Tech Check
MOST SHARED
- How Boaz Weinstein and Hedge Funds Outsmarted JPMorgan
- JPMorgan Trading Loss: Did Regulators Miss the Risk?
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- Marc Faber: 100% Chance of Global Recession
- As Bank Loans Dry Up in Spain, Small and Medium Businesses Fight for Life
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- The Biggest Market Myth There Is?
- Judge Says Skilling Can Seek New Trial
- What College Tuition Will Look Like in 18 Years
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
- How Nasdaq Lost Control of Facebook IPO, by the Minute
- Week Ahead: Europe Has Wall Street Bull on Short Leash
- Pro-Bailout Greeks Regain Lead in Polls Before Vote
- Citigroup Lost $20 Million on Facebook IPO Trades
- JPMorgan to Shake Up Risk Team After Big Loss: Report
- RIM May Cut at Least 2,000 Jobs in Restructuring: Report
- EU Finalizes Bank Reforms; Shifts Burden to Bondholders
- Spain's Bankia Eyes Stake Sales After Record Bailout
- EU Set to Launch Action Against China Over Telecom Aid
RSS FEED
Apple Event's 'Soft' vs. 'Hard' Core
Text Size 
Silicon Valley Bureau Chief
 |
What we know: No Steve Jobs. No new hardware, meaning no new iPhones, no new Mac tablet PC. No new laptops. And that part about no new iPhones could go a long way toward encouraging those on the fence about whether to run out and buy the new Palm Pre this weekend.
More on that in a second, as well as more on Jobs since the two are actually related.
My sources tell me the core of this event will be about software, not hardware. Apple 'soft'core, if you will.
We'll get a good long look at Snow Leopard, the next generation Mac operating system, precisely what Apple needs to blunt the growing momentum behind Microsoft and its upcoming Windows 7 release, which now appears to be way ahead of schedule with its planned October release. This could also go a long way toward heading off any buzz Google's Android operating system might be generating as well.
We'll get an extended look at the App Store, along with some updated numbers about apps available and apps already downloaded. Both numbers, I'm told, are trending far better than existing momentum should have anticipated. And this alone -- the breadth of the App Store -- could go a long way toward muting any buzz the Pre sales figures would generate since that device has no where near the same kind of developer support the iPhone has.
As far as Jobs is concerned, he won't attend. Unless he decides to. It's that simple. But there's no indication he will deviate from Apple's oft-stated remarks that he'll return to the company in late June. Which is about the same time frame analysts anticipate new iPhone hand sets. Phil Schiller will handle keynote duties Monday. I'm hearing that an additional hardware event for Apple could be on the calendar in a few weeks, and it might be at that time that Jobs returns to the public stage. Or not. But that's the buzz.
Great Reads On CNBC.com:
Meantime, Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray is hearing decidedly different rumors: he's anticipating an entire family of new iPhones, $99 to $299 depending on storage and data plans. If Apple doesn't offer new eye-candy, it could put its recent stock run in jeopardy, with shares enjoying euphoric anticipation ahead of this event. Still, even hints of new hardware on the way, as well as an increasingly depleted channel, might be enough to keep shares buoyant.
Remember, this is a show for developers. A lack of sexiness as far as new hardware is concerned, along with the headlines Pre will likely generate, could mean a "sell on the news" kind of day for the Mac faithful. But that might mean opportunities for those looking at any discount ahead of the new iPhones that are almost certainly on the way.
It'll be interesting. It just may not offer the kind of pay-off spectators are hoping for. Kinda like soft vs. hard core.
I'll be live-blogging, of course, and we'll have complete coverage all day long. Stay with us!
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
