Get Ready for the "Mobo Effect"

The iPod generated what is known as the "iPod Halo Effect", the idea that the popularity and strong sales of iPods to Windows PC owners translated into increased Mac sales. There has been anecdotal evidence to suggest that the "iPod Halo Effect" does indeed exist.

With the release of the Rokr iTunes enabled phone from Apple and Motorola, Apple is demonstrating that they want iTunes to be ubiquitous. I expect the Rokr E1 phone to expose more people to Apple products for the first time specifically, iTunes. This in turn should translate into people purchasing their first Mac. I say this will generate a "Mobile Halo Effect" or as I call it, the "Mobo Effect" (yes, I just coined the phrase) in the not too distant future.

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Apple Announces the iPod Nano and iTunes Phone

iPod Nano

Today, Apple announced the iPod nano, the replacement for the iPod mini. The iPod nano comes in 2GB ($199) and 4GB ($249) sizes in your choice of white or black. The iPod nano comes in a MUCH smaller form factor than any iPod to date. Apple's currently marketing the nano with the following phrase, "1000 songs. Impossibly small. iPod nano".

The specs are as follows

- 1000 song capability
- A Bright LCD color display that can support up to 25,000 photos
- A 14 hour battery life (rechargeable)
- Apple Click Wheel navigation
- 1.5 ounces
- 80% smaller in volume than the original iPod
- 1/2 the thickness of the iPod mini
- Support for the dock connector
- Flash based memory instead of a hard drive
- New graphical clock, stopwatch, games, lap timer, screen lock

The iPod nano should continue Apple's run in the market for digital music and it should continue to fuel the "iPod Halo Effect" that has brought so many Switchers to Mac and OS X.

Motorola Rokr E1 - iTunes Phone

Apple and Motorola announced the iTunes-capable, a phone that has been speculated for over a year. The Rokr E1 is the first mobile phone with iTunes built-in. It will allow music enthusiasts to transfer up to 100 iTunes based songs from a Mac or PC to the phone.

Cingular is the exclusive carrier for the phone in the U.S. The phone is available for $249.99 with a 2 year contract.

With the release of the phone, Apple is demonstrating that they want iTunes to be ubiquitous. I expect the phone to expose more people to Apple products for the first time specifically, iTunes. This in turn should lead to more people purchasing a Mac for the first time as we may see a "Mobile Halo Effect" or "Mobo Effect" (yes, I just coined the phrase) in the near future.

Today was a great day for Apple as it demonstrated to the market that it intends to keep it's position as the market leader for digital music and digital music players.

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Evidence of a Video iPod?

Apple invited media to a special event to take place at 10:00 a.m. in the Moscone Center in San Fransisco California on September 7, 2005. The invite featured a pair of denim jeans and the caption "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again."

Rumor has it that we will see the iTunes enabled mobile phone from Motorola. One question, could today be the day that we see the Video iPod?

A couple of sites are already making references to the Video iPod:

http://www.cinematology.com/ states "Feed your video iPod"

http://www.consumers4choice.org/site/PageServer states "Find out if you won an Apple Video iPod November 9th"

If we do see the Video iPod today or at some point in the near future, it will be a great move by Apple to have it out ahead of the 2005 holiday shopping season. I welcome any product that could provide Apple an avenue to sell products to a larger customer base as it should further fuel the "iPod Halo Effect", a term used to describe how iPods have led to sales of Macs.

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