Jan Zdarsa At the Moscone Center in San Francisco, the keynote to kick off WWDC, a conference for developers, is about to begin. In this context, the most speculation is about the introduction of the new iPhone, iPhone firmware 3.0 and Snow Leopard. You can find out what Apple will bring us in the detailed report.
New 13″, 15″ and 17″ Macbook Pro models
Phil Schiller, who works as a stand-in for Steve Jobs, started the keynote again. From the beginning, he focuses on new Mac models. He points out that recently, new users are choosing a laptop rather than a desktop Mac as their Apple computer. According to him, customers liked the new unibody design. The new 15″ Macbook Pro model will feature the battery familiar to 17″ model owners, which will keep the 15″ Macbook Pro running for up to 7 hours and handle up to 1000 charges, so users will likely not need to replace the battery for the entire life of the laptop.
The new 15″ Macbook Pro has a completely new display that is much better than previous models. There is also an SD card slot. The hardware has also been upgraded, where the processor can run up to 3,06Ghz, you can also choose up to 8GB of RAM or up to a 500GB large disk with 7200 revolutions or a 256GB large SSD disk. The price starts as low as $1699 and ends at $2299.
The 17″ Macbook Pro has also been slightly updated. Processor up to 2,8Ghz, HDD 500GB. There is also an ExpressCard Slot. The new 13″ Macbook also gets a new display, SD card slot and longer battery life. A backlit keyboard is now standard and there is also FireWire 800. Since it is possible to upgrade a Macbook up to a Macbook Pro configuration, there is no reason why not to label this Macbook as a 13″ Macbook Pro and the price starts at $1199. The white Macbook and Macbook Air also received minor upgrades. All these models are available and will be slightly cheaper.
What's new in Snow Leopard
Microsoft is trying to catch up with the Leopard operating system, which has become the best-selling software ever released by Apple. But Windows is still full of registries, DLL libraries, defragmentation and other useless things. People love Leopard and Apple decided to make it an even better system. Snow Leopard meant rewriting roughly 90% of the entire operating system code. The Finder has also been rewritten, bringing some great new improvements.
From now on, Expose is built directly into the dock, so after clicking on the application icon and briefly holding the button, all the windows of this application will be displayed. System installation is 45% faster and after installation we have 6GB more than after installing Leopard.
Preview is now up to 2x faster, better text marking in PDF files and better support for inserting Chinese characters - using the trackpad to type Chinese characters. Mail is up to 2,3 times faster. Safari 4 brings the Top Sites feature, already included in the public beta. Safari is 7,8x faster in Javascript than Internet Explorer 8. Safari 4 passed the Acid3 test 100%. Safari 4 will be included in Snow Leopard, where some other functions of this great browser will also appear. Quicktime player has a new user interface and of course it is much faster too.
Currently, Craig Federighi took the floor to introduce new features in Snow Leopard. Items in Stacks now handle a lot of content much better - scrolling or peeking into folders is not missing. When we grab the file and move it to the application icon in the dock, all the windows of the given application will be displayed and we can easily move the file exactly where we need it.
Spotlight now searches the entire browsing history - this is a full-text search, not just a URL or article title. In Quicktime X, the control is now elegantly solved directly in the video. We can edit the video very easily directly in Quicktime, where we can easily cut it and then possibly share it on e.g. YouTube, MobileMe or iTunes.
Bertrand spoke. He talks about how today's computers have gigabytes of memory, processors have multiple cores, graphics cards have tremendous computing power... But to use all of this, you need the right software. 64 bit can use these gigabytes of memory and applications could reportedly be up to 2x faster. It is difficult to properly use multi-core processors, but this problem is solved by Grand Central Station directly in Snow Leopard. Graphics cards have enormous power, and thanks to the OpenCL standard, even common applications will be able to use it.
Mail, iCal and Address Book applications will no longer lack support for Exchange servers. It will not be a problem to have work things synchronized on your Macbook at home. Cooperation between the applications has also been increased, when, for example, you just need to drag a contact from the address book to iCal and this will create a meeting with the given person. iCal also manages such things as finding out the free time of the person with whom we have a meeting or it also displays the free capacity of the rooms in which the meeting is taking place. However, MS Exchange Server 2007 will be needed for all of this.
We come to the important part, what will it actually cost. Snow Leopard will be available for all Intel-based Macs and should appear in stores as upgrade from MacOS Leopard for just $29! The family pack will cost $49. It should be available in September of this year.
iPhone OS 3.0
Scott Forstall is coming to the stage to talk about the iPhone. The SDK has been downloaded by 1 million developers, 50 apps are on the Appstore, 000 million iPhones or iPod Touches have been sold, and more than 40 billion apps have been sold on the Appstore. Developers like Airstrip, EA, Igloo Games, MLB.com and more talk about how the iPhone / Appstore has changed their business and their lives.
Here comes iPhone OS 3.0. This is a major update that brings 100 new features. These are functions such as cut, copy, paste, back (works across applications), horizontal layout by Mail, Notes, Messages, MMS support (receiving and sending photos, contacts, audio and locations). MMS will be supported by 29 operators in 76 countries (as we already know, everything should work in the Czech Republic and SK). There will also be searches in e-mail (even in that stored on the server), calendar, multimedia or in notes), the spotlight will be on the first page of the home screen.
You will now be able to rent movies directly from your phone - as well as TV shows, music or audio books. Of course, iTunes U will also work directly from the iPhone. There is also Internet Tethering (sharing the Internet with, for example, a laptop), which will run via bluetooth and a USB cable. For now, tethering will work with 22 operators. Parental protection has also been improved.
Safari on the iPhone was also greatly accelerated, where javascript should run up to 3x faster. Support for HTTP streaming of audio or video - automatically determines the best quality for the given type of connection. Automatic filling of login data or automatic filling of contact information is also not missing. Safari for iPhone also includes HTML5 support.
They are currently working on the Find My iPhone feature. This feature is only available to MobileMe customers. Just log in to MobileMe, select this feature, and your iPhone's location will be displayed on the map. This feature also allows you to send a special message to the phone that will play a special sound alert even if the phone is in silent mode. If your phone is really stolen, it is not a problem to send a special command that erases all data from the phone. If the phone is found, it will be restored from the backup.
There's also great news for developers in the new iPhone OS 3.0. For example, more than 100 new API interfaces for easier development, shopping directly in the application, peer to peer connection for multiplayer games or, for example, opening support for hardware accessories that can communicate with software in the iPhone OS. Accessories can communicate via the Dock connector or via bluetooth.
Developers can also easily embed maps from Google Maps into their apps. From now on, there is also support for turn-by-turn navigation, so we will finally see full-fledged navigation. Push notifications are also a matter of course in the new iPhone OS 3.0, which include pop-up messages, sound notifications or updating numbers on application icons.
Currently showing some demos. Among the first is Gameloft with their Asphalt 5, which they say will be the best racing game on the iPhone. There will also be multiplayer with players around the world, including voice chat. Erm, of course on this title they also demonstrate the sale of new content directly in the application. For $0,99 1 race track and 3 cars. Other demos are related to medicine - Airstrip or Critical Care. For example, Critical Care supports push notifications – when the patient's vital signs change, the application will notify you.
ScrollMotion creates a digital library for the Appstore. You will be able to purchase content directly in the app. Currently, the application contains 50 magazines, 70 newspapers and 1 million books. Students can use it, for example, by copying a piece of content and emailing it without leaving the application.
Everyone is currently watching TomTom's full turn-by-turn navigation presentation. It brings all the features we've all been waiting for. Of course, there is also the announcement of upcoming turns. TomTom will also sell a special device that securely holds the iPhone in the car. It will be available this summer with both national and international maps.
ngmoco enters the scene. Introducing their new tower defense game Star Defense. This is an excellent 3D game, the content of which will be expandable directly from the application (how else, except for money). Multiplayer for 2 people will also appear in the game. The game is released today for $5.99, features from iPhone OS 3.0 will be available when the new firmware is released (so we won't get it today? Phew..). Other demos include, for example, Pasco, Zipcar or Line 6 and Planet Waves.
The new iPhone OS 3.0 will be free for iPhone owners ($9,99 will be paid by iPod Touch owners) and the new iPhone OS 3.0 will be available for download on June 17.
The new iPhone 3GS
And here we have what we've all been waiting for. The new iPhone 3GS is coming. S here serves as the first letter of the word Speed. There's no front-facing camera, and although the inside is all new, overall the iPhone looks the same as its older sibling.
What does faster mean? Start the Messages application up to 2,1x faster, load the Simcity game 2,4x faster, load an Excel attachment 3,6x faster, load a larger web page 2,9x faster. It supports OpenGL ES2.0, which should be great for gaming. It supports 7,2Mbps HSPDA (so here in the Czech Republic we will have to wait for that).
The new iPhone has a new camera, this time with 3 Mpx and autofocus. There is also a tap-to-focus function. Just click anywhere on the screen, which part of the image you want to focus on, and iPhone will do it all for you. It also automatically adjusts the overall color balance. Finally, we will see better quality photos in poorly lit places. For macro photography, you can be only 10cm away from the photographed object.
The new iPhone 3GS can also record video at 30 frames per second. It can also record video with sound, uses autofocus and white balance. Video and photo capture are all in one app, so it's easy to click on what you need. There is also sharing directly from the iPhone to YouTube or MobileMe. You can also send the video as MMS or email.
There's also a developer API, so developers will be able to build video capture into their apps. Another interesting feature is Voice Control. Just hold the home button for a while and voice control will pop up. Just say, for example, "Call Scott Forstall," and the iPhone will dial his number. If it has multiple phone numbers listed, the phone will ask you which one you want. But just say "play The Killers" and the iPod will start.
You can also say "What's playing now?" and iPhone will tell you. Or say "play more songs like this" and Genius will play similar songs for you. Great feature, I really like this one!
Next comes the digital compass. The compass is integrated into Maps, so just double-click on the map and the map will automatically reorient itself. iPhone 3GS also supports Nike+, data encryption, remote data deletion, and encrypted backups in iTunes.
Battery life has also been improved. iPhone can now last up to 9 hours of surfing, 10 hours of video, 30 hours of audio, 12 hours of 2G call or 5 hours of 3G call. Of course, Apple pays attention to ecology here too, so this is the most ecological iPhone ever.
The new iPhone will be available in two versions – 16GB and 32GB. The 16GB version will cost $199 and the 32GB version will cost $299. The iPhone will again be available in white and black. Apple wants to make the iPhone more affordable - the old 8GB model will cost just $99. The iPhone 3GS goes on sale on June 19 in the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. A week later in another 6 countries. They will appear in other countries during the summer.
And this year's WWDC keynote ends. I hope you enjoyed this keynote as much as I did! Thank you for your attention!
that Oriesok: I don't think this is the phone from those photos :D I think apple surprised us all again :D
Maybe I'm stubborn, but somehow I didn't understand from the conversation whether FW 3.0 or the new iPhone 3GS (which is of course equipped with FW 3.0) will allow video recording.... :-/
In short, esi video will also go on 3G....
thanks a lot for the translation and fresh information! good job. I'm very curious about the new fw..
Is that like everything? Shouldn't it last until 12.6???
I don't know if it's just my feeling, but I expect that it should adopt some other design.
Was this supposed to be all? Do you want to beat the Pre with this? The 3GS is a good upgrade, but how about a newer design and thinner phone?
Someone tell me that there will be a super iPhone with 5mpX
Witus: Only the iPhone 3GS will be able to record video, it is written on the Apple.com website in comparison.
So I am fully satisfied. New firmware release within 2 weeks which is great and the new iPhone will also be on the market pretty soon…
They presented everything I wanted.
In my opinion, a 5MP camera would be more suitable for an iPhone, although it is too much for a mobile phone and such, but if they want to show off with a camera, then by all means. Even with the autofocus, they did a great job.
And otherwise, I don't think the design needs to be changed and it can't even be thinner.
And I was also pleased with the price of the new MB, a 13″ MB for CZK 24 is beautiful, this one will simply be mine, I'm already looking forward to it.
Those prices - $199 for the 16GB and $299 for the 32GB version, isn't that just a typo???
First of all, I would like to thank you for the fresh report from WWDC, great work. I think Apple will finally cover the potential of the iPhone 3G with a new firmware. It's just a shame that it wasn't a drive here. I especially appreciate the wider use of the phone, mms, "turn-by-turn" navigation, and much more. In short, a good communicator. I would just like to know if Apple somehow changed the texting of SMS, e-mail, e.g. Keyboard to wide. Anyway, great satisfaction.
I just need the new OS 3.0 that I've been waiting for :-)! I think I'll skip one iPhone generation, this year I'll be on 3G and in a year I'll buy the next iPhone, which will be a bit more sophisticated ;-)!
199usd and 299usd is the sponsored price or the price for which I can get it normally in the store?
As for the video, there is a videorecorder3g on the appstore, which allows you to record videos on the iPhone 3g.. Although it is only 15 FPS, but in resolution directly on Youtube, where you can stream the video.. So people with trigeckey will not be so far behind :)
I'm really the only one who noticed that Apple will keep the 3G version for sale, but only 8 GB... so it won't sell the 16 GB White version...
macman: surely something will come, the question is when:)..
no, seriously - I think that Apple has something in store, see the matte cover and the dark frame, but it will be from the nextgen iPhone... which might be the answer - now I'm having it manufactured (that's why I leaked the information a while ago) and it's a year old ( ?) to test it and come up with other ways to use it;)…
just by the way - I wonder how the internals of the iPhone have changed - processor, memory, etc.. was this also discussed, or just about speeding up the launch of the application every now and then?
And does anyone know the prices for unsubsidized phones in the USA? Otherwise, I apologize if it's here and review it, but what about the back cover of the Iphone? Any material change?