With the Macworld keynote less than a week away, the rumor mill is running more rampant than ever. And we are here to report it at a safe, not-quite-endorsed-nor-denied distance.

What announcements will Jobs make this year...new iPods, "iPhones", Macbooks, or even mock turtlenecks? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview...errr...Frankenrumor: rumors from a plethora of Internet sources congealed together in an apple-flavored gelatin of knowledge hearsay quasi-intelligent rumors.

iPhone
"...we probably will see an iPhone."
"No Apple iPhone"
" Coming in January to all providers âo¢ 2 batteries (1 MP3, 1 Phone) âo¢ 2 capacities (4GB & 8GB) âo¢ Prices will run $249 & $449 âo¢ Flash memory (surprise) âo¢ Slide out keyboard âo¢ Touchscreen (on outside) âo¢ "Cool" OS"
"small as shit."
"[Morgan Stanley analyst] Runkle says the phone will cost $599 for the 4GB model and a whopping $649 for the 8GB version...it'll be wider than an iPod Nano, but narrower than the 5G iPod. It'll have a nice 3.5-inch display and will come in multi-colored aluminum shells like the Nano..."

Video iPod "If Apple's patents are to be believed, there is also a new crop of iPods on the horizon that will offer larger screens and possibly new navigation techniques."
"...little attention has been given to the rumored full Video iPod despite clear evidence that Apple has been considering such a form factor."
"The focus of the patent is the incorporation of a touch-sensitive bezel (edge of screen) that can adapt to the screen contents to provide an input method for the user...non-screen area would eliminate many of the "smudge" and "scratch" concerns for a full-screen touch iPod."
"...we're more likely to see a bump to 100GB capacity, courtesy of Toshiba's new 1.8-inch drive..."

iTV
"Apple now aims to begin shipping iTV (likely under a different product name) in late January or early February. They added that the additional time is necessary to fine-tune an embedded version of the Mac OS operating system that will reportedly run on the device..."
"Many people are speculating and/or hoping that Apple will ink a deal with TiVo or offer its own personal video recording capabilities...it seems a bit hard to believe the two companies are collaborating on a Mac product."
"There's an Apple patent application dated November 2, 2006 that outlines techniques for acquiring a season's worth of TV shows. However, it only mentions the word TiVo once in the entire document, and that's only in a generic sense, describing recorded digital video."
"I've been hoping for a video update to the AirPort Express, but it seems like the iTV more or less kills that idea..."
"Google integration (iTV + YouTube)"

Cinema Displays
"Look for Apple to announce a 17-inch Cinema display to complement their existing 20, 23 and 30-inch monitors."
"Apple hasn't made any major update to the Cinema Displays since their initial release in June 2004...the next generation of Apple Cinema Displays could feature a built-in iSight, HDMI connectivity as well as support for HDCP...23 inch model may be replaced by a 24 inch one while a larger model may broaden the line-up."
"...a 50" monitor may be planned for 'early 2007'."
"...a coordinated effort to intentionally spread false information to rumor sites...these rumors should be viewed with some skepticism."

iLife, iWork
"Apple's iApps usually get updated at Macworld Expo and this year should be no exception."
"iLife and iWork 07 are a sure thing."
"...introduction of a new spreadsheet application code named "Lasso"

Leopard
"Leopard could be released at Macworld Expo despite Steve Jobs' assertion that it would be released in 'Spring 2007'."
"It will certainly not be released at Macworld."
"the Mac OS[X] appears to be the key to Apple's ensuing consumer electronics strategy, beginning with iTV and iPhone and extending far beyond."
"...as much as I'd love to see PVR capabilities built into Mac OS X, I think Apple is much more likely to continue to focus on sales of TV content through the iTunes Store."

MacPro
"Apple's desktop Mac is due for a quad-core Intel Xeon Processor..."
"One more thing: 8-core Mac Pro."
"The new Mac Pro configuration will feature two of the recently announced Quad-core Intel (more likely Xeon) processors for a total of eight cores per configuration... development on the systems has been complete for some time..."

Macbook Pro
"...the miniaturized MacBook Pro should keep its built-in optical drive and sport a dual-core processor, providing unequalled size/performance ratio in the PC industry... Apple should use the 12 inch form factor... could be priced in the $1700~$1800 range."
"[odds: 50:1]"
"Unlikely rumors, which [PiperJaffray analyst] Munster calls "a stretch," include an ultra-portable 12-inch MacBook Pro..."

iTablet
"... a number of new Apple patent applications that relate to the long-rumored Apple Tablet based computer. The most recent patents appeared...February 2nd, 2006...with a filing date as recent as January 31st, 2005."
"...Methods and systems for processing touch inputs are disclosed. The invention in one respect includes reading data from a multipoint sensing device such as a multipoint touch screen..."
"Apple researchers have built a fully working prototype of tablet Mac and three companies in Taiwan are bidding for a potential launch in mid 2007."
"...it's not likely to happen..."

– Mark Wilson

Rumor Links...In No Particular Order
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[Gizmodo]
2:36:57 AM    comment   

So what if most U.S. carriers won’t touch Google, the king-maker is doing a mobile search deal with the world’s largest wireless carrier, China Mobile. Google will provide its search engine technology for China Mobile’s WAP portal. The partnership has been rumored for weeks, but was officially announced today, and the companies’ say it will be widely available in early 2007.

Google has been signing up deals across Asia for mobile search, and has teamed up South Korean SK Telecom, and Japanese carriers NTT DoCoMo, and KDDI. In Europe Google has partnered with Telefonica, Vodafone and T-Mobile EU. In the U.S. Leap Wireless has been one of the first to warm up to Google’s mobile search. A lot of the carrier deals have been with smaller, early-adopters, but China Mobile’s hundreds of millions of subscribers is a significant win.

Lack of U.S. carriers deals isn’t doing too much damage to Google’s mobile search in the U.S., with about half of U.S. users turning to Google. M:Metrics says out of the 10 million plus subscribers who tried out mobile search in the U.S, Google was used by 5.25 million users. Yahoo had around 4 million users. Our readers experienced the same. Over half of our readers said they use Google for mobile search in our recent poll.

In Korea and Japan, typically hard markets to break into, the carrier deals are key — It’s the same with China. The China Mobile deal is also important because mobile subscribers in China seem to be more accepting of mobile advertisement, or so says the Wall Street Journal this morning, and the mobile is often a better way to reach audiences than PCs. Thanks to China Mobile Google’s mobile search just got in front of a lot more eyeballs.

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2:29:49 AM    comment   

Updated: Jan 4, 207: Google has confirmed it as well, and China Daily reported Thursday that Google is joining up with Shanghai-based VC firm Ceyuan Ventures to buy a stake in Xunlei. The deal will formally be announced tomorrow at a local press conference.
Original Post: Dec 29, 2006:  After some rumors about Google interested in buying a Chinese video sharing site, comes the news that it will invest in Shenzhen Xunlei Network Technology, which operated a local video sharing site Xunlei. Not much else was disclosed, though the company confirmed it..it will be announced officially next month.
Existing investors in Xunlei include IDG Venture Capital and Morningside Asia Advisory, and the site also has partnership agreements with Motorola, Sina and Shanda.

2:28:23 AM    comment   

Another in Japanese operators’ efforts to shore up their content offerings: Japanese incumbent DoCoMo has bought a 3 percent stake in Nippon Television Network for 13.3 billion yen ($111 million). The two companies teamed up last April to launch a mobile TV service and this moved is aimed at strengthening ties between the two companies...which sounds like DoCoMo is trying to shore up its content offerings.
Last year DoCoMo acquired a 2.6 percent stake in Fuji Television Network, Japan’s biggest broadcaster and in 2005 it acquired a stake in Tower Records Japan for $100 million.
Variety: Following the earlier deal last year, the partners launched D.N. Dream Partners, a $84 million content fund, in April. Structured as a seven-year limited liability partnership, the fund has since contributed coin to the two hit “Death Note” pics, as well as NTV toon series “Sasami.”
Some more details in the release here.

2:26:51 AM    comment   

Robbie Bach is the Microsoft Corp. executive who challenged Bill Gates's dogma by pushing the software company into making videogame machines. Now he's putting his stamp on Microsoft far beyond its game business.
2:16:12 AM    comment