June 11, 2007 9:43 AM PDT

Continuous WWDC keynote coverage

Posted by Tom Krazit

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At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, developers and press gather to get details on the upcoming Leopard operating system and possible tidbits on iPhone development.

Check back here for live updates (in reverse chronological order) from CEO Steve Jobs' keynote speech, which began at 10 a.m. PDT. Intel CEO Paul Otellini, Id Software CTO John Carmack and Scott Forstall, Apple's VP of iPhone software, have joined Jobs onstage.

Jobs on stage wrapping up keynote at WWDC in San Francisco.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

11:25--Jobs appears to be wrapping up, pitching the developers on the sessions available to them this week. He exits stage right to U2's Beautiful Day, and that ends WWDC 2007.

11:24--These Web applications know they are working on a phone. So you can click on a phone number in a contact window, and the iPhone starts dialing. Click on an e-mail address, and a new e-mail window opens. Tap on the address, and it goes directly to the built-in Google Apps application that pulls up the map and satellite imagery. Web standards are the key to iPhone applications; these aren't built-in apps. They are Web apps that take advantage of Safari, but they are not applications running on the iPhone. Not sure if that will make a performance difference or not, but third-party iPhone apps can be created for the launch date by Web developers.

11:21--Scott Forstall comes onstage, he's the VP of iPhone software for Apple. All applications will run inside Safari. Custom applications can be created that have the look and feel of the phone, he says. Apple built one called Apple Directory that lets you get into a corporate contacts database using Web standards. It lets you search for contact names in an application that looks like just another Web page, pulling up a contact card that gets the same behavior for a built-in application.

11:18--This being WWDC, the talk turns to developers and the iPhone. Apple has a new way to create applications for mobile devices, Jobs says. That's based on the full Safari engine inside of the iPhone, he says. This paves the way for Web 2.0 and Ajax apps that integrate perfectly with the iPhone. There's actually no software developer kit required. If you know how to write Web apps using modern standards, you can go live with your apps on June 29.

This being WWDC, the talk turns to developers and the iPhone.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

11:16--"But i do have one last thing that I want to talk about. And that, of course, is the iPhone." The iPhone goes on sale at 6 p.m. on the 29. No word on Eastern Daylight Time vs. Pacific Daylight Time.

11:15--Distribution is the next topic. There are over 500 million downloads of iTunes for Windows out there. Apple's going to have three editions of Safari, one that's for Leopard, one for XP, and one for Windows on Tiger. It's a public beta available today on Apple's Web site.

11:13--Jobs switches over to a Windows XP window. "This is strange," he jokes. He demonstrates the Windows Safari browsing through various sites, showing off a new tabbing feature. The benchmark we didn't catch is called iBench, and Jobs does a side-by-side comparison of Safari and IE 7 loading a bunch of Web sites. Safari's twice as fast, as you might expect during a WWDC demo. Try it yourself, he says.

11:11--Safari 3 runs on Windows XP and Vista, and it exists today. Jobs says Safari's HTML performance is twice as fast as IE using a benchmark that Ina and I didn't catch. It's also faster than IE on Javascript performance, Jobs says, and it also beats Firefox (although by not as much).

11:09--Safari: The Safari Web browser's got about 5 percent market share across the Internet, Jobs says. He'd like to make that number grow. How to make that happen? A version of Safari for Windows.

11:08--But, there is one more thing.

11:08--Those are the 10 key new features. There will be a total of 300 new features. Developers are getting a copy of Leopard today, for testing and feedback, but it's still on track for October. Jobs makes a joke about the various versions of Windows Vista, noting that Apple will ship a basic, ultimate, business and other versions for $129.

Jobs shows off the new Leopard packaging.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

11:05--The backup, of course, is only as good as the recovery experience. Jobs starts a demo of Time Machine to show how a lost file that was backed up can be recovered. The Time Machine application basically zooms backward in time (it looks like you're traveling into a black hole), until Spotlight finds the missing file. To restore the file, hit the Restore button, and it is restored onto the local machine.

11:02--Feature No. 10: Time Machine. Apple unveiled this last year. It's an automatic backup feature that lets you scroll backward through windows of "time" that represent disk images from the past. It backs it up to a local hard drive, or server, and can also work wirelessly, Jobs says. All the Macs in a home can share one drive.

11:00--A hologram-like Photo Booth effect gets the biggest laughs from the crowds. There's also one that mimics the Conan O'Brien skit where somebody's lips are moving behind a famous picture, as Phil attempts to pass as George Washington, and then Steve Ballmer.

10:59--The chat window can be minimized to a corner of the screen with photos, presentations or other documents, scrolling through the main part of the window. Video works this way, too. Anything that works with QuickBook works with iChat Theatre, Schiller says. You can also set "backdrops" that let you set wallpaper-like effects behind you as you chat.

10:54--Feature No. 9: iChat. iChat's going to have better audio, tabbed chats, Photo Booth effects, and something called iChat Theater, which lets you take photos from iPhoto to iChat. Jobs hooks up with Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP of marketing, over an iChat session to show off the new features.

Jobs shows of iChat's new features.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

10:51--The solution? Web Clip. This lets you troll the Internet and make your own widgets. It breaks Web pages up into sections that might be appropriate for widgets. Rotten Tomatoes, the movie reviews site, is used as an example. A widget is created that automatically updates with basic reviews of new or soon-to-be released movies.

10:49--Feature No. 8: Dashboard. Dashboard lets you put up little "widgets," or Java applets, that have helpful information like stock quotes, weather, or sports scores. Apple's adding a movie times widget to Leopard that hooks into Fandango to buy tickets. But customers want widgets that we don't make, Jobs says.

10:47--Feature No. 7: Spaces. Applications in Leopard can be grouped into "spaces of apps," in the four corners of the screen, for instance, that make it easier to find the application you're looking for if you've got a bunch of apps open. You can switch pretty quickly between the spaces, move the spaces themselves around, or move applications between spaces. It's like having four separate environments on one screen.

10:45--Feature No. 6: Boot Camp, as expected, is going to be built into Leopard. Windows drivers are on the Leopard CD, and it's a great complement to Parallels and VMware, Jobs says.

10:43--CNET News.com's Ina Fried notes that the Mac Mini is conspicuously missing from a lineup of Macs in the presentation.

10:43--Feature No. 5: Core Animation. Jobs has shown Core Animation before. It's a feature that helps developers create more graphically rich applications. He demos an application that lets a user search for live videos that are all running in the background--not stills, but actual live videos that you can search for by typing in keywords like "beach."

Jobs shows off Core Animation feature that helps create more graphically rich applications.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

10:40--Jobs demos an application running in 64 bits and one in 32 bits. Of course, the 64-bit one cleans up a high-resolution photo more quickly. It's not just for HPC (high-performance computing) stuff; media professionals are starting to ask for 64 bits as well.

10:37--Feature No. 4: Leopard is 64-bit, top to bottom. It has the 64-bit underpinnings from the Unix base for Mac OS X, but it's also extended up into Cocoa. It's the first mainstream 64-bit operating system, he says, because Apple does not plan to have a 32-bit version of Leopard.

10:35--Feature No. 3: Quick Look. It's a file preview feature that lets you see what's in the file without having to launch an application. Jobs says it works with tons of regularly used document types, including Office documents. He demonstrates it on a PDF, Keynote and Excel document. You can also play videos right from the Finder.

10:32--The .Mac interaction is called "Back to my Mac." It pulls the IP addresses that have logged into a .Mac account. The service lets you drag and drop icons from the Cover Flow application, which is now searching your work computer, right to the local Mac.

10:31--Jobs demonstrates Cover Flow in Finder, and then goes over to the sidebar. He opens up the shared computers, which include a Windows machine. You can trade files with the Windows machines. So you can use the Finder on your local machine to search for documents on other computers in the local network.

10:29--It also extends to the Internet. Say you've left a file on the home Mac that you need on the road. The .Mac service knows the IP of computers that log into it, so it can transfer the IP address of a home Mac to the Mac on the road. No word yet on whether this feature works in a mixed Mac-Windows environment.

10:27--The Cover Flow feature lets you look at your documents in Finder as if you're in the iTunes Store, browsing for movies or songs. The new sidebar is focused on search, allowing you to see the documents you've used in the last week, day, month, etc. That search also extends to other computers on a local network.

10:26--Feature No. 2: Leopard has a new Finder feature. Much applause for that one. It's got a new sidebar, it can search other computers on a local network with improvements to Spotlight, and .Mac subscribers can share documents with other Macs over the Internet. Cover Flow, previously discussed, is also making an appearance in the new Finder.

10:24--You can also use Stacks as an application launcher. Just drag the Applications folder into the dock, and you can bring up a translucent window with all your applications when you click on that icon in the dock.

Jobs shows off Leopard's new desktop, including a new stacking feature.

(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

10:22--The active application window will also be easier to see. Stacks is a feature in the dock that will pop up the contents of a folder, the files in the folder, above the dock. Also, a new addition to the dock called "Downloads" will be inserted, to keep track of what you've downloaded through the browser.

10:19--Feature No. 1: Leopard has a new desktop. They're dropping the usual background and have picked one that adapts to whatever digital photo you want to use as your desktop. A new menu bar and dock helps that work. It also has tools to help clean up a desktop, which they are calling Stacks.

10:18--Jobs shifts into the Mac OS X section, which is expected to dominate the day. "We are really excited about Leopard," he says. It's the sixth major release of OS X, and he will be showing 10 key features.

10:15--And the game news keeps coming. John Carmack, CTO of Id Software, comes up on stage. He says they've been working on next-generation technology that they are showing publicly for the first time today. He outlines through demos what appears to be a new gaming engine that allows developers to customize details like mountain colors. Carmack hints at an announcement at E3 related to Macs.

10:12--But there's more: EA sports games. Starting in August, Apple will begin releasing simultaneous titles. Madden 08 and Tiger Woods Golf 08 will be available in Apple stores from EA games.

Steve Jobs addresses developers at WWDC.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)

10:10--Games news: Electronic Arts is coming back to the Mac. Bing Gordon, co-founder and chief creative officer of EA, is onstage. Gordon announces that EA, starting in July, will bring four titles to run on OS X. Command and Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142, Need for Speed Carbon, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

10:08--Otellini calls working with Apple "one of the best things that's ever happened to Intel." Jobs hints at future products jointly designed with Intel.

10:07--Jobs starts talking about the Intel transition and how far developers have come since last year. He singles out Intel for its contribution, and CEO Paul Otellini especially. Otellini takes the stage alongside Jobs. Jobs presents Otellini with a plaque, a custom Jonny Ive design.

10:05--The real Steve Jobs takes the stage, to a round of applause. Some 5,000 developers are in attendance, the biggest WWDC yet, he says, sporting the usual attire.

10:02--The lights dim as Apple unveils a new PC guy commercial, with the PC guy dressed up in Steve Jobs' trademark black turtleneck and jeans. PC guy, pretending to be Jobs, announces, tongue firmly in cheek, that he's quitting.

9:58--It's the usual crush of developers and press at Moscone West this Monday morning, as we await the start of WWDC 2007. Apple's playing the same familiar mix of famous iTunes songs, including Green Day, Coldplay, U2 and those other one-hit wonders. We just got the two-minute warning, so get ready.

Tom Krazit, a staff writer for CNET News, focuses on all things Apple. He has covered traditional PC companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, chip companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and mobile computers ranging from Research In Motion's to Palm's. E-mail Tom.