New iPods and Apple TV Might As Well Be Hotcakes

Because that is what they are going to sell like. A few hours ago, Apple held its usual fall iPod refresh event to set things up for the holiday season. And as an added bonus, Apple live streamed the event on their site, a first since 2002.

Steve Jobs handled the keynote solo style today, save for one developer demo. As many of you know, Jobs has had some major medical issues over the past couple years, culminating in a leave of absence and a life-saving liver transplant. When he returned to Apple, the fall iPod event was his first round of stage time. That was one year ago, and he appeared exhausted and frail. Today was completely different. He looked healthy, was energetic, and even cracked a number of jokes. Glad to see you’re well, Mr. Jobs.

Steve kicked off the event by recognizing Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, who was in the audience. Then he talked about the success of Apple’s retail operations. Next, the overall health of the App Store. And then, with all the numbers out of the way, the really good stuff.

iOS 4.1

Steve introduced iOS 4.1, available for download next week, and ran through some of the updates. He explained there are a lot of bug fixes, primarily with the proximity sensor of iPhone 4, issues with Bluetooth, and performance with iPhone 3G (and presumably second-generation iPod touch, as the hardware is similar). 

There are several new features landing as well. The camera is getting an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo setting. Basically, turn it on, and the iPhone will take three photos in rapid succession at different exposures, then meld them all together to present a perfectly exposed photo, in theory. As I am a bit of a camera nerd, I have a feeling I will love this simple implementation. Honestly, these days I take more pictures with my iPhone 4 than my Canon 40D.

iOS 4.1 will also allow HD Video uploading to YouTube and MobileMe when connected to WiFi, TV show rentals, and the introduction of Game Center.

Game Center is all about multiplayer games. You can challenge friends or be auto matched with a stranger. You can also compare scores on a leader board and discover new games. Game Center will be an app on your device, but also an API for developers to integrate Game Center into their games.

iOS 4.2

Yes, you read that right, Steve also talked about iOS 4.2. The primary mission of iOS 4.2 is to bring everything in iOS 4.1 to the iPad (finally). A couple other features will be wireless printing and AirPlay. I’ll talk about AirPlay in a bit. iOS 4.2 will be a free update to iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads in November.

iPod

Steve said the secret to the success of the iPod is that Apple has never rested on its laurels. Seems true enough to me. And these new models are very impressive.

iPod shuffle

Starting with the iPod shuffle, Steve took a walk down memory lane and discussed the first, second, and third generation of the shuffle. People loved the first one, went nuts for the second (which I have long said was the perfection of the shuffle design), and that the third wasn’t much of a hit. See, Apple had removed all of the controls from the third generation, moving them all to the headphones. What a disaster. Well, the fourth generation brings back the controls, and looks like a slightly smaller version of the second generation. The shuffle comes in silver, blue, green, orange, or pink. It has a 15 hour battery and will be available next week at $49 for 2GB.

iPod nano

Apple has heralded the death of the click wheel, the iconic input method of mobile music player history. The new iPod nano has a 1.5” touch screen, a clip on the back like the shuffle (runners won’t need a silly armband for it), dedicated volume buttons, and does still have enough room for the 30-pin Dock connector.

The new nano is, however, missing a few features that the last generation had. Those would be the video camera, the ability to play video, and games. In fact, the interface looks a lot like iOS, even down to putting icons in jiggly mode and rearranging them. But, I’m not sure if it is iOS or just looks like iOS. (My wager is that it is iOS, but locked down). 

The new nano is quite the compelling redesign. It will also be available next week in silver, black, blue, green, orange, pink, and red. It has a 24-hour battery and comes in 8GB and 16GB, selling for $149 and $179, respectively.

iPod touch

Apple added a lot to the iPod touch and somehow made it even thinner. The new iPod touch gains the A4 processor found in the iPad and iPhone 4, the amazing Retina Display (by far my favorite feature of the iPhone 4), a 3-axis gyroscope, and not one, but two cameras! The is a camera on the back that can record HD video, but sadly takes fairly low resolution photos, and then a camera on the front for — wait for it — FaceTime video conferencing! I have a feeling this may be popular with some of my relatives. I know FaceTime was indispensable for my son and I when my wife went out of town for a week last month.

The new iPod touch will be available next week, running iOS 4.1 with Game Center. It will be available in capacities of 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB at $229, $299, and $399, respectively.

Sidenote: Unlike previous years, all three capacities are the new generation of iPod touch. Traditionally, Apple has relegated the previous generation to the 8GB slot. This time, all three carry cameras, Retina displays, and A4 chips. Color me impressed.

iPod classic

Not even a mention in the keynote. Not pictured in the iPod family lineup. I thought it may finally be dead. But no, there it sits, unchanged from last year, on Apple’s site. A relic now in more way than one, what with the spinning hard drive and the click wheel. I will be truly surprised if the classic still exists as a product after next year’s fall event.

iTunes

Apple unleashed the tenth major iteration of iTunes, iTunes 10. Steve explained that since the iTunes Store is about to surpass CD sales, they decided to ditch the CD out of the icon. I very much like the look of the new icon. I’ve thought for a while that the CD sure seemed dated this day and age.

Other enhancements, according to Apple, are a new hybrid view, where you’ll get album artwork for 5 or more songs that are from the same album in list view. 

Apple also set out to strengthen music discovery by creating a new social network inside iTunes called Ping. Follow artists and friends and be followed, create a circle of friends, post your thoughts and opinions, see customized song & album charts, and see concert listings. 

I’m not too sure about Ping, but I have yet to try it out, as iTunes 10 went from “Available Today” to “Coming Soon.”

One last note that I noticed from the screen shots is that the close, minimize, and zoom buttons (at least on the Mac) have gone from being horizontal to vertical and in line next to the player controls, saving ¼” of space of vertical window real estate. It’s a small thing, and seems odd compared to the rest of Mac OS X, but let’s face it, screens are getting wider, not taller. I like it, and I hope the rest of Mac OS X goes this way in the next major update.

One More Thing Hobby

Since the introduction of the Apple TV in 2007, Apple has referred to it as a hobby. The hardware had remained unchanged except for a hard drive bump from 40GB to 160GB. But it’s the one Apple product I can think of that hasn’t had much success. Why? Well, according to Apple, customers want Hollywood movies & TV shows, everything in HD, lower prices for content, no reliance upon a computer, no worrying about managing storage, no syncing, and they want it to be silent, cool, and small.

The new Apple TV is ¼ the size of the old, fits in your hand, the content is in HD, and is on a rental model. HD movie rentals are available day and date with DVD releases for $4.99, and TV shows are available to rent for 99¢. The content is streamed straight to the device, and there is even support for Netflix Instant.

AirPlay

Now let’s talk about AirPlay. There’s been a technology in the AirPort Express called AirTunes for a while now, which let you stream music from iTunes to speakers connected to an Airport Express. AirPlay replaces that, and expands upon it. One feature of AirPlay is the ability for any iOS device to stream content to an Apple TV. And not just music, but videos and photos too. Let’s say you’re watching a movie on your iPad, but you decide to move to the living room. A couple taps, and the iPad pushes the movie onto your TV via the Apple TV. Same goes for an iPhone or iPod touch. This feature will come with iOS 4.2.

Another expansion of AirPlay is it won’t be limited to AirPort Express and Apple TV. Third parties will be able to embed AirPlay compatibility into their devices. According to Engadget:

That means you’ll be able to stream music from iTunes, your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to speaker docks, receivers and stereos from companies like Denon, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins, JBL and iHome, complete with song, album, and artist info and album art.

Sounds like a winner to me.

Wrap Up

Overall, I think it was a great event. I hope the trend will be to live stream keynotes in the future. I know my mother is already green with envy for the new green iPod nano, though I’d rather her have an iPod touch for FaceTime (are you reading this, Mom?) I’d be surprised if these new iPods aren’t on a few of my relatives’ Christmas lists. 

Apple to Inaugurate September with Music Event

Apple just sent out invitations to prominent members of the tech media for a special event on 1 September. This is no doubt, judging from the Apple emblazoned guitar on the invite, the annual September iPod refresh event.

The rumor mill suggests a FaceTime compatible iPod touch and a new Apple TV. I really think these aren’t far off the mark. But what else? Will there be any surprises?

iPods

I definitely think the new iPod touch will sport a FaceTime camera on the front. It’d be great if it included a rear still and video camera on the back (the rear camera was rumored for last year’s model). If Apple were to stick with the same style rear casing, I think they would have to make the iPod thicker to accommodate, internally, both a front and rear camera. But perhaps they will keep it the same thickness (at the thickest point) and square off the rest, much like the iPhone 4. Or perhaps they’ll just do the front camera. Either way, I am fairly positive it will have the front FaceTime camera. How else will there be tens of millions of FaceTime products by year end? Lastly, I think the iPod touch is a shoe-in for the A4 processor and Retina Display.

As for the other iPods in the family — nano, shuffle, & classic — I am unsure. Last year the nano got video. Someday, though I am unsure of the timing, I think the nano will go touchscreen with iOS. But that is likely a couple years off. My guess for the nano is a better camera, and a better screen.

For the shuffle one can only hope they put controls back on the device. The design was darn near perfect in the second generation, and last year’s removal of all controls from the device was a gross mistake. It is the chief complaint I have heard from folks I know who have it.

As for the classic, I said last year that I thought it was going away. If the iPod touch reaches 128GB of storage, I would err on the side of it finally dying. I think Apple’s future for portable consumer electronics lies in flash storage, not spinning hard drives. I’m sure Apple would get rid of them in laptops of the capacity and price were feasible. If the iPod touch doesn’t reach a 128GB capacity, I see the classic hanging on for one more year.

iPhone

We’ll get a rundown of new features, like GameCenter, in iOS 4.1, and a release date. My guess is day and date of the event.

As for the iPad, my guess is they’ll promise it for iOS 4.2 later in the year, and blame the delay on Antennagate.

Speaking of Antennagate, I bet we’ll hear a follow-up on that, and whether or not the Case Program will continue. 

Apple TV

I think the rumor mill is dead on with a small storage, content streaming device. Heck, it may even run some variant of iOS. The dream would be that iTunes would charge you a nominal fee (say, $30 a month?) in exchange for unlimited all you can eat streaming á la Netflix Instant. It was previously rumored. But the latest rumors of 48-hour 99¢ TV episode rentals sounds more like reality (and far less endearing). Perhaps it will let you install apps for services like Netflix or Hulu Plus, but at that point, I already have an XBox that does Netflix and will do Hulu Plus in January. Unless the new Apple TV has a sweetheart deal on actually watching content without a cable subscription, I don’t think I’ll care a whole lot.

I am interested how it would be controlled, though. I can’t see the 4-way directional remote working well for a revamped Apple TV.

iTunes

I have desired an overhaul of iTunes for a long time. Every year, iTunes gets more feature bloat and gets even slower. It is one of the most un-Apple applications made by Apple. I said this last year, and I’ll say it again: the greatest feature would be few (or even no) new features, and a complete rewrite and streamlining of what we know as iTunes. And for goodness sake, it’s 2010, why is there still a CD in the iTunes icon? And for the record, I expect to be disappointed yet again. There will surely be a new iTunes version, but I bet it will be the same old feature bloat.

Anything Else?

Maybe. There is always the chance that a “One More Thing” may be lurking in the shadows of the stage curtains. It won’t be a new iPad. That would be silly for a not-even-six-month old product that Apple can’t even make enough of to fully meet demand. I’ll place my chips on sticking to the aforementioned products and no “One More Thing” announcement.

It's Officially Crazy Week

The iPad arrives int he hands of users in just a few short days, and it has officially become crazy week. Yes, I have tried to convince myself to run out and try to grab one on Saturday (for review purposes, natch), but honestly, I am waiting until the WiFi+3G version comes out. And I really want to try to hold out for the second generation. So, you won’t be seeing a review on this site until anywhere from a few weeks to a year. That said, I will try to get hands on one to play with for a bit, and give my impressions as soon as I can.

But users aren’t the only ones preparing for the iPad. Our favorite fruit company has been issuing software to us all left and right for days. Aperture was recently updated with iPad compatibility (along with many other fixes in general for the program), Mac OS X 10.6.3 was released, and today iPhoto was given compatibility along with the latest version of iTunes, version 9.1.

Now, I’ve been saying for at least a year now that iTunes needs to be rewritten from the ground up. It’s just been feeling like it is getting more and more bloated. I also think it could benefit from being rewritten into Cocoa from Carbon. OS X has many technologies now that only Cocoa apps can utilize. The Finder, in my opinion, saw a great boost in stability and speed by transitioning to Cocoa in Snow Leopard. Also, there has to be a metric ton of legacy code that is just cruft waiting to be discarded.

I still hope that the next major version of iTunes (iTunes X sounds like a good name, doesn’t it?) will see at minimum a rewrite into Cocoa, and on the more extreme end of the spectrum, a reimagining of the user interface.

But let’s get our heads out of the clouds and discuss the present — iTunes 9.1. Maybe it’s just me and my lofty hopes, but it feels — dare I say — snappier. It’s still definitely a Carbon app, but it seems faster at just about everything. And it throws in some new features such as iPad support, finer control of Genius Mixes, support for ePub books and books purchased from the iBookstore, and a handy checkbox to allow you to compress the music that goes into your iPod or iPhone to 128 kbps on the fly instead of loading the full 256 kbps songs that you get from the iTunes Store. 

All-in-all, iTunes 9.1 is a modest feature update, but performance seems to be enhanced, and to me that is an unsung hero of the feature list.

A Few Predictions on the "Tablet" Event

I’ve wrestled with the idea of posting any predictions on the forthcoming Apple Event that takes place in less than 48 hours, but I am caving to tradition. This is just something most any writer who writes about Apple has to do. I don’t have anything to back anything up besides my gut feelings. I’m really just spitballing with a best guess.

The order of events to an Apple keynote, especially a Jobsnote (love having you back, Steve), is a pretty timeless and standard affair. Everything will start by recapping a lot of market data for the Mac, iPod, and iPhone. Apple will tout the financial numbers which are being released later today.

Mac announcements will come first, if there are any. I’m expecting a cursory announcement of iLife and iWork 2010 (or whatever they decide to call it) with some brief demonstrations of the latest enhancements. I’m thinking only iPhoto and iMovie will see demos. I have absolutely no idea what could be added. Expect both suites to go fully 64-bit.

iTunes will be after that. There will be a new feature or two added. I’m hoping that the rumors of all-you-can-eat streaming TV shows come to fruition. If that happens, and the Apple TV gets a hardware refresh to support 1080p, I’m there. I’ve been looking for an excuse to drop cable TV and TiVo (combined, they are just too expensive). $30 or $40 a month would be perfect. I must say, though, I don’t really see this happening. I do see iTunes getting one or two new features, and they’ll likely tie into the iPod and iPhone.

iPod announcements will follow iTunes, and the iPod touch is going to get most of the spotlight (all 3-5 minutes of it). The gist of it will be the announcement of iPhone OS 3.2, which will support whatever new features iTunes brings.

Following that, the iPhone will get a nod, with iPhone OS 3.2 coming for it as well, natch. Here’s where I play my wild card. AT&T will lose it’s US exclusivity on iPhone. Now, I expect this to be more announcement oriented, rather than immediate availability. I expect the iPhone will simply be available this summer on T-Mobile, the other GSM carrier in the States. But I know most are hoping Apple releases a CDMA iPhone for use on Verizon (and maybe Sprint). And this could be the stage to announce that for summer availability. Either way, or even both ways, AT&T will lose exclusivity. I’m calling that one, and I’ll eat crow if it doesn’t happen.

Lastly, and this will be the most lengthy part (I’m counting 30-minutes for everything else, an hour for this), the mythical “tablet” will finally be unveiled. There’s so many delusions surrounding this thing’s hype that it’s laughable. I’m keeping my predictions light. The hardware will look similar to an overgrown iPhone or iPod touch. I mean, realistically, imagining much beyond a giant piece of glass with a metal and/or plastic back, with as few buttons as possible isn’t much of a stretch. But the secret will lie in the software. That’s what is beautiful about multi-touch input — there isn’t a lot of limit on the user interface. I think the software will be more closely related to iPhone OS than Mac OS X, but it will be its own branch off the OS X root, much like iPhone OS was.

I think it will be revolutionary. I don’t think any of us have come close to what it will do or how it will fit in with our computing lifestyles. I do think that we’ll all say, “That makes sense” after Steve explains it to us.

I just hope it has a cool name like Canvas. I’ll slap my forehead if its name is iSlate or iPad.

The Return of the King

A little note: I meant to write this up in short order after the September iPod event, however, some family health issues moved things such as the blog from even the back burner to off the stove. My apologies to you, readers, but family is by far the most important thing.

At Apple’s predictably annual iPod music event on September 9, 2009, Apple fans worldwide were finally able to welcome Steve Jobs back to the stage after his medical leave.

I believe Apple continued in great stride without Steve at the helm for his 6-month absence, although I have to say it is great to have him back at Apple and feeling well-enough to give a keynote.

Don’t get me wrong, any company would benefit from a presenter like Phil Schiller, but Phil just isn’t Steve.

Well, I’ve already come right out and shared the best and most newsworthy part of event, but there were some other highlights. If you remember, I shared my predictions a week prior to the event. Shall we see what happened?

iTunes

iTunes 9 did indeed debut. As I predicted, I was disappointed in iTunes getting a complete overhaul from Carbon to Cocoa. Instead, the interface was tweaked a little, and a few new features were added (most of them pretty handy).

The Genius feature now includes Genius Mixes, which Apple described as being like a radio station of your music that just goes great together. So far, the feature is quite nice, especially when you just want music to play for a long time while you work. It’s definitely better than just hitting shuffle r using iTunes DJ.

If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, you can now mange your apps on your home screens via a virtual interface within iTunes. This is a freaking Godsend.

The iTunes Store has an entirely new interface and I like it (it’s been rewritten in Webkit). I was a little perturbed when I saw that the Shopping Cart disappeared and everything is 1-Click now. That is, until I discovered the new Wish List, which basically serves the same function as the Shopping Cart. Also, the rumored social media integration is present, but only in the Store and (thankfully) not as profound as I feared it might be. Quite simply, the iTunes Store allows you to post links to content in Facebook and Twitter. Fairly harmless, and entirely optional.

Some albums are getting extra content called iTunes LP. Think of it as a digital version of the booklets that come in CDs. Movies on iTunes also gained iTunes Extras, which is the same as the DVD menu and special features.

Lastly, the best announcement concerning iTunes is Home Sharing. Finally it is easy to transfer media (music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks and even iPhone/iPod touch apps) between computers in your home. My wife and I used to sneakernet music we wanted from each other’s computers via thumbdrive. Now we can easily browse each other’s content and drag & drop it right within iTunes. This is by far the best feature to hit iTunes in a very long time.

iPhone OS 3.1

OS 3.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch shipped out the day of the event. This solved my abhorrent battery life issue, but did nothing to improve wi-fi reception on my iPhone 3G. (I used to be able to get wi-fi anywhere in my apartment, but since OS 3.0, I can only get it in my office and half of my living room. Doesn’t even register in my bedroom. Good thing there’s 3G in Lincoln).

iPod Updates

I have to admit, this is the part where things really turned upside down for me. I was sure the iPod touch would get a camera and I was skeptical about the iPod nano getting it. Turns out the iPod touch got a little speed and capacity bump, and no camera.

The iPod nano received brighter colors, a slightly larger screen, and a video camera (can’t take still pictures). It also gained a pedometer and FM radio.

I figured the iPod classic had seen the end of days, but it limps on at the same price point, sporting a 160 GB hard drive again (up from 120 GB last year).

And the shuffle indeed received more colors, adding pink, blue, and green to the black and silver. Also, you can pay $20 more for a highly scratchable stainless steel premium version. *rolls eyes*

Wrap-Up

All in all, it was a good event. New iPhone software, modest improvements to iTunes, and the annual refresh of iPods (though disapppointing as far as the iPod touch) are all very nice.

However, the biggest takeaway is Steve Jobs has returned, and I don’t think any of us could be upset about that.

It's Only Apple, But We Like It

In one week Apple will hold its annual September music-themed event. This year the slogan on the announcement reads, “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it.” Others say this is a Rolling Stones reference. I have no clue. I didn’t listen to the Stones. What I do know is that the announcement image this time around gives little-to-no allusion as to what may be announced at the event. No “hidden theme” so to speak. It’s just a shadow dancer with an iPod.

And what’s up with that? We haven’t seen Apple bring out the shadow dancers in at least a year or so. I do notice that the iPod the shadow dancer is holding has the cable coming from the bottom of the device. Perhaps he/she/it is holding an iPod touch? That would make sense. The iPod touch is practically the flagship iPod these days.

This brings me to chipping in my two cents on hopes and predictions of what may transpire next week.

iTunes

Let’s start with iTunes. The rumor mill has been saying we’ll see iTunes 9 with social networking integration. I suppose this means you’ll be able to tweet or post to Facebook whatever song you are listening to. Gag. I could care less. It just sounds like more feature bloat to me.

What I would rather see is for iTunes to get the Snow Leopard treatment. Few new features, major refinement. iTunes is still a Carbon app. (Carbon is the transitionary language used for porting Classic Mac OS 8/9 apps to OS X). With Snow Leopard, Apple ditched Carbon and moved everything over to native Cocoa. I mean, they even rewrote the entire Finder from the ground up. And it did wonders for the Finder’s performance.

iTunes has been begging for a revamp for a couple of years now, in my opinion. I’d like to see Apple rewrite iTunes from the ground up, throwing out years of crufty code that has built up and bogged down performance.

I’d rather see this than have social networking in iTunes. I have a feeling I’ll be disappointed.

iPhone OS 3.1

iPhone OS 3.1, which has been in beta with developers for a couple of months, will be available for the iPhone and iPod touch. I just hope it does for iPhone 3.0 what iPhone 2.1 did for 2.0. And that is to be what Apple should have shipped a couple months ago.

iPod updates

It’s basically a given that the iPods will get refreshed. My thoughts are short and sweet here.

The iPod touch will remain at current price points, but move to 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. They will also see the inclusion of a camera. Many spy shots have surfaced over the past month showing this. If the photos are to be believed (and many do) it looks as if there is a pinhole next to the camera. My bet is that is for a small mic for video capture. Because video is kind of stupid without audio. The location of the mic makes sense for trying to limit the use of it to video capture. It would be odd to use a mic there for VOIP calls. And let’s face it, if you want to make a phone call on an Apple device, Apple would rather have you by an iPhone.

Internally, I think the iPod touch will gain a faster CPU, GPU, and more memory like the iPhone 3GS did earlier this summer. Externally, I think it will stay the same with the addition of the camera.

The iPod nano…I’m not sure. Traditionally, Apple has modified the overall design every year. However, rumors say the nano will retain the same design and gain a camera. This seems odd to me. Mainly because the iPod nano does not have Internet connectivity. See, the iPod touch has wi-fi, and can upload pictures to Flickr or MobileMe or wherever. The iPhone 3GS can upload video to YouTube and other services. Apple’s touchscreen devices have browsers and email clients. Cameras make sense.

Unless the iPod nano is getting drastically redesigned with a touchscreen (which would be cool, but I doubt it) I can’t see it gaining a camera. I really have no idea what Apple may do with the nano.

The iPod shuffle was just updated around 6 months ago. Perhaps more color choices than black or silver. Perhaps nothing.

That leaves the iPod classic. I think this is going away. Yes, it is iconic. Yes, it is the only iPod that holds more than 32GB of data. But if the iPod touch moves to 64GB, I think that seriously narrows the market. There is more incentive for a consumer to sacrifice some storage for the benefits of the iPod touch OS. Besides, how many people really fill up 120GB on an iPod?

Also, many of the manufacturers of the 1.8” hard drives that the classic utilizes are scaling down production drastically. Perhaps that is because Apple isn’t ordering too many of them these days.

The Mythical iTablet

Nothing to see here, people. Move along. Seriously, I’m not expecting the tablet this year. Developers will need time to makes apps for it. If Apple is planning to release it in 2009, it will get its own special event, likely in October. Why October? Because Apple has done events for the holiday season in October.

Steve Jobs

I think he’ll be at the event, he’ll do a little talking, but let other executives like Joz and Schiller do the heavy lifting, just like the November 2008 event when the unibody MacBook Pro debuted.

What do you think will happen next week?

Happy Birthday, App Store

One year ago today, the App Store graced iPhones and iPods touch everywhere. I remember that July day very clearly. I arrived at the Village Pointe Apple Store in Omaha, NE at 6 am to stand in line. I bought my iPhone 3G (16 GB, black), and then waited…

I waited because the iPhone 3G was so freaking popular that the activation servers had melted! Well, I assume they melted. I remember leaving my iPhone docked to my Mac, waiting for the activation to complete. I gave up and took a nap. A good two hours later I heard the siren’s call from the home office. It sounded like a sword unsheathing. It was the sound the iPhone makes when docked. I bolted from my bed and ran to my iPhone! Activation Complete.

The first thing I did was to explore the App Store. To see what was available. I remember my first download was actually a purchase. Twitterrific Premium. I assume most people’s first download was a freebie. The next app was Facebook. Yes, I like social networking. Then, Apple’s Remote app. Then AIM (which sucks, and still does. Apple, can we please just have an iChat app?)

To say the App Store is a hit would be an understatement. It’s no wonder Apple is giving away iPods touch to the college kids two summers in a row. At a 30% cut on paid apps, it’s a money maker for our favorite fruit company. Even factoring in the costs of the servers and such, Apple’s profit out of 30% of a 99-cent app is likely much greater than a 99-cent music track. Although the sheer volume of music sales would clearly blow away the profits of the App Store.

Anyways, to commemorate the App Store’s first birthday, I thought I’d share a little list of my favorite apps. [All links go to iTunes]

• Twitterrific 2 (ad-supported free, ad-free $3.99): My favorite Twitter client. Honestly, I am surprised I have worn a hole in the upper left corner of my iPhone’s screen, that’s how often this app gets used.


• Remote (free): A very awesome app to control iTunes and your Apple tv. Straight from the fruit company, so you know it’s delicious.


• 1Password ($4.99, $5.99 Pro): Syncs with the wonderful 1Password on the Mac. Allows you to access sites and auto-fill logins and passwords securely on the go.


• Delivery Status touch ($2.99): A great app to track your deliveries. This has become even more handy with the introduction of Copy & Paste in OS 3.0, as before it was a bit of a bear to get your tracking info into the app. This app supports more couriers than you can shake a stick at.


• Groceries ($3.99): I bought this app thinking it was a neat idea. Now, it is used weekly for shopping trips. The user interface is top notch, And the ability to add custom items to the database is great. Needless to say, it comes with quite a great deal of items in the database right from the start.


• Stanley Level (free): My wife and I were hanging pictures in our apartment, and like a true geek, I don’t own a level (it’s strange that I actually own a hammer). Well, our pictures were looking a little crooked, and I explained to my wife that I don’t have a level, and we’d have to go get one. Then, I remembered that the App Store has everything, from Twitter clients to Fart apps, and yes – even levels. There are many free level apps out there, and some may even be better, but you can’t go wrong with a Stanley level, right? Guess what, it actually works, and it works darn well.

Well, those are a few of my favorites. Happy birthday, App Store. Live Long and Prosper.

Predictions: WWDC 2009

Apple is hosting its annual World-Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. The company’s Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller, will lead the executive team through the keynote presentation on Monday, June 8th.

Seeing as how that is just under a week away, I figured now would be a good time for me to weigh in on my predictions for what will happen at the keynote.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard & iPhone OS 3.0


Snow Leopard

It is a very safe bet that we will see both Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iPhone OS 3.0 at WWDC. Apple said as much in its WWDC press release.

So far, the general public hasn’t received a great deal of concrete information about Snow Leopard from Apple itself. The things we can expect for sure at this point are a full 64-bit OS; Microsoft Exchange support in Mail, iCal, and Address Book; QuickTime X; “Grand Central” – a technology that will make Mac OS X completely multicore aware; and OpenCL (Open Computing Language), which will allows applications to tap into the GPU for added computing power.

Overall, that’s a lot of geeky under-the-hood stuff that end users won’t explicitly see (but they’ll probably notice their computers become a lot more powerful). Apple said at last year’s WWDC that Snow Leopard wouldn’t introduce any new end-user features (like Exposé in 10.3, Dashboard in 10.4, or QuickLook, Spaces, and Time Machine in 10.5). Instead, Apple is using Snow Leopard to further refine the newest foundations within 10.5 Leopard.

Traditionally, Apple has charged $129 for major OS X versions. I surely know this because I have shelled out for 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5. Without some features that the marketing department can use to flash in end-user’s faces, I don’t know if Apple will be able to sell many people on 10.6. At least, not at $129, especially in this economic climate.

So either Apple will offer it for less, or they will have to add in something that is marketable to the masses. The rumor mill has been purporting that Snow Leopard will introduce an overhauled User Interface code-named “Marble.” This is quite possible, however, I am really liking the current Leopard UI. The only change I would really like to see to the UI is to get rid of the dated Aqua scrollbars and progress bars found in many apps (like Safari). Instead, replace them with the blue-ish grey scrollbars from iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie.

I predict there will be some new UI paint, a surprise feature that Apple just couldn’t resist adding, and that Snow Leopard will sell for $99. We’ll also get a shipping date, my guess is around September.

iPhone OS 3.0

The new and improved iPhone OS will be the key feature of the keynote. Expect to see lots of third-party developer demos to ad nauseam. We’ll also see all the features we saw at the March SDK event, again.

I also think we’ll see some new features of OS 3.0 that will be exclusive to new iPhone hardware, which I will discuss in the next section.

Of course, we’ll get a final ship date on this as well. If I would have written this yesterday I would have guessed the ship date would coincide with the new iPhone hardware release (currently rumored for July 17). But, my mind changed today, and I think we’ll see iPhone OS 3.0 on all current iPhones within a couple of weeks.

Why? iTunes 8.2 was released today. For the past few betas of iPhone OS 3.0, a pre-release version of iTunes 8.2 was required to activate iPhones and iPods touch running the beta firmware. With iTunes 8.2 being in the wild now, and one of the key features listed was compatability with iPhone OS 3.0, I just think Apple is planning to release 3.0 very, very soon.

Also, Apple has been requiring that all apps submitted to the App Store be compatible with 3.0 for weeks now. I imagine this means ,most developers have already submitted, or are planning to very soon, apps that meet that requirement.

Finally, there is the snafu from last year’s iPhone OS 2.0 launch. Talk about a disaster. Last year, in case you don’t remember, Apple released the iPhone 3G, iPhone OS 2.0, the App Store, and MobileMe all on one day. And it was a complete meltdown. Apple rarely makes the same mistake twice.

I think this time around we’ll see iPhone OS 3.0 launch ahead of the new iPhone hardware. And I think we’ll see it within two weeks. Three at the latest.

A New iPhone

I’m not sure anyone doubts that there will be new iPhone hardware soon. The rumor mill has been flipping rampant with spy shots and the like. My thoughts on the matter are that the new iPhone will have come in 16- and 32-GB capacities, at the $199 and $299 price points, respectively. The 8GB model may stick around at a more budget-friendly $149, but I’m pretty skeptical about that.

Also, I think the new iPhone will have the rumored 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, be video-capable, and have a magnometer (digital compass). Also, I think the flavor of iPhone OS 3.0 that comes on these devices will have added functionality in the Camera and Maps apps to leverage these technologies.

It’s likely a safe bet to assume that the device will sport a faster processor and more memory. Furthermore, many of the spy shots have focused on the back casing of the device, showing a plastic matte finish. I’m hoping so, for better grip and resistance to scratches.

Lastly, I have more of a hope than a prediction. On MacBreak Weekly 142, Scott Bourne said he had a couple sources within Verizon, one being high-level within the company, who said that Verizon would be getting an iPhone and that it would be announced in June. Now, AT&T is pretty decent in Lincoln, NE, where I live. But it is currently non-existent in South Dakota, where I’m from. So my iPhone becomes pretty useless as a phone when I visit family. If Verizon were to get the iPhone, I’d be finding a way out of my AT&T contract pretty quickly.

Granted, AT&T has announced they are coming to South Dakota in 2010-2011, but that’s quite some time away. And who knows what kind of coverage they’ll have. Judging from their overall coverage of Nebraska, it doesn’t look great. Outside of Omaha, Lincoln, and their surrounding communities, AT&T is pretty absent from the Cornhusker State.

Verizon’s coverage is nearly ubiquitous in the Midwest, and pretty much everywhere in the contiguous United States. Yes, this would mean Apple would have to make a CDMA iPhone in addition to a GSM iPhone, but I would think the amount of customers they would pick up in the US would make it worth it.So yes, I am really wishing for a Verizon iPhone.

Tablet Device

I think Apple is working on something like an oversized iPod touch to answer the netbook market, but I don’t think we’ll see it on Monday. I honestly think it would get a special media event all to itself.

MacBook Pro/MacBook Speed Bumps

I think we’ll see some speed bumps on the unibody notebooks. However, they’ll either get one slide in the keynote or be relegated to a post-keynote press release.

The Triumphant Return of Steve Jobs

I think Phil Schiller will do a One More Thing™ and that will be to welcome Steve Jobs back from his medical leave. I think Jobs’ stage time will be brief and at the end, but I think he’ll be up there nonetheless.

That’s all I have for predictions and hopes/dreams. We’ll see on June 8th!

If you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments.