“It’s that time again — the first round of non-descript Apple teaser banners have begun cropping up around San Francisco’s Moscone Center, the site of next week’s highly-anticipated Macworld Expo,” AppleInsider reports.
AppleInsider reports, “Sure to fuel rampant and widespread speculation for the next four days is a sprawling matte black banner hanging above the entrance to the south hall that reads simply: ‘2008. There’s something in the air.'”
“Several other banners bearing the same phase are also visible through the windows of the south hall entrance,” AppleInsider reports.
Full article with more, larger photos here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dvorak must have shown up early.
These look odd to me, why is Apple suddenly using a font it’s never used before?
umm…
streaming movies!
It seems like this would indicate something new in wireless technologies? Or maybe something the newest device is so small it floats in the air…
i had the same question about the fonts
is apple threatening a biological attack on San francisco?
This thing that’s in the air, this one more thing is all about a multi-touch keyboard. They’ve patent it and it’s coming. It will change the way we use our computer.
Obviously more wireless things, but it might really be something else as well…….
bird flu?
anthrax?
it’s anthrax! Run!!!
Holographic display!
Petey: “These look odd to me, why is Apple suddenly using a font it’s never used before?”
If no one ever used a new font, wouldn’t we all still be using hieroglyphics?
(Thanks to Leopard’s built-in spell check for that one.)
Wi-fi sharing, like FON.
But that doesn’t really seem worthy of a big ass banner.
It’s the keyboard. That would make any desktop computer looks like what Jeff Han showed us. Think about all the applications that could be developped just by introducing this add-on. Forget about Mac Tablet or the likes.
Bill’s carcass
MDN you make me smile, thanx
re: Petey: “These look odd to me, why is Apple suddenly using a font it’s never used before?”
If no one ever used a new font, wouldn’t we all still be using hieroglyphics?
(Thanks to Leopard’s built-in spell check for that one.)
—
What I mean is Apple uses teh same fonts on ALL it’s marketing and corporate image, it’s part of it’s corporate identity.
From packaging to it’s website they have never changed to a different font for anything – so why now?
This suggests to me they are gonna go through a massive brand identity revamp in 2008 as well as the new products announced at the Expo.
Updated displays that connect wirelessly.
iPlane
It’s just wireless transmission of rented movies to the new Apple TV. Not too exciting beyond that. Aside from a slim notebook, there isn’t much else likely.
MDN Word: I *hope* I’m wrong, but pretty much doubt it.
Wireless charging? Has that technology even been perfected yet?
Steve will levitate to open the show.
I know…. streaming media from wi-fi equipped iPhones & iPods to other iPhones & iPods. Kinda like the Zune, only done right (real-time streaming, no play-3-times-and-you’re-out BS).
Just think. You could go around broadcasting “Dancing Queen” (ABBA) and some cute lil chic tunes into your favorite song, strikes up an iChat with you (video, that is), and you get laid that very evening.
“From packaging to it’s website they have never changed to a different font for anything – so why now?”
They certainly have changed fonts periodically over the past 30 years. See link
http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/gallerytextindex.html
I’m hoping wireless syncing of the iPhone through Leopard Server for business.
“Wireless charging? Has that technology even been perfected yet?”
Yes, it has. for smaller devices.
iBlimp
It’s not a new font. It’s Myriad Pro Light.
I already have a multi-touch keyboard. I can press 2 or even 3 keys at a time to enter characters I would otherwise not be able to enter by pressing a single key alone.
Apple changed from Apple Garamond to Myriad Pro about the same time as they switched to OS X and when the apple logo went from colored to grey..
It’s about time for them to change again, since the website’s been redesigned, the logo is showing up chrome more and more and packaging is getting smaller.. Hence the need for a smaller font..
Maybe Genesis is getting back together!
That something is the stench of Ballmer’s river pits.
Maybe Al Gore is getting kicked off the board for lying about global warming.
I wonder…..
“Something in the Air”
by Thunderclap Newman
“Call out the instigators
Because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Lock up the streets and houses
Because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Hand out the arms and ammo
We’re going to blast our way through here
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together”
There will be a Mothership above every capital city in the world ready to beam OSX users aboard.
I sense a subliminal endorsement of Obama. He’s been using that line these last few days……
Air, as in airwaves? Something to do with Apple TV??
@ mac+
I like your idea. It could be a way to bring touch to the Mac and if @TV gets the ability to run apps/internet, that is how it could be controlled.
re: Petey
Actually they have done a rebranding through font selection before. Not to long ago actually. Around the same time they moved from OS 9 to X. They changed from a serif to a san serif and from the rainbow striped logo to a solid colored one. True they made a brief pit stop with the logo and made it 3D and fruity colors to match the iMac but it went to black, white or grey after the PowerBooks went titanium.
‘”It’s that time again — the first round of non-descript Apple teaser banners have begun cropping up…”‘
Er, that should read:
‘”It’s that time again — the first round of AMBIGUOUS Apple teaser banners have begun cropping up…”‘
Nondescript means ordinary, pedestrian, etc.
Yeek! There is something so inexplicably Vista-esque about that new font.
I know what’s in the air! The smell of Gates’ and Ballmer’s feces in their pants!
FON could be very interesting. Jobs had a sit down with the FON guy not too long ago. I only remember because the FON guy called Steve “not very nice” or something to that effect.
How about SJ distortion field?
This just in: Apple has purchased Phil Collins for $1.2b in AAPL stock!!!
Those would be flying chairs in the air.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Free WIFI with Google will be for real in major city centers.
So lack of 3G on the current iphone will be even less important!
John Paul Young maybe?
hese look odd to me, why is Apple suddenly using a font it’s never used before? —Petey
Looks like Avant Garde. That is odd for Apple. Seems more like a font that Adobe would use.
not iPlane, biPlane. No wait, that could swing both ways…
Multi-touch comes to the iMac. Makes sense with the move to the glossy-glass screen. Makes sense, doesn’t it?
@ Wingsy: If you’re streaming “Dancing Queen,” I doubt you’re looking for a “chick.”
I second (third? fourth?) the iAircraft idea. Brings a whole new meaning to AirPort. “Thank you for flying Apple Airlines, buh bye!”
But seriously, I think it has something to do with wireless media streaming. AppleTV 2.0 streaming of those movie rentals, or something like that. Hopefully with a Blu-ray drive, too.
iNitrogen. Apple expects to win a patent on air.
Game over, man.
Everyone hold on to your seats, Apple is going to blast off. They are hinting at something massive. “There’s something in the air,” comes from: “Thunderclap Newman was a late 1960s one-hit wonder group from the UK. Their single, “Something in the Air”, a 1969 UK Number One hit, remains in demand for television commercials, film soundtracks, and compilations.” < wikipedia.>
Sounds like, not much, until you realize who Thunderclap was:
“, The Who’s guitarist, created the band to play songs written by the former Who roadie, drummer / singer John ‘Speedy’ Keen (miscredited as “Keene” on the single’s label). (Keen wrote the opening track on “The Who Sell Out” LP, Armenia City In The Sky. Townshend produced the single, arranged its strings, played its bass guitar under the pseudonym Bijou Drains, and hired for it eccentric GPO engineer and jazz pianist Andy ‘Thunderclap’ Newman (born Andrew Newman, in 1943) and the fifteen year old Glaswegian Jimmy McCulloch.
But what is more important is that the song was first entitled “Revolution, ” and re-named because the Beatle’s came out with a song of the same name. Why was it called “Revolution,” you ask?
Here are the rest of the lyrics:
“Call out the instigators
Because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Lock up the streets and houses
Because there’s something in the air
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together now
Hand out the arms and ammo
We’re going to blast our way through here
We’ve got to get together sooner or later
Because the revolution’s here, and you know it’s right
And you know that it’s right
We have got to get it together
We have got to get it together”
My feeling is that we will hear something that, like the iPhone, will truly revolutionize the media industry.
Looks like its time for Apple’s Wireless XServe Mini to be used with any Mac and also for the all new Wireless Apple Monitors. When I say wireless I mean for data not power. One Mac serving multiple users in different rooms all at the same time.
Will someone PLEASE light an iMatch?
A flying “Big Ass Table”
This ‘Something in the air’ could refer to the fact that Steve is a veggie and he’s just broken wind. Everyone knows that when a veggie breaks wind it smells as if a rat has crawled up inside of them and died.
Why evelywon so negative on wind? Wind is good. Feels good on your face. Blow smog out of the city! Even make good electissity with wind. And how you break wind? I can’t undelstand this. And even if you can break the wind, why would Steve Jobs want break the wind? He an envilomentalist, no?
Bullets, Chairs and Pollution. That’s what I remember from last year, and I think this year won’t be really different.
Wars are big business, someone always loses and we’re still short-sighted / irresponsible.
Dear Steve,
Thanks for letting me give the keynote this year.
Your good friend, Al
yes, it’s a beautiful font ..
you might remember it from zune 2.0 UI
http://hardware.gotfrag.com/portal/story/40148/
Did you guys notice that blue Desktop with icons on the iPhone’s screen?
Or Bloodrock:
“I remember, we were flying along and hit something in the air.” – D.O.A.
Yep, I’m gettin’ old.
So if that’s the Myriad Pro font being used in the banners, then perhaps Apple will buy Adobe since it’s an Adobe font.
Its funny that everyone is worried about the font used but totally bypassing the fact the poster with the iphone is showing a OSX desktop with Quicktime files on it.
“There’s Something in the Air”. Are they finally going to offer the long-rumored iTransporter? Beam me up Scotty!
What QT files?
A Reality Distortion Field spread by air born genetically modified virus! Shear genius!
the quicktime files that are on the blue background of the iphone poster. They are on the right hand side of the blue desktop.
Oops! Make that “sheer” genius. If only I could type.
The reason the “iphone” in the banner looks different is because this is an inside-joke by Apple. It is really the new Tablet PC (which is also a cellphone), just just can’t tell how large it is, because there is nothing to show the scale.
Wirelessly charged, always-on, satellite-equipped levitating Mac Minis with the all the power of the Mac Pro and follow you around, projecting everything onto the inside of your glasses as if they were a 120′ screen. That or they’re planning to drop nukes onto the Redmond campus that insult Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and other top Microsoft executives, Vista, Zune and the XBox 360 before blowing their shame so high into the atmosphere that Al Gore will start complaining of global cooling. Either one’s good enough for me.
My first thought was the “Thunderclap Newman” connection. But who knows, maybe radio streaming to iPhone? That would make me wanna buy.
Perhaps it’s the smell of a brown Zune in the air. Someone give a courtesy flush, please.
Change!
Thats what’s in the air. Oh, and downloaded movies streaming to an apple TV from iTunes on a Mac.
Apple tv is about to become more cool. it’s on my 2008 list of things to buy. Along with iPhone or itouch.
Oh decisions.
If there is going to be a “revolution,” the time is ripe. Vista is a failure. Bill Gates has retired. License OS-X and take over the world.
Easy, its WiFi Porn over the air on the iPod Touche ME and iPhone!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
Sorry, Apple that was me. Could someone open a window, it’s getting a little pungent.
Something with Direct TV or another satellite provider…
Oh what could be in the air? Some possibilities:
– Apple/Google/iTunes WiFi.
– Steve’s RDF. Ok that’s a given…
– Chairs. Lots of them. In Redmond.
– The aroma of MS completely shitting itself.
I know! I know! OK, when the XP thing first came out the MS gang had ads that seemed to promise we’d all be levitating while using it… remember? OK, so how about Kaiser Bill floats in and makes a farewell appearance to show they’ve finally got that “feature” working for real. Yeah, it’s scary I know, given the crash and burn possibilities… man, what if he collided in mid-air with that Dvorakirigible. Oh, the horror! The horror!
@ Woody
“If you’re streaming “Dancing Queen,” I doubt you’re looking for a “chick.””
Do you know any gay people?
That IS the Zune 2.0 font! Copycat Apple! Do these morons ever do anything original?
At CES it was Cupertino, start your copiers. Prepare to be underwhelmed by MAC world.
Your potential. Our passion.™
Steve will do the keynote from an Apple-branded levitating Segway.
He’ll float around the hall, making sure we ALL “get it”.
Rumor has it the Steveway can teleport as well, but the hardware isn’t enabled yet.
“Something in the Air” refers to a song…
and iBeefheart.
mw: she called, i was out… way out.
I call all of your attention to the story by Howard Fast called The Martian Shop . Life is about to change again! Personally, I think they are going to debut a flying car.
Zaph dingbats indeed!
Why not gestural computing?
Look at the Nintendo Wii… What if beyond touch you had the ability to control elements of the interface from a distance with a gestural controller? If you look at the capabilities of OSX and what it can do with 3D space this actually makes perfect sense.
Apple figured out how to do “Minority Report” style multi-touch!
iSaucer! Finally!
The introduction of Apple’s Flying Saucer marks an entry into yet another exciting field for Apple, Inc. This first version is designed for two people, but later versions can be expected to hold even more. Although controls are voice only, the use of Apple’s Speakable Items speaks to the reliability and ease of iSaucer control. [Or not.]
The rest of the leaked press release is not legible…
The font looks like Helvetica Neue Light to me…
It gives you the idea of something really light, like air. That’s a good choice!
Moreover, changing the usual font makes the whole community talk about it, so wide-spreading the slogan “There’s something in the air”…
Geniuses!
How about Adobe Air for the iPhone or something like that..
It’s obvious, everyone: Perfume!
Apple + Avon.
With regards to the font – it’s not new.
It’s myriad pro light – go look at iPodtouch.
touch is in light.
There’s something in the Air?
WiMax – Apple bought all the rights!
so that all communications belongs to Apple.
Nah !
MAYBE the big explosion is with Google and it’s
SKY SERVER… as Apple moves to Google for iTunes.
ANYWAYS – the theme definitely has to be focused on Wireless.
Apple’s pie in the sky.
Something wifi this way comes…
Google Sky Server – yeah!
But I remember reading about the hovering gun-blue mystery mini-notebook. So the thing I figure, really does hover.
H264, bird flu, it all makes sense
Birds sing, tunes, get it
When you think about it it’s obvious.
“the quicktime files that are on the blue background of the iphone poster. They are on the right hand side of the blue desktop.”
Those files that play the sleeper hit movie, “San Francisco Transit Bus Doors: Reflections on the Move”? I laughed. I cried. I gave it three pull string bells.
ZOF
I got a pair of Sennheiser wirless/cordless headphones and they wirelessly charge. It’s only a couple of AAA rechargable bats though. Dunno about recharging ‘away’ from the charger through the air. Probably causes cancer or sumthin.
Something is in the air.
Yes – it is as one reader commented.
CHANGE… is in the air.
DRM is in decline. Music industry free themselves of DRM.
Blu-Ray is on the rise. The death of HD DVD.
OSX gains licensees. Appliance Manufactures partner with Apple.
Movie rentals are available. Hollywood chooses iTunes.
Google SkyServer. Apples choice for the future.
Vista has been out sold. 10.5.2 market share has a sharp rise.
Open-source is the way to go. Proprietary is not.
And yes, the font… same as on the Zune2… but this is a free font and MS uses a lot of Macs. Bill bought many G5s to help with xBox. And honestly, Macs still rule in graphic houses.
All in all – the effects of Apple are well felt on MacroSloth.
2008 is warming up to be a huge year.
so that all communications belongs to Apple.
So, starting Tuesday, all our communications are belong to Apple?
In A.D. 2008, war was beginning…
Yes… the font matches this well.
A standard font with OSX 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5
However, the Zune2… I am not entirely convinced it too is Myriad.
The sans sarif edge of the “s” is straight up and down. A perfect vertical… where Myriads; the tips of the “s” are cut at about a 15° angle.
Again, I maybe wrong but there seems to be a slight difference.
Ernest
You got it man!
I just couldn’t remember the line! Doh.
Dougless
Developers will recieve Apples tool kit to flood the air waves with iPhone / iPod Touch with a “billions-upon-billions” of apps.
Change is in the air!
Or maybe Android is better and Apple needs change.
the iBoner!!
if the font is myriad pro light, and it certainly looks so, is this code speak for macbook pro light?
Coincidenatally, scientist have discovered two things that, when present in the air, increase a woman’s chance of getting pregnant………
…..her feet.
-TT
Will we finally see “Mobile Me”?
iPod with wireless synching
Apple teams with Google to launch iSatellite….AAPL stock hits 1000…
The iStink is coming!
Ballmer will be at the Expo!
He will announce that Apple will buy M$ for $00000000.1.
Haven’t Apple used lyrics from songs to preceed other events?
Not to mention the focus of song lyrics in their TV ads.
I’d say the reference to the song mentioned before ir probably it aka. a revolution of some sorts.
How about a wireless device that does not need batteries, such as a remote control.
Wimax, people. Wimax. You need Wimax to go with your iMacs, not to mention your iPhones.
Get it?
Peace.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Olmecmystic
I hope for some really cool wireless stuff.
ThereIsSomethinginTheAir …..
“So if that’s the Myriad Pro font being used in the banners, then perhaps Apple will buy Adobe since it’s an Adobe font.”
Apple will buy Sherwin Williams because the signs were painted with S. W. paint.
I smell it too, but why would the CEO of MS be here?
Maybe it’ll be Ballmer or Gates hanged in effigy. Or for real. Naw, Apple’s too classy for that. And I think you’d need an aircraft carrier’s arresting wire to hang Ballmer’s lard ass.
global free wifi for iPhone / iPod Touch?
Much like the announcement of the iPhone. We’ve created 3 new devices:
1) A tablet device
2) An ultra portable
3) A wireless communicator
Three devices in one….introducing the MacBook Air
I believe in addition to the MacBook Air (if it does materialize), AppleTV will now be able to send/receive wirelessly from the iPod Touch and iPhone as well. Download on AppleTV, send to your Mac/iPhone.
I just hope expectations aren’t so exaggerated that it makes great products that do come out, look less than stellar….
Broadly speaking, the present invention provides methods and apparatus for dynamically altering the key faces of keyboard keys, such that they show an accurate representation of what action will occur when a particular key is depressed. In one embodiment the altering key faces are accomplished by placing a number of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) on each key face, and using an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) placed inside each key to turn on and turn off the respective diodes. The respective ASICs are controlled by signals originating from the software application in which the user is currently working and by the selected language locale. As a result, the users always have current and accurate information in front of them about what will happen when a particular key is depressed on the keyboard, and there is no need to memorize what actions particular key depressions will cause.
…cited from one of apples latest patent: “DYNAMICALLY CONTROLLED KEYBOARD “