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Apple To Make "Music To Your Ears" Announcement 390

Posted by Hemos from the what-a-crappy-news-day dept.
supa_k writes "According to an offical Apple invitation sent to the good folks at MacCentral, on April 28th Apple will make 'announcements that will be music to your ears.' It remains to be seen if this involves a purchase of Universal - something Apple offically denied just a few days ago but it will undoubtedly be the announcement of their online music subscription service and the other announcement will surely be new iPods."
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Apple To Make "Music To Your Ears" Announcement More

Apple To Make "Music To Your Ears" Announcement

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  • I'll bet (Score:5, Funny)

    by mrpuffypants ( 444598 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .stnapyffuprm.> on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:49AM (#5773163)
    ...that it's really just going to be an opportunity to get drunk with Jobs and listen to Doobie Brothers really loud

  • Dell dumping iPods, so... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by deanj ( 519759 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:50AM (#5773171)
    Dell's been doing deals on iPods lately, probably getting rid of stock for Apple. New higher capacity iPods on the way, is my wager.

    Yeah...really going out on a limb there. :-D

  • Looking forward to it (Score:5, Interesting)

    by PrimeWaveZ ( 513534 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:51AM (#5773177)
    At the Apple retail store I work at, we've been waiting for some sort of an announcement. People come in asking when new iPods with color screens and video players are supposed to ship, and we have to say "nothing has been announced." One guy even tried to say that we HAD announced a 970 version of the iPod, and wanted to know when he could pick it up. Hopefully this will quiet a lot of those folks.

    I would like to see the new TravelStar 80GN in some sort of small iPod-ish MP3 player. Given, it's a 2.5" drive, but damn!

    • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Funny)

      by mjpaci ( 33725 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:54AM (#5773200) Homepage Journal
      I checking out the Apple booth at MWNY '02 when this teenager walked up to the Apple rep and asked where the new G5s were. He said that he read on the Internet that they had been released. The Apple rep was like, "Um, no. We didn't announce anything that even sounds like G5." The kid was adamant that they had been released. Shows you what people will believe.

      --Mike
      • On the other hand, yesterday some"very well-informed Apple Employee" at J and R said he'd never heard of 10.3 (Panther) being previewed at the WWDC and released in the Fall. It's been all over the web and on the Apple front page since March 21st when they changed the date of the conference.

    • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Informative)

      by mrpuffypants ( 444598 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .stnapyffuprm.> on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:56AM (#5773214)
      I always try to weasel info out of the peopel at my local Apple store.

      The other day I went in there looking at the powerbooks nad told the guy that "I couldn't justify the 17"pbook and the 12" wasn't much better than my ibook. However, I'd go for an updated version of the 15"

      He tells me "dude, if I knew anything I'd tell you now, but I haven't heard anything"

      Accodring to him the store employees at the Apple stores literally don't see any new products until the day they come in, and it's just sitting there on the shelf. True?

      • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Informative)

        by PrimeWaveZ ( 513534 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:00AM (#5773263)
        Yup. We know squat until the day of whatever the announcement is. We all got our news in January DURING the keynote. Not a moment before the rest of the world. It stinks, but at least we don't have to lie to folks.

      • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Insightful)

        by sigep_ohio ( 115364 ) <drinking@seven.am.is.bad> on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:12AM (#5773339) Homepage Journal
        it is like that at a lot of retail stores. the reason being is that corporate knows that the retail worker monkeys would squeel the news to sites like this.

        i don't work for an apple store, but i do work for circuit city and thats how they work.

      • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        According to him the store employees at the Apple stores literally don't see any new products until the day they come in

        He's telling you the truth. There are no 15" Aluminum Powerbooks in any Apple Store back room. To illustrate Apple's desire for secrecy even more, there's going to be a special event going on at the Apple Stores on May 2nd, with a satellite link up and everything, and nobody at the Apple Store will know anything specific about it *whatsoever* until a few hours before.

      • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Informative)

        by presearch ( 214913 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:24AM (#5773419)
        From the highest level VP, to the cleaning staff at Cupertino, Big Steve has made
        it clear that if anyone leaks any information about future plans or products,
        it's immediate termination. It's Apple's First Commandment and few will risk
        the wrath of Jobs.
      • And my experience is that they typically don't see the products until a few weeks after they've been announced. Jobs: you got me all excited about the 17" notebook; I should be able to drive to your store the next day and see the floor model. After 3 weeks and people tend to lose enthusiasm. How hard can it be to send 20 fed-ex packages with the new floor models at the exact moment of your announcement?

        Yeah, I know they probably aren't made yet and you want to get the announcement to coincide with some maj

      • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:4, Interesting)

        by davesag ( 140186 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @06:51PM (#5777156) Homepage
        My favourite Mac shop refused to sell me a 20GB iPod the other week on the grounds that I am a good customer and he said "You do yourself a favour and wait a few weeks.. you'll be blown away.". I I walked out of the store with my £400 or so still in my pocket. I've emailed him since to see what he knows so well that he'll turn away good hard kash, but he just says "wait, i can't say yet, but you'll be amazed." Is he just shitting me? Or does he know something. Or is it just that blind-freddy could see that a new ipod is on the way. Either way I went back in and bought a 12"G4 for my girlfriend a week later so he's still doing okay out of me.

        and for what it is worth, yes I do think a colour, 60GB bluetooth enabled, firewire][ iPod with video out and full support for syncing to iphoto would be the duck's nuts and I'll buy one the instant it comes out.

    • People come in asking when new iPods with color screens and video players are supposed to ship, and we have to say "nothing has been announced." One guy even tried to say that we HAD announced a 970 version of the iPod, and wanted to know when he could pick it up.

      Wow. I wonder what the power consumption is on a PowerPC 970-based iPod. I do hope you told him that what he was asking for was pure technobabble.

    • Re:Looking forward to it (Score:5, Funny)

      by TylerL82 ( 617087 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:00AM (#5773254) Homepage
      Remember kiddies...mall employees thousands of miles from Apple HQ know all of the company's secrets!
      Steve personally calls each and every retail employee every night with the latest "dirt"!
      When a retail employee says "I don't know" or "Apple hasn't announced a G7, you weirdo", they are actually saying "Apple confirms your suspicions. Please post on SpyMac."
  • ... or maybe not

    • Re:It smells like Ogg ... (Score:5, Funny)

      by feldsteins ( 313201 ) <scott @ s c ottfeldstein.net> on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:35AM (#5773485) Homepage
      No, Apple is going with AAC [apple.com]. I think slashdotters tend to overestimiate the importance of OGG. Like "if only Apple would add OGG support to their iPod they'd sell a million more of them! Shooting themselves in the foot again. WTF is their problem??" Reality: if they did go to the trouble and expense nobody* would notice.

      * Well not "nobody" exactly. About 27 people on slashdot would notice, but only after arguing viciously for months about whether or not Apple implimented it correctly, after which approximately 2 of those 27 would actually purchase an iPod.

      • Re:It smells like Ogg ... (Score:5, Informative)

        by frankie ( 91710 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:59AM (#5773654) Journal
        AAC support in iPod and iTunes is absolutely essential for any Apple music download service, since MP4 has the necessary DRM capabilities that MP3 doesn't.

        The only reason I hold any hope of Apple adding Ogg support to iPod is that it's free (as in both) [xiph.org]. There's 32MB of EPROM (or Flash?) on every iPod specifically intended for firmware updates. Plenty of room for AAC, Ogg, and the next dozen codecs to come.

      • heh (Score:2, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Score: -9, Way Way Too Accurate

      • Re:It smells like Ogg ... (Score:3, Informative)

        by azav ( 469988 )
        Actually, there is a OGG xtra for Director. Now if anyone wants to write a nice clean ui for OGG files on mac and win only, the xtra is free and somewhere on MM's web site.

        Ahh, here it is:
        http://www.directordev.com/tools/xtras/OggVor bis/O gg.htm

  • I just hope... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sockit2me9000 ( 589601 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:54AM (#5773193)
    that they keep the 5 gig and drop the price down to $200. That would bring the mp3 jukebox revolution to an even larger market. I know a lot of people who choke at $300 but would jump on one in a hearbeat if the prices was lowered to around the $200 mark. Might not be have high profit margins, but it would get lots of Apple equipment into lots of hands which is part of what Apple is trying to do right now.

  • Most likely Announcements are... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by coolmacdude ( 640605 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:54AM (#5773203) Homepage Journal
    *New iPods (likely will have 10, 20, and 30 GB capacity)
    *New Music Download service integrated with iTunes
    *iTunes 4, with music service and AAC encoding (possibly Rendezvous streaming as well)
    *I would guess nothing related to Universal at this point.

  • Bluetooth (Score:2, Interesting)

    by MBCook ( 132727 )
    I'm guessing it's an iPod that comes with wireless bluetooth headphones. Bring it on Apple!

  • Rumors people, rumors. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:57AM (#5773225)
    Mac rumors hey, the best source of 'news' we can get? forgive the cynicism, but with Apple's typical tight reign on information about just what they're up to I know by now NEVER to trust rumours. How many of the last year's worth have come true?

    The iWalk?
    Video iPod?
    G5?
    USB2?
    Dualscreen powerbooks?

    The best strategy is to NOT go with the rumors people, except for the dull ones.

    It'll be just another iPod.

    • ... some corelations. (Score:5, Interesting)

      by juuri ( 7678 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:12AM (#5773343) Homepage
      * iWalk.

      Okay that was just stupid.

      * Video iPod.

      I wouldn't be suprised if there were a few pieces of hardware floating around in some r&d lab for this. Someone is eventually going to make something like this. Sony just released a portable CD/DVD player that has a small LCD screen that attaches. It isn't too much of a stretch to imagine the drive replaced with a hard drive.

      * G5.

      970.

      * USB2.

      This is true since it was recently discovered that new PowerMacs have had USB2 chips in them for a while. Drivers are now out which will enable this.

      * Dualscreen powerbooks.

      Probably the 17" monster, because asside from the one pc company that is making dual screen machines who else in the world would consider such a thing. Which sounds more plausible a machine with two small screens or this insanely large 17" Apple came out with?
    • I don't see what the big deal is about dual screen ... I have two screens hooked up to my 15" powerbook right now, on which I am typing this.

      It was a real simple hack: get your powerbook, buy an LCD monitor, plug it in. In some cases, you may need to hit the "Detect Displays" button in System Preferences.

      Cool tip: you can set Virtual PC to full screen mode on the second monitor only. Freak people out by dragging windows across the two systems.

  • OK, better now. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DrWhizBang ( 5333 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @09:58AM (#5773245) Homepage Journal
    I would expect to see Apple try to continue what they have done with the iPod - that is, making it easier to get your favorite artists, and listen to them, and maybe even make payment unobtrusive. Only if you have a Mac, of course. So if buying Universal is the only way to do that, then they would love to buy Universal, but chances are better that this is about some secret Apple squirrel society that is available to all Mac owners, but better if you pay.

    There. I'm not fried.

  • iPod in color, with a twist (Score:5, Interesting)

    by joelparker ( 586428 ) <joel@school.net> on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:00AM (#5773259) Homepage
    Rumor has Apple patenting color-changing for the iPod and iMac,
    where the iPod body can glow inside with different chaning colors
    like the Color Kinetics Sauce LED products here [cksauce.com]

    Cheers, Joel

  • New iPods (Score:5, Informative)

    by iJed ( 594606 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:01AM (#5773270) Homepage

    The new iPods should be available in 10, 15 and 30 gig versions according to ThinkSecret [thinksecret.com]. They also say it should also include a docking station.

    For all those people who do not believe the rumor sites ThinkSecret has proven time and time again to be nearly always correct. It is not MacOSRumors. :-)

    • Re:New iPods (Score:5, Funny)

      by mrpuffypants ( 444598 ) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .stnapyffuprm.> on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:15AM (#5773361)
      /me only trusts crazyapplerumors.com
    • Actually, I believe the new iPods will be available in 10, 20, and 40 GB versions. Apparently someone looked up the Toshiba 1.8" drives they are selling and there isn't a 30GB version of the drive, it just goes to 40 GB.

      There are other speculations about a color screen; ability to play Quicktime content, etc., but these are just speculation. It may have a color screen, or it may not.

      I also think some of the potential Bluetooth capabilities are pretty cool. Sony-Erricson already makes an MP3 player that

  • News? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Michael_Burton ( 608237 ) <michaelburton@brainrow.com> on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:03AM (#5773289) Homepage

    A press release announcing that there will be some announcement made next week, and it's a frontpage story on Slashdot?

    News sure ain't what it used to be.

  • Apple + Universal == Trademark Problem (Score:4, Interesting)

    by @ngel ( 50317 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:06AM (#5773305)
    If Apple does indeed buy Universal, what does that mean for it's old settlement with the music label called Apple? Apple is the label that put out the Beatles music, and they have a settlement in place that says Apple Computer cannot enter the music industry, or something of the sort. If Apple does get Universal, how can Apple Music respond? I think that could be an obstacle to Apple's purchase...
  • All I really want is Cocoa version of iTunes. I don't download music off the internet and I don't have an iPod. I just want the apps I use most on OS X to be true OS X apps. But all I am expecting is iTunes 3.1 with music service integration and new iPods. Hopefully Panther will usher in a Cocoa Finder, Cocoa iTunes, and Cocoa Quicktime.

    • Cocoa (Score:4, Informative)

      by Sophrosyne ( 630428 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:31AM (#5773454) Homepage
      Cocoa does not equate to better-
      Cocoa is an application framework. It will not make things faster or better or whatever, If a Carbon app is optimized it will run as fast or faster then Cocoa apps (e.g. The Finder).
      Carbon and Cocoa each have their purposes, which is why they are used in OS X.

      • Re:Cocoa (Score:3, Interesting)

        by bnenning ( 58349 )
        If a Carbon app is optimized it will run as fast or faster then Cocoa apps (e.g. The Finder)


        Finder is Carbon, and is hardly a ringing endorsement for it. Sure, it's possible to write bad code with any language or API, but I maintain that given equal amounts of developer time and expertise, a Cocoa app will be better than its Carbon equivalent.

  • 1) firewire 800 (yay!) 2) bigger hard drive (duh) 3) more color schemes?

  • How about some good detective work (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LinuxMacWin ( 79859 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:08AM (#5773319)
    Ok, so the event is in San Francisco on the 28th. Apple would not let its plans leak easily, but I think we can get better clues by doing some detective work.

    1. Are any Universal senior executives going to be in SFO on 28th? Maybe any friends, collegues can answer?

    2. Any other recording company executive planned to be in SFO on 28 - with no event planned publicly?

    3. Are any major artists (somewhere read Pearl Jam) planned to be in SFO on 28th?

    I am sure people can come up with more clues (flight plans, website registration - ok I know about appleuniversal.plan - what else) which can throw more light on the plans.
    • 3. Are any major artists (somewhere read Pearl Jam) planned to be in SFO on 28th?

      Doubtful on Pearl Jam considering they're in the midst of the east cost/midwest leg of their tour and will be playing Philly on the 28th.

    • Doubt Pearl Jam would be there for that... AFAIK they're on Epic, which is owned by Sony/Columbia. Somebody correct me if I'm mistaken. Also, until recently, Pearl Jam has not been the most "cyber" band out there, despite their huge following online. They're not the type of band that updates their website on a regular basis. Because of this, I doubt you'll see them helping Apple hawk their new service (if any). Good idea with the detective work, though.
      • Actually Pearl Jam is selling concert bootlegs online for their current tour. They come out something like 2 weeks after each concert. Umastered mp3's are available almost immediately. And they've fulfilled their contract obligation to Epic with their latest album, and will probably only use Sony for distribution at this point.

        But as a previous poster said, they're in Philly on the 28th.

    • Re:How about some good detective work (Score:5, Funny)

      by 17028 ( 122384 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:55AM (#5773635)
      I'm *sure* the judge is going to look favorably on your stalking of those executives if you say it was for a good purpose, to keep the Slashdotters updated. ;)

  • Service Plan + Free/Cheap iPod (Score:5, Insightful)

    by backlonthethird ( 470424 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:12AM (#5773340)
    If Apple is starting a subscription service - they ought to seriously consider the US mobile phone model:

    Sign up for one year and get a $XXX discount on one of our pieces of hardware

    Imagine how many more people will sign up for a $40 monthly fee if it meant they could finally afford an iPod and have access to an easy to use music subscription service.

  • Denial (Score:5, Funny)

    by Znonymous Coward ( 615009 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:14AM (#5773354) Journal
    ...something Apple offically denied just a few days ago...

    Who is their spokesman, Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (aka Baghdad Bob)?

  • Planned Launch of New Robotics Product (Score:4, Funny)

    by Vengie ( 533896 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:16AM (#5773365)
    Reuters - Apple Computer Corp (APPL) has announced in a smashing pre-lunch event at its flashy new store in SOHO that the upcoming announcement will focus on the debut of its new pseudo-sentient home robot, capable of interfacing via bluetooth with home devices such as cell phones, bluetooth enabled computers, and the next generation of home appliances.

    The product is scheduled to launch with the name "iRobot....."

    *DUCK* ;)
  • Apple will make an announcement of some sort in one week. But we have no idea what the announcement will be.

    Yeah, that deserves a Slashdot article.

    • Re:Why is this news? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by gamgee5273 ( 410326 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:43AM (#5773548) Journal
      It was in the Apple section first, then made its way up to the front page.

      If there's any merit to the Universal rumor, then even the announcement of the press event is news. Remember, the LA Times said that if Apple was going through with the purchase it would be done before the April 29 Vivendi-Universal stockholders meeting.

      Put all the naysaying aside: an IT corporation in charge of one the largest record group? In eight days time, our view of the RIAA and its view of the DMCA could be 180 degrees different than it is right now.

      That deserves a Slashdot story.

  • only on /. (Score:4, Funny)

    by cdf123 ( 623917 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:33AM (#5773472) Homepage
    Posting an announcement of an announcement about an up comming announcement.

    "This just in! More news will come in later, story at 11" ;-)

  • Skipping the G5, moving to G6 (Score:3, Funny)

    by digitalgimpus ( 468277 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:37AM (#5773507) Homepage
    That would be music to my ears
  • Every bit of speculation I've seen focuses on why (not) Apple is going to buy Universal music.

    But this doesn't have to be a black-and-white thing. There have been too many stores in mainstream media for this to be completely groundless (at least, I think so), and Apple can't afford to buy Universal outright, so I believe we should expect either a partial buyout (not even a controlling share), or/and perhaps Steve Jobs taking some significant management position within Universal Music, in addition to his A
  • ...It remains to be seen if this involves a purchase of Universal - something Apple offically denied just a few days ago...

    Make up your mind!

    Thank you

    • Re:Dear Apple (Score:3, Informative)

      by pressman ( 182919 )
      Dude, the whole Universal thing was just a giant rumor on the web. Apple never made an official announcement that they had any intention of purchasing Universal. Apple has never said anything about Universal until last week when Jobs publicly denied the rumors.

      They've given off no mixed message because they never gave off a message to being with.

  • Apple's Plan (Score:5, Funny)

    by IWantMoreSpamPlease ( 571972 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @10:55AM (#5773626) Homepage Journal
    (1) Get involved with something radical

    (2) Deny involvment

    (3) Accept involvment

    (4) ???

    (5) Profit!
  • THAT would be music to my ears.
  • http://www.shacknews.com/ja.zz?comments=26039 [shacknews.com]

    "[...]April 28th, which they say is the day that the Half-Life 2 NDA will be lifted"

    Yes, my tongue IS firmly wedged in my cheek.

  • Text of the Jobs announcement (Score:5, Funny)

    by panurge ( 573432 ) on Monday April 21, 2003 @11:48AM (#5773989)
    To-day, 28 April 2003, Steve Jobs made the following announcement:

    Recently, Apple Computer was approached by beings from the Planet Zog. Zog is the richest planet in known space and all its inhabitants are so intelligent that it has no concept of intellectual property, since anybody is capable of inventing anything he, she or it needs as and when necessary. All Zog software is Open Source, mostly written in VLIW assembler by users as and when required.
    Unfortunately the Zog economy is somewhat overheated, despite a rise in income tax to 99%, and Zog is looking for a way to lose some cash. They have offered to merge Apple with a Zog publicly owned corporation called "We really are Universal Music" (ZSE: WRUM), the present stockholders of Apple to retain 51% of the equity.
    The idea is to introduce a music-on-demand service by which music will be directly downloaded from Zog. Zog has no equivalent of the DMCA since even the cheapest Zog pseudopodheld can crack any form of encryption on the fly, and has been recording the entire data output of the Earth for the last hundred years on the Ogg recorder in some Zog kid's bedroom. To encourage takeup of the service. the new corporation will give away all its hardware and software free for the next 20 years, and offer to replace all Macs in the field free of charge with new terahertz systems running OS MDCLX.

    Jobs then demonstrated the new direct thought to text input PowerBook G93000 which projects a virtual reality 3-D image into the entire visual field, runs for a year on an AAA battery and weighs half an ounce.

    Following the announcement, Microsoft shares rose $3 and Apple shares were $12 down at close of trading. The usual suspects predicted the demise of Apple within 3 weeks, citing the failure to keep up technically with the PC market, and Steve Jobs was slightly injured by a troll from slashdot complaining about file copy speed on a 9600/300. ...try to keep posts on topic

  • But the real question is... (Score:3, Funny)

    by MikeXpop ( 614167 ) <mike&redcrowbar,com> on Monday April 21, 2003 @05:43PM (#5776615) Journal
    ...what color will the eighth notes be on the iTunes 4 icon?

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