“With Apple effectively announcing the end of all Power-based products, it is really hard to see how Apple hardware can survive until the Intel-based offerings show up. Given that Apple normally isn’t this stupid, it has led many of us to speculate that there is a summer announcement that will provide the market with its next iPod-like offering,” Rob Enderle writes for Designtechnica.
“What makes the most sense to me, and a number of the folks who have written to me, is a Media Center done right. Microsoft’s Media Center remains, much like the pre-iPod music players, too complex and difficult to use for the broad market. By focusing on a great music experience first and the creation of a perfect general-use host for the iPod, Apple could probably light a fire under this segment and dominate it, much like they did the MP3 space,” Endlerle writes.
“It could be based on any processor because this class of product typically does not run general applications. It could get ahead of the curve and release with Intel or with Power PC and be equally successful as a result… One thing is for sure: there is a big announcement coming, and like all things from Apple, it probably will only look obvious from hindsight,” Enderle writes.
Full article here.