Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, Oct. 4, is the day
Apple is expected to unveil the
iPhone 5,
according to All Things D. And while the next-gen iPhone is a much-anticipated piece of hardware, the event itself has a lot more importance for Apple than many previous ones, reporter
John Paczkowski pointed out.
That’s because it will be newly installed CEO Tim Cook’s first big product introduction, and the place where the public will get a first lengthy impression of him that may well set the tone for Cook’s new role. And that’s why, said sources, although he’s never hosted an Apple product announcement before, Cook is certain to preside over the iPhone 5 rollout. The pressure will undoubtedly be on Cook to turn in a good performance, especially after what has so far been a very smooth leadership transition at Apple.
Whether Steve Jobs himself will also make an appearance will likely to be determined by his health, in a decision that will be made very close to the event, Paczkowski speculated, adding that, while putting Jobs onstage with Cook could diminish the new leader’s first public effort, what better “one more thing” than Jobs himself making a cameo appearance?
Speaking of big tech events, Facebook’s f8 is today, and true geeks will be glued to their PCs, Macs, iPhones and Androids as they follow along in real time at f8.facebook.com. Look for an appearance from Spotify’s Daniel Ek—who’s celebrating as the service passes 20 million paying customers worldwide—in conjunction with Facebook’s integration of music services, which is expected to be the sexiest topic busted out at the confab by Mark Zuckerberg, who will also undoubtedly get grilled about the latest round of controversial format changes to the site.