My predictions for the big announcements (and reactions) from CES and MacWorld (with a Podcast/New Media focus, of course). They’re just predictions so, please, no wagering.
CES
- Microsoft will announce IPTV initiatives for XBox – funny thing is that nobody will really understand what the initiatives are. And, yes, it will be announcements only – we won’t see the results for months. The goal will be to grab some glory from iTV (see below).
- Microsoft won’t announce anything for Zune. There’s nothing coming worth noting and mentioning it will only get bad press from anyone with a keyboard.
- Microsoft will announce a home server. No one will be quite sure what the difference is between it and Windows Media Center.
- Microsoft will announce some new vendor partnerships in the phone space but no one will care with the iPod Phone announcement from Apple on Tuesday.
MacWorld
- iPod Phone. Yup, that’s how they get past the whole iPhone issue and make iPods sexy again. Apple in your Den, your living room, your pocket and your phone. It will be worded better than that but you get the idea. Unlocked phones. Versions for multiple carriers. Dual batteries. Fairly cool.
- iTV. Gonna be big. Content partners that are ready out of the box. MP4 as a streaming product is the killer app. Won’t be in the stores Wednesday – but it is coming fast. Course, I’m counting on it for the Year of Living Digitally project.
- iPod Video. Finally, the “true” iPod Video is announced. Bigger screen than Zune. More battery power than Zune. Steve “what Zune?” Jobs will make iPod a star again. No HD yet, but will allow for it when Apple starts doing the HD thing.
There we go – what do you think?
Technorati Tags: steve jobs, ipod, zune, microsoft, ces, macworld, iptv, xbox, ipod video
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