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Apple WWDC keynote roundup

by Volker Weber

Well, that was the most content ever in an Apple keynote. Short summary:

• New Macbooks, lower prices: 13" is now also called "Pro", new screens, backlit keyboard, SD slot across all lines. Huge price drop for the MacBook Air. For me, the 13" is still the best.
• Safari 4.0: ships today free on Tiger, Leopard and Windows. Fastest JavaScript performance. Passes Acid3 test.
• Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6): ships in September, upgrade for $29. Faster, smaller better. Adds Exchange support across the board in native apps. No need to run huge ass client. Requires Exchange 2007. OS is must have upgrade, especially at this price point.
• iPhone 3.0 software available June 17: free for iPhone and 3G, 10 bucks for iPod touch. Cut&paste and MMS finally, tethering if your carrier allows it, support for Google Maps in applications, including turn by turn instructions, purchase content from within apps.
• iPhone 3G(S), also available June 17: same design as 3G, faster, more memory, 7.2 Mbps HSPA, new camera with autofocus, tap to focus, captures video. Phone adds voice control, not only dialling. New phone supports data encryption.

Notable:

• MobileMe adds remote management to the iPhone: "find my iPhone" will display its location on map, can make it ring even if set to silent and lets you wipe device remotely.
• TomTom comes to the iPhone this summer. Will sell an accessory that safely attaches an iPhone to a car, provides more accurate GPS, speakerphone, plays iPhone media on car stereo, and charges it.
• 50,000 apps on iPhone, 4,900 for Android, 1,088 for Nokia (total), Blackberry (1,030), Palm (18). Looks like Apple is afraid of the Pre. ;-)

More >

Comments

Volker, as always a great summery that saved me following the Keynote myself. Thanks!

Hmmh, I was hoping for a 10 or 12 inch MB ;-(

No new apple tv :(

Great summary. And I think my BlackBerry’s days are numbered… :)

Overall it is really disappointing. I really thought, Apple might finally put together an interesting device - well, at least now it has some of the 5-year-old standard features my old SIEMENS mobiles from 19xx had. Now flame me ;)

But what really bothers me, is the number off applications noted for Symbian (Nokia). This seems wrong. I currently fail to acquire a source for it, but the number should be in the 20.000s.

Regards,
Hubert

Had I known the new models have the built- in battery I would have quickly bought an old one, despite the price decrease. Does anyone here have real- life experience on the 17" model with the battery? Is it any good?
Also how much does a replacement cost? I guess more than I would like.
Any experience would be welcome, thanks.

AFAK the upgrade price is only for Leopard owners 29$. Tiger users have to pay the normal price which is much higher than the upgrade price.

Thanks for the summary.

Exchange support across the board in native apps

Once again, no support of the other product? Sigh.

Alexander, battery can be replaced, just not as easily.

Ralf, yes it's for the Leopard upgrade. First time they sell an upgrade instead of full version only in quite some time.

Jan-Piet, do you think it would make a difference?

for symbian: The might have only counted the apps in the nokia/ovi store. But only a minority of apps are available via ovi (as of today), even nokia apps like sportstracker are missing. For symbian, you get apps on hundereds of different sites.

No. Probably not.

I think the new MBP announcements are very sad news: no internal 3G card as an option, no matte screen option, no docking station available. What is "pro" about that? Thanks for the SD card slot anyway...

Also of note, that Snow Leapord will only run on the Intel chips - no PPC - Which rules me out! I doubt the wife would sanction a new computer just to get an OS upgrade! - bah

No, you need to find a better reason. :-)

Oh come on folks (Hubert & Markus) - you should know Apple and their products by now. It will never be about matching feature for feature with other vendors. Yes, some Korean phone or Japanese laptop will usually win on a checklist comparison. However, they will never have the ease of use, quality or sheer delight-the-user x-factor that the Apple products have. If you don't 'get it' after using an iPhone or a MBP, then that's fine, enjoy another vendor's products and be happy.

For the rest of us, there's enough in the new kit to make it worth at least considering an upgrade, or else making us sure to want another Apple product when it's time to change.

@Simon, Intel kit has been around since 2005 - I think it's probably time to consign the old Power-based kit to legacy versions of the OS?

So the battery is ok'ish and works and can be replaced, that is good to know. Thanks Volker for the reply!

Does anyone have experience or can say what the benefit of 512 MB on the secondary GeForce 9600 M GT is versus the 256 MB on it versus the vanilla 9400 M with no secondary graphics adapter? I use VLC and the like, do my work every day on it, play Civilization IV, and that it is basically. The question is what the practical benefits will be in routine operation.

Thanks in advance for any feedback offered.

Ceci n'est pas un blog

vowe.net is a personal website published by Volker Weber a.k.a. vowe. I am an author, consultant and systems architect based in Darmstadt, Germany.

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