The iPad is bound to be replaced, I originally thought before the Holidays, but they may be holding off until January which would keep with the annual release schedule of the iPhone. Here are the features I want or think they should add to the new iPad.

1. Front Facing Camera (for Facetime). Possibly rear camera but not likely.
2. Retina Display
3. Multiple or smaller screen size- 7 inches sounds like the rumored size
4. Thinner form-factor
5. Lower Price- Starting at $399
6. Built-in Memory card reader- not likely but, I can hope!
7. Higher resolution video output and playback
8. GPS- For all the location-aware apps

These are  the primary new hardware features, I also expect them to roll out new software features between hardware iterations.

Today as expected Apple announced new iPod, a new Apple TV and a new version of iTunes at  today’s keynote. These are the new product details that were announced today.

iPods:

iPod Shuffle:

The iPod Shuffle went retro to the design of the shuffle generation prior to the most recent one. It also regained buttons but also retained voiceover from the previous version. The new iPod Shuffle has a capacity of 2 GB and is priced at $49

iPod Nano:

The iPod Nano no longer uses a click wheel and instead uses a multitouch screen but doesn’t run iOS or have iOS applications. The new iPod Nano does not have the video camera of the previous version and is now a small square as apposed to the well know rectangle of the previous iPod Nanos.  The iPod Nano is available in 2 capacities: 8 GB for$149 and 16 GB for $179.

iPod Touch:

The new iPod touch is even thinner  and looks a lot more like the iPhone 4. It also mirrors the iPhone in features including: the retina display, dual camera system (HD camera on the rear), Facetime, and the powerful A4 mobile processor.

The iPod Touch comes in 3 models: 8 GB for $199, 16 GB for $299 and 32 GB for $399

***All new iPods will be available next week!***

iOS 4.1:

Apple also announced iOS 4.1 which provides many fixes to Bluetooth, proximity sensors and fixes issues on iPhone 3G. It also adds a few new features: HDR photography, the ability to upload HD video over WiFi, the ability to rent TV shows. It also adds a mobile gaming center where you can play against people nearby or around the world head to head in Game Center-enabled games.

iOS 4.1 will be available for free next week!

iOS4.2:

They also gave us a sneak peak to iOS 4.2 which adds all these great features to the iPad. To me this means that they will release an iPad maybe in October with a camera because there will be HDR photography. It also adds wireless printing and Air Play (formerly AirTunes) which will let you stream your iTunes content over your home network.

iOS 4.2 will be available sometime in November

iTunes 10:

The big new feature is Ping which is a social network for music. It allows listeners to follow artists and other listeners who have similar interests. It also has a new way to look at your music in your library although it still needs work.

Apple TV:

The Apple TV (Yes it kept the Apple TV name) is now 1/4 the size of the old model, has no storage and allows you to rent movies and TV shows via iTunes. You can rent first run movies in HD for $4.99 and as time goes on, the price drops. Television shows (currently only Fox and ABC) will be able to be rented for 99 cents without ads! You also could stream content from Netflix, MobileMe, Flickr, and you computers on your home network. You can also use AirPlay to stream content from your iOS devices onto your Apple TV.

The Apple TV is $99 and is available next week!

The new Apple TV is not running the iOS as rumors suggested and is still similar to the previous models that were very unsuccessful.

I will write an event summary after the event is over tomorrow afternoon!

There has been a lot of speculation about Apple replacing Mac OSX in the not so distant future with iOS either  making a version for computers or just phasing out the computers and only making iOS devices. I really think although these iOS devices, although they have become popular, are not going to be able to replace a personal computer. I think Apple has been focusing on iOS in the past year to get the iPad and iOS4 out but, I think they will come back to the Mac and great new stuff for the Mac OS and great new innovation. The Macintosh hardware has really not had any major change for a long time and I think this is for two reasons, first, because they have been focusing on iOS in recent months and secondly because they are very advanced, refined devices and they really just have to bump the tech specs every now and then.

As I wrote to Steve Jobs, I love using my iPod Touch but there are many times and tasks that I need to use my much more powerful Macbook Pro and use the hardware to get things done more efficiently. Plus for things like video editing and other high-intensity tasks, sure you can do them on the touch-based iOS devices, but it is still much more efficient to do that on a computer. Yes touch controls adds functionality, and I can see people who are used to using a trackpad wanting to buy a device like the Magic Trackpad to be able to use them on desktop computers.

I believe that Apple will continue the Mac OSX franchise for at least one more iteration and will later create there next generation operating system. Sure, they may add more multi-touch features and other features to enhance the Mac environment, but at least for the foreseeable future Mac OS will remain similar to how it has been. The OS is very refined already so the new versions may not have a ton of new features, and hopefully will not be expensive to upgrade. Either way Mac OS X isn’t going any where any time soon, it is a powerful operating system and would be foolish for Apple to phase out.

Since I predict Apple products usually before Apple Events, I decided to make a big list of predictions to cover what I think Apple will be releasing in the future.

iPad 2.0
I think that the next iPad will come out in September with the next generation of iPods. The major new features I think the new iPad will have will be the high resolution Retina display they have on the new iPhone, it will also a Front facing and possibly rear camera that take high quality pictures and high definition video. They will also offer iMovie for the iPad which I think will be easier to use than the iPhone screen. I also think they will decrease the price by around $100.

IOS4 For iPad
Apple has already announced that they will be releasing IOS4 for the iPad in the Fall. I think it will include multitasking but, it would use a style of application switching more similar to OSX than the iPhone.

Apple TV 2.0
The Apple TV never has never really been popular. I think the next Apple TV will allow you to stream content as well as enjoy content you have on your iTunes. This would be more competitive with other set-top-boxes like the Roku box.

iPod Touch 4th Generation

The next version of the iPod Touch will most likely be coming out in September when Apple traditionally release new iPods. The new iPod Touch will include a new 5 MP camera and will be able to shoot HD video. I think it will also have the powerful A4 processor and retina display from the new iPhone 4. It will definitely have a front-facing camera for Facetime and maybe a rear camera as well for higher quality images like the iPhone 4.

**I don’t really have other predictions for other iPods because I don’t know what else they will adding besides more memory.****

Tablet Device

There has been a leak that there  is development of a multi touch graphics tablet for graphic design and using touch controls on your computer. I don’t know when or what Apple will be announcing, but touch seems to be their focus recently.

Mac OS 10.7

This will probably not be announced until the end of this year or the beginning of next year, but obviously a new version of Mac OSX will be coming out and the next version will be 10.7, my guess will be Lion, i couldn’t think of any other “big cat” name. Once again no ideas on features yet, but we will see!

MobileMe

Mobile Me, in my opinion should become a free service for most things, like mail, contacts, calendar so they can compete with Google and other cloud services. I think they could offer premium services in addition like web hosting and extra services and charge for that, but everything else should be free.  The way it is now, I don’t see many people using Mobileme.

Macbook Air

The Macbook Air hasn’t been much of a success either and I think it won’t really be significantly updated. It may get a slight bump in specs every now and then, but besides that, I think the vast majority of  people will choose a Macbook, especially for a lighter computer, or a Macbook Pro for a more powerful computer. The iPad could also be a device that can be a replacement for the Air as long as you don’t mind the touch screen.

iWork.com

Apple introduced a cloud service for their Office suite, iWork, in 2009 and haven’t mentioned it in any keynotes nor have they taken it out of beta. I think this project needs to be developed into more of a web editing suite instead of just a reader and sharing system, which is what it is now.

iTunes Cloud

I think the iTunes music store will become available on the internet and will also add over the air, synchronization. I think that this one will be announced at the same time as the new iPods in September!

This is all I can think of right now, i’m sure I will predict other things in a future  article but, this is what I can come up with right now.