
Apple Announces Event on October 4th: Let's Talk iPhone - caiusdurling
http://www.loopinsight.com/2011/09/27/apple-announces-iphone-5-event-for-oct-4/
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timanglade
Seriously, look at the design of the invite. Calendar says Tuesday (October)
4th. Clock says 10am. Map app says this will take place at 1 Infinite Loop.
And the Phone icon makes it clear this will be an iPhone event (rather than an
iPod Touch / iOS event), with one unread notification alerting you that there
is something you must pay attention to. They say everything in 4 icons. So
awesome.

~~~
0xABADC0DA
I bet the 1 on the phone is for "one more thing"; they're going to call up
Steve Jobs and talk with him since he can't be there live on stage.

~~~
sambeau
I read it to mean: only _one_ new phone. I hope you're right, an iPhone 5
_and_ a 4s would be big news.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
It may be that from a media point of view they're not pushing the 4S (if it
exists) as new.

You hype the new phone with the big price tag, you mention in passing the
cheaper low end model.

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cryptoz
So many puns. "Let's talk iPhone" -> "Let's talk, iPhone" (new speech
functionality). It's a phone, you talk to people, you also talk to it, etc.

I would expect this to be a very speech technology-heavy event.

~~~
stevenp
I've never personally been able to get any use out of the voice control
feature of iOS. In fact, after trying it a few times, the only time I invoke
it now is by accident. I hope that Apple kicks some major ass on this feature
and creates another "how did I ever live without this" moment.

~~~
nickheer
When I can ask my smartphone "what time is the next bus arriving?" without
having to touch it, that's when it's a really smart phone. I hope it's that
level of a kick.

~~~
CamperBob
Google's voice search has been at that level for a long time now, but I get
the impression most people have never tried it.

~~~
pasbesoin
A family member tried it on an original Droid, and it was a miserable failure
for her. I was a bit mystified, comparing this experience with the positive
comments I'd read. Might be her voice in particular; I turned on the
"personalized tuning" setting, but it did no good.

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notatoad
wow, that's just evil. TELUS (phone company here) has been running ads in
really heavy rotation pushing the tagline "there's never been a better time to
buy an iphone 4", and stating "offer ends october 4th".

~~~
simonsarris
Is the iPhone 4 still the same price that it was when it came out?

This reminds me of April 2010 when I wrote a couple articles about how Apple
is fairly unique among computer manufacturers for charging enormous prices for
old hardware and going so long without update or a price drop. In April 2010,
depending on the week, you bought a Macbook Pro that was miserably outdated or
a Macbook Pro that was very modern for precisely the same price.

(If you're interested: <http://simonsarris.com/blog/22-mac-envy-2> )

~~~
potatolicious
The thing geeks don't realize is that Apple doesn't _sell_ "hardware" - they
sell an appliance. This year's GE dishwasher won't get cheaper as the year
goes on - it'll just get replaced by a newer model at some point. Similarly, a
Toyota Prius won't get cheaper as the year wears on, it'll also just get
replaced by a new model, at the same price (with the requisite temporary
discount to clear old stock).

And the other thing that geeks don't realize: this is also how most of the
world thinks, and how they _want_ their products to be.

Also re: "miserably outdated" - this, again, only applies to us geeks. For us
it's disappointing to not get the latest, shiniest chipset, or this year's
"it" mobile GPU. But here's the rub: the year-over-year performance increase
for a laptop in the same model line is, what, 15%? A March 2010 MacBook Pro
will surf the internet, access email, and hell, play games just as well as a
May 2010 MacBook Pro. They are, for 99% of users, identical unless you put it
under benchmark conditions.

We geeks place _way_ too much importance in hardware when thinking about the
market in general. We have to remember that _nobody else cares_.

~~~
simonsarris
You have changed my mind. I think you're right here and must agree.

Unlike a dishwasher though, it still seems like a snubbing to any enthusiasts
(I can only assume that dishwasher entusiasts are few, compared to
Mac/hardware enthusiasts). But Apple (like most companies) cannot simply cater
to such a minority, so c'est la vie.

~~~
loire280
Enthusiasts know that Apple product cycles are pretty predictable (especially
now that they follow a bit behind the Intel roadmap), and there's plenty of
tools to help you track if it's a good time to buy or not.

<http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/>

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sneak
I just got excited, then deeply sad when I remembered that this is going to be
without Steve.

Best of luck to Mr. Cook, but I will always miss Stevenotes no matter how
great a CEO he turns out to be.

~~~
culturestate
I wonder if Steve'll be in the audience?

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egiva
Nobody thinks that having four icons indicates that they finally made the
smaller iPod Shuffle-based iPhone? There was speculation last year that they
were looking at a smaller lower-priced entry iPhone with limited features
based on the Shuffle. I would wear it running, so I'm hoping the four-icon
picture isn't just a coincidence.

~~~
ctdonath
[Insert Stimpy "JOY!" here]

That would, indeed, be awesome. I take the iPad almost everywhere, so I have
no need for an iPhone which is little more than an iPad Nano. Thing is, I need
that "little more" - the phone part - as well, and want it as a separate
device which I _can_ have everywhere. It's back to the "just a phone" desire,
a device focused on making phone calls with Apple design sensibilities. Take
an iPod Nano, insert a bigger battery & cellular chip, support Bluetooth
headsets, sell millions.

Methinks coincidence though. Four icons is just enough to get the invite info
across in a cute way, and there just isn't another suitable way to arrange
them (a 4x1 line? not for advertising).

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philwelch
I don't know why everyone's assuming Tim Cook will actually deliver the
keynote when execs like Schiller and Forstall have been doing the keynotes
with Steve and Tim Cook never has.

~~~
dave1619
It's about exerting leadership and taking the realm publicly. Tim Cook needs
to do the keynote for Apple, Apple's fans and the public.

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gto16108
I really can't wait to see how Tim Cook brings the new iPhone to the market.
There's a lot of pressure on him to perform in the same way that Steve Jobs
has in the past. He has, to his advantage, been more chatty with Apple
employees via corporate webmail so I'm excited to see what he says and how he
brings his team around a much awaited iOS 5 and iPhone.

~~~
guywithabike
No need to wait. Tim Cook has already hosted some events, like the Back to the
Mac event.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxWSIDoE8Hk>

(I can't find better videos at the moment, but they're around.)

~~~
gto16108
Ahh yes. I must give Tim credit. He is a very good speaker, that's for
certain.

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thehodge
Wonder if the 1 notification on the phone is a hint that they are only
announcing one phone not two as rumoured..

~~~
technoslut
It's probably an indication of the announcement. I wouldn't read much more
into it.

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baddox
The article is still speculating about the "iPhone 5" part, right? Last I
checked, we still don't know if it will be a hardware upgrade (perhaps "4S"),
a low-cost version, a world phone, a complete form factor upgrade ("5"), or
some combination of these and other things.

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heynk
Might be too much speculation, but the first thing I thought when I saw the
maps icon was a hint that they'd reveal their own non-google maps system.

~~~
shinratdr
Pretty unlikely, we probably would have seen some slip-ups in the iOS 5 beta
if that was the case. As it stands they are still steadily improving the
existing Maps with Google services, adding alternate routes and whatnot.

~~~
watmough
Sadly, Apple do not yet have their own orbital launch capability... though
maybe it's not so far fetched looking at the characters that do!

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timjahn
Next time somebody asks you why you prefer Apple products to competitors, show
them this invite. Explains everything.

So beautiful.

~~~
untog
Then they might justifiably reply "So, you don't care about the product at
all, and just care about the way the company presents itself?"

~~~
raganwald
It’s a reasonable question, however consider the following: If someone is late
for a job interview and unkempt, do you question whether they will be on time
for work and will have meticulous software development hygiene (by whatever
standards you employ, e.g. tests, proper use of source control)?

It’s true that _some_ unkempt people are very careful about their work, and
some people who are late for an interview are on time for work. So I would
personally probe further to make sure this is not a sign of a deeper lack of
commitment.

Careful attention to detail in marketing materials doesn’t automatically mean
careful attention to detail in product development. But you know, I doubt it’s
a coïncidence that Apple's marketing materials are clean and simple, and they
don’t play the “Intel Inside” sticker game, and they are restrained in the
CrapWare they allow on their OS X machines, and so on and so forth.

So if you show me a busy, confused marketing item, I won’t automatically
refuse to buy the product. But I will certainly probe to see if this is an
anomaly or whther it is representative of their approach to product
development.

~~~
joebadmo
"Next time somebody asks you why you prefer Apple products to competitors,
show them this invite. Explains everything."

I suppose in your metaphor it would be: "Next time somebody asks you why you
prefer Jim to his colleagues, show them how he dresses. Explains everything."

I think your formulation is reasonable and measured. I totally agree that
Apple's marketing reflects _something_ about the company. But the GGP comment
is hyperbolic at least, sycophantic at worst. If I asked you why you like
Apple products and you showed me this invite, I would probably disregard your
opinion.

It's the kind of comment that makes many Apple fans seem like cult members, at
least to me.

~~~
raganwald
To be fair, there is a difference between saying that X demonstrates Y and
saying that X _proves_ Y. It is sometimes useful to say things like “Apple’s
approach to ___ demonstrates how they approach product development.” It simply
shows an example of something you believe carries over to their products.

The example that comes to my mind is how the original Macintosh was packaged.
Someone at Apple had taken great care to design the “Opening the box and
setting up your computer” experience such that the right booklet was the first
thing you saw when you opened the box, the power cables, keyboard, and mouse
were layered under the documents in the right order to set them up, and by the
time you lifted the computer out and put it on your desk, it all seemed very
natural to plug things together and turn it on. Their attention to the details
of the unpacking experience demonstrated their approach to macintosh product
development in the late eighties.

That being said, “X explains Y” normally suggests to me that X carries enough
information that you can deduce the important things about Y from it. I
wouldn’t personally suggest their marketing materials explain their products,
so we agree on that.

------
Wazzup12
What could the badge on the phone icon indicate? That's the biggest puzzle...

~~~
wmeredith
In the context of the actual iOS, it indicates one missed call. (Which is
pretty sly considering they're announcing the phone everyone was expecting in
June)

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john2x
Not 9:42 AM?

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caiusdurling
Wonder what they're going to announce in the iPhone 5. Better battery life and
perhaps a better GPS is all I really want over my iPhone 4.

~~~
weaksauce
Improved camera would be nice.

~~~
blinkingled
Interesting. I have heard from so many friends that current iPhone camera is
about as good as it can get. Curious what you are expecting more - just bumped
up mega pixels? Not sure how much that would matter - going from 5MP to 8MP
for e.g.

~~~
runjake
8mp, 1080p, etc.

The Android world (the HTC Sensation being the first to pop into mind) has
finally surpassed the iPhone 4 in camera and video capture quality.

I imagine Apple will leapfrog them again as usual for a healthy competitive
market.

~~~
r00fus
Megapixels != quality. Lens and sensor are far more important.

Can you show me a review that honestly shows new Androids beating an iPhone4
in actual results despite the megapixels?

~~~
runjake
I didn't indicate anywhere that megapixels == quality.

When you just about max out the quality of a given MP value with given
hardware constraints, as I think the iPhone 4 has done, the only real way to
go up is increasing MP.

I can't be bothered to dig up some review for you, as my observations come
from personal experience. Your best bet is to look for HTC Sensation reviews
with unmodified example shots and videos.

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espressodude
Can't wait to see that new iPhone also if Tim Cook could match the level of
how Steve Jobs presents Apple products on his keynotes.

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drivebyacct2
Wow. We're debating the presence of "one notification" to be a response to
_extremely_ speculative rumors of a "cloud iPhone" (in the day of poor
batteries and data-caps?) Or that Assistant, even in this thread, is being
touted as revolutionary? Or that people seem to attribute webOS with Android-
style notifications despite being later to the game? The iPhone 4 is gorgeous
and iOS is in a class of it's own, but I can not understand the blinders that
come on around announcement time.

~~~
revscat
Your entire message is a strawman; there is nothing in this thread which
supports your claims.

~~~
drivebyacct2
There are 3 comments in here speculating that the '1' is specifically about
one model of an iPhone. There are at least 2 comments praising the magicalness
of Assistant. The notifications misconception is one that is popular around
here and even amongst the "geekier" people I know. I knew it wouldn't be a
popular opinion, but my comments are not a terribly unfair depiction of the
reaction to iOS announcements on HN.

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athoma
No Steve Jobs :(

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sidcool
Two words, Cloud iPhone...

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thehodge
Okay, Now I'm ready to admit that it's October 4th..

~~~
rahoulb
actually today is the 28th

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nizm
Maybe Apple is trying to promote 4ormat <http://4ormat.com> with the "4"

