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Maybe the technology press should hire Robert Langdon to take a look at the colorful invitation Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) sent out Monday regarding its Jan. 27th event. The symbologist hero of Dan Brown's bestselling novels might have found evidence that Steve Jobs is indeed preparing to launch an e-reader/tablet computing device that will let consumers download The DaVinci Code, either in book or movie form.
Once again, the planets and the media are rearranging themselves in conjunction with an impending Apple product announcement. Tech/business reporters and bloggers are reading any tea leaves they can find to decipher what Jobs will unveil at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in San Francisco a week from Wednesday. (Hey, that media invitation was very colorful; so it's an e-reader with full-color e-ink capabilities, right?)
Those guesses also include analysis of forthcoming content deals with Apple, including reported agreements involving HarperCollins e-books and The New York Times.
Waiting for Apple
None of this would be happening, of course, if Apple didn't have more hits than strikes in its tech industry box score over the years. The hits are legendary: the original Macintosh, iMacs, iPods, iTunes, iPhones. Whiffs at the plate are few but memorable -- the Newton, its first go-round with the tablet concept, along with the Cube and Apple TV. (The latter may still be salvaged as more and more TV content is delivered on devices other than cable company set-top boxes.)
Even with Apple's record, there are no guarantees regarding consumer electronic success; the recent trade show in Las Vegas dedicated to that industry had its share of tablet/slate PCs and e-readers to rival Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) Kindle, yet none have captured mainstream attention so far.
In fact, while the Kindle had a great Christmas, according to Amazon, and has an A-list backer in Oprah Winfrey, e-readers haven't hit critical mass yet with consumers.
The industry and the media appear to be waiting for Apple. The pressure is on Cupertino, and there's a lot at stake as it branches out with what most industry observers think will be a new device in an as-yet-unproven product category.
Apple's Gambit
"It's not going to be what we expect. It's not going to be some linear device that fits squarely between an iPod touch and a MacBook -- a 10-inch iPod or a MacBook with the keys cut off," Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis for Interpret, told MacNewsWorld. "I don't expect a single-function device. It will be a device that will likely be designed to do a multitude of things, like the iPhone and the iPod touch. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a way to create content as well."
Color e-ink capabilities would indeed be a key differentiator for the e-reader part of its functions, he said, when it comes to magazine and newspaper content. However, a lack of color wouldn't necessarily be a product-killer for reading e-books, as consumers are used to words in black and white.
As long as the content is top-notch, available immediately and easy to use, then users may not care about the specifications. "For whatever functions Apple is delivering, you can expect some valuable content associated with it that users can get started with right away," predicted Gartenberg. "Apple will be careful to make sure that content is priced accordingly."
And that will play into Apple's long-term strategy with all of its new product launches. "Today Apple builds products because it believes it can sell tens of millions, not tens of thousands," Gartenberg said. "That's what they're aiming for."
The Devil in the Details
Apple is likely to debut a multimedia device that will take on Amazon's Kindle in the e-reader category, said IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian.
"A color display would give Apple an edge in this market," she told MacNewsWorld, "by making it compatible with graphics-rich content. But existing color display technologies -- LCD and OLED -- aren't easy to read outdoors. Apart from that, we believe Apple can offer competitive battery life and has already set the standard in the consumer electronics market for software and user interface."
Content deals will also be essential, and in this respect, Apple has some valuable experience.
"Apple would be smart to do direct deals with content providers, instead of licensing access to Barnes & Noble's (NYSE: BKS) platform, because it already knows how to manage those types of deals with music and video content providers, thanks to iTunes," Kevorkian said. "Apple could extend that expertise to deals with books and periodical publishers, and thereby retain more control of the experience and the business deal in the process."
An Apple tablet is likely to look and act like it fell right off the company tree, she suggested. "For example, a tablet might have a color touchscreen, access to the App Store and iTunes for content, and Apple's hallmark software user interface, which has made its products exceptionally user-friendly. Viewed from this perspective, there's already interest in this category."
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