Apple set to distort reality again at Sept 1 iEvent?

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 26 August 2010 22:32

Your IT - Home IT

Apple has sent out invitations to a 'special event' on the 1st of September at which a new Apple TV, a new Facetime compatible iPod Touch, 99c TV show rentals and presumably 'one more thing' are set to be unveiled.

The news is all over the web - another Apple iEvent is on the way, with reports and screenshots (see a report here from AppleInsider.com) of the official Apple invite stating that it will all happen on September 1.

Apple's iPod Touch is expected to be upgraded with a 3.2 megapixel rear camera, possibly without an LED flash, and a front facing VGA camera for Facetime video calls over a Wi-Fi network, using an email address as the Facetime identifier.

This would also presume that an inbuilt microphone will finally come to the iPod Touch, rather than forcing iPod Touch users to use a 3.5mm-plug-equipped microphone headset, and given an inbuilt microphone is easy to include, as is the case with the video-recording capable iPod Nano, it should finally happen.

Given the iPod Touch currently has its speaker at the bottom of the unit, the microphone will probably be at the top of the iPod Touch, but that's just my own personal speculation - we'll know for sure before we here in Australia know the outcome of our country's Federal Election!

Next up is a new Apple TV, presumed to be dubbed the iTV, much to the chagrin of the UK TV network ITV, and reports suggest it will have an ARM processor, run a version of iOS and have access to the App Store. Whether you'll be able to use your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad as an iTV remote control is unknown, but it's probably likely. Again, we'll have to wait and see.

Following this comes news of Apple's efforts in getting TV shows priced at US 99c to rent, with a 7 day rental period but a timer that only gives you 48 hours to watch the show once you've started watching it before it is no longer playable. Questions over whether Apple will announce a streaming and/or web-based iTunes service have also been raised, but as you'd expect, no-one really knows so the rumour-mill continues rumbling.

Other speculation revolves around the possibility of a 7-inch iPad launching, a 'new' smaller iMac that can run both OS X and iOS, the launch of iOS 4.x for the iPad and more (ok, I'm the one hoping Apple launches iOS 4.x for the iPad already!), although given the Apple invite shows a guitar with its 'hole' in the shape of the Apple logo, Apple seems to be suggesting the event is more to do with digital media than digital devices, although with a new iPod Touch expected to arrive, both digital media and digital devices should get a guernsey.

However, as we all know, Apple usually shock, awe and surprise, so we can only hope that whatever is launched, there's a juicy little 'one more thing' that no-one was expecting to delight Apple's fans, dismay Apple's detractors and distort the field of reality yet again!