EMILY: Hey, I?m Emily Dreyfuss.
KARYNE: And I'm Karyne Levy.
EMILY: Welcome to Rumor Has It?s special year-end show, where we round
up the biggest tech rumors of 2012.
KARYNE: ? And look forward to the rumors we?re hearing that may come
true in 2013.
EMILY: Without delay, the biggest rumor of this year: an Apple HDTV!
Though there is little evidence so far that this thing is in the works, the
rumors that it could be released at any moment have persisted all year. To
recap briefly: Before his death, Steve Jobs told his biographer that he had
FINALLY CRACKED the code to simplifying and reinventing your
television. Since the biography came out last year, we?ve been waiting.
KARYNE: The most recent rumor finally suggests that the TV is actually
being worked on at Foxconn. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple, its
long-time manufacturing partner Foxconn, and television maker Sharp are
all collaborating on the project.
EMILY: Even this rumor suggests it?s at the early testing phase, but if true,
2013 seems like the earliest we?ll see Steve Jobs? last product gift to the
world.
KARYNE: The most obvious of the 2013 Apple rumors is about....the
iPhone 5S, of course. It seems like the iPhone 5 was barely in people's
hands before rumors of the iPhone 5S already started swirling.
According to analysts, the next iPhone will launch in June or July, with a
new super HD camera/screen, a better battery, and NFC technology finally.
It also could potentially have up to 128GB of flash storage, and it could
come in different colors.
EMILY: There is no doubt in my mind that the iPhone 5S will be released
next year, sometime after Q2. That?s what they always do.
KARYNE: Agreed. People who are on the "S" track of iPhone iterations will
be happy with the improvements, and people who just got the iPhone 5,
like us, will just be happy to wait for the iPhone 6.
EMILY: And maybe grumbling a liiiitttttttttle bit.
EMILY: Next up, Android fans like our fiancees have their panties in a twist
over the rumor that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is coming next year. On the
one hand, we have to say: of course it is! That?s how this works -- phones
get better, new models come out.
KARYNE: But knowing that doesn?t mean we know what the phone will
have or when we?ll see it.
EMILY: Recent rumors from Korean site Asiae.kr suggests it will have a 5-
inch screen and a 1080p HD display. Benchmarks on NenaMark?s site
suggest it will run Android 5.0 but will only be 720p.
KARYNE: Our producer Sarah and I have money that we?ll see this at
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
EMILY: We?ll see.
KARYNE: Next, my favorite of the rumors: next-generation consoles from
Microsoft and Sony.
EMILY: These rumors heat up and then die down almost as fast as we can
report them. It's obvious that there will BE next-generation consoles, but
we just don't know when -- or what.
KARYNE: For the Xbox, most-recent speculations are that it'll be ready for
the 2013 holiday season. As for features, reports include Kinect 2.0, a Blu-
ray drive, an enhanced controller, and an AV port for watching and
recording broadcast TV shows. Basically it's going to shoot unicorns out of
its butt.
EMILY: Rumors pin the PS4 as coming out during the holidays next year,
as well. As for features, they range from excellent 3D gaming at 1080p, to
the games coming on Blu-ray discs or as downloadable content, like with
the PS Vita.
KARYNE: What we do know is that the current-gen consoles have been
around for almost 10 years. And although they're excellent, perhaps it's
time for a refresh.
EMILY: Our final rumored development next year is a necessity: that
supercrisp 4K TVs will be commercially available for a way way lower price.
Current Sony 4K TVs start at...$25 thousand dollars.
What else can you get for $25K?
Karyne: A car.
Emily: A wedding.
Karyne: A home movie theater.
Emily: A downpayment on a house.
Karyne: 25 MacBook Airs.
Emily: 25 thousand hamburgers from the McDonalds dollar menu.
Karyne: Yuck. OK fine, yum.
EMILY: Now, we saw the first 4K TVs at CES last year, and everyone went
googoo gaga over their lifelike picture quality that was like looking through
a window. Personally, my vision is so imperfect that I was incredibly
underwhelmed.
KARYNE: Or maybe you weren't standing at the right distance from it. As
CNET's Geoff Morrison writes: Your eye has a finite resolution, and at the
distance that most people sit from their TVs, it's unlikely you'd be able to
tell the difference.
EMILY: That?s it for this week. Our comment of the week comes from
Garfnodie, who writes of the rumor that iOS will be getting a Microsoft
Office app: ?My biggest problem with Office on mobile devices is the
subscription model. I do not like paying a monthly fee to use an app...Give
me free or premium, not freemium or subscription.?
KARYNE: Hear hear. That?s our show everyone, share your rumors at
rumorhasit@cnet.com or call us at 1-800-750-CNET. And tweet us!
EMILY: Happy holidays, and have a happy new year!
