Cloud-based iTunes?
iTunes subscription service?
Apps in Apple TV?
More studios on board with TV rentals?
I was trying to think of a Beatles reference that would relate to "another day" or "never forget" but nothing comes to mind right away. When it comes to iTunes announcements, the Beatles are usually the first thing people think of.
Edit: There's a Paul McCartney song called "Another Day," but that would be a bit of a stretch to say the least.
Yeah, I was thinking that too. I doubt they make this big of a deal about the Beatles or Bond... unless it's part of a bigger content related announcement.
Very interesting! My guess (in order of probability) is it's either iTunes in the cloud, subscription model for music or they managed to get the other networks to opt in to the tv rental system that FOX is currently participating in.
I could see iTunes in the cloud because the rumours have been swinging heavily in that direction for a few months.
Subscription model is a maybe in my books, but I don't see it extending beyond music because a) there are other subscription services out there so it may not be a giant stretch to do and b) I don't think the tv/movie people are progressive enough to go for it. One point made on a podcast last week that made a lot of sense was that if iTunes was a subscription, then Ping actually makes sense. At the moment it's dumb to say "This song is awesome, listen to a preview!". Now if it was "I just made a playlist to get me focused on my work this morning .... listen to it", THEN Ping becomes useful.
Finally the TV network people joining up for rental much like FOX has. I'm not even convinced FOX will continue doing it as they claim to only be renting out content as a trial. It would definitely help sales of the Apple TV if there was more rental selection. I wonder if maybe the tv networks are realizing that the google tv box may be more hurtful to their business model?
I doubt it's subscription based video if they're on board with Netflix, unless they are shutting down their agreement with the company. That would suck, as it was one of the reasons for me to pick up AppleTV.
One of the most popular topics of discussion for some time now has been a cloud-based iTunes that would allow users to have their purchased iTunes Store content hosted on Apple's servers and streamed to Internet-connected devices rather than having to manage local content libraries on each machine or on a user's home network. Another popular rumor dating back many years is a subscription-based music service that would allow users to pay a monthly fee to be able to listen to an entire catalog of music.
But according to All Things Digital, both of these possibilities appear unlikely given the lack of any inside reports of new contracts with major music labels that would be required for such plans.
Here's a thought ... what if they are finally renaming the program? iTunes really doesn't fit anymore considering all the things aside from music that it manages.
Maybe they finally reached an agreement with Facebook and Ping could actually do what they originally claimed it could. Twitter integration was a good first step.
It's kind of weird that they would announce anything at 7am Pacific time.
It has to be something with their new data center in Carolina. If they're announcing at 7 in Cali, that will be 10 there, which is about an hour after the work day starts there.
I still think it has something to do with cloud iTunes.
Coincidentally, this was just posted on Mac Rumors...
Quote:
Speculation and rumors regarding tomorrow's iTunes-related announcement are continuing to come in from all directions, and the latest bit of speculation relies on some bits of information pulled out of the iTunes 10.1 release from last Friday to suggest that Apple might be looking to launch some kind of "iTunes Live Stream" service. Details on what exactly the service might be, however, remain sketchy.
As noted, however, it is unclear what iTunes Live Stream actually is, with speculation ranging from live streaming of existing television content to something more along the lines of user-generated streams of live video or audio content.
Apple has been testing some aspects of live video streaming in recent months, rolling out its own HTTP Live Streaming technology based on open standards to deliver live video of its September and October media events. And with the company's new data center in North Carolina set to open by the end of the year, the company would seem to have ample backend capacity for such technology to be deployed on a broader scale.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Apple is going to introduce a YouTube competitor. Upload and download content via your iTunes account, so family and stalkers can see your home vids on their shiny new $99 AppleTV
Interesting iTunes Teaser
