It’s iPhone week 2009, and the first event has passed. The third major release of the iPhone OS was released yesterday, with updates available through iTunes at about 10 a.m. Pacific time.
The new OS includes copy and paste inside and between applications, a voice recording app, and small improvements in almost every default app. In addition, third-party apps now support push notification and sales inside of apps. Some apps have already been updated to take advantage of push notification.
Tomorrow morning the second shoe will drop, with the release of the iPhone 3GS. Apple stores is many countries will open an hour or two early and start distributing pre-ordered iPhones first, and then selling them to all an hour later.
The new iPhone will feature an improved camera with higher picture resolution and video shooting capability, a compass, and voice control ability.
Lines and sales may not be as big on the first day, as those who bought an iPhone 3G on July 11, 2008, are not eligible for a partial price subsidy from AT&T until exactly one year after they bought their 3G.
The WWDC announcements this wee didn’t disappoint, with new MacBook Pros, the new iPhone 3GS, a date for the release of the iPhone OS 3.0, and a general date for the release of Snow Leopard.
You can check out our coverage of the news in episode 250 of MacMost Now, and a commentary on what was announced in a blog post. We also did a play-by-play as new news flowed in that morning.
The new MacBook Pros are already being sold at the Apple Stores. Next week we’ll have another eventful week with the release of iPhone OS 3.0 and the new iPhone 3GS.
Then in September, we’ll have the big release of Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6. The big news is that it will only cost $29 for those of us already with Leopard, which should be the vast majority of Mac user with Intel machines, the only Macs capable of running Snow Leopard.
Part of Snow Leopard, the new Safari 4 browser, is available immediately and can run on Leopard, Tiger and even Windows. You will get it, if you haven’t already, with your next software update. You can check out some of the new features in Snow Leopard in episode 251 of MacMost Now.
Apple released iTunes version 8.2 this week. The main purpose of this new version is to support the iPhone OS 3.0 which has been available to developers for a while, but is expected to be released to all iPhone users later this month. A new minor upgrade to QuickTime was also released to work with iTunes 8.2.
Next week is the Apple WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) in San Francisco. The conference kicks off on Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific with Phillip Schiller’s keynote address. Schiller is Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing. It is almost certain that anything Apple has to announce for the week will be announced at this keynote.
Apple doesn’t usually stream audio or video of these events anymore, but MacMost will be reporting up-to-the-minute news at MacMost.com that morning.
It looks very likely that there will be a new iPhone handset as well as the new OS this month. Reports point to iPhone stock running low and plenty of mentions of a new device coming this month. Rumors mention an improved camera with video capability, more memory size choices and an built-in compass.
Apple announced their 2009 back-to-school promotion, which gets students and teachers up to $100 off a new Mac plus a sizable rebate off a new iPod if purchased at the same time. Buying an iPod Touch would get you $229 back, while smaller rebates are given for Nanos and Shuffles. There were rumors of an iPhone rebate as well, but nothing along those lines has been announced.
The white MacBook has new specifications starting this week, including modest bumps in processor and memory speed and hard drive size. The price is still $999 in the U.S., although Apple increased the price slightly in the U.K.
News from various sources points to Steve Jobs’ return to Apple happening as planned. He is reported as being in good health and energetic. We may see him return to his normal role as CEO of Apple by the end of June.
With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference coming up in a few weeks, rumors seem to be centered around new iPhone hardware. The WWDC should include lots of information about the iPhone OS 3.0 release, as promised by Apple in June, and also Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, which is known to be in advanced stages. So the rumor mill has to pick juicer speculation, and a new iPhone seems to be the target. Rumors range from simply having slightly better specs to including things like a video-capable camera, compass and a faster processor.
The release of the iPhone OS 3.0 should bring a whole new set of third-party apps that take advantage of new OS features like the ability for apps to use push notification and communicate with external devices. There are also rumors that the iPod Touch may be getting an upgrade and will finally get a camera to match the iPhone.
What could be a more important story to Apple’s bottom line is that Walmart is planning to create Apple sections in its stores. This will be part of an effort by Walmart to expand its electronics section to fill the gap now that Circuit City is gone. It will make it easier for people far away from Apple stores to get iPhones and iPods, and they may eventually sells Macs there as well.
Apple released a major update to Mac OS X Leopard this week with 10.5.7. It is now available to all Leopard users via Software Update. While weighing in at between 200 and 600MB, the update really only features bug fixes, optimizations, and support for new hardware. There are no major new features. Even so, almost every area of Mac OS X and many Apple-made applications were affected by the update.
Mac OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard, got one step closer to release this week as well, with Apple announcing to developers that its API is now complete, allowing developers to finish updates and new software for Snow Leopard without fear that it will change much before release. Apple is expected to show off a near-completed Snow Leopard at the World Wide Developers Conference in June. Speculation is for a public release of Mac OS X 10.6 perhaps in August.
Apple also seems to be taking steps to reduce its iPhone inventory by allowing sales of the iPhone 3G on its Web site as well as in stores. Rumors point to new iPhone hardware, though perhaps just a modest update in specifications, this summer.
It was all about the rumors this week. Rumor has it that Mac OS X 10.5.7 will get released before the end of the week. Not a major update, to be sure, but something that may bring little tweaks and bug fixes to Leopard.
Also, lots of talk this week about whether the iPhone will remain AT&T-only in the U.S. Speculation ranges from an open iPhone to Verizon sharing with AT&T. Some also think that Verizon talks could have to do with adding 3G connectivity to future MacBooks.
Apple is also speculated to be in talks with Twitter and perhaps Electronic Arts, the game publisher, as potential acquisitions. Both seem pretty unlikely, but Apple does have plenty of cash on hand to make such deals.
You can always keep up-to-date with all Apple rumors at the MacMost Apple rumors page.
Last year the Apple World Wide Developers Conference sold out, something that had never happened before. It was due to the huge interest in iPhone development. This year, the event sold out even faster as that community grows.
The conference will be from June 8 to 12 and will focus on the iPhone 3.0 operating system which has been available for developers for some time but won’t be released until about the time of the WWDC.
Rumors this week have focused on possible talks between Apple and AT&T rival Verizon. The rumors are not about the iPhone, which is exclusive to AT&T in the U.S., but on the possibility of another device like a wireless tablet or iPhone nano. It would be an odd move for Apple to have some devices use AT&T and others use Verizon, especially considering how some of MobileMe’s functionality is to sync such devices, and users wanting to do so would have to sign up for service with multiple carriers.
Apple issued its quarterly report yesterday showing a $1.21 billion profit and an increase in iPhone and iPod sales. However, Mac sales were down three percent compared to the same quarter last year. More than 2 million Macs were sold in the quarter, with a majority being laptops.
iPod sales continue to be strong, with more then 11 million sold and a 70 percent market share. Almost 800,000 iPhones were sold as well, with more then 21 million iPhones in use today. Apple also had more than $1 billion in revenue from music and related products, probably mostly iTunes music sales.
In other news, several news agencies are re-reporting the existence of a trojan horse virus that was discovered months ago. The trojan came with hacked versions of iWork 09 found on bit torrent networks. While the trojan is real, it is only a concern if you downloaded an infected illegal copy of iWork 09. Those purchasing iWork from Apple or downloading the demo from Apple are not affected. This makes it a very different situation from Windows users getting infected with viruses through innocent acts of surfing or downloading seemingly legitimate software.
In news this week there are reports that Steve Jobs is still very much in charge at Apple, just like he said he would be. Apparently he approves anything major and is involved in design decisions for new and updated products.
One of those might be the upcoming release of Mac OS X 10.5.7, which seems like it could happen any moment now. Reports are that new beta versions are coming out quite often and the new version is expected to appear in Software Update very soon.
Conflicting reports suggest that Mac sales slowed a bit in the first quarter. One report states that market share dropped from 8 to 7.4 percent, while another claims a growth of 7.4 to 7.6 percent. Everyone seems to agree that Apple didn’t gain any ground on its PC rivals. The difference may be in the continued strong sales of netbooks, of which Apple doesn’t have a competitor.
In iPhone news, reports say that Apple and AT&T are working on an update to their original exclusive contract. Some suggest that Apple may make the iPhone non-exclusive to AT&T, while other reports say that the exclusivity will be extended.
This week Apple completed the transition of the iTunes store to DRM-free music. So now all music you purchase is without DRM that will lock it only to your computers and iPods. With this change comes variable pricing, meaning that many new songs are now $1.29 instead of the traditional $0.99.
At first, many complained that these same songs were available from other sources like Amazon.com without DRM for only $0.99. But soon Amazon also increased their prices making the two stores in parity.
Anyone who bought copy-protected music at iTunes in the past can now upgrade those songs to the DRM-free versions for a price. Log onto the iTunes store in the iTunes application to see if any of your music is available for upgrade.
It looks like in order to make the music store completely DRM-free, some music has been removed. One can speculate that Apple was unable to get the rights to distribute those songs without DRM.
In other news, Apple released new server hardware this week. The new rack-mountable Xserves feature new processors, drives, memory and lots of options.
We’ve got some firm dates on upcoming Apple events. The Worldwide Developers Conference is scheduled for June 8 to June 12. The 2010 MacWorld Expo will go from February 9 to February 14, a break from its traditional January dates.
The WWDC is significant this year as it is bound to be either the announcement of a release date for Mac OS X Snow Leopard or perhaps even the release date itself. MacWord Expo in 2010 will be without any Apple involvement.
Late last week there were some updates to iLife, including some small new features in iMovie 09 like the ability to add a map location not on the list, and the addition of HD (1280×720) to the default export options.
Thsi week, Skype released an official iPhone app that allows you to make Skype calls from your iPhone as long as you are on a WiFi network. And DirecTV now has an app that lets you set your DVR to record a program while away from the house. Both apps are free.
Not much in news this week, so lets focus on rumors. We must be getting closer to the release of Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) because rumor sites are beginning to speculate on release dates. In this article at AppleInsider there is talk of a new interface look, getting closer to glass black as seen in the iPhone. Makes sense to me.
As for a release date, speculations point to an Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in mid-June, which would be a good time to show off Snow Leopard to developers and then release it sometime later in the summer to the public. That’s a lot of ifs, though.
With iPhone 3.0 a fact, not a rumor, the iPhone rumors turn to new hardware. A strong and realistic rumor is that a new model later this year would feature a better camera, capable of taking video. Having an iPhone that can compete with the Flip cameras would be a killer app for many people.
Dominating Apple news this week was the announcement of the third major revision of the iPhone operating system. Users will see it this summer, but developers can get their hands on it now.
There is a lot of buzz over new standard features, like copy and paste, MMS, landscape typing in Mail and a few improved standard apps. But the real news may be in what Apple will let developers do in the new OS. There will be push notification to allow apps to get messages even when not running, in-app purchases, and communication with external devices via bluetooth or the dock.
You can see a full report of what is new and what it might mean to you in episode 217 of the video podcast.
In other news, Apple has finally appeared on Twitter with an account that highlights new feed that tells you what new trailers have been posted in iTunes. @itunestrailers is thought by many to be Apple’s test of using Twitter, so we might see more eventually.
Apple followed up last week’s Mac announcements with a new iPod model this week. The iPod Shuffle is now smaller and bigger — smaller size, but 4GB of storage. It also works with VoiceOver, technology that will read out song and playlist names. This allows you to select playlists on the screenless Shuffle. But the new model is already receiving criticism since it places the critical controls on the earbud wires, requiring the use of earbuds and ruling out using your own headphones or plugging it into a car. You can check out this episode of MacMost Now for more details.
Apple also released an update to iTunes this week, presumably to support the new Shuffle. But it also adds “iTunes Plus” as an import option so you can have your CD imports at the same quality level as iTunes purchases.
Rumors are getting stronger that a Mac NetBook might be on the way. Latest reports claim that 10 inch touch screens have been ordered by Apple. If this is true, then not only will a new product fill the NetBook niche, but also be the first touch screen Mac.
This was a huge week for the Mac. Every Mac desktop machine, all three product lines, received significant updates. There are new iMacs, a new MacPro and a new Mac mini. All feature upgraded processors and video chips with the new Apple DisplayPort plug. You can watch episode 211 to find out more.
In addition, new versions of the Airport Extreme base station and the Time Capsule base station were released. The first supports multiple bands thanks to a second antenna. So now you can have 802.11g for your iPhone and 802.11n for your MacBook going at the same time. Time Capsule has the ability to share files through the MobileMe service, which could be very handy for a lot of people. It is now an Internet file server too.
Apple also introduced a new version of its standard USB keyboard that matches the smaller wireless keyboard without the numeric keypad. It will come standard with all the new desktops, though you can upgrade to the numeric keypad version.
Almost lost in the news this week was the release of a free iPhone app that will have a significant impact on the ebook world. Amazon released Kindle For iPhone. Now you can purchase ebooks on Amazon and get them delivered to your iPhone in a nice ebook reader. It will instantly become the dominant ebook reader on the iPhone, and open up Amazon’s ebook business to a whole new set of customers.
Apple news was dominated this week by the release of a beta version of the next version of Safari. This new version features faster JavaScript, the programming language behind dynamic elements all over the Web. It also has a 3D view of favorite sites, cover flow view for history and bookmarks, and is integrated with Google’s smart search service. The later will show you suggestions as you type a search term.
The release wasn’t painless, however, as many people are complaining of problems with Mail after installing Safari 4. You can see some of these new features on this episode of MacMost Now.
Apple also started something new in the iTunes music store with iTunes Pass. It is similar to purchasing a season pass for a TV show on iTunes. But instead of TV episodes, you get new and sometimes exclusive content from a band over the course of several months. The first iTunes Pass features Depeche Mode.
Looks like there will be a Mac OS X 10.5.7 soon, as developers seem to have been given a copy of the new version of Leopard to test. No word still on a release for 10.6, or Snow Leopard.
Looks like Apple is finally feeling an effect of the recession. One research firm says that Mac sales fell six percent in January, most likely due to the economy. But on the other hand, a traffic analysis of mobile phone Internet traffic shows that the iPhone now owns 51% of all smartphone traffic on the net. Part of that is probably due to the fact that iPhone users simply access the Internet much more through the full-featured Safari browser and other net-related apps.
The new 17-inch MacBook Pros started shipping this last week, slightly delayed from their original date, and lagging a good month behind the 15-inch MacBook Pros.
In rumors, the most interesting new rumor has Apple getting rid of the distinction between the QuickTime Player and QuickTime Pro. Currently, you need to pay $30 extra to upgrade from one to the other. The Pro version allows you to record, export and modify QuickTime movies.
Not much in the world of Apple news this week. There are some rumors floating around. First. there is talk of an update to the Mac Pro line, featuring new Intel processors at the end of March. Second, there is speculation that Apple may split the iPhone into two lines later this year, with a $99 low-end phone with only Edge network and no GPS, and a higher-resolution screen iPhone 3G for $200 or $300.
More phishing emails have been going out claiming that your MobileMe account is set to auto-renew but your credit card info is wrong. If you roll over the links in this email, you can see that they don’t go to Apple. Learn more about protecting yourself from phishing in episode 54 of MacMost Now.
A company called Net Applications has determined that about 10% of all Web traffic is from Mac users. This could be considered a more accurate measure of computer marketshare as it rules our machines used for more mundane business tasks and focuses on those used actively. This is the highest mark so far by Macs on the Web.
In other news, Adobe has let it slip that they are working on some form of Flash for the iPhone. No real word yet on what that will be, and whether it will be for use inside the iPhone’s Safari Web browser or some sort of stand-alone viewer.
Those waiting for a new 17-inch MacBook Pro will have to wait until at least the middle of this month. Originally, the machines were to ship at the end of January.
