TVSquad

As MacWorld opens today in San Francisco, people are talking about the statement released by Apple CEO Steve Jobs yesterday concerning rumors about his health. Jobs has gone through a rather obvious loss of weight and people have speculated that he had a serious health problem, perhaps related to the cancer scare he had a while back. But in the statement, Jobs says that the weight loss was caused by a hormonal imbalance and that he is undergoing treatment to solve the problem.

Also, he doesn't have PMS.

That's the little joke that CNBC anchor Dennis Kneale made on the network yesterday, in a report about Jobs' statement and the price of Apple's stock. While throwing to another reporter, Kneale asked if "all of this was about PMS, something like that?" Kneale apologized for the remark (which he called "word play") after the report. I don't think Jobs should be offended, though I bet some women will be.

It seems like something weird happens on CNBC every day now.

Time's annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World is out, and for the third year in the row I just missed making the list (last year I was 103, this year I'm at 102, so I'm getting better!). The list is broken down into five different categories: Leaders & Revolutionaries, Heroes & Pioneers, Scientists & Thinkers, Artists & Entertainers, and Builders & Titans. This year, Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana herself, is #59. And the weird thing is, it's under the Scientists & Thinkers category.

OK, that's not true (she's under Artists & Entertainers), but it got me thinking that there must really be a shortage of influential people in the world today.

Lost is perhaps the ultimate in TV fiction. The storytelling is the stuff of vivid imaginations and it's gotten millions watching and wondering and tuning in for more. Of course, in the midst of all that fantasy, some things we've taken as fact, like most of the technology. For instance, I don't know about you, but I believed those satellite phones they've been using since Naomi parachuted onto the island last season were the real thing. Well, guess what, it's no more of a reality than Mr. Spock's tricorder on Star Trek!

Steve Jobs, for a lot of us, is kind of like Chuck Norris, except all the things that Chuck can supposedly do... well, Steve can actually do them. This is a man who once beat Magnus ver Magnusson in an arm-wrestling match with his left hand while designing a new iPod Nano with his right. The man's got game.

That being said, even he admitted yesterday during his Macworld keynote speech that the original Apple TV was kind of a flop. It was pricey and clumsy and not very popular at all. Yesterday's announcement of Apple TV (take two) acknowledged the flaws of the first machine and promised to make things right for consumers.

We told you a while back about NBC taking its shows off of Apple's iTunes service. And now NBC President and CEO Jeff Zucker has disclosed why.

In an interview with The New Yorker's Ken Auletta, Zucker says that NBC wanted to test sell episodes of one of their shows for the higher price of $2.99. He was even going to let Steve Jobs pick which show to test, but Jobs refused to let them do it. So all of NBC's shows are going to be pulled off of iTunes by the end of the year. According to Zucker, NBC's shows were responsbile for 40% of iTunes video sales last year but didn't make much money off of it.

The Apple iPhone looks like the coolest damn thing since...well, the last thing Apple introduced. But did you know there were mobile/cell phones before it? It's true! I looked it up on Wikipedia.

After the jump is a TV commercial for the Centel, a mobile phone from 1989 (the company was bought by Sprint in the early 90s). Sure, the phone is the size of a two liter bottle of Pepsi, but it's still pretty cool. Notice that there isn't one word of dialogue in the commercial, which is rather remarkable, considering the ad is for something you communicate with. If they made the commercial now, there would be lots of talking and texting and rap music in the background.

Usually I don't mention technical stuff on this blog, mostly because such things cause my brain to freeze. Seriously, I can barely operate a manual can opener without crying.

Anyway, our pals over at the Unofficial Apple Weblog and Endgadget have been covering the All Things Digital conference, and one of their reports caught my eye: the new Apple TV will include an option to watch YouTube video right on your TV screen.

Bill Gates is the guest on The Daily Show tonight. John Hodgman, aka "the PC guy" in those Apple commercials, is a correspondent for the show. Will the two meet?

It's hard to say. Maybe as a visual, but I wonder if Apple would allow Hodgman to actually be on the show when Gates is there and interact with him in a way that would spoof the commercials? Not that it wouldn't be great advertising for Apple, but they probably want to control these things a bit more. This appearance is just a commercial for the new Windows Vista, so maybe they don't want any competition from Apple, even if it is "implied."

Besides, would Gates even find it funny? Even though Hodgman is "the PC guy," the ads are still ads that say Macs are better. I'll be watching though, just in case something does happen.

[via TV Tattle]

That low rumbling whirrr you heard coming from the west as you sat down to your Fruity Pebbles this morning was the sound of the generators for the Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field coming online. The master took the stage once again today to wow fans, put an end to some of the recent speculation and introduce some new products.

As far as MacWorld's go, this one was a little odd. Most of the keynote was devoted to the new iPhone, with no mention of iLife, iWork, Leopard or any of the computer hardware. You can get the complete rundown on the show, including all the info about the iPhone, from our pals over at TUAW. For our purposes here though, the big news is Apple TV.

Macworld opens January 9 in San Francisco, and rumors are swirling that Steve Jobs will be accompanied by The Simpsons in his much anticipated January 10 Keynote Address. Macenstein predicted awhile back (see prediction #7) that the animated icons would be keynoting with the Apple kingpin as part of an announcement by Apple and Fox they are licensing Fox content, in particular episodes of The Simpsons, for the iTunes store.  Like Macenstein, I'd far prefer episodes of Family Guy myself, and maybe a little Futurama action as well, but it will be interesting to see if this prediction pans out either way.

Speak up and let Steve Jobs know what you think, TV Squad readers! What Fox content do you want on your iPods?

[ via this story at DIGG ]