If Telco’s would do this it would be stupid on their part. On the other hand the SIM card is considered a cost, so if they can get away with they would like it. But this cost is 4-5% of the total cost to acquire a customer, it’s not that huge. Telco’s want to offer the handset that everybody wants, but they want to keep the customer if he changes handsets. Guess what, he can just take a small piece out of the old put it in the new and whalla. Most countries who have operators subsidized handsets have no experience in this, they just deliver  a complete package. If Apple wants to deliver a complete package, I understand that they have  logistics to pre-fit the operator SIM etc… In any way shape or form, operators handing over control of this Subscriber Identification Module to somebody else are opening up a can of worms. Let alone the need to interoperate between all different operators, the Logica’s in this world and the Nokia Networks and Ericsson all have their own setups and customizations for very operator…

In short: maybe, but it will take more than a few years.

Now, why does Apple work with Gemalto, and why are some European Operators interested?

Gemalto is at the forefront of the SWP technology they make SIM cards that are next gen and are finally offering some breakthroughs in possibilities with domain security and their Global Platform Java Card OS. Security wise they have solved issues sharing the SIM between different parties, tech wise they have offered the possibility to do this and business wise, they want to be in that space. SWP is what eventually will enable your SIM card to be used in NFC setups, NFC beeing a buzz word here, you can just use your Phone to react on RFiD activations and have it communicate using a different channel than 3G, WiFi or Bluetooth.

You know, if operators don’t have the newfangled SIM and don’t want to pay for the replacement etc… The alternative would be to have the active element fixed inside the Phone, called the Secure Element. This is the way Nokia’s first NFC phones were done. They had an SE and no way to work with the  SIM card.

Now here is the future for those systems. Phones will offer both, they will have an SE for when the operator does not want to upgrade change offer access to the SIM, but if the user has a SWP SIM, he will be able to use it and the services the provider offers.

Why are European operators in this? Because they are encouraged by Gemalto to do field tests and pilots and that they are looking to establish the business model.

Visa and MasterCard are at least the parties interested. The need a way to distribute an issued application on the device that is ‘controlled’ by the user and/or the operator. They would prefer to do one-stop shopping and make a deal with Gemalto/Apple to have that ability through the Secure Element.

But, can you imagine to change your Visa account when you change operator?

My guess, and just to be different than all the others who want a tablet computer. Last October I predicted that Q1 2010 would bring an updated Apple TV.

Reasoning:

• The platform is getting a bit long in the tooth, with devices from Linksys/Boxee coming out soon it needs an update
• iTunes LP can really add value to music and movie experience (already included in the current version, but it get’s better)
• Switching to standard SATA drives, higher capacity (500GB, 1TB, 2TB)
• Will have App Store games and custom (wireless) controllers. A reason for developers to take different screen resolution into account.

There will be a new device you will want to buy, but it will be a phone not a tablet. It might even be 2 devices.

First Device:

• A hipper iPhone slightly different form factor, maybe a bit smaller, possibly in colours (see the invitation to the event).
• Same specs as 3GS.
• More geared to young people, will form the basis of the iPod Touch future gaming device (with camera this time)
• Might double as the controller of the Apple TV games

Second Device:

• Specced up iPhone
• Screen the same resolution as the Nexus One (480×800, current iPod Touch/iPhone has 320×480). This is the reason why iPhone developers need to take into account different screen resolutions
• Charging without cable, just like the Palm Pre
• Maybe even Verizon & T-Mobile versions for the US, but I won’t bet too much money on the Verizon version, unless they found a smart way to ‘interchange’ the RF board.
• Wireless 802.11n, and with that wireless synching with iTunes (as the charger will be wireless…)
• And to stick with wireless as a meme, there could be some RFiD technology in it, but my guess is that Apple would let this pass for the first couple of iterations of the SWP NFC etc stuff…. Once they have an idea why it would be usefull they will add it.

One More Thing:

• iLife 10 (or X), will be better integrated with AppleTV and social sites. iTunes LP functionality added to iDVD and Garageband.
• iWork X, adds a drawing program (not very likely but we can dream
• New Apple bluetooth headset, to be in the wireless wave….

And not:

• A tablet to browse the web from the toilet. Frankly we can do that with the iPhone already
• A tablet to consume media. The iPhone offers plenty of opportunity, combine that with an iMac and Apple TV and you are all set.
• A touch tablet. Any idea how expensive it is to have a good touch experience on a big screen? Counting on the fact that when typing/using the computer only 1/3 of the screen would need to be touch sensitive…
• An e-book reader. Books are so yesterday, and really, you can’t replace paper. Who uses only stickies.app and not Post-It any more???? To quote Marc, ‘an e-book reader is useless on the toilet’

Back in November last year I posted this:

What will Apple bring in 2009

My timing was absolutely not right (way too optimistic), biut it seems I got the inclusion of the Intel i7 CPU with 4 cores in the iMac right for 2009.

I nailed the iPhone hardware stuff for the 3GS, got the timing wrong for iPhone OS and Snow Leopard.

For the iPod, i put ‘maybe a device more geared to gaming’, and it looks like the omission of the camera on the iPod Touch and the push of it as a gaming device would be just that. The Nano got an update, not what I thought , just video added. The SSD iPod will be for 2011 I think, prices need to drop drastically to make it viable, chances are that iPod Touch and iPhone will simply get more and more memory.

Mac mini server update was a surprise, I thought the form factor would change more

Q1 2010 will bring a new Apple TV.

Flash on the iPhone would be a blessing to Mac OS X.

Flash on a Mac has always been very troublesome. It was always slower and more crash prone  than it’s Windows counterpart. I think this has to do with how Adobe builds it’s stuff for the Mac. Using less optimized code, more or less functional and whalla a Mac has Flash support. Recent releases have been better and better, but are still sub-par to Windows.

My guess is that Apple was never happy about how it was implemented and now they played hard to get with the iPhone. Adobe recently acknowledged that it was a bigger challenge than they expected and are working with Apple to get it done. If that’s true or not we’ll never know until it’s released. 

Now if it’s true, it means Adobe has to go through the paces and the Apple QA. I think they will learn a thing or two on how to optimize code for Cocoa and Mac OS X in general. This would mean Adobe will start to create software that runs better and better. 

Adobe is a well respected developer and they have great products, but developers also hate to change habits, like they skipped 64-bit support because Apple would not support it in parts of Carbon, or changed stuff that they did not expect. A big company and a big team can’t move that quickly but if they are determined to meet a goal, they will get there, eventually.

But the iPhone might move them to learn a few new tricks faster than they usually do.

Spaces is so cool, it’s flashy it moves it does everything except make coffee. Now you can pin the applications to specific spaces, but that doesn’t seem to stick. It goes completely baloney when you have windows of the same app spread over different spaces. Then apple-tab makes you seasick. I want to go to the app below the current window, so I apple-tab to that app, to avoid getting my hands away from the keyboard, but since that app below also has a window in another space, Mac OS X swaps to the other space, where the windows I don’t need is… If there is a window if the app in the current space why doesn’t it stay in that space? Or why can’t that be an option?

Just some assumption at what I think we could see in 2009 from Apple Inc.

Announcing in Januari 2009

• iMac with Intel i7 CPU, low end with 2 cores (Apple Exclusive), high end with 4 cores
• Snow Leopard preview
• Mac Mini update, possible different form factor
• iLife ’09, basic Blu-ray support
• iWork ’09, mostly Number and Pages updates

Announcing at DAB 2009

• 30″ LED cinema display
• Apple TV update

Announcing at WWDC 2009

• Snow Leopard, just released
• iPhone OS push support enabled available 3 weeks after (was announced last year)
• iPhone hardware update, better camera, more memory, bluetooth better supported, digital compas

iPod event September 2009

• More memory in all, an iPod Classic with 128GB SSD
• Diversification of the Nano line, more like a smaller iPod Touch
• Maybe a device more geared to gaming

We won’t see a new type of device until 2010, when the new iPhone will come out, something that goes fit’s the netbook place, maybe the new iPhone will be that device, maybe it will be something else not sure.

Take these with a grain (or a bag) of salt though…

Yup, I’m an Apple fanboy. Those who know me know that fact about me, no doubt.

I ordered a new Macbook Pro after the october 14 2008 event. I received it before the 1st of novemeber, but there was something wrong with it.

After setting the laptop up the way I want it, and tweaking everything I like it to be, I suddenly discovered that I was missing a screw. Well, the Macbook Pro was missing a screw, one of the four screws visible/accessible at the bottom.

I notified Apple and they immediately dispatched a new Macbook Pro and fetched the one with the screw missing.

I expected them to solve this, but not in this very effective and satisfying manner. I expected to be sent to a repair shop, or that they will get my laptop, repair it and then send it back. Nope, they just send me a brand new one and recovered the one-screw missing one.

I can only recommend people buying Apple products online, the service is excellent. Having dealt with customer support of Dell when a brand new desktop was faulty (a clark drove into the box on the pallet), I can only say this is a refreshment and a way it should be.

My old Macbook Pro suffered a fall in december 2007, and was dented quite seriously. So much so that it would cost over € 1000 to have it repaired (bottom case, top case and super drive). I decided to sweat it out until something new comes out. In the mean time I discovered that I almost never use the CD drive. So the reasoning for Macbook Air not to have one seems ok. Back in 1999 when Apple ditched the floppy, I think I was using the floppy as much then as I use the CD drive now.