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Decoding the Clues of "See" and "Touch" in the Apple Rumors

This article is more than 10 years old.

Sniffing out the rumors surrounding Apple's product announcements is a perverse geek sport. On the one hand we have MacRumors trafficking in snapshots of clandestine builds from unidentified factories in China. On the other we have industry analysts calculating specifications based on available capacity and operating margins. And then there are the speculative bloggers (myself included) who are akin to the "deaf, dumb and blind kid" who "sure plays a mean pinball," in The Who's rock opera, Tommy.

The song, Pinball Wizard, is relevant because of Apple's own bit of clue-mongering—an invitation for the March 7th event (see above) that promises, "We have something you really have to see. And touch." See me. Touch me. Feeeeeeel Meeeeeeee!

So without further distractions, buzzers or bells, here are the leading rumors about Wednesday's events based on the clues "see," and "touch":

Rumor: The Release of the iPad3

See: The almost certain high-resolution retina display.

Touch: The faster quad-core A6 processor or a dual-core A5X chip will produce a qualitatively better "feel."

Rumor: The Update of the Apple TV

See: The next version will support full 1080p HD, up from the current 720p.

Touch: See my post yesterday about my fantasy of a touch interface remote control and program guide on steroids.

Rumor: The Introduction of the Microsoft Office Suite for iPad

See: The new Metro inspired versions of the venerable enterprise workhorse will look surprisingly clean.

Touch: The gestural interface for familiar applications will be a delight.

Rumor: New iPad will include 8 megapixel camera

See: The high-resolution photos will look great on the retina display.

Touch: The recent release of Adobe's Photoshop Touch for iPad will make manipulation of those images "handy."

Rumor: New iPad will include Siri

See: Apple's friends at Pixar have animated the previously self-effacing assistant!

Touch: I don't really want to go there...

Rumor: Apple will release the iPad game version of the classic The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard pinball machine

See: Animated, high-resolution bumpers, bells, flippers and flashing lights.

Touch: You can "feel" the weight of the silver ball move around the table and the accelerometer permits "body english."

I could go on, but I want to post this before Wednesday!