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It’s over. What do you guys think? Some notes:
Well?
We’re rolling out our good ol’ fashioned 9to5mac Livepanel which will be circulating the best feeds throughout the WWDC event. As you might remember, this framed page shows four of the best feeds at once and is refreshed every 15 seconds so your mouse button finger doesn’t have to bleed. It works best on large (24"+) monitors and uses 1990’s html frames technology to bring sweet, sweet iPhone 3 information to your eyes as quickly as possible.
This year we are also going to try to get an audio, and perhaps video, feed of the event. As you know, data connections get taxed at WWDC and Apple isn’t fond of user broadcasting, so keep your expectations low.
Will we see the iPhone 3/Video? Or thousands of other interesting possibilites including Steve Jobs? Tune in to find out.
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We’ve got a few Qik guys walking into WWDC, we’ll see how many can keep broadcasting during the keynote. Update – UStream! Thanks to Javier Matuk,from Mexico, www.matuk.com. Hope you get out of the country before Apple catches you Matuk!
From the Toys section for the new 3.0 iPhone software:
Amazon.com offers the Plantronics Voyager 855 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless Headset for $33.99 with free shipping. (You may have to click on "More Buying Choices" on the right).That’s the lowest total price we could find by $7. These sound-isolating Bluetooth headphones are designed to stream both music and voice from your new Bluetooth 2.0-enabled iPhone or iPod touch.
Note: Stereo BT won’t work with orig iPhone
April 1 ’76 sees three guys including Steves Jobs and Wozniak launching a tin-pot back-room computer company, Apple Computer.
Now Apple Inc., the Steves remain involved and there’s a big party coming up, and all the world’s media’s watching in heightened anticipation, fervently hoping for news which will help them boost newspaper/magazine sales, and website traffic. It’s hard to hold reader attention in the current age.
Fact is, Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) isn’t just a cutting-edge technology company, but also a world-class hype machine.
So as the sun comes down on June 7, here’s a few of the major media headlines that are reporting Apple’s rise.
Rise in a recession? Oh, c’mon, that’s what these people do, just take a look at Saudi billionaire Prince AlWaleed bin Talal’s 23 per cent climb in investment value last month through his company, Kingdom Holding Co. Kingdom’s foreign holdings rose to 5.28 billion riyals ($1.4 billion) in May versus 4.29 billion riyals in April, Forbes says. AAPL, right now at c. $144.67 per share, is part of that wealth rise. Has been a while. Hence the interest and the hype machine. World loves a good story…
Anyway – here’s what big media are saying tonight:
Reuters: Steve Jobs may spark Apple share move.
Analysts expect Apple stock to click higher by 1-5 per cent should Steve Jobs make an appearance at WWDC opening event, but warn of big stock sale off should he fail to show.
According to Kotaku, the firm is targeting a July 17 release for the new handset, which will come with a 3D graphics chip to enhance visuals.
Financial Times: Cites "people familiar with the initiative" as source for a report claiming Apple may introduce a low-capacity iPhone for under $100, "in a move that could dramatically increase the company’s share of the market for web-surfing devices".
Economic Times: "My gut tells me we are going to see a next-generation iPhone and Snow Leopard be the two stars of the announcements," Gartner analyst Van Baker said. "Steve (Jobs) may do a cameo, maybe, because there is strong evidence from multiple sources he is getting back to good health," he said.
This report includes comment from everybody’s favourite Apple analyst, Rob Enderle, who said "Steve Jobs is coming back, but he is not coming back for long."
The Age: Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster "expects new iPhones to ship in July, regardless of whether or not Apple announces them at the conference or a later date, while he has forecast a 2010 release date for an Apple tablet PC." He thinks a Jobs appearance is "unlikely", but expects him back by month’s end.
USA Today (Via Indy Star): "’They had to come out with a new iPhone now, to one-up the Pre,’ says Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster (the Pre? Really? That one’s not gonna deliver on the hype in this one’s opinion). Munster predicts pricing as follows: $149 (down from the current $199) and a premium phone with a video camera and higher capacity storage for $299.
The Telegraph: "The new iPhone is so important to Apple that Steve Jobs, the chief executive, is expected to return from sick leave to attend the launch at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.
"Gene Munster, analyst at US investment bank Piper Jaffrey and the most highly-respected "Apple-watcher", said there could be wide-spread disappointment as he believes Apple will release a new operating system but no new phones. He said a new "family of iPhones" will probably not be released until July."
New York Post: Predicts faster higher capacity device, with multi-tasking and a better camera, also anticipates better 3G support and a 4GB budget model. And a compass – in other words, they’re checking the rumour machine to feed the hype machine.
"Starting June 27 — the second anniversary of its debut — 86,000 phones a week will be coming…"
Associated Press: "Just two years after entering the fray, Apple enjoys a 19.5 percent share of the smart phone market, according to IDC, and investors are betting on a continued run of success.
"Apple, from a practical standpoint, has consistently tried to stay one to two years ahead of the competition on both the hardware and software levels," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies and longtime Apple analyst."
The Guardian: "On Friday Carphone’s chief executive, Charles Dunstone, refused to comment on talk of a new iPhone. "It is more than my life’s worth to ever say anything," he said. "They keep us terrified.""
Adds: "Sources suggest… the prospect of price cuts remain – largely funded by the mobile phone operators, not Apple."
These are supposed to some iPhone 3 video chat pictures. Could be real, more likely fake. We are intrigued by the location of the green light, as it varies from shot to shot. Also, the second shot looks like an iPod.
The iPhone 3 rumormill is in hyperdrive right now but one feature that has been left largely uncovered is the new iPhone’s use of Bluetooth 2.0. It isn’t just the new iPhone either, both second generation iPhone and iPod will also recieve the software update to allow them to use Bluetooth 2.0.
The iPhone’s new SDK will allow developers to do a lot with the new Bluetooth interface. You’ll be able to transfer contacts as well as files and play games via the interface. You’ll likely be able to print and fax from the iPhone wirelessly as well. Of course, you’ll also be able to tether your MacBook using Bluetooth to use the Internet as well.
But the most appealing feature of Bluetooth 2.x is the A2DP stereo Bluetooth. This will allow you to use stereo Bluetooth headsets with your iPhone for both calling (via Skype too!) and just listening to your iPhone around the house without a cord. It will also work with compatible car stereos.
We’ve put it into practice with the Plantronics 590E headset and are really enjoying the quality of the digital sound as well as the freedom to not be tethered via a white cord to our own pockets. If you get a call you can switch over to the phone.app just like you can with the white headphones. Below you can see how the interface works in iTunes.
If you are interested in the headset,the Plantronics 590E is available at Amazon for a benny. They sound incredible but look, um…well. Other, better looking headphones are also available.
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Apple Senior Vice President, Devices Hardware Engineering, Mark Papermaster finally got his headshot in the Apple Bios. You might remember he was involved in the IBM lawsuit to keep him from going to Apple, which was eventually resolved with undisclosed amounts of greenbacks.
Until now, there wasn’t much floating around the web with his likeness. He obviously got the black shirt not-optional memo.
Apple Senior Vice President, Industrial Design, Jonny Ive received an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School Design this week. The designer of the iMac, iPod and iPhone shared the honor with Catarina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr, former RISD President Roger Mandle, and sculptor Betty Woodman.
“It is a rare and precious thing to discover what you love,” said Jonathan Ive, “I do hope you can be very faithful to your gift and confident of its value.”
Picture from Giz
DoubleTwist, DVD Jon‘s application for opening up iTunes to allow other devices access, just got the best and perhaps most ironic of adverising spaces…right on the SF Apple Store. The ad space is owned by the BART and DoubleTwist is a legit application so there isn’t much Apple can do get rid of it.
Perhaps next time the contract comes up, they can outbid him and put up some new itunes ads?
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We’re not sure why but everyone seems to be jumping on the "Chome is now available for Mac" story. A few points:
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Another one we like…
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thanks Kane
From the looks of that Palm Pre packaging, it looks like Ex-Apple Exec Jon Rubinstein also took some Apple packaging experts with him as well. Take a look at the Pre’s packaging compared with his former comany’s.
Leaks isn’t the proper word at this point…Torrents! Guangdong, China-based Luna Commerce is selling the back of the iPhone 3rd Gen. If you order now, you can probably get it before the front arrives.
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Oh, and if that Apple logo is supposed to light up, it’s going to have to go through some pretty heavy black plastic.
The Financial Times today said that Apple would be dropping the price of its entry level iPhone.
Apple plans to introduce a cheaper version of its popular iPhone as soon as Monday, in a move that could dramatically increase the company’s share of the market for web-surfing devices, people familiar with the initiative said on Thursday.
This is is probably an expansion of the 4GB iPhone rumor we heard last week.
Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty said that a $100 cut could double demand for the iPhone.
We just got this TXT from Ma Bell. WTH?
It looks like AT&T is getting a little jealous of Carphone Warehouse’s new iPhone inventory leakage. TUAW is reporting that a user caught a glimpse of a new iPhone name in their support website, since updated. The screenshot is below.
TUAW has a rocky record on this stuff and it could very easily be faked, but they’ve got their Digg button on so they’re taking it to the bank.
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It looks like Palm is laying up a nice juicy volley for Apple to spike should it desire to. The iTunesSync they use to sync a Pre to a user’s iPhone library could easily be blocked by Apple in a software update. You see, while the Palm identifies itself as an Apple iPod in Media Sync mode, it is only through one interface.
The root USB node (IOUSBDevice) still identifies the device as a Palm Pre. It wouldn’t be hard for Apple to simply look for this in iTunes and disable syncing in a device with this footprint. Then again, it wouldn’t be hard for Palm to update the root USB node information negating such a hack block. Cat and mouse as they say.
What will Apple’s next move be?
Bug fixes and what not..
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Mossberg is at it again…Not only does he review the Pre – which he likes – he seems to confirm a few iPhone rumors.
"Whether the Pre is better than the iPhone depends on your personal preferences, though I’d note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations."
He also mentions that it is "likely available within a month" and "likely" lack a physical keyboard.
http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/atd/microPlayer.swf
Mossberg usually has a couple Apple iPhone review units before anyone else and has very good relations with Apple so his words are often looked at as "scripture".
