iPhone 4.0
“Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs give a sneak peek into the future of the iPhone OS. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.”
iPhone 3GS
It’s faster, comes with an updated camera, 3MP with video, voice control, a digital compass, remote wipe.
The hardware remains looking the same so that old case of yours will still fit.
Details
There was also a lot of iPhone software demoed.
Find My Phone allows you to find where you put your phone down even if it’s in mute.
TomTom are releasing an app taking advantage of the built in compass and GPS turning the iPhone into a proper turn by turn satnav.
iPhone OS 3.0
I’d think of version 3 as the first proper version with features you’d have thought would’ve been included at the start, but also adds a few things to move it forward.
Cut/Copy/Paste is finally here as is landscape in all the main apps. You can now finally search using Spotlight.
Peer to Peer gaming so you’ll be able to play along with friends with iPhones.
MMS which shall make some happy (never cared about it myself).
Finally your notes are now synced, it’s been so annoying that wasn’t there at the start.
You can now shake to shuffle like other iPods.
It also adds tethering, making it easy to connect your computer to the net when you’re not near any wifi.
Details
iTunes 7.7
“Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home — a free download from the App Store.”
WWDC 2008
8GB model will cost £99 on the £30 & £35 tariff, and free on the £45 & £75 tariff. 16GB model, £159 on the £30 & £35, £59 on the £45 tariff and free on the £75 tariff. They will also be releasing a Pay-as-you-go version, pricing not yet available. Update: Previous owners will also be able to upgrade for free to the new model. Visit O2 for full details.
It’s also now available in white and black, the buttons are metal and the headphone socket is no longer recessed, making it easier to work with other headphones. Oh, and back is plactic now, which should help with reception I’ve read.
Not upgrading the camera seems a strange oversight. It still has the same 2 megapixel camera of the previous model, and no ability to record video, why? Many were also expecting a front facing camera, but that’s just an expectation, a good one mind. The problem is we still tend to go by the numbers and see 7mp as better than 2, just like the old days of the Mhz myth, we have the Megapixel myth:
“The megapixel myth was started by camera makers and swallowed hook, line and sinker by camera measurebators. Camera makers use the number of megapixels a camera has to hoodwink you into thinking it has something to do with camera quality.”
Really, unless you’re heavily cropping an image or planning on printing over A5, 2mp is probably fine. I’m not an Apple appologist, as it does seem rather dumb to have missed even adding 1 extra megapixel. Sure it’ll happen in the next revision, they probably were concentrating on 3G & GPS first. If you’re a serious photographer, you’re going to have a proper camera anyway.
David Pogue came to the same conclusions.
The only other missing feature it seems, is MMS (Multimedia Message Service), unless you’re waiting for that haptic feedback? They have improved Enterprise integration (which is interesting for those corporate chappies). My brother is planning on getting one, so I’ll see what he uses most, I’d suspect I’d be surfing mostly.
You can watch the new iPhone advert here.
Update: Apple have released a guided tour of the iPhone here.
Apple also launched MobileMe, a replacement for .Mac (itself a replacement of the free iTools, damn them!). MobileMe will push services like calendars, mail and contacts to the iPhone. As well as a suite of web based applications. It’s still going to cost you 20GB storage $49 - 40GB storage $99 annually. You can no doubt get these services for free elsewhere, perhaps less elegantly, but you pays your money... You can now watch a tour of the service here.
There was also some information on the next version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The OS appears to be laying foundations for the future, rather than adding flashy new features. Expected 2009.
Sadly, and I didn’t really expect it, there were no new Macs, specifically a new MacBook or MacBook Pro which is what I’m waiting for.
The keynote is available to watch here (but it’s a pretty dull one).
The iPhone has arrived (almost).
It will cost you £269 plus a monthly tariff of either £35, £45 or £55 but all plans offer free unlimited traffic (with a fair usage caveat) as well as access to The Cloud WiFi hot spots.
You'll be able to buy the iPhone from Apple, O2 and Car Phone Warehouse. No news on whether the Starbucks deal is coming to the UK anytime soon.
I'd still say wait for the next version, but if you wants it, you can now get it.
WWDC 2007 - Mac OS X 10.5: Leopard
Apple announced the near
final version of Mac OS X 10.5, otherwise known as
Leopard, they also let
developers have a copy at the conference. Steve Jobs showed off
10 features out of the 300 new features in the
up-coming version, due to ship in October.
First, the entire OS is now 64-bit! Great, you’re
thinking? It should mean faster applications in the
long run, now you’re more impressed. There
will only be one version of the OS, 32-bit
applications were shown to work without any
problems.
This window is just like the other ones, this
window is just the same
The whole OS has a more unified look, rather than the
mix of brushed metal and Aqua etc. I did notice the
scroll bars still looked like the old Aqua ones,
perhaps this may change? You can of course get a more
unified look at the moment using Uno. The translucent top
menu is bound to have its lovers and haters, I
suppose it depends on if you can change it or not.
The main feature you’ll notice at first is the
new more 3D Dock, I’m not sure if it’s any
bigger or not, or even if I like it. They seemed to
make quite a deal that the dock reflects,
I’m not
exactly how this is a feature or just more visual
noise. I suspect they’ll be 3rd party ways of
changing it back to the the old dock if it’s not
an option. I was hoping for a new launcher, along the
lines of Over Flow.
The dock does have a much welcomed feature; Stacks:
When you download from Safari, instead of defaulting to
the desktop, it’ll save to a stack, which should
mean we all have a lot more tidy desktops.
Clicking on a Stack will reveal its contents either in
a grid, or they’ll be fanned out above. To get an
idea, you can watch a demo here. I don’t know if
they’re only for the dock, it seems to me
being able to have them on the desktop itself would
be useful.
Leopard showing off its stacks
Stacks aren’t really a new feature, Apple has had
a patent on the idea for many years and was once known
as Piles (Such a shame they didn't stick with that
name).
The Finder has also been updated
with a much improved sidebar, somewhat like iTunes
and now you can view files in Cover Flow, just like
iTunes. I’m not sure how much I’d use
this feature, as I don’t tend to in iTunes
(other than to show off).
Thinking about it; it may turn out to be more useful in
the Finder than in iTunes. The Finder is made up of
many different document types of documents, which
should be instantly more apparent with the large
preview of Cover Flow, this may give a quicker visual
clue as to the file you’re looking for, rather
than in iTunes where it's really just one type of file
(cover art).
Spotlight can now search other machines on the network,
and it’s now more easy to share content over the
network and internet via .Mac. There was no other
mention of .Mac, really as I’ve no intention of
paying for .Mac I may never see the internet sharing
feature. .Mac really ought to be free to my mind.
Quick Look is really a great new
feature that allows you to preview your documents
without having to open any application right from
the Finder.
A Quick Look
Steve also showed off the power
of
Core Animation and what 3rd party
developers could do with it.
We also saw the new built in backup solution
Time Machine again, you will be able
to back-up to a local drive, or a network volume
including one attached to an AirPort Extreme. This
has to be one of the best features (even if
you’ve seen it before). It amazes me how many
people still don’t back-up. Some may think
this dull, but if you’re one of those people
who has lost something critical, you’ll love
this.
It’s a Time Machine
Spaces was also shown again;
I’m still unsure if or how much I would use it
(I may turn around and love it), unlike
Dashboard, which I actually
have turned off for being just too slow
on a 12" PowerBook.
Dashboard did gain a new widget, and WebClip which
allows you to use any part of a website as a Widget. I
wonder how the websites feel about this? After-all,
you’re avoiding seeing any advertising.
Owners of Virtualization software must’ve
breathed a sigh of relief, as although
BootCamp will become standard in
the system, it’s not going to allow you to run
Windows software at the same time. Still a need
for Parallels or VMWare Fusion etc.. for some people
then.
iChat has gained some fun
theatre features, changing the background behind you
and PhotoBooth type effects. Pity with firewalls,
bandwidth etc. I’ve never really managed to
get video to work with iChat and yet Yahoo!
Messenger/Skype will just work. The Theatre function
looks to be the most useful, giving you the ability
to show documents, photos to people you’re
talking to.
The fun side of iChat. Help me Obi-Wan,
you’re my last hope.
I don’t know if the OS is resolution independent
for those of you with super high resolution screens and
there was no mention of the system using Sun
Microsystems ZFS files system, there is a
report saying they won’t.
There was a little on the iPhone allowing developers to
create compatible Web 2 type applications via
Safari, but no standalone applications. I’d
imagine developers would be non-plussed by this
announcement.
No hardware of course, this really is a software event.
There will be those who will be underwhelmed, and few
more features we’d not seen in his 10
would’ve been nice, but; it’s still not
ready yet, who knows what else may come in the final
version in October?
People always expect a lot from Apple, they always want
that... one more thing... which I guess keeps people
coming back.