Saturday, May 28, 2011

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

The iPhone 5 News Blog News Feed

iPhone 5 Rumor Mill Pressing the Matter: UK Tech Press Invites to the WWDC Don’t Add Up To A June iPhone 5 Release

Posted: 28 May 2011 05:00 AM PDT


Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The iPhone 5 rumor mill is behaving extra-stupid these days, assuming that some Apple UK press invites to the WWDC in June points to an imminent announcement of the iPhone 5. Read why this is yet another irresponsible bit of journalism.

Earlier in the week, fresh rumors abounded that a press pool of UK tech media reporters have been invited by the Apple UK to attend the WWDC in June. The report was originally posted by ElectricPig, which immediately interpreted this move by Apple to be compelling evidence that the rumored iPhone 5 would be announced in its usual WWDC setting in June. The article states, “The obvious conclusion would be that Apple is announcing a new iPhone. Or rather, an updated model.”

How on earth does inviting a gaggle of British tech media reporters to the WWDC lead to “the obvious conclusion” that Apple is announcing a new iPhone?

The WWDC has been a mainstay for launching new Apple software and technology since 1995. It is, by definition, a media event. The media always covers it, no matter what is rumored to be announced or released there.

Furthermore, when did inviting the British media to events become a leading indicator of technology trends in the world? With no disrespect to Great Britain, does the UK lead the world in technology media and reporting? The last time I checked, top tech media sources like The Wall St. Journal, NBC, Macworld, and CNET (owned by CBS) were headquartered in the United States. This isn’t some Memorial Day-inspired streak of nationalism on my part — it’s just a fact.

If the iPhone 5 was going to be announced at the WWDC in June and Apple was concerned that the media were not going to take the event seriously enough, wouldn’t it stand to reason that they would invite members of the U.S. media first? After all, the American consumer electronics market is Apple’s prime target. (Another dispassionate reality)

Simply put, we’ve already been told what Apple intends to unveil at the WWDC this year: software. Namely, iOS 5 and OS 5. Unless they lied to us (which is possible), that is what we should expect to get at the WWDC. Not the iPhone 5. This isn’t to say that it’s impossible that there could a surprise announcement, but based on what we know — the only hard evidence we have — there is no hardware launch planned for WWDC.

What is more likely the explanation for these UK media types getting invited to the WWDC is that, because the iPhone 5 is not slated to be announced there, Apple might be noticing a rather anemic response from the British media, and they want to make sure that iOS 5 gets ample coverage at the conference.

That explanation would make a lot more sense than assuming that British media invitees to the WWDC harkens the inevitable announcement of the iPhone 5 in June.