Apple WWDC Keynote Is Underway

Posted by: Arik Hesseldahl on June 08

Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference is underway in San Francisco. Here’s a roundup:

-Schiller is focusing first on the Mac. He announced a new 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 7-hour battery similar to that of the 17-inch model announced earlier this year. The price starts at $1,699.

-17-inch model has been updated as well with a starting price of $2,499

-He also announced a new version of the 13-inch notebook, known as the MacBook. One important new feature is the addition of slots for SD Memory cards. It starts at $1,199 and has been re-branded as the MacBook Pro.

-MacBook Air has been updated with a faster 1.86 GHz Intel Processor, and a larger solid state hard drive. The new base price for the new model is $1,499

-Now Bretrand Serlet is talking about the new features and enhancements in Snow Leopard, the new version of Mac OS X.

-The Dock, the launching pad for Mac software can now be presented in a 3D manner on screen, much like Coverflow in iTunes. It also uses a new type of file compression, which means that when you install it over the current version of Leopard, you’ll get six gigabytes of hard drive space back.

-Safari 4, the Web browser, is coming out of Beta today.

-Another new feature, native support for Microsoft Exchange in Apple’s Email software called Mail. This will be hugely popular among the growing number of Mac-users in corporations.

-Snow Leopard costs $29 for those already running Leopard. $129 if you buy it standalone.

-Now on to the iPhone with comments from Scott Forstall. New stat: Combined unit sales of iPhone and iPod touch is now north of 40 million.

-Forstall: iPhone OS 3.0 brings with it more than 100 new features. First up, cut-copy-paste working across all applications. Also Undo: Shake to undo your last action.

-Rent or purchase movies from iTunes directly on your iPhone.

-Internet tethering. Treat you iPhone as a modem. A common feature with other phones, finally comes to the iPhone. Works wirelessly over Bluetooth or via a wired connection, and supports both Mac and PC. Interestingly AT&T is not listed among the wireless carriers who will support tethering.

-“Find My iPhone” — a service via MobileMe helps you find your iPhone if it’s lost. Includes a remote “wipe” command that will delete all the data. Plus if you do find it, you can quickly restore it with a connection to iTunes on your computer.

-Google Map applications can be embedded into applications. This includes turn-by-turn navigation directions that can be added to applications.

-On the navigation note, TomTom has taken the stage to show its navigation app, and a mounting device to use the phone like a personal navigation device. Essentially an iPhone dock with a speaker and a suction cup.

-ScrollMotion, demos a book, magazine and newspaper-reader application.

-iPhone OS 3.0 free for all iPhone customers and $9.95 for iPod touch customers. Available worldwide June 17. Developers walking out with a gold master of the OS today.

-iPhone 3GS confirmed. The S Stands for Speed. 7.2 MBPS HSDPA connection, 3 megapixel auto-focus camera. Includes a tap-to-focus feature. Captures video, just as Peter has been predicting. 30 frames per second, with white balance and auto-exposure. Includes editing.

-Voice control, hold down a the home button, and it brings up a voice interface. Say “Call so-and-so”

-Built-in digital compass

-Improved battery life (badly needed) 9 hours internet and Wi-Fi, 30 Hours audio, five hours 3G talk time. Price $199, 16 GB, $299 for 32 GB. Available in White and Black shells. Prior version of iPhone 3G at $99. iPhone 3GS available next week: June 19. No front-facing camera as had been rumored.

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