WWDC Coverage
So, today all of the hard core Apple people were clogging the tubes with their coverage of World Wide Developers Conference today. I thought I would sip the kool-aid and watch some of the coverage while I was running some tests with my thesis guys.
Steve Jobs announced a couple things today. The one that excited most people, but we already knew for a week or more, was the 3G iPhone (dubbed online as the iPhone 2.0) but more on that later (save the best for last you know).
But beyond that, the announcements were lackluster. The name for the next version of OS X will be called Snow Leopard. One word, boring. The .MAC service will be rebranded as 'Mobile Me'. All .MAC users will be upgraded to Mobile Me. Again one word, boring.
Old iPhone's will have a firmware update to 2.0 software. It will have enterprise, SDK, and 3rd party apps support. It will be free for iPhone owners and will cost $9.99 for iPod touch owners. But some of the numbers quoted by Jobs are astounding if true: "90% customer satisfaction, 98% are browsing online, 94% are using email, 90% are using text messaging, 80% are using 10 or more features." Plus, 6 million have been sold in the first year until they ran out last week.
They had a list of new challenges: 1) 3G support 2) Enterprise support 3) third party app support 4) more countries and 5) more affordable. Some of the aesthetic changes are: black plastic back (I suspect for better reception), solid metal buttons, a nice display, camera, flush headphone jack, and improved audio.
The addition of 3G to the iPhone will impact data transfers and make them roughly 2.8 times faster. But 3G has been know to suck battery life in phones. Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G will have 300hr standby, 2G talk time of 10hrs (5hrs previously), 5hrs of 3G talk time (most phones have 3hrs), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7hrs of video, and 24hrs of audio.
The iPhone 3G will also have GPS integrated into it. With GPS, it can do tracking and show a pulsating dot moving across a Google Map as the car drives down a road. Plus, 70 countries will now have the iPhone as well, including Canada (as stated several days ago).
Enterprise support includes MS Exchange ActiveSync, push email, calendar, contacts, secure access to corporate resources with Cisco IPSec VPN, WPA2 and 802.1x authentication. Now the last obstacleon the list is affordability.
The 8gb iPhone started at $599 and is now $399. This also caused some strife with people because the price dropped $100 pretty quickly after it was launched so some people received rebates that could be used in the Apple Store. The iPhone 3G 8gb will sell for $199. But this is a bit misleading. It will cost $199 after signing a 2 year contract with AT&T, so its prices AFTER rebate will be $199. Same way with the 16gb iPhone, $299 after service contract, blah blah blah.
But all of this was a bit boring. I expected something on the Macbook line to be announced, like maybe a tablet version. With these features and 3rd party apps coming soon, this has somewhat peaked some interest in the iPhone. But I still will not get one because it is locked to AT&T only. I am very pleased with Verizon and have yet to find a place that I regularly go that does not have near flawless service. Jeremy cannot pass under a cloud without his service crapping out. I can walk around in 'the dungeon' with no worries about dropping or missing a call. Plus, Verizon is buying Alltel wireless for $28.1 billion to further expand their network.
Now if Verizon would only stop monkeying with the firmware on the phones to cripple certain features...
Steve Jobs announced a couple things today. The one that excited most people, but we already knew for a week or more, was the 3G iPhone (dubbed online as the iPhone 2.0) but more on that later (save the best for last you know).
But beyond that, the announcements were lackluster. The name for the next version of OS X will be called Snow Leopard. One word, boring. The .MAC service will be rebranded as 'Mobile Me'. All .MAC users will be upgraded to Mobile Me. Again one word, boring.
Old iPhone's will have a firmware update to 2.0 software. It will have enterprise, SDK, and 3rd party apps support. It will be free for iPhone owners and will cost $9.99 for iPod touch owners. But some of the numbers quoted by Jobs are astounding if true: "90% customer satisfaction, 98% are browsing online, 94% are using email, 90% are using text messaging, 80% are using 10 or more features." Plus, 6 million have been sold in the first year until they ran out last week.
They had a list of new challenges: 1) 3G support 2) Enterprise support 3) third party app support 4) more countries and 5) more affordable. Some of the aesthetic changes are: black plastic back (I suspect for better reception), solid metal buttons, a nice display, camera, flush headphone jack, and improved audio.
The addition of 3G to the iPhone will impact data transfers and make them roughly 2.8 times faster. But 3G has been know to suck battery life in phones. Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G will have 300hr standby, 2G talk time of 10hrs (5hrs previously), 5hrs of 3G talk time (most phones have 3hrs), 5 to 6 hours of high-speed browsing, 7hrs of video, and 24hrs of audio.
The iPhone 3G will also have GPS integrated into it. With GPS, it can do tracking and show a pulsating dot moving across a Google Map as the car drives down a road. Plus, 70 countries will now have the iPhone as well, including Canada (as stated several days ago).
Enterprise support includes MS Exchange ActiveSync, push email, calendar, contacts, secure access to corporate resources with Cisco IPSec VPN, WPA2 and 802.1x authentication. Now the last obstacleon the list is affordability.
The 8gb iPhone started at $599 and is now $399. This also caused some strife with people because the price dropped $100 pretty quickly after it was launched so some people received rebates that could be used in the Apple Store. The iPhone 3G 8gb will sell for $199. But this is a bit misleading. It will cost $199 after signing a 2 year contract with AT&T, so its prices AFTER rebate will be $199. Same way with the 16gb iPhone, $299 after service contract, blah blah blah.
But all of this was a bit boring. I expected something on the Macbook line to be announced, like maybe a tablet version. With these features and 3rd party apps coming soon, this has somewhat peaked some interest in the iPhone. But I still will not get one because it is locked to AT&T only. I am very pleased with Verizon and have yet to find a place that I regularly go that does not have near flawless service. Jeremy cannot pass under a cloud without his service crapping out. I can walk around in 'the dungeon' with no worries about dropping or missing a call. Plus, Verizon is buying Alltel wireless for $28.1 billion to further expand their network.
Now if Verizon would only stop monkeying with the firmware on the phones to cripple certain features...
Labels: Apple, News, Technology
posted by Brian Wright at 9:56 PM
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