Wwdc2008
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TomTom already has iPhone navigation software ready to roll
That sound you hear is the not-yet-released nüvifone trembling in fear, as TomTom has just announced that an iPhone-ready version of its famed navigation software is practically ready to rock 'n roll. More specifically, a TomTom spokesman was quoted as saying that its "navigation system runs on the iPhone already," and he made the statement hot on the heels of the iPhone 3G announcement. Sadly, he wouldn't disclose an estimated release date for the software, but it's safe to say that the TomTom touch could make Apple's darling a formidable nüvifone opponent.[Via GPSReview]
Where can I buy an iPhone 3G?
View Larger Map During this afternoon's WWDC madness, international Apple fans were treated to some great news on the iPhone front: the iPhone 3G will be available in more than 70 countries.While 22 countries will see the phone launch on July 11, 2008, the phone will be hitting other parts of the world as well. Apple wasn't kidding about making the international presence of the iPhone known, from Madagascar to Mali, Chile to Croatia, the iPhone 3G is coming.You can see the complete list of countries here, but I went ahead and put together a little Google map representing as many of the countries as I could find/fit.
iPhone 3G from AT&T: unlimited data for $30
We still don't have a clear answer from AT&T on whether messaging is included, but if not, the data pricing of $30 per month for unlimited 3G when tied to the iPhone 3G represents a $10 bump from what folks were paying for the 2.5G model. Business owners -- presumably expected to consume considerably more bits over the course of a month -- will be paying $45. Meanwhile, voice plan pricing will start from $39.95, and we're told more details will be available on exactly how it all breaks down when the device actually goes on sale.
iPhone 3G hands-on
Sorry, we don't have pictures but Apple took us into a dramatically lit back-room to check out the new iPhone 3G. Here's what you need to know: We did a quick data test -- at our location we went from 104Kbps on the EDGE iPhone to 215Kbps on the 3G model. 2x ain't bad, yo. The enable/disable 3G setting is real, and buried a few menus deep. There is no automatic switching, Apple just assumes you'll leave 3G on, and that the iPhone has the juice to support that usage. It's tri-band 3G, as we reported the other day. This same phone will ship worldwide. WiFi is still 802.11b/g, no support for n yet. Yes, that GPS is A-GPS, just as we mentioned. Geotagging photos is a thumbs-up. We were deep indoors though, so native GPS wasn't working and we couldn't get a clear idea of satellite acquisition time. The screen looks exactly the same -- maybe a tiny bit brighter, but the unit was new, so it'd be negligible. The camera is identical to the first -- 2 megapixels. No front-facing camera (of course). It's certainly thicker feeling, but they rocked it Treo-style and really tapered those edges, so it just doesn't feel that different. But because of that curved back, it'll dance around on your table a little more than your completely-flat original iPhone. The plastic back didn't feel too cheap. In fact, it felt pretty solid. It's very glossy, so it'll pick up fingerprints just as well as the glass up front (yay). It comes with a ridiculously, absurdly small power adapter. It basically looks like a tiny square with a USB port on one side, and power prongs on the other. It will power any other iDevice (iPod touch, 1st gen iPhone, etc.), and sell separately for those that want a smaller adapter. The dock (now sold separately) and adapter (if you want an extra) will both go for something like $29, although that price is not yet confirmed. No mention was made of copy/paste, MMS, etc. It doesn't look like this thing is going to fit in your old dock. The new dock does look smaller and more sculpted to the new iPhone's curves. The headphone jack is flush, as mentioned. It's still 3.5mm, so if you don't like the out of box phones (which won't stay in our ears), bring your own, no problem -- and no adapter needed! Yes, original iPhones are totally gone, you won't be seeing those made anymore. Long live the aluminum back! It looks like they took an amazing device and made it significantly better. If the battery life is as good as they claim, we think this will steamroll the competition in the enterprise space. And even if it doesn't, at $199 it's going to be extremely hard for people to resist. Update: Laptop managed to sneak a couple photos of the white one -- yep, that's what it looks like.
Apple previews OS X Snow Leopard: scheduled to ship "in about a year"
The next iteration of OS X was mentioned early on during today's WWDC 2008 keynote, but little was said afterwards. Thankfully, Apple hasn't left us completely out to dry, as a recent release gives a few clues as to what Snow Leopard has in store. First and foremost, the OS isn't expected to ship until about this time next year, and just as predicted, it will be more evolutionary than revolutionary. Specifically, it will "enhance the performance of OS X and set a new standard for quality... rather than focusing primarily on new features." Still, we do know that it'll play nice with Microsoft Exchange 2007 from the get-go, provide "unrivaled support for multi-core processors" with a new technology dubbed Grand Central, extend support "for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)," and raise the software limit on system memory up to a theoretical 16TB of RAM. Heck, you'll even find QuickTime X in there. Yeah, we love those new features, but we can honestly say we're looking forward to a nice round of polishing.Update: Looks like some more solid info has been posted to Apple's page. Head here for more on Snow Leopard desktop and Snow Leopard server (which will include iCal Server 2, 128-bit ZFS support, Podcast Producer 2, the first version of their Address Book server based on CardDAV, and more).
iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
It's been a long, leak-filled wait, but Apple finally took the wraps off its 3G iPhone. Thinner edges, full plastic back, flush headphone jack, and the iPhone 2.0 firmware -- Apple's taking a lot of the criticisms to heart from the first time around. Obviously 3G is at the forefront, but they're also making sure it's available all over internationally, works with enterprises, runs 3rd party apps... and does it all for cheaper. Apple claims its 3G speeds trounce the competition, with pageloads 36% faster than the N95 and Treo 750 -- and of course it completely trounces the old EDGE data speeds.Battery life isn't getting put out to pasture though, with 300 hours of standby, 8-10 hours of 2G talk, 5 hours of 3G talk, 7 hours of video and 24 hours of audio. GPS is also a go. Apple is using A-GPS, which supplements regular satellite GPS data with info from cellular towers for faster location. (WiFi data is also worked into the mix, which should give users a pretty solid lock on where the heck they are on this planet.) Unfortunately, as expected there's no front-facing cam, and while its edges are thinner than before it's still about a millimeter thicker at the center (12.3mm over 11.6mm before). Apple hopes to launch in 70 countries this year, with the black 8GB going for $199 and 16GB for $299 in black or white. (Both price points require a contract, of course.) Apple will be hitting the 22 biggest markets, including the US, on July 11th. More info after the break.Update: Just bought an iPhone? Listen up: "Customers who purchased a 2.5G iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it out for a new iPhone will be able to do so without incurring an additional handset charge for the new device. They will of course need to turn in their 2.5G iPhone." And for the rest of you, AT&T says there's no way to buy it without agreeing to a contract. So sorry. More details here.We've got our hands-on impressions right here.Get the full roundup of iPhone 3G coverage here!Our full iPhone 3G review can be found here!%Gallery-24719%%Gallery-24721%
Sega, Pangea, Digital Legends demo iPhone games at WWDC
Our WWDC liveblog has the story -- Apple demoed a whole slew of apps (more than any one person would ever need) at the keynote today, but for my money, the most interesting were probably the least useful: I bought an iPhone to play games with.Sega was up first, demoing that version of Super Monkey Ball they've been working on. The real key on this one will be the amount of content they can come up with, and the devs have said they're planning to put in lots of levels -- the more the better. It will debut for $9.99 right at launch. Pangea was up next, showing off a few ports they've put together -- Cro-Mag Rally is a "caveman racing game" that uses the accelerometer (surprise) to drive a vehicle. This is, unfortunately, the problem you run into when you get a really innovative set of controls on a gaming device. It takes innovation not only to come up with the controls, but to find new ways to use them. Just as the Nintendo Wii suffers from thousands of useless minigame collections, the iPhone at App Store launch will likely suffer from thousands of "accelerometer racing" games, with only one or two really worth playing.But Apple saved the best for last -- a company named Digital Legends was invited to show off their action/adventure platforming game, and it showed real promise (you can see some good screenshots on Engadget's liveblog). Unfortunately, this one won't be out until "a few weeks" after the App Store launch, but hopefully for every touch jewel puzzler and accelerometer racing game we have on release day, we'll have a truly innovative gaming delight later in the iPhone's lifetime.
The Lucky 22: countries receiving iPhone 3G on July 11th
While it's a given that the iPhone 3G is hitting the US on the 11th, the rest of our global readership was left scratching their collective heads wondering if they were part of the 22 "biggest markets" mentioned in the keynote. So here you go, the 22 countries scheduled to go live with the iPhone 3G on July 11th: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the US. $199 for 8G and $299 for the 16GB model... in the US at least and with a 2-year contract. The remaining 48 countries listed after the break will get theirs "later this year."
Sizing it up: iPhone 3G vs. the rest
We thought you'd like to see how the new iPhone 3G stacks up against the ol' EDGE-based iPhone, Sony Ericsson's Xperia X1, and HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro handsets. To QWERTY or not to QWERTY, that is the QWEstion.
Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008
So today's the day. We'll have all the live Jobsnote WWDC coverage as it commences -- everything's posted after the break!Note: Updates are being posted from bottom to top (top newest). Updates are now top to bottom.
iPhone 2.0 free in early July for all iPhone owners, $9.95 for iPod touch
Steve just ran through a bunch of features of iPhone 2.0, and while we saw most of them back in March, some of them were new, like being able to draw in Chinese characters. There's also new support for iWork documents and better Office doc support, as well as new abilities to save images from email to the photo library, and new contact search functions. There's also finally bulk delete and edit of email / SMS, and the App Store will be making it to 62 countries, up from 22 in March.Looking through the gallery now live on Apple's site, there are some other changes as well: the Maps app now has a slightly different "peel back" icon, there's a new 3G icon (obviously), and the calendar app has been redesigned, probably to work better with MobileMe.Firmware 2.0 will hit in July free for iPhone owners (we'd say July 11, when the 3G iPhone launches, is a good bet) and the price has dropped to $9.95 for iPod touch owners -- still high, but better than the $19.95 we heard in March.
iPhone push notification service for devs announced
Apple's just announced a push notification service for the iPhone that it'll provide to all developers. It'll maintain a persistent IP connection to the phone and let a 3rd party server ping Apple's notification service in order to push out notifications your device, which can be in the form of badges, sounds or custom textual alerts. According to Apple, the service will preserve battery life and maintain performance, not to mention work over WiFi or cellular. Look for it to roll out in September, with seeding to developers starting next month.
eBay, TypePad, others showcase iPhone apps at WWDC
Now that developers have had a fair crack at the iPhone SDK for a few months, plenty of companies were ready today to showcase their wares alongside Stevie. Among them: eBay. Pretty much everything you'd need to do from a desktop browser can be done through eBay's iPhone app: bidding, searching for items, My eBay (so you can see how the sale of your old iPhone's going), watching items, and the like. It's free, but since you're giving eBay money every time you make a transaction, we'd expect it to be. Loopt. Already a staple on a couple carriers, Loopt's location-based services allow friends to keep tabs on one another. It'll be free at the launch of the App Store. TypePad. Following some of Six Apart's other moblogging efforts, the iPhone version of its TypePad client will allow realtime uploading of photos taken with the iPhone's cam. It'll also be free. Associated Press. It seems the AP wants to turn us all into unpaid correspondents, offering an app that will allow users to upload footage. Band. A collection of virtual instruments for creating music from scratch right on the iPhone. Probably not the most effective platform for creating songs if we had to guess, but hey, cool nonetheless! MLB.com. Video baseball highlights, real-times stats and scores.
Sega, Pangea, Digital Legends show off $9.99 iPhone games
We saw an early demo of Sega's Super Monkey Ball back at the iPhone SDK event in March, but it looks like the real thing is ready for WWDC, with some 110 stages and all four classic monkeys, including Baby. We just caught a quick run-through during the keynote, but the graphics look unbelievable compared to anything we've seen on a cellphone before -- easily DS-quality graphics.Also demoing games was Pangea, whose Brian Greenstone showed off Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally, a racing game that uses the iPhone itself as the steering wheel, via the accelerometer. Again, the graphics were high-quality, and gameplay was described as "totally playable" with just a minimum of porting effort -- three days for each game.Finally, Digital Legends Entertainment demoed a God of War-type game that they had developed in only two weeks that featured graphics somewhere between the DS and PSP. It'll be ready sometime in September.Pricing for all three games was set at $9.99 to start -- high for a cellphone game, sure, but super competitive with other portables.
Next version of OS X will be called Snow Leopard
You heard right -- the next iteration of Apple's OS X operating system will indeed be dubbed Snow Leopard. As we'd heard just days ago, the next major installment of OS X will be getting all dressed in powder, and we'll be seeing a sneak peek of what's to come right here at WWDC.Update: Apple has revealed initial details -- check it out here!
Engadget's WWDC 2008 predictions
Yes, it's almost that time -- WWDC 2008. By now you're well acquainted with the rumors circling Apple's next big event. Will the 3G iPhone make an appearance? Will Jobsy bust out a multitouch Newton tablet? Will Snow Leopard come in from the cold? It's anyone's guess, but the editors here at Engadget have a few hunches that you can pretty much bank on. Of course, you can see the real thing happen during our live coverage of the keynote set to start at 10:00AM PT / 1:00 PM ET.Josh T: "Hillary Clinton named president... of AppleCare division. Finally, Universal AppleCare."Ryan: "Apple announces acquisition of Sharper Image's remaining assets; rebadges flagship product line iOnic Breeze."Thomas: "iPods, iMacs renamed EeePods and EeeMacs; iPhone launched which is somehow both bigger and smaller than the current model."Chris: "iPhone Capsule is introduced to thunderous applause, allowing consumers to effortlessly go 'back in time' to retrieve their obsoleted iPhone models."Josh F: "In a surprise move, Steve Jobs says 'But wait: There's more!' instead of his signature 'Just one more thing,' then proceeds to throw in a Shamwow and two Infinity Razors if you order in the next 30 minutes."Paul: "Jobs in a white wife-beater tucked into Levi's 501 cutoffs."[Okay, that last one is more a wish from Paul than a prediction.]
WWDC 2008 is tomorrow: 10:00AM PT / 1:00PM ET, be there
Yep, Apple's big developer conference kicks off in under 24 hours. We know some of you won't sleep well tonight, but you've got some time to kill, so why not take a moment to make your original iPhone feel appreciated one last time -- before you kick it to the curb in favor of the new 3G model His Steveness will be announcing. Everything you need to know is below, and don't forget to bookmark the keynote page. There there, original iPhone, it'll be okay.Where you need to be:Steve Jobs WWDC 2008 keynote - live coverage All WWDC 2008 coverage [RSS] [Twitter]Time zones: Local times posted hereEn EspañolEl WWDC empieza este lunes 9 de junio a las 10:00 PST USA... ¡prepárate!
WWDC 2008 is Monday at 10:00AM PST / 1:00PM EST, set your alarms
Rumor roll call: 3G iPhone: check. Mid-range Mac desktop: check. Tablet MacBook: check. Tablet iPod touch: check. New MacBook Pros: check. Wait. You do realize that this is WWDC, and Apple usually only announces one, maybe two new pieces of hardware, right? They really just tend to focus on the software being that it's their, um, worldwide developer conference. (iPhone 2.0 firmware: check. OS X 10.6: check. Me.com: check.) Whatever, set your alarm clocks because we'll be there blowing it out live.Where you need to be:Steve Jobs WWDC 2008 keynote - live coverage All WWDC 2008 coverage [RSS] [Twitter]En Español:El WWDC empieza este lunes 9 de junio a las 10:00 PST USA... ¡prepárate!What time to post the GO AWAY note on your door on Monday, the 9th. (Leave more time zones in comments!)07:00AM - Hawaii10:00AM - Pacific11:00AM - Mountain12:00PM - Central01:00PM - Eastern05:00PM - GMT06:00PM - London07:00PM - Paris02:00AM - Tokyo (June 10th)Also, how do you want us to write this thing up? We usually do the latest updates at the bottom (so it reads like anything else -- top to bottom); at Macworld we polled and did newest updates at the top, and a lot of people told us afterward that they preferred it the old way. So, what say you?%Poll-15137%
Pre-WWDC iPhone rumor roundup: AT&T out of stock, subsidized pricing, last minute size changes
As we inch towards the towering precipice of WWDC 2008, rumors swirling around Apple's next iteration of the iPhone are being deposited onto the interblogs at an alarming rate. The latest set comes in three distinct flavors, the first of which recalls an earlier story that telcos would be offering subsidies for long-term contract signers. According to separate sources, Spain's Telefonica and the UK's O2 would offer the 3G iPhone at discounted rates (as low as €100) for those willing to put pen to paper, while some are claiming that O2 might also offer a "free" upgrade to the new phone for existing users. In other pot-stirring news, iDealsChina is reporting that the phone will suddenly be 2.0mm shorter and 0.5mm thinner than previously spec'd by Griffin in its new casing molds, thus causing all kinds of trouble for the accessory-maker... and people with big hands. Finally, we can safely report that AT&T has run out of stock of the device online (finally joining Apple). The site claims it's a "temporary" situation -- one which we suspect will be rectified by the appearance of a new model. Time to get in that line?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - Telefonica to be sole distributor of 3G iPhone in Spain for 100 euroRead - Rumour: O2 plans free iPhone 3G upgrade and pay-as-you-goRead - iPhone 3G last minute size change!Read - AT&T iPhone page
Steve Jobs to speak at WWDC 2008, no way he'll talk about new iPhones
On June 9th, Steve Jobs will be speaking at WWDC. Plans are vague right now, but we understand he will give two lectures on Sudoku, a shirt-folding seminar, and will discuss the possibilities of using a perpetual motion machine to replace the engine in his 1986 Volvo. Afterwards, every developer gets a hug and a low five. It's unlikely he'll discuss the 3G iPhone.
