Apple’s Scott Forstall just showed off the previously-rumored Find My iPhone feature in the iPhone 3.0 OS.
Find My iPhone is a MobileMe service that helps you find your lost iPhone, or wipe it remotely.
The service allows you to send the iPhone an alert sound that will play even if the phone is in silent mode — good for finding it in the back of the couch. It will also display a message on the home screen, such as another phone number, in case a stranger found it and the screen is locked. Clever.
If you think the phone has been permanently lost or stolen, you can also wipe all the data remotely. And if it shows up again, you can restore from a backup.
No company does product release hype and tease like Apple.
First Scott Forstall, Apple’s iPhone VP ran through the numbers: 1,000,000 SDK downloads, 50,000 Apps on the App Store, 40M iPhones/iPod Touches sold, 1B+ apps downloaded.
Cue to the inspirational video of iPhone developers telling their stories. Not a dry eye in the house. Finish with quick cuts of customers naming their favorite apps…
All of setting the stage for announcement of the update to iPhone’s operating system, 3.0. It’s got 100 new features including the long-awaited cut, copy and paste functionality, which works across applications, landscape mode for Mail, Notes and Messages, and shake to undo.
Another much anticipated feature, MMS, will be supported in 76 countries by 29 cellular service providers at launch, though iPhone’s US carrier, AT&T won’t be quite ready for it until ‘the end of summer.’ It’s a really sad thing how US technology behemoths can’t seem to get in step, isn’t it?
Further adding to AT&T’s impression as an albatross around Apple’s neck, Forstall had to admit the US carrier is not among the 22 worldwide that will support tethering in iPhone 3.0, which will allow users to share a network connection with Macs and PCs, wired over USB, or wireless with Bluetooth. It’s a seamless experience, with no need to run any software once it’s turned on. And it won’t be available to customers in Apple’s largest market.
Snow Leopard — Apple’s next major operating system update, which looks friggin’ awesome — will cost just $29 for current Leopard users.
Apple usually charges $130 for major operating system upgrades, but Apple says it wants to encourage everyone to upgrade. Snow Leopard will be available in Septmeber (developers at WWDC get a near-finished version today.)
Snow Leopeard will run on all Intel hardware, even the older stuff, and includes a ton of under-the-hood tweaks and improvements. At WWDC, Apple’s top software honcho, Bertrand Serlet, demonstrated a ton of cool speed enhancements and nice interface tweaks, including a sleek update of QuickTime. Serlet showed how Snow Leopard will double the speed of some tasks while trimming about 6GBytes of disk space.
Apple’s first big product announcement at Monday’s WWDC Keynote was an all-new 15″ MacBook with an all-new display and built-in battery.
Starting at $1699, the new notebook computer is the fastest notebook Apple has ever made. With up to 3.06 Dual Core CPU, up to 8GB of RAM, and up to 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, the device also comes with an optional 256GB Solid State Drive.
The audience at WWDC could hardly contain itself as Apple CIO Phil Schiller continued to detail upgrades to the company’s entire notebook line: The 17″ MacBook Pro has also been updated — 2.8GHz CPU, 500GB HD; it retains the ExpressCard Slot.
The biggest news, however could be the new 13″ notebook. The 13″ MacBook is now called a MacBook Pro. It starts at $1,199. Cheaper than the MacBook it replaces, it gets the new display specs, an SD card slot and Firewire is back! Ranges from $1,199 to $1,499 in standard configurations.
The number of Mac users has tripled in the last two years, Phil Schiller just said at WWDC.
There were 25 million active OS X users in first 5 years of OS X, up until 2007, Schiller said. But in the last two years, however, it has grown to 75 million.
“We’ve TRIPLED the number of users,” he said to big applause. “It’s astounding.”
Sprint and the Palm Pre got all the ink and media attention, but a far more dazzling technological breakthrough also made its debut this past Saturday: the world’s first ‘Digital Superbike,’ the MotoCzysz E1pc.
Among the astonishing things about Michael Czysz’s invention — it’s a zero emissions racing bike with no gas, no oil, no clutch, no need to even warm up the engine (there is none) — it uses an Apple iPhone for its in-dash instrumentation.
MotoCzysz has made public no details exactly how the iPhone operates with the bike, but it is set to race in the world’s oldest motorcycle race, the Isle of Man TT, on June 12, after which we’ll hopefully learn more about it.
For now, we can just gaze in wonder at this American-made beauty and simply guess at the reasons why it doesn’t sport a Blackberry Storm or an Android G1.
Talking of Twitter, there’s been several tweets saying Steve Jobs has been spotted at WWDC.
However, it looks like a false rumor that’s spreading fast. Most of the Twitter sightings seem to be a retweet of a tweet by Michael Fey, known as MrRooni, who said: “Holy damn I just saw Steve Jobs walk through Moscone! #wwdc.”
‘I’m guessing, but MrRooni’s tweet looks like a joke to me. But now the joke is spreading, and others are treating it as real.
Spatial View, the company that launched the Wazabee 3Dee shell, a cool protective case with removable lens for viewing 3D content on Apple’s iPhone, has announced the release of an SDK and interlacing software to enable third party developers to create and view applications for Apple’s mobile devices in vivid 3D.
The Wazabee 3DeeInterlacing SDK contains tools for developers to create 3D content for the iPhone, including a runtime component that allows games and applications to run in 3D when using the 3DeeShell. The 3DeeInterlacer enables content creators, licensees and production houses to interlace existing content and distribute it for display on 3DeeShell-enabled iPhones. Both run on Mac OS X and are available to download for free at the Wazabee site.
Many are predicting that 3D, long a source of curiosity but plagued by the need for special glasses to view it, will be the next big thing in multimedia. With more and more applications and hardware being developed to support 3D viewing, it should be interesting to see the mobile games and content developers will produce with the Spatial View SDK.
Taking Steve Jobs at his original word – that web apps would make the best use of iPhone and iPod Touch capabilities – iPorn launched Monday a new web app developed using Apple’s iPhone specifications and applying its unique accelerometer and touch navigation.
As Apple prepares to open the doors on WWDC in San Francisco on Monday and possibly announce a new video-capable iPhone, few may be as excited about the possibilities to come as the adult entertainment industry.
The iPorn app is loaded with social networking features such as high-res video streaming, the ability to post and share photos and videos, create member profiles, exchange private messages and more. Registered users can personally interact with amateur and professional adult performers via live video webcams, chat and mobile texting. Members can send adult videos from the website to their iPhone or iPod Touch-equipped friends. Versions optimized for other mobile phones, such as the Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre, are expected to follow later this summer.
To help celebrate iPhone 3.0 firmware and the possibility of video-capable mobile devices from Apple, iPorn is sending the iPorn Bikini Girls to Moscone Center in a high-tech iPorn-equipped vehicle for free photo ops with conference attendees. Later in the evening the company will host an (unofficial) 9-hour launch party at San Francisco’s famed Gold Club, just a block away from the conference site at Moscone Center West.
The party, which will go from 5:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., is open to WWDC attendees, investors, and media.
It’s no secret the adult entertainment industry has often been at the forefront of technology, producing some of the Internet’s most sophisticated websites and multimedia-rich user user experiences well ahead of many more mainstream and socially acceptable industries.
It’s therefore no surprise the porn industry will among the first fully equipped to let users get the most out of Apple’s innovations in mobile device technology.
Jon Lech Johansen, the world-famous reverse engineer who earned the nickname DVDJon for cracking the CSS DVD-copy protection scheme years ago, again made headlines awhile back for his software program DoubleTwist, which removes old school iTunes Store DRM. That was a bigger deal in the years before every song on iTunes went DRM-free, but many users (myself included) have never paid the 30 cents a song needed to upgrade their older libraries — so DoubleTwist still has a purpose, if you for some reason want non-Apple hardware.
Anyway, all of that is a long pre-amble to highlight the above hilarious picture, which is DVDJon’s physical display ad for DoubleTwist, which was posted on the south-facing wall of the flagship San Francisco Apple Store. As it turns out, the ad wall is actually owned by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system and the ad doesn’t misuse any Apple trademarks, so it’s perfectly legal — even if it appears to show Apple endorsing a product that helps people to stop using iPods and iPhones.
The ad was taken down over the weekend, but DVDJon says it will return soon. Genius.
Smartphone users are spending more time using native applications on their mobile devices to the detriment of other technology and media, but the mere availability of applications is not the primary driver of buying decisions, according to a report by Gravity Tank.
The Chicago-based consulting firm surveyed more than 1,000 iPhone and Android G1 users during April and May and found those users had downloaded an average of nearly 24 apps to their mobile devices, among which they use an average of almost 7 per day.
Nearly half (48 percent) of phone owners report shopping for apps more than once a week, while slightly more (49 percent) report using apps on their phone for more than 30 minutes a day.
Other technologies and media, such as gaming devices, GPS devices, newspapers and TV, all suffer in the light of app-enabled smartphones, as people reported the ability to consolidate multiple devices into one as one of the top two reasons they decided to buy a smartphone in the first place.
Leading the pack of reasons people buy a smartphone is the ability to check email and calendars (74 percent cited this). The availability of new games and applications figured into the buying decision for 67 percent of the survey respondents.
The survey results cast an interesting take on all the pre-launch hoopla and positive reviews garnered for the Palm Pre, which will be available to the public starting tomorrow.
Palm’s highly regarded smartphone entry is coming to market with a decided dearth of 3rd party apps available for it and Palm executives have been somewhat cagey regarding the timeline for development of apps for the Pre.
With Apple gearing up its own hype machine for plenty of noise beginning Monday at WWDC it may be some time before Palm is likely to catch up to iPhone’s lead in both the smartphone device and applications markets.
Edge, a way-cool game for iPhone and iPod Touch by Mobigame, has been removed from the iTunes App Store pending resolution of a trademark dispute being pressed by a guy named Tim Langdell, who claims to own worldwide rights to the use of the word ‘edge,’ at least in the realm of video gaming.
Langdell, whose company Edge Games last developed a video game in 1994, has a reputation in the gaming community as a ‘trademark troll’ and has gained the enmity of a number of gaming aficionados with his latest ploy against Mobigame.
The popular Edge title won the prestigious Milthon Award for Best Mobile Game in 2008 and is designated a Gold level game by Pocket Gamer.
The dispute, and Apple’s apparent policy of removing titles from the App Store at the whiff of legal action, make for a sad commentary on the revenue generated by app developers and what some are willing to do to exercise control over it.
These iPhone sleeves sport pop-art goodness in the form of Campbell’s soup labels.
Hand made out of recycled tablecloths — vinyl outside, soft batting inside — at $5 on Etsy, it would be hard to find a cheaper conversation starter. We’re guessing Andy would approve.
Apple released the iPhone 3G on July 11th, 2008, which gives you early adopters just a few weeks before your one-year warranty runs out.
What does this mean? It means you should give your iPhone a good hard look to determine if it’s in your best interest to take your iPhone to your local Apple Store to try to obtain a replacement.
There are at least 18 well-known defects with the iPhone, all of which oblige Apple to replace the handset for free. All are detailed are over the next few pages, including ways to test your iPhone to make sure everything is functioning properly.
Issues that Apple considers grounds for replacement include hairline cracks, discolored screens, dead pixels, flakey WiFi, dodgy GPS and crackly speakers.
If your precious iPhone is suffering from any of these problems, read on to make sure you’re properly prepared before you head down to your local Apple store and get a replacement. Hurry, before it’s too late.
Steve Jobs is recovering from his mystery illness and is set to return to Apple at the end of the month, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Jobs will not however make a surprise appearance at WWDC on Monday. Instead, he’ll host a product presentation or other special event later in June, the Journal says.
“He was one real sick guy,” added this person. “Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.”
(The Journal also reports that the next-gen iPhone will be unveiled during the keynote address on Monday but won’t be available until July, to coincide with the two-year anniversary of original iPhone purchases. The iPhone will have a faster processor and a better camera with video editing, the Journal says, citing someone who’s actually seen the phone).
The story also notes that Tim Cook is doing a good job in Steve’s absence — the stock is way up.
What it is: Kind of a ‘Sims lite’, set on a primitive island. Canned animations and environment changes can be triggered by touch-screen and motion gestures.
Why it’s good: To be honest, the first time Pocket God ended up on my iPhone, I didn’t think I’d play it much. It had charm, but after ten minutes I was done. However, the Bolt Creative team has now provided a staggering 17 updates to the toy, from new animations to fun minigames. Given that the game is only a buck and updates are free, it’s so far cost just over five cents per revision, and it’s safe to say that many of the updates have provided more than a buck’s worth of entertainment, let alone a nickle’s worth.
Where to get it: Pocket God costs $0.99 on App Store. If you decide to download, don’t read the instructions—just explore and find out what you can do with the island and its inhabitants. The game’s much more fun as a voyage of discovery than something to rush through in a few idle moments.
For anyone whose history with Apple dates to their first iPod, it can be really hard to fathom just how different a company it was before Steve Jobs came back in December 1996 and fundamentally turned it around.
I haven’t found a better example recently than these renderings of a project that Apple actually announced in November 1996: a series of cybercafes worldwide offering video conferencing, web surfing, and delicious Appley food and beverage. All from the comfort of an environment that looks like something you might envision if you start snorting ’57 Chevys.
I repeat. Apple actually announced that they were doing this and held a press conference to unveil it, as this CNET article proves:
“The time is right,” said Satjiv Chahil, senior vice president of marketing for Apple, in a telephone interview. “Cybercafes are in. The technology finally is reaching out to ‘the rest of us.’ This will be a place to showcase our products in the real world.”
Can you imagine if this were Apple’s retail vision today? Of course not. They would be out of business if Steve hadn’t come back.
Apple’s meteoric rise since the 1997 return of Steve Jobs has many icons, from the iMac to the iPod, iPhone and MacBook Air. But none is quite so fitting a monument as the flagship Manhattan Apple Store on Fifth Avenue. After all, it’s a giant glass cube, as succinct a summary of the Steve Jobs approach to design as I can imagine. The monolith is an amazing image of the brand’s power.
What’s less known is that it might be the single-most lucrative store in all of New York. According to information uncovered by the New York Post, the owners of the building that houses the near-legendary Apple Store claim that the shop pulls in $440 million a year in sales. That location alone. By comparison, a nearby Zara flagship only does $25 million annually. Unreal.
Apple's giant new retail store in Beijing. Rendering by architect Ben Wood.
Apple is preparing to open a huge new retail store in China’s capitol just steps from the historic Tiananmen Square.
Renderings of the giant, three-story store have been published on the website of U.S. architect Ben Wood, who is based in Shanghai.
The store will be built on Qianmen Street, an up-and-coming shopping strip just blocks from the great square, which has seen huge military parades as well as student protests.
Expected to open as soon as the fall, the store will be Apple’s second in Beijing and its ninth in Asia.
The design mixes traditional Chinese architecture with Apple’s signature glass and steel. It will feature a glass staircase spiraling through all three stories, plus a huge white Apple logo above the front door.
The first round of Palm Pre reviews are in — and they are generally very positive. The iPhone has a real contender, especially if the Pre comes to Verizon in a few months — a good smartphone on a good network.
The big three gadget reviewers — Walt Mossberg, David Pogue and Ed Baig — all give the Pre very positive reviews, with a few reservations.
Pogue is the most excited. “One of the world’s best phones,” Pogue says in his enthusiastic New York Times review. Pogue is very positive about the Pre, saying it’s a worthy iPhone contender, despite noting drawbacks like the lack of apps and poor battery life.
Ed Baig of USA Today also gives the Pre a thumbs up, but also notes the lack of apps and battery life. Nonetheless, he says the Pre “stacks up well against Apple’s blockbuster device, and in some ways even surpasses it… Palm has delivered a device that will keep it in the game and give it a chance to star in it.”
“The Pre is a smart, sophisticated product that will have particular appeal for those who want a physical keyboard,” says Mossberg. “It is thoughtfully designed, works well and could give the iPhone and BlackBerry strong competition — but only if it fixes its app store and can attract third-party developers.”
A new spy shot claiming to show the next-generation iPhone has emerged, and it appears to show a forward-facing camera.
If the spyshot does indeed show the new iPhone, a forward-facing camera would be a cool but surprising feature. Although high on many iPhone users’ wishlists — it would enable iChat videoconferencing from anywhere — the feature seems too Dick Tracy to be true, especially with AT&T’s bandwidth-challenged 3G network.
A forward-facing camera was mentioned in a recent Apple patent granted April 16 — although this doesn’t mean much. Apple patents everything, and a ton of patented features never see the light of day.
These handmade cards have the clamshell form of the iBook with a pretty realistic-looking keyboard and “Happy Birthday” greetings on the screen.
Maker Cadizcards says, “All the glory of the Mac cult favorite, sendable with a first class stamp. I created one of these as a birthday card for a die hard fan of the clamshell Macs and fell in love with them myself.”
Wish there was a non-birthday version with a white screen (like the real thing) to write on, can think of a lot of people and occasions for these…
$12 for a set of three on Etsy (one each blue, aqua and lime), including envelopes. Custom colors available.
In April, I got terribly excited about Flight Control, an air traffic control arcade-oriented ‘management’ game. The premise is simple: drag aircraft to landing areas. The reality is an intense arcade game where game over is a blink of an eye away.
Recently, I’d heard rumors of updates. But with the original game such a fantastic, simple and polished production, there was the worry that it’d be ruined under a pile of new features. That worry went away on playing Flight Control 1.2, which keeps the original’s gameplay intact but introduces two new airfields and new craft.
The beachside resort is the first new airfield, adding water landings to the mix. Initially, this seems little different to the original game, but the number of craft ramps up rapidly and the revised landing layout is tougher than the original’s.
The real star, though, is the intense and absurdly tricky aircraft carrier level. Military jets move just a tad faster than anything else, and you’re soon not only juggling that, but also a surprising twist when you realise what happens to landing areas on a moving ocean… Frankly, we’ll be shocked to see 10,000+ landing scores on this map for some time to come.
Overall, this is a triumphant update—a classic iPhone game made even better. The fact that it’s still under a dollar [App Store link], for a game that betters most other handheld titles out there, just goes to show what great value Apple’s platform can be for gamers.
TIPS: If you’ve any tips for dealing with the new airfields and getting high scores, please post in the comments below.
