Steve Jobs spotted at the Oscars; iPad ad runs
He wasn't lining up for an interview with Ryan Seacrest about what designer made his suit, but a few eagle-eyed bloggers on location at the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday evening say that Apple CEO Steve Jobs was in attendance. In a tux, not a black turtleneck.
Blogger and Web video personality Wayne Sutton snapped a far-away shot of someone whom he believed to be Jobs, accompanied with "OMG it's Steve Jobs! I'm the only one yelling at him." Indeed, Sutton's photo shows Jobs' unmistakable profile filing into the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. CNET has placed an inquiry to Apple PR to verify that it is indeed him (Jobs has a famous satire-blog impersonator, after all).
Jobs has reason to be at the Oscars, and it has nothing to do with the fact that he once got played onscreen by actor Noah Wylie in a made-for-TV movie: the Apple CEO acquired animation studio Pixar in 1986 before selling it to Disney two decades later. He's now the largest individual shareholder in Disney; the Pixar film "Up" was nominated for the Best Animated Feature and Best Picture category this year.
But Jobs is also an ambiguous, powerful figure in the entertainment industry. Movie sales and rentals in Apple's iTunes Store required extensive negotiations, something that the public debut of its iPad tablet device next month may render even more complicated. Its Apple TV device has been one of the company's more low-profile products, but with the cable industry in more turmoil than ever (namely the battle between Cablevision and the Disney-owned ABC), it could be Apple's turn to flex a bigger muscle in video and broadcast entertainment.
That could make for some interesting conversation at Oscar afterparties. But at least for now, Jobs' evening is probably focused on "Up."
UPDATE (5:15 p.m. PT): Twitter user John Chu nabbed a picture at the Oscars with Steve Jobs, more or less proving that it actually is Steve Jobs.
UPDATE (5:54 p.m. PT): A commercial for the iPad, making public its April 3 release date, ran during the Oscars, though that's not necessarily correlated with Jobs' attendance. The ad ran in the commercial break following Christoph Waltz's acceptance of the Best Supporting Actor award for "Inglorious Basterds."
UPDATE (5:59 p.m. PT): "Up" has won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature.
UPDATE (6:23 p.m. PT): Here's somebody's grainy screen-grab of the video, which is currently the only version of the first-ever iPad TV advertisement that's online:
UPDATE (6:47 p.m. PT): The video of the iPad ad is live, but not embeddable, on Apple's Web site. The song playing in the ad is "There Goes My Love" by a Danish band called The Blue Van, from its 2008 album "Man Up."
UPDATE (7:14 p.m. PT): The iPad commercial has run again.
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iPad ad launches during the Oscars--predictable?
Why would Apple launch its iPad campaign March 15, as was rumored by some, when it could launch during the Oscars? This is Apple, not Snapple.
It seemed so necessary the iPad would receive its official TV push as other glamorous objects of adoration displayed their wares.
What is remarkable about the ad is that there is nothing remarkable about it at all. It is very neat, but very standard communication from Apple.
Yes, there is the music: "There Goes My Love" by Danish band The Blue Van, a tune that will soon be downloaded quite often on iTunes.
But this is, as with the iPhone and so many other Apple launches, a simple product demonstration (apologies for grainy video. It's the only embeddable copy at the time of writing). The content might just as easily have been shot by a camera hovering over Steve Jobs' head when he launched the product January 27.
It really bears all the same characteristics--yes, even some of the same footage--as the video (also embedded) that Apple launched on its own site in January.
Apple's products are far more powerful than any of its ads. Everywhere you see them, your eyes and your interest temporarily lose their stasis. This ad serves simply to tell you that April 3 will be the launch date and you should do exactly what the hands in the ad are doing: get an iPad into them and see how much fun they (and you) will have.
It will be interesting to see whether Apple still might follow this execution with something a little more daring in a week or two.
more : http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10465271-71.html?tag=mncol
iPad to hit the U.S. on April 3
Eager for the Apple iPad? You'll finally be able to get your hands on the tablet in the U.S. starting Saturday, April 3.
Apple announced Friday that the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will launch in the United States on that date, followed by the Wi-Fi + 3G edition later in the month. Additionally, both versions will hit Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K. in late April.
Starting March 12, consumers can preorder both the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models from Apple's online store or reserve a Wi-Fi version to pick up on April 3 at any Apple retail store.
When it unveiled the iPad in January, Apple had said it was shooting to make the tablet available in March.
"iPad is something completely new," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Friday in a statement. "We're excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."
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The iPad's Wi-Fi only version will sell in the U.S. for $499 for 16GB of memory, $599 for 32GB, and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G edition will cost $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for 64GB.
Prices in other countries will be announced in April, Apple said. The iPad will be available through Apple's online store, Apple retail outlets, and certain Apple authorized resellers.
Revealing the iPad to the world on January 27, Jobs touted the device as Web browser, music and video player, e-book reader, game player, and more. Measuring half an inch thick and weighing 1.5 pounds, the iPad is thinner and lighter than a notebook or Netbook and can potentially deliver up to 10 hours of battery life.
Apple's new tablet has generated lively debate even before it hits the market. No device could have matched the hype and buzz generated before Jobs' demo. So this may have been inevitable, but a significant number of reviews and opinions of the iPad have been negative.
Many have been underwhelmed by the tablet, calling it just a large iPod Touch. Some have faulted the iPad for its lack of certain features: no Webcam, no HDMI port, no multitasking, no Flash support, no ability to install software. Others have asked, "Why buy the iPad when I can buy a less expensive, more capable Netbook?"
But the original iPhone lacked certain key features and took time to evolve into the device it is today. The question for Apple is whether buyers will wait for iPad 2.0 or flock to the first-generation model when it launches in four weeks.
Updated at 7:10 a.m. PST with more details.
See also:
• Apple's iPad: What you need to know
• Editor's Take: Apple iPad
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