One of the pet pastimes of the tech world, bloggers and Wall Street seems to be predicting Apple’s next move. Speculation is rife about the impending 3G launch of the iPhone, expected to be announced in June at a Developer Conference. Now, Engadget reports that Apple has filed patents for ‘solar cells on portable devices’ – a possible plan to integrate solar cells into iPods & MacBooks.
Even serious research firms have joined the fray. Forrester Research in its report, ‘The Future of Apple Inc.,’ has predicted that Apple will take over our living rooms by 2013. Some of the predictions include:
-
creating a Apple home server
-
producing an all-in-one super remote – something Forrester’s dubbed “AppleSound” that controls everything musical in the house, including iPods, the home stereo and audio-playing computers
-
revamping its Apple Stores into retail outlets that push the digital living room/digital lifestyle
Image source: Wikepedia
Some of the predictions are bizarre (clock radios and digital photoframes – what a fall after reinventing the mobile phone!) but the general theme is to say that Apple move into digital products meant for the home. All this is based on Apple’s recent (lacklustre) attempts like Apple TV.
Apple’s success is not about inventing new stuff but making existing stuff easier to use. Our digitial experiences at home are in silos – TV for news & entertainment, DVD player for movies, iPod or a stereo system for music, a laptop for pictures and so on. In that context, there is scope for Apple to make our digital experiences at home easier and more integrated. How much of these predictions come true, remains to be seen.
PS: Talking about Apple and product design, check out this article on awesome product designs.
