MacWorld: The Apple/Sony iDog...
Monday evening at Cafe de Presse in downtown SF I bumped into a bunch of Apple people and several dozen European reporters here for CES and Apple's MacWorld.
It speaks to the power of Apple ,and the Steve Jobs brand, that despite CES promoting itself as the center of the digital consumer electronics marketplace--everyone in Las Vegas is looking over their shoulder to see what Apple will announce in San Francisco.
I got to talk with the San Jose Mercury about this very thing, a couple of days ago....how Steve Jobs is Silicon Valley's Babe Ruth, because he has hit more out of the ballpark than any one else.
Steve Jobs has successfully launched and relaunched businesses and created innovative product categories, more times than anyone else in Silicon Valley, or in greater Seattle. Granted, he might not be a pleasant fellow to work with, but what he does works, time and again, and that should be acknowledged and celebrated, imho.
So, being a good journalist, when I ran into the Apple people I pumped them about what the big announcement is about tomorrow. I encouraged them to order more drinks, but still, they stuck to their story: we know nothing!
That might be true, but, I think I did get a scoop. It might not be related to Tuesday's expected announcement of an iPhone, but my scoop could be real in a year or two...
Sony and Apple partner on the iDog, a robotic resurrection of Sony's Aibo dog robot.
Plus, it's a valuable health aid to aging boomers because of the beneficial effects of the "pet response" that pet lovers exhibit. If your pet carries all your iTunes, and it is a phone, that's extra lovable.
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Here is Troy Wolverton over at the San Jose Mercury on: