If you just happened to miss today's video of the "It's only rock and roll, but we like it" keynote or just so happen to be having issues downloading the full 850MB podcast feed like I am, jump on over to Apple's site and instantly view it in it's entirety via Quicktime stream.

Sure good to see Steve back...

Apple has posted all 850MB of their "It's only rock and roll, but we like it" special music event to their Apple Keynote podcast feed [iTunes link]. And, wow that was fast. Usually we get a streaming version from QuickTime Apple Events first, then the iTunes podcast later. This time, no waiting (but also no streaming version -- yet!)

If you don't mind beefy iTunes downloads, check it out and let us know what you think!

It's only rock and roll, but we like it -- Apple's 2009 iPod- and iTunes-focused special music event -- has a tag line and a date, this Wednesday, Sept. 9 at 10am PT, 1pm ET. TiPb will be live meta-blogging the event, and following it up with a special edition of iPhone Live! at 5pm PT, 8pm ET.

Last year's event, "Let's rock", started with Steve Jobs saying the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated, and went on to announce 7,000 apps and 1 million downloads in the App Store (yeah, that's changed by a factor of 10 or more!), 65,000,000 iTunes customers, iTunes 8 with Genius, new visualizations, HD TV Shows (and the return of NBC), and Album view, iPhone OS 2.1, the second generation "funner" iPod touch, Spore and other game demos from Phil Schiller, as well as new nanochromatic iPod nanos and down-tweaked classics, and headphones, and in-ear headphones, with remote and mic.

What, oh what, could this year possibly hold?

iPhone

iPhone news will likely come as an adjunct to the iPod touch. Apple may also mention AT&T getting MMS on Sept. 25th, but we wouldn't blame them for scowling as they do so...

• iPhone 3.1 previewed as part of iPod touch announcement (to ship later). See our walkthrough for more.
• New video out cables supporting 720p (and 1080p?). Sure it's unlikely, but it is possible and would be competitive with the Zune HD
• Ringtones pre-fab style. Apparently they make money for Big Music and are too complicated for users to self-create using the process introduced at 2007's music event.
• Scott Forestall will announce MMS for AT&T on Sept. 25, and give them yet another stank-face for the delays and ongoing lack of tethering.

iPod touch

This will be the big news. The iPod touch platform is the future of the iPod platform, and it's closing the gap on the iPhone fast...

• Camera, even if delayed. 3mp with video, just like the iPhone 3GS. Get ready Flickr and YouTube, you ain't seen nothing from Apple's mobile platform yet.
• Mic. Hello ultimate VoIP handset.
• Voice Control. With a mic, both that and VoiceOver should cross over easily.
• All the above will, of course, require iPhone 3GS style internals. ARM Cortex A8 processor, PowerVR SGX graphics core, and 256MB of RAM.
• Since the iPod touch has historically sported 2 NAND Flash memory slots to the iPhone's 1, double the storage is also likely. Yes, 64GB of goodness is definitely in the cards.
• Priced at $199/$299/$399 for 16GB/32GB/64GB
• Could Apple possibly pull an iPhone 3G and keep the iPod touch second gen at 8GB around at $99? We doubt it.
• We also doubt an OLED screen, though the Zune HD will have one. If iPod touch does get it, will iPhone 3GS owners shed some not-as-bright-and-sharp-tears?
• No iPod touch nano -- yet.

Other iPods

Microsoft is abandoning their non-touch iPod rivals, but Apple owns that market and they'll keep it going as long as it makes business sense.

• iPod nano with camera (and mic?). It would need to sync content off, but so do most point and shoots.
• iPod nano 32GB doubtful for an on-the-go device, so we could see price drops instead to clearly distinguish them from the iPod touch.
• iPod classic hangs on one more year -- until the iPod touch hits 128GB. Throw it a camera bone, maybe?
• Both iPod nano and classic could get the VoiceOver (though not Voice Control) upgrade.
• iPod shuffle was revised already this year, so at most a price drop back to $50.

Apple TV

Stays a hobby. Sniffle.

• Nothing. No TV recording or 1080p. (Imagine the bandwidth).
• Okay, maybe -- just maybe -- HD TV rentals. (But what would they charge, $0.50?!)

iTunes 9

• iPhone app management. 11 screens. 180 app slots. We don't need this, we need a mobile solution like categories or stacks or something, but this will do for now.
• Kevin Rose asked for Social, Jens Alfke said Apple didn't get it. iTunes 9 will split the difference and stay with the steady, if uninspired type of integration already seen with Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook in iPhoto. Share your media tastes via Facebook and Twitter. (If there is something better, including a "social app", we'll swoon appropriately).
• Ringtones, already mentioned.
• "Cocktail" album packages. We're ambivalent about this, really. If Apple can wow us with amazingly integrated music, art, lyrics, and more, then we'll be pleased. If this is just some Big Music scheme to bring back DRM, we'll scream bloggy murder. Whatever the package, keep the music easily accessible in DRM free format, you hear us?
• No Blu-Ray. That would require new Macs with Blu-Ray drives, and this isn't a Mac event. We'll revisit this in October.
• TV rentals, per above, would be nice if unlikely still (we blame Hollywood).
• Subscription music hasn't caught on, but that might just be because iTunes hasn't done it yet. Outside chance. Even outsid'er chance for TV/Movie subscriptions (and yes, we blame Hollywood for that as well).
• Oh, and it will once again kill Palm Pre sync dead. (And we're not alone in thinking that)

Beatles on iTunes

• Not going to happen -- yet. Too much money to be made on CDs and Rock Band first. (Blame Big Music).

Steve Jobs

• If he shows, it's to show he's doing well but is he needed? Likely not here, not now, despite the whispers that would no doubt flood his absence.
• "One more thing" Boom! Steve! would be swell, but we're betting he saves himself for the iTablet, which won't be tomorrow.

What Say You?

Well, that's what we think we'll see tomorrow. But what do you think? Did we miss something, everything? Let us know in the comments.

New Apple TV's, whether it simply be a small bump to the internals (CPU, storage, etc.) or the mythical, rainbow and unicorn-tear soaked Apple PVR, are the latest rumours circulating in advance of Apple's iTunes and iPod touch special music event, "It's only rock and roll, but we like it", scheduled for September 9.

Since TV's aren't rock and roll, odds are we aren't going to see anything major in that -- admittedly aging -- product SKU, but since they do serve as an iTunes Music conduit, maybe Apple's hobby might just get swept up in the song?

Most of this chatter comes again from analysts, so we'll assuredly have to wait and see. Or we could just run a poll and see what you think...

Apple's annual iTunes and iPod Special Music Event has just been made official, and this year's bash will be called "It's only rock and roll, but we like it", with the date confirmed for Wednesday, September 9 at 10am PT/1pm ET at the Yerba Bueana Center for the Arts Theatre in San Francisco, California.

TiPb will be providing a full meta live-blog as usual, and we'll be following it up at 5pm PT/8pm ET with our full analysis on iPhone Live!

Widely expected to be seen are iTunes 9 with social networking and iPhone app management, 3rd generation iPod touch with camera, and iPod nano and iPod classic with with camera to be in the lineup.

"Cocktail" album packages, the perennial Beatles on iTunes rumors, and of course iPhone OS 3.1 are also in the cards. And MMS on AT&T pretty please?

(Via Engadget)

Apple holding it's annual iTunes- and iPod-focused music event on Sept. 9th is looking increasingly likely. Never mind that last year's event was held on September 9, or that 9/9/9 holds some numerological magic, it just makes the kind of sense that does, right?

For their part, AppleInsider claims they've managed to get independent confirmation of the event from "people familiar with the matter", and also expect the afore-reported iTunes 9 with social networking, 3rd generation iPod touch with camera, and iPod nano with with camera to be in the lineup, along with other pieces "to this year's iPod story."

"Cocktail", which would try to bring back the album format, including artwork, lyrics, and other bonus material, the perennial Beatles on iTunes rumors, and of course iPhone OS 3.1 are also in the cards.

UPDATED: Forgot that little story about the iPhone 3GS (and presumably the iPod touch third gen) being able to output 720p and 1080p video... How about that for the music event?

(And commenters, please as per usual feel free to call for AT&T announcements -- or their heads.)

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Join Dieter, Chris, Rene and special guest, Patrick Norton to talk about Revision3's new AppJudgement show, as well as all the latest iPhone, iPod, iTunes, and iTablet news and rumors. Listen in!

News

iTunes, iPod, and iTablet

• Apple iPod/iTunes Event Scheduled for Sept. 9?
• UPDATED with Video: iPod touch Leaks Begin! Is This the Third Generation’s New Camera?
• Third Generation iPod touch Pricing at 16GB/32GB/64GB for $199/$299/$399?
• iTunes Now Sells 25% of US Music
• Apple iTablet Gone Wild: Nerdfights and Molotovs and iPads, Oh My!
• Fake or Really Fake? Apple iTablet UI Goes YouTube

iPhone and iPhone OS

• iPhone 3GS: 99% Pure Customer Satisfaction!
• iPhone MMS: Apple and AT&T Sued, MMS Not Possible(?!), and When Does Summer End Anyway?
• iPhone 3GS Camera Pre-Caches Images Before You Take Them?
• Analyze This: 82+ Million iPhones a Year by 2012?

Apps and App Store

• UPDATED: TomTom Turn-by-Turn Navigation for iPhone Beginning to Appear in International App Stores and Car Kit -- compatible with iPod touch and other GPS apps?
• Qik for iPhone Lands in the App Store — Without Live Streaming
Dev-Team: Palm Pre May Track User Location, but 3rd Party iPhone Apps Do Too!
• Facebook 3.0 (Sans Push) for iPhone Submitted to iTunes App Store

General

• Apple’s New North Carolina Data Center Among Largest in the World
• The Competition: Android and Windows Mobile Remind Us Not to Take Future iPhone Updates for Granted?

From the Forums

• From the Forums: Push Apps, GPS Apps, Native iPhone Apps/Features, Data Usage

Credits

Thanks to the the iPhone Blog Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You -- iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

As the typical timeframe for Apple's annual Music Event -- focused on iTunes and the iPod -- draws close, rumors have once again turned to... the Beatles. Perhaps because no other band seems both as close to Apple founder Steve Jobs' persona, and yet is still utterly missing from the digital download space.

This year, however, the Beatles do show up on Rock Band, and are releasing newly, digitally, remastered CDs, so will we finally get a Beatles on iTunes announcement this year to cap things off?

Ugh. Who knows? Why even bother to speculate any more, to track possible yellow iPod colors, to monitor McCartney's California travel plans, to play last year's Let's Rock keynote backwards for clues. It'll happen when it happens.

Looks like Wednesday, September 9 might just be this year's date for Apple's annual iPod and iTunes event, where it's widely expected we'll see the third generation iPod touch (with video camera?), iTunes 9 (with Blu-Ray and "social" integration?), as well as other refreshes to Apple's music-themed lineup.

Now, TiPb thought it would be September 8, because Apple almost always drops product on Tuesdays, like last year's Let's Rock event (and it still might this year, the above is only a rumor from a source), but we're not going to read anything into it if it is a Wednesday this time around either.

All Things Digital also says, however, there's one big ticked item we won't be seeing:

The event will be held in San Francisco–most likely at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where it has occurred in years past–and is expected to showcase upgrades to the iPod line and an update to iTunes that may involve some sort of social element. Our sources insist it will not involve any discussion whatsoever of the tablet Apple is reportedly developing.

Still remaining, however, is the other great unknown -- will Steve Jobs take the stage once again, or leave things to the Tim Cook/Phil Schiller/Greg Jozwiak team that filled in during his leave of absence earlier in the year?

MediaMemo reports that multiple music industry sources have been informed that Apple's annual Special Music Event, typically involving iPod and iTunes, will take place the second week of September -- and since Apple usually holds these events on Tuesdays, that would make September 8 the day to watch.

Widely expected to be seen at the event is Apple's third generation iPod touch, rumored to be getting a camera like it's big iPhone brother, and perhaps the same "S stands for Speed" performance chipset. Chatter has also spread about the iPod nano getting a camera, as well as iTunes 9 speculation involving app organizing, Blu-Ray support, and social network integration. And let's not forgot iPhone 3.1 we saw iPhone 2.1 last year, after all).

The two biggest mysteries will, of course, be whether or not Apple chooses to debut their near-deafeningly rumored iTablet at the event, or hold off for another event (annual MacBook event perhaps?) or next year, and whether or not a newly returned Steve Jobs takes once again to the keynote stage.

TiPb will, as always, provide ongoing coverage leading up to, during, and post event. (We can't wait either!)