Juicy Rumor: Apple iPhone? Or even Apple iGame?
Rumors have been going around the web for years that Apple might get into the mobile phone market. Engadget just posted an article highlighting some interesting finds:
"Anyhow, in the June 28th iPod updater package, apparently if one were to analyza few particular files with a hex editor, one would produce some very peculiar and anomalous commands, like t_feature_app_PHONE_APP, kPhoneSignalStrength, clPhoneCallModel, clPhoneCallHistoryModel, prPhoneSettingsMenu, and so on. They're confirmed to have absolutely nothing to do with the Moto iTunes phone line, which makes sense, and we will concede that such a find seems highly unusual."
This struck me as interesting because there have also been a few rumors of Apple getting back into the gaming market. Apple's done a great job of reinvigorating their PC line with the shift to OS X and Intel Core Duo processors, and today your average consumer can get pretty much anything done on their Mac that they might do on the PC. Yes, there's a smaller selection of applications overall, but there tends to be at least some solution for almost every need... except gaming. No offense to Mac fans out there (of which I am also one), but the Macintosh gaming landscape is a bit of a wasteland. This is the one area Apple really needs to kickstart to be successful over time; after all, gaming is regularly listed as the second or third most important application people want to do with their PCs ("internet", or web-browsing and email being first).
Point is, I can see an Apple cell phone happening, if only because it would be a great extension device for iTunes - think iPod and cell phone combo. I'm sure Apple would have some fun negotiations with the cellular carriers on iTunes revenue sharing, but that's all solveable at the end of the day. Once you have an "iPhone" you've nailed two of the devices people are most likely to carry with them while away from home. What's the third? A portable gaming device like the PSP or DS. My gut is if a cell phone/iPod hybrid is coming down the line, a version that encompasses gaming isn't far behind.
Busy day today so I can't write more, but I'll try to gin up some better-formed thoughts this weekend on what Apple's gaming strategy might be. I don't have any special crystal ball here, but I do have some thoughts on what might be interesting plays for Apple. Hint: the Mac Mini just seems like an odd little device... today.
[Edit: Penny Arcade mentioned a product from Transgaming called Cider that appears to allow Windows games to run on Intel Macs pretty much seamlessly, albeit with some developer work. To quote Tycho:
"Transgaming's Cider product allows Windows games to run on Intel Macs without dual booting or costly and painful waxing. It isn't emulation exactly, and it does require some devloper cooperation. I've been expecting Apple to handle something like this themselves, and they may yet, but perhaps they believe that Boot Camp has it under control. I sometimes, even in our enlightened age, see snark merchants snickering about the dilapidated state of Mac gaming. This was in a post I was reading on my Mac, booted into Windows, right before I played the demo of Prey with no hitches the very day of its release. I don't know if there is this storehouse of tired-ass Mac jokes out there that have no defined use, or what, but we're way past the expiration date on that type of material."
Pretty cool - I'm actually not familiar with Cider directly but will obviously need to look into it.]