's morel likely that we'll just see more of its features and a release date. iLife and iWork are more solid predictions though, as is the lack of a new video iPod. January would be a very strange month to release a product like that in, and MacWorld just isn't the right event for it. Something like that would warrant its own little press conference, so don't expect it so soon (though again, not impossible). You can be sure to see more Microsoft bashing, of course, and comparisons between Vista and Leopard as well as Zune and the iPod line. Speaking of Leopard, I'm sure they'll reveal some more features as we inch so much closer to its final release, so hopefully that'll be something to look forward to. I don't agree about the iPhone though: I've seen so many mixed signals about it that I don't think it's going to happen, at least not in January. I also don't see an iTunes 7.5 so close to the release of iTunes 7, but ringtones will likely be in iTunes's future. Instead, I'm sure we'll see more TV shows and movies available on iTunes. Yes, the future is bright for MacWorld, but Apple is known for throwing curveballs, so don't try to pin everything down. I'll keep you posted on more reliable rumors as they develop.

Some of you may have heard of this new RED campaign to get people to buy certain products from which a certain portion of your purchase goes to help fight AIDS in Africa, and Apple has decided to join in with a RED iPod Nano that looks really good in fiery red. It's an interesting campaign, and I'm glad Apple joined in because God knows they make enough profit off of Nanos. IGN decided to do a little feature comparing the Wiimote's form factor to other remotes and controllers, and I liked the way it looked in comparison to a PSP the best. It definitely looks slick, and it's a big plus that it's so small. Time Warner has come forward to take its turn to jab at YouTube for copyright infringement, but they're actually more interested in striking a deal than suing YouTube, which is quite surprising to me considering how evil Time Warner is. They're taking their case to Google given the recent purchase, and I'm sure that many other companies will do that as well in hopes that Google can better enforce a vehicle for change. I'm just glad that YouTube isn't getting sued, yet. Google offices in India are claiming that the talent pool in India really isn't all that great, mainly because people there aren't experienced with all the newest web technologies. While it's nice that that probably means more jobs for us, I think it's unfair to be so selective if the people themselves are smart and can learn the stuff easily. Nothing in programming is that hard to learn if you have a degree in CS. Congress is playing around with legislation requiring electronics manufacturers to take care of e-Waste, which is a nice gesture except that it's going to be a major pain to enforce. Why not just give tax breaks to companies that do recycle? Re-using those parts could help the economy with saved expenses, so it's good use of government money.

AICN has some fresh new reviews for us. Quint saw Babel and Man of the Year but didn't seem impressed with either. I found that kind of sad because I wanted to see both of them, especially Babel. They also got a review of Lifted, a short film from Pixar, and it sounds like a pretty fun little animated featurette. All you Old School fans should take solace in knowing that the sequel's script is still in the works, so give it some time before you hear casting details and such. Lastly, IGN has a few new shots from 300 for those of you interested.

Before I conclude, I just thought I'd plug something shamelessly. So apparently, someone at Cranium noticed that it's my favorite board game and contacted me to thank me, which I thought was pretty cool so I thought I'd mention their new game Pop5 real quick. It's more pop culture based and faster since it's a timed 5 round thing (kind of like Guesstures) where you have to do a different Cranium thing for each round within a certain time frame back-to-back. They have it online if you want to try it out, and it seems fun, though not quite as fun online since you're not playing with friends or family, but a good idea no less. I think I'll end up picking it up before Thanksgiving.

Now for Friday's Feast:

Appetizer
Approximately how many hours per week do you spend reading other blogs?
Maybe an hour or two.

Soup
Your community wants everyone to give one thing to put into a time capsule. What item would you choose to include?
I still have a newspaper from 9/12/2001, so maybe that. Or, there's my ACL wristbands!

Salad
What is the most interesting tourist attraction you've ever visited?
That's really really hard. I'm going to say the Statue of Liberty simply because it's so humbling to see it in person.

Main Course
If you could give an award to anyone for anything, who would it be and what would the award be titled?
It would be my friend Jennyfer for being the most fun to poke fun at ;)

Dessert
What do you think your favorite color reveals about your personality?
Not sure what blue says about me. Maybe that I used to be very blue but have grown from it to become happier?