Apple has had a busy week setting the stage for the arrival of the iPhone 4. But its biggest announcement was that of a new Mac: a re-designed Mac mini. The new mini is shorter and wider than the old model, with the power supply inside the case, rather than in a separate unit. The most notable change is the inclusion of an HDMI video out port. This shows that Apple recognizes the mini as a in-the-living room device that people may use to hook up to televisions instead of computer screens.
The new mini also includes a mini DisplayPort video connection, an SD card slot, upgraded processor, video chipset and 2GB of RAM by default. The price has gone up, however, with the base price of $699 instead of $599. There is also a $999 version with a second hard drive in place of the optical drive and Snow Leopard Server installed.
Along with the new Mac mini is a new version of Mac OS X — version 10.6.4 — to support it. This release is for all Intel Macs, and includes numerous bug, security and performance fixes, but no notable new features. You can get the new version by using Software Update.
Also available this week is iTunes version 9.2, which will support the new iOS 4 coming out on existing iPhones on June 21 and then the iPhone 4 on June 24.
Pre-orders for the new iPhone 4 in the U.S. began on the 15th, with reports of widespread ordering troubles. Those that wanted to pre-order the iPhone were faced with error pages on both the Apple and AT&T web sites. Apple reported that 600,000 orders did get through and currently orders are being taken only for shipments in July as it appears that launch day stocks are already sold out. Many ordered an iPhone for delivery, while others did it for in-store pickup which will start at 7 a.m. in Apple stores on June 24.
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Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference keynote did not disappoint, at least not for those looking for a new iPhone model. The iPhone 4 will be released on June 24 and will include a front-facing camera for video calls, an Apple A4 processor like the iPad, a high resolution screen, and a new thinner design. Pricing for the new phone will be essentially the same as the iPhone 3GS.
The new phone will also use a new version of the iPhone OS, now officially called iOS. It features multitasking, folders to help organize apps, and improvements to the Mail app. It will also be available for the iPhone 3GS, and a lesser version for the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch.
While the keynote did not mention anything new for the Mac, later in the day Apple released a whole new version of Safari for both Mac and Windows. The new version can be downloaded by using Software Update. In includes address bar enhancements, more HTML5 tag support, performance enhancements, and Bing as a search option alongside Google and Yahoo. A new feature, called Safari Reader, will extract article text from a page and display it without surrounding content.
You can find out more about both iPhone 4 and Safari 5 in videos posted earlier this week.
Apple also announced changes to the iBooks app, which will soon be available on the iPhone as well as the iPad. Users will be able to purchase books once, and have them appear on all devices using iBooks. The new app, due later this month, will also support PDF files.
10:00 — Steve Jobs takes the stage and talks about the success of the iPad.
10:10 — iBooks app update, including in-line notes, new controls for bookmark functionality, ability to read PDFs. Out later this month.
10:12 — 225,000 apps currently in the app store.
10:20 — Zynga announces Farmville for the iPhone. Available at the end of June.
10:30 — iPhone has 28% of U.S. market. Android has 9%. iPhone has 58% of mobile browser usage, with Android at 23%.
10:31 — iPhone 4 announced. 100+ new features. 8 to be highlighted in today’s keynote.
10:32 — New design with glass on front and back, and steel on sides. 24% thinner.
10:34 — Front-facing camera. Rear camera with a LED flash. Micro-SIM tray. Second mic for noise cancellation.
10:35 — Steel band around sides is partly an antenna. Part is for Bluetooth, Wifi and GPS. Other part is for wireless.
10:36 — 960×640 pixel screen. 326 points-per-inch.
10:47 — Will feature Apple’s A4 chip.
10:49 — Bigger battery with 5-7 hours talk time, 6 hours of 3G, 10 hours of Wifi or video, 300 hours standby.
10:50 — Uses 802.11n for Wifi. Quadband wireless for higher speed than available now.
10:51 — Gyroscope for better rotation detection.
10:54 — 5 megapixel camera with better sensor for low-light photography. LED flash.
10:55 — Record HD video at 720p and 30fps.
10:57 — iMovie app for iPhone allows editing right on the iPhone. Uses themes, transitions, Ken Burns, titles, etc. Exports to 360, 520 or 720p. $5 app.
11:07 — iPhone OS now officially named iOS. This will be iOS 4.
11:08 — iOS 4 features multitasking, folders for apps.
11:10 — Mail has threaded messages, unified inbox.
11:15 — Bing added to Safari on iPhone as third search option, but Google to remain default.
11:15 — iBooks app to come to the iPhone with iOS 4. Purchase once, get on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Syncs place in book, bookmarks and notes.
11:30 — Apple’s iAds will start showing in apps on July 1.
11:32 — Front-facing camera enables video chat. Called “FaceTime.” Uses Wifi. Works on any call between two iPhone 4s. Can also use main camera.
11:38 — FaceTime uses standards which they hope will in turn be made into a video calling standard as well.
11: 40 — Comes in black and white. With 2-year contract will cost $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB. Any contact that expires in 2010 will be immediately available for upgrade pricing.
11:42 — On sale June 24. Pre-orders start on June 15 for U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Japan. 88 Countries by September.
Learn how to use apps to connect to your Mac and control it from the iPad. You can also use your iPad as a second monitor.
Ahead of the announcement of a new iPhone and the iPhone 4.0 OS, AT&T has completely overhauled its wireless 3G data plans. In addition, it has announced tethering plans that will be available when the new iPhone OS is released.
The old unlimited data plan, costing $30/month, has been replaced with a $25/month plan that limits data to 2GB. Additional blocks of 1GB will cost $10. A $15/month plan caps data at 200MB, with additional blocks of 200MB for $15. Those with existing $30 unlimited plans can stick with it if they wish.
Tethering, the ability to connect your Mac to an iPhone and use its Internet connection, will cost $20 per month for those on the new $25 plan. You must be on the $25 plan to use tethering.
This also affects iPad 3G users, who will have to choose between the new $25 and $15 plans when signing up for service. They can also stick with the $30/unlimited plan, but it is unclear what happens when iPad users skip a month with this data plan.
On Monday morning Steve Jobs will take the stage at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. It is anticipated that he will announce new iPhone hardware as well as release dates for the iPhone OS 4.0 operating system for current iPhone 3GS models.
It’s the end of an era. The “Get a Mac” ads starring Justin Long and John Hodgman are done. The ad campaign started in 2006 and the lines “I’m a Mac. And I’m a PC,” became well known worldwide. Apple announced the end of the ads last week and also removed its library of videos from the Apple.com Web site. They remain available as an Apple podcast, at least for now.
Signs are certainly pointing to a new iPhone model soon. The old iPhone 3G, available until this week as a low-end sub-$100 model has been removed from the Apple Store. The lowest-end iPhone 3GS has been discounted to less than $100 at Walmart stores. And Steve Jobs has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference on June 7.
This will typically mean the announcement of new or updated products. Rumors are floating around that AT&T employees have been warned of a new iPhone launch for the month of June. It is likely that the new iPhone will be announced on June 7, and then available for sale at the end of the month.
On the other side of the news, Apple is being scrutinized on three new fronts this week. First, the U.S. Department of Justice is looking into allegations that Apple put pressure on music companies to not enter into exclusive early sales deals with Amazon.
Also, reports of more suicides at electronics manufacturer Foxconn has led many to suggest that working conditions there might be a problem. There have been nine suicides and two other attempts so far this year, out of a population of about 400,000 workers. Apple has said it is launching its own investigation. Foxconn also makes products and parts for HP, Dell, Nokia and Sony.
Even U.S. Apple workers are getting in on the act, with a class-action lawsuit filed in California that claims that Apple Store employees were not properly compensated for missed breaks.
These kinds of things can be expected more often now that Apple has surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization, making it the world’s largest technology firm. It is also the second largest U.S. company, just behind Exxon Mobil.
Apple updated its basic MacBook this week. The look and basic features are the same, as well as the $999 price tag. But the laptop now features a slightly faster processor and video chipset, as well as a new battery that claims to give it 10 hours of runtime.
Early in the week there were rumors that Apple planned to redesign its pro-level video editing tool, Final Cut Studio, to make it more user friendly to non-professionals. Many professionals expressed concern that the application would not meet their needs if this happened. But later in the week Apple responded by saying that any new version of Final Cut Studio would take into account the needs of its existing users.
Apple released updates to all three iWork apps on the iPad: Pages, Keynote and Numbers. All three apps get some bug fixes and support for more languages. Pages now supports more of its features in horizontal orientation that were previously only available in vertical orientation.
An update to MobileMe’s web mail interface is coming, and some users have been invited to beta test. The new interface features multiple display modes, including one that looks much like the iPad’s Mail app. There are also rules that can be applied in the web interface that will also automatically file messages into folders in client software, such as the iPhone and iPad.
In Beatles-on-iTunes news, Paul McCartney said in an interview that it is the record company EMI that is creating the problem. He said there are “all sorts of reasons” why the middlemen at the company don’t want to put the Beatles catalog on iTunes.
