8 June 2009 @ 11:05WWDC 2009
Here are some highlights from Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) 2009. This post will be updated as information comes in.
New version of the 15-inch MacBook Pro includes built-in battery with up to 7 hours of battery life.
Gone is the ExpressCard slot, and there is an SD-card slot in its place. The display features 60% greater color gamut. Processor is configurable up to 3.06GHz Intel Dual Core with 6MB Level 2 cache. It supports up to 8GB of RAM. Hard drive can be configured up to 500GB (7200rpm). The price of the 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1699. That base price includes 2.53GHz processor, 4GB RAM, 250GB hdd, 9400M graphics card.
The 17-inch MacBook Pro also receives an update. The base model includes 2.8GHz processor, with 500GB HDD (and retains the ExpressCard slot) for $2499 ($300 price drop).
The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros are shipping today.
Shop The Apple Store
The 13-inch MacBook is now a “Pro” model starting at $1199 with 2.26GHz, 2GB, 9400M graphics, 160GB hard drive, SD card slot. Available today.
The MacBook Air gets a price cut down to $1499 (HDD) and $1799 (SSD).
Talk shifts to Snow Leopard. The Finder did not change in Snow Leopard (at least the UI), but Apple rewrote it so that it’s better-positioned for the future in Cocoa. Next is the Dock: in Leopard, added a “beautiful” 3D rendering for the dock, had a feature for a long time on how to deal with clutter (Expose). Now Expose is built into the dock.
Installation of Snow Leopard is 45% faster than Leopard. Also, after you install snow leopard, you recover some disk space (over 6GB of space).
Preview is faster for viewing images, PDFs, etc.
Chinese characters can now be input via the trackpad by drawing with your finger.
Mail is faster: 2.3x to move messages, 1.9x to search.
Safari 4 for Leopard, Tiger, and Windows ships today. Unsurpassed speed for HTML and JavScript, faster than Chrome, Firefox, IE 8. Safari 4 will be included in Snow Leopard with a couple extra features such as “Crash Resistance”. If a plugin crashes in Safari, you just get the [???] rectangle and the browser is still intact.
The 2nd feature in Snow Leopard is even more speed: 50% faster and 64-bit JavaScript performance.
QuickTime will have hardware acceleration, HTTP streaming, ColorSync, Modern foundation.
QuickTime player gets a new UI (similar to iTunes).
All major applications are now 64-bit.
Multicore: New methodology called Grand Central Dispatch across all of Snow Leopard. Language extension, multicore engine, object oriented framework, new system-wide APIs, tools.
OpenCL for graphics: Hardware abstraction, C-based language, automatic optimization, Numerical accuracy, Open standards.
Mac has Office, integrates with Windows IT services, but what’s missing is Exchange. So we’ve decided to build Exchange support into Snow Leopard into main 3 apps: Mail, iCal, Address Book … really simple to set up: set to auto-discover the exchange server in Mail. One of the most requested features for integration is the ability to schedule meetings, take advantage of availability information for people and rooms. Exchange support requires MS Exchange Server 2007.
So, how much will Snow Leopard cost? “We want all Leopard users to upgrade to Snow Leopard, so we’re pricing it at $29″. The Family Pack of Snow Leopard is only $49. A near-final version is available to developers today. The final version will be available in September.
Next up is the iPhone OS 3.0.
It’s a major update to the iPhone operating system and includes more than 100 new features including copy/paste. Next is landscape mode. Ever since 1.0, support for landscape has been in Safari as well as landscape keyboard. In 3.0, landscape and keyboard are coming to all key applications, including Mail, Notes, Messages. MMS support in the same app as text messages. AT&T will be ready for MMS support later this summer. Spotlight will allow searching messages and applications. Launch applications from Spotlight. iTunes will now support movie rentals and purchases from the iPhone. iTunes U and Parental Controls support included. Parent can limit child to only viewing G and PG movies, for example. Parental limitations can also be imposed on App Store apps.
Tethering now supported! If you’re somewhere with your laptop and there’s no WiFi, share that Internet connection that your phone already has with your computer. Works with both Macs and PCs, wired over USB or Bluetooth. (AT&T not yet supporting this feature).
iPhone OS 3.0 runs javascript 3x faster than iPhone OS 2.2.1
HTML 5.0 support.
Over 30 languages supported in iPhone OS 3.0
Find My iPhone: If you’ve ever “misplaced” or lost your phone, it can be traumatic. Find My iPhone is a part of MobileMe membership. If you lose your phone, you can send it a message from online or your home phone, it’ll play a sound whether or not you left it in silent mode. If your phone really is lost or stolen, you can send it a remote wipe command that will delete all the data. Once the phone is found, plug it in iTunes and restore it from backup.
P2P support automatically finds other player, completely seamless, finds it and connects the two, game is off and running.
iPhone OS 3.0 opens up for hardware accessory developers to build companion software apps that talk to the accessory
Maps: cocoa touch control to allow you to embed Google Map service including satellite right into your app. This control is the heart of our application that ships with the phone. Pan and zoom, Custom annotations, current location, Geocoding. On top of this, devs can build turn by turn direction applications using CoreLocation.
Next is Push Notifications which are in iPhone OS 3.0. Provided a generic service for developers so they can push things like breaking news, scoring, etc.
Peter-Frans Pauwels from TomTom demos turn-by-turn navigation on the iPhone. Can be used in Portrait or landscape mode with spoken directions. Turn by turn spoken directions. Navigation is “all about safety” so TomTom has an optional accessory that lets you attach iPhone to the windshield and will connect through Dock Connector. Thanks to accessory framework, TomTom enhances GPS signal, built-in microphone gives you hands-free calling, lets you play music over car stereo, power iPhone as you drive. TomTom app will be available this summer with a range of national and international maps.
The OS 3.0 update will be available to iPod touch owners for $9.95.
The iPhone OS 3.0 will be downloadable worldwide on June 17. Developers will get the GMC today.
Phil Schiller now talks about the iPhone. 2/3rds of all mobile web browsing occurs on an Apple mobile device.
New version of the iPhone is the iPhone 3GS. The ‘S’ stands for ‘Speed’. Same form factor, but faster — 2x to 3x faster.
Built-in support for OpenGL|ES 2.0, 7.2MBps HSDPA data transfer for carriers that support that. Updated camera included. 3.0megapixel, auto-exposure, auto light balance, tap to focus, improved low-light sensitivity, auto macro (10cm close), also captures video (30fps, VGA with audio).
There is an API for the video camera.
Voice control, voice dialing included from any app just by holding the home button. iPod can be controlled via voice commands as well.
Built-in digital compass. Compass works with Maps app (tap to orient map to compass).
Nike+ support included.
Hardware encryption for businesses.
Improved battery life: 9 hours on wifi, 10 watching video, 30 hours of audio playback, 12 hours of 2G talk time, and 5 hours of 3G talk time.
iPhone 3GS is the same size as the iPhone 3G.
It’s also the most environmentally friendly phone. — arsenic-free glass, PVC-free, mercury-free LCD, 23% smaller packaging.
iPhone 3GS pricing:
$199 16GB
$299 32GB
comes in black and white
old iPhone 3G will be $99 for 8GB model.
iPhone 3GS available June 19, and the iPhone 3G 8GB for $99 available today.
Buy the iPhone 3GS or iPhone 3G today
by Jon | Add a comment | Tags: apple, iphone, iPhone 3G S, iphone os, macbook, macbook pro, snow leopard, wwdc, WWDC 2009
Posted in apple | Link to this