This was another successful keynote. We yawned, we laughed, we cried, and we’ll certainly remember it… and why not? Steve Jobs is an expert at drama by now, but the trick was that highly-anticipated products that were announced — new iPhones included.
Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”. Yes, the rumors of the OS held up to be true — even the name. There weren’t any specifics given at the keynote, except that it would be shown afterwards. After all, Steve noted that the morning would be dedicated to the iPhone.
iPhone apps. There were more iPhone apps demoed than the audience was capable of keeping track of. If there were some memorable apps, they probably were the following. First, Super Monkey Ball ($9.99) is the popular Sega series were you steer a monkey within a ball around large levels and mazes using the iPhone’s accelerometer. It actually does look like a must-buy for videogame fans as soon as the App Store launches. Loopt (free), on the other hand, is a native app for a social network. From Loopt, you’ll be able to keep track of your friends’ location as well as easily message or call them. Pangea also ported two of their most popular Mac games to the iPhone — Enigmo and Cro-Mag Rally ($9.99 each). Enigmo is an addictive physics game, and Cro-Mag Rally is a racing game where the iPhone becomes the racing wheel. Then there was Band, kind of like a GarageBand inside your iPhone, with impressive sound and recording capability.
iPhone OS 2.0. Will be available in early July, and will be a free upgrade for iPhone users, but will cost $9.99 for iPod touch users. It includes many upgrades, including support for iWork and Office documents.
App Store. The App Store will be available in 62 countries, and downloads will be possible through the cell phone network as long as the app is less than 10MB in size. If not, they’ll be downloaded through Wi-Fi or iTunes.
MobileMe. It was denominated like “Exchange for the rest of us.” The idea is for your emails, calendars, contacts, photos, etc… to be available no matter where you are. The data will always stay in sync between your Mac (or PC) and iPhone. The most interesting part is that you’ll also be able to access everything as web apps via me.com — the mysterious domain Apple had bought. And surprise, there’s also iDisk functionality. MobileMe will replace .Mac when the iPhone OS 2.0 launches for $99 per year, and a 60-day free trial will be available. Of course, current .Mac users will be upgraded when the service launches.
iPhone 3G. Thinner Slightly thicker, but sexier… the iPhone with 3G network support is here, after much speculation. A black plastic shell and metal buttons make it look different, but the design is basically the same (sorry, to those who were expecting a flip phone!). Also, Steve was quick to brag that the new iPhone is faster and has better battery life than other 3G phones. And yes, there is also the much-requested/much-rumored GPS, and it’s being introduced to other countries (Sweden, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan… 70 total countries will have the iPhone). But the best part… the 8 gig will sell for $199. Then there’s the 16 gig (available in white, too) for $299. Want one? They will be available on July 11th in 22 countries.
Final impressions. The iPhone is here to stay, and the weakling of Apple, .Mac, is dead. Enough said.
Galley on June 9th, 2008 at 1:39 pm says:
Nothing really surprising about the iPhone 3G, except for the price. I’d consider upgrading my current iPhone if I could get $200 for it. I paid $250 for it.
Frank on June 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm says:
It’s official… the iPhone 3G was the worst-kept secret in Apple’s history.