WWDC is really about the sessions, not the keynote, which is pretty much just a glimpse at the glossy cover of a really rich book. I'm sure the developers there are going to soak up a lot of information. I'll get more myself later this week once I've had the chance to ping a few people.

To be fair, he wasn't talking about the Garmin. He was talking about the Tom Tom, which has a very different aim, as far as I've seen.

*edit*

Which is why I said I thought it was odd that they do hardware reveals at this thing. Is it just to get people to attend?

And I'm amazed that Apple doesn't do a streaming video of this thing. It was hell trying to find a stream. There was one on Yahoo Live, but I think the guy got kicked out. I ended up listening to an audio stream that had someone clacking away on his laptop the whole time. It was maddening.

I brought the topic up and I'm talking about both of them. Both companies have an assortment of products with overlap within their own range as well as with what may be available in the iPhone at release time. Their built-in maps app will in fact do routing. Though it's not what I'd mount to a dashboard while driving. Someone else will have to release something with voice instructions and the other bells and whistles. I didn't mean to imply at all that Garmin or TomTom would be doomed. Not by a long shot. They can actually turn the iPhone into quite an opportunity if they choose not to turn their back at it and blow it off as an unimportant platform.



No. The hardware reveals usually have some link to the development community. The iPhone is no different. There's a heavy focus on iPhone development which you can see by the number of dedicated sessions for it. Every feature described for the new software and hardware platform will be open for developers to take advantage of and really make shine.

Apple has also been pulling out of trade-shows run by other parties, such as the summer Macworld and Mac Expo most recently. The iPhone could warrant its own press event, but WWDC is an opportunity to have Steve speak in front of a larger audience. And again, really get the devs focused on the new goodies.

The odd announcement for WWDC was actually MobileMe, not the hardware.



They do. Just not a live streaming video. It will usually show up sometime after the event.

I usually stick to coverage from one or more of the blogs providing live updates with text and photos.

Is it possible that Apple is deliberately leaving out A2DP because of what I just read in the wikipedia article?

Well, it seems the built-in Map application will in fact do turn-by-turn directions. The software implementation isn't a stand-alone GPS killer in its current state for most people though. At least it doesn't look to be from Apple's own web page on the subject.

But here's a nice article from Popular Mechanics on the then speculative features of the upcoming iPhone. It features the choice nugget I alluded to earlier:


Anyway, what excites me the most is the development potential because it's practically set in stone this will be a prominent platform.

Either they've fixed me.com, or the DNS changes were still rolling out earlier. I'm guessing that they paid a buttload to purchase the domain and then waited 'til today to change the DNS so that the media didn't pick up on it.

On the plus side for snappville.com, more people probably visited today than in the entire history of their company

I meant live video streaming. Actually, they usually have full video after the fact, which is how I watched it last year, but I don't want to wait!


Yeah, I was refreshing Engadget while listening to an audio feed from some other site.

I'll also be curious about AT&T's plan pricing. Sure, the phone might just cost $199 now, but are they really going to keep charging the same price for HSDPA that they do for EDGE service?

I'm also a little surprised they didn't upgrade the quality of the camera. 2MP is getting pretty low even for phones these days

The only other thing holding me back (besides lack of A2DP) is the storage capacity. I'll probably wait until the iPhone has 32GB. Even 16GB is too little for me when it comes to a PMP.

I'm quite curious about this as a matter of fact. What do you see as the main differences between something like the iPhone maps applet versus a standalone GPS receiver?

I'd like to decide whether or not to replace my current Magellan GPS mount with an iPhone mount next month. I certainly like the idea of reducing the number of devices I'm using. And the Magellan software isn't all that great. What do you think would bug me about using my iPhone as my GPS navigator?

Some quick things relevant to the 30 some posts:

Bluetooth 2.0+EDR doesn't mean yes or no to A2DP. A2DP is a profile possible on the Bluetooth 2.0 spec, just as hands free is a different profile (HFP). Apple doesn't list every profile the iPhone supports, so it's hard to know either way.

Regarding GPS, yeah, the built in Google Maps does directions, and has since day 1. The feature missing currently is realtime rerouting if you veer off course, but that should be easy enough to add. However, I don't see this as being a complete GPS killer yet. Strong competition for sure, but as long as it requires a data connection, it can't replace a standalone GPS unit. Just yesterday I managed to drive somewhere 30 minutes outside of Austin and had no cell phone service. Thanks to the lack of standards, areas even close to metro areas still lack service in the midwest US.

The interesting thing to me about the keynote was the reveal of Snow Leopard in a public way, but nothing beyond that. It is being talked about after lunch at WWDC, but likely in NDA sessions. I'm surprised they just didn't keep quiet about it till after the press was gone.

Engadget has a few more details on Snow Leopard than was talked about in the keynote, but not much. They do say it'll support 16TB or RAM, though

Thanks for the info on the GPS stuff. I'm not sure I understand, though. Will it not track your movement as you drive? Is it not true GPS or something?

Also thanks for the clarification on the A2DP stuff. I'll hold out hope that they've changed their minds. The only reason I can see that they wouldn't do it is the common complaint that audio quality is poor over bluetooth, and they don't want that to reflect on the iPhone, given how big Jobs is on audio quality.

It'll also be interesting to see how much noise the iPhone 3G makes next to speakers. Isn't the old iPhone pretty noisy?

A couple thoughts after flipping through the iPhone web pages and whatnot:

Speed / battery life. The claimed improvements are less than I was expecting, but still appear quite impressive.

Price. Apple hasn't announced all of the terms of the deal, but if it's a standard two-year lock-in or something similar, it's a reasonable deal for what you're getting.

Bluetooth A2DP. Not an announced feature. Unclear whether or not it will become one. Boo on Apple if they leave it behind.

Depth of dev support. The litmus test is whether Skype can implement a first-class client that runs over AT&T's data network. Without that, I'm not impressed. Presumably, we'll at least be able to get text Jabber support.

Sync. I have this fantasy that, on every web browser, or using local apps on the phone or whatever, everything stays synchronized properly: contacts, calendar, mail. Right now, Apple seems to be saying "you can have this if you've got an Exchange shop, or if you buy into MobileMe." I, of course, want it from Google. Others will want it from Yahoo. I suppose I could always wait for an Android phone, but heaven only knows how long that will take to become real.

(Incidentally, since Google continues to fail to offer decent to-do list management, I've gotten sucked into RememberTheMilk.com, which happens to have a brilliant Firefox plugin that renders a new column on the right of your Gmail, nicely integrating to-do management with everything else.)

Apparently not.

So:

Current iPhone: $399 base price + ( 24 months * $20 for data) == $879 + voice plan

3G iPhone: $199 base price + ( 24 months * $30 for data) = $919 + voice plan

Certainly, $40 over two years is not a lot to pay for 3G speed and all of the new features the new iPhone brings... But saying it's more affordable is a bit of a dodge.

Yeah, I just saw the pricing details too. I expected as much. I suppose it's too much to ask for the old technology to be discounted, while the new tech gets entered at the same price. That will be a concern for me, though.


I have no link, but I heard a completely unsubstantiated rumor that HTC is trying to get an Android phone out sometime in July. At the very least, I've heard that many manufacturers are trying to get them out by the end of 08. I am in exactly the same boat as you, though. My whole online life is in Google, so it would make a lot of sense for me. I'm hoping we get some phones soon, though, or I won't be able to resist the call of the iPhone


I don't really understand this. I suppose I just don't understand exactly what my phone is doing, but my Sony Ericsson W580i gives me push email through GMail. At least, that's what it calls it. I do know that I get emails on it instantly, and most of the time before my desktop's GMail notifier has time to refresh and notify me.

The iPhone definitely supports IMAP, which I assume is also true of your SonyEricsson. That solves the email sync problem, but doesn't do anything for contacts, calendar, or to-do lists.

But IMAP doesn't equal push email, does it?

*edit*
Just to clarify, that's a question, not a statement I wish text had inflection

Gmail does push on POP3 and IMAP now.

Don't think it can do contact syncing using SyncML though. Stuck with scraping I think.

It can do. If the client and the server are both implemented properly then the connection can be kept open and the server can tell the client when new mail appears in folder that the client is watching.

Much like the held open http connection that Microsofts push email uses.

In reality most clients and servers don't implement the spec well enough for it to work properly.

What's the speed of ATT's UTMS network? Do they have HSDPA in all their markets yet? Engadget was getting about 2x EDGE speed which is complete crap IMO.

I used a nice USB HSDPA modem while in Portugal with an impressive 7.2Mbit downlink. I didn't do any in-depth speed measurements, but it was at least as fast surfing and downloading images as I seem to get with my 10Mbit cable connection here at home. How fast are modern 3G phones downloading in Europe right now?

Incidentally, TomTom has already done what I predicted. Made their software run on the iPhone. They've unofficially announced it today but failed to provide a price or release date. I don't think Garmin is going to be able to give away their Nuvi phone...

I'd have loved to see a 5megapixel camera on the iPhone with an LED flash of some sort. But what's there now is definite appetizing enough. A 32GB model can't be too far behind, I just wonder if it will come in like the larger capacity model did last year, bumping out the low end one. 32GB at $299 would be mighty sweet.

Anyone taking bets on how long it's going to take (after release) for an unlock to appear?

If we're talking about bets, I'm wondering how long before somebody gets Android running on an iPhone. That would be quite a trick...

What I mean is that the current Google Maps software allows you to bring it up, enter a destination, and it will give you directions. Lets say half way through the trip you make a wrong turn. The iPhone currently won't realize this and update the directions to get you back on track, while dedicated GPS devices like a TomTom will. 2.0 may change this on an iPhone 3G with the GPS chip, but nothing has been shown to prove this yet.


This would be RF interference, and the iPhone 3G will be running on the same frequencies as the normal iPhone does now. AT&T runs most of their GSM network at 850 mhz, and this seems to interfere a lot with unshielded speakers and such. My AT&T razr did this, my friends T616 did it as well. T-Mobile tends to stick to 1900 I think in the US, so very little noticeable interference. I'm not sure offhand what frequency the other providers use.


Very few people ever bother to look at lifetime cost. The up front cost being cheeper is going to have a huge impact on the success of the device. The interesting info coming out is that AT&T and Apple won't be sharing revenue on the monthly plans, so that brings up two good questions:

1. Will the new iPhone data and voice plans be eligible for corporate discounts?

2. Is this an end to the free major software updates to the iPhone 3G, or is Apple going to defer accounting on it like they do the Apple TV?


More info is out at Apple.com now. With no new notable consumer features, I really hope Apple treats this like 10.1, and releases the upgrade for the cost of the disc. Snow Leopard just doesn't strike me as something to pay $129 for, and the name almost hints at this too. The 64 bit comment seems to hint that the rumors of Apple dropping 32 bit may be true. This would mean that all MacBook Pro, MacBook, iMac, and Mac Mini units that shipped with a Core Duo (not the Core 2 Duo) will not be able to run it. And while not spelled out on the site, it's pretty clear PowerPC is dead, since "Snow Leopard dramatically reduces the footprint of Mac OS X", ie, ships without fat or Universal binaries. At least that is not terribly unexpected, but it will be annoying if they do kill off Rosetta as well.

It isn't the actual frequency that GSM transmits on that causes the issues. It is because the timing of the data bursts is at an audible frequency that actually causes the ditditditdit noises you hear on speakers/radios.

I see no mention on how this will effect the iPod Touch, if at all.
The new iPhone will come in $100 cheaper (but plus monthly subscription) then the current iTouch. Shall we, for example, see an iTouch with GPS (granted it wouldn't have the A-GPS features)?

Huh? 850MHz is wwaayy above any creature's hearing ability. What did you really mean there?

Exactly what he said, I expect. You don't hear the carrier frequency. But if it transmits a packet (or a byte, or whatever) at a regular rate of (say) 100 times a second, there's a 100Hz frequency component present, and that's the component which the speakers reproduce and which is audible.

Peter

Mmm.. that's pretty unlikely in reality, especially given the 200 times/sec channel hopping that (most) GSM systems utilize, on top of the PSK modulation and code spreading.

More likely is some internal thing in the specific handsets that happens to resonate just right, like how I can "hear" the Core2Duo in my notebook under certain loads.

Cheers

Yup. What Peter said. Appnote about this topic.

Each TDMA timeslot is 4.615ms apart so you end up with a 217Hz "square" wave.

Well, as one might have assumed:

So yeah, for a vast majority of new iPhone purchasers, the actual price of the phone is not $199. I sort of feel it was disingenuous to not mention anything about this in the keynote. The actual cost is probably going to be the same as before or not much less.

Naturally, I'll be in the same boat with any other phone that I might have an eye one, since I'm only part of the way through the first year of my two year contract, but the difference is that when all other phones come out, they're upfront about their price being a subsidized one.

TDMA with a 4.615ms time slot will give you ~217Hz and if you pump that out at 0.5W then you're going to hear it on anything with an amp that isn't shielded/filtered against this.

If that is the case then why does every single GSM phone that I have ever come across make exactly the same chirping sounds when placed next to anything with an unshielded amplifier when it checks in or receives a text message ?