Industry worries about FCS falling by wayside

A new version of Final Cut Studio is coming soon, according to a brief e-mail from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "A great release of Final Cut is coming early next year," a terse message sent from Jobs' iPad reads. The mail was sent in response to a complaint from a post-production consultant, Dustyn Gobler, who argued that companies need to know Apple's software roadmap in order to properly invest hundreds of thousands of dollars. Avid and Adobe are now much more open about the future of their editing software, Gobler remarks.

Jobs' statement is consistent with recent claims by anonymous sources, suggesting that while Apple originally wanted to update Final Cut in 2010, the launch has been delayed until next year. Difficulties are said to include conflict over a unified interface -- a feature which may be postponed until 2013 -- and Apple's overriding focus on iOS. Some Final Cut engineers have allegedly been reassigned to work on the iOS platform, hampering production.

Worries have been expressed in the industry that Apple has diminishing interest in supporting professional software. The iPhone is now the company's largest profit driver, followed by the Mac, iPad and iPod.

by MacNN Staff