The news is out that Apple is expected to announce new iPhones and the general availability of iOS 7 on September 10th. Nuance, the company that makes Siri, informed its developer community to get their apps ready for the new OS by that time. This of course does not mean the September 10th date is written in stone for Apple. It’s just a good piece of intel and a safe bet the announcement may happen on September 10th.
Having said all that; this date may be an important one in the history of this fascinating company from Silicon Valley. The market place has recognized that Samsung has out-innovated Apple in the last little while. I would also suggest that Lenovo has done the same thing.
The last time Apple released an iPhone they made it taller and they called it innovation. It wasn’t even close to being innovative and reminded me of the Schlitz tall boy beer can that came out first in 1957. The late night talk shows also made fun of Apple doing a streeter video with the iPhone 4 claiming it was the iPhone 5 and people on the street thought it was true.
Then Samsung released a commercial playing off the Apple new product hysteria to great effect. You can watch that video here.
Apple is being punk’d by the media and by competitors and while the culture inside Apple is one of indifference to the market and competitors this launch better have some new and exciting features. It better have near-field communications, which was a major gaffe of the iPhone 5 launch. They also better have some bigger form factors because that’s where the market is going.
Apple is not going to get away with just moving the needle slightly on this new product launch. The market place expects more from then. We shall see in a few weeks if they can deliver or if it will be just another hyped product launch from Apple with no substance.
Two quick hits before I go. Opscode announced Barry Crist will be its new CEO and Chairman of the Board. Former CEO Mitch Hill is stepping down to address a personal health issue and will remain on the company’s Board. Crist spent the last five months as Opscode’s Vice President, Enterprise.
Network security vendor Lumeta Corp. appointed Pat Donnellan CEO of the company.
