SAN FRANCISCO--The blogosphere is likely exploding with feedback to Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address Monday, including his introduction of the new iPhone 3G with GPS and a low-end price of $199.
But we thought we'd go old-school and get some real-life response from real-life developers outside Moscone West, where the conference is taking place this week.
No one was surprised by Jobs' announcements, but they were plenty excited, especially about the lower iPhone pricing, which they say will help get the device into more consumers' hands. They were also excited about Apple's new iteration of its .Mac service, MobileMe--although the name certainly didn't roll off their tongues.
Click the link below to hear interviews with Scott Klauminzer of Seattle, Ralf Mandt-Rauch of Germany, Guy Horrocks and Layton Duncan of New Zealand, Stefan Seiz of Germany, and Claudine Beaumont, who works for The Daily Telegraph in London.
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Geek on the Street: Steve Jobs keynote
What WWDC attendees thought of the Apple CEO's iPhone announcements.
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In March, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced an upcoming system for downloading third-party applications for the iPhone. At the Worldwide Developers Conference on Tuesday, he brought a parade of developers onstage to show off exactly what those new apps can do.
The apps range from monkey slinging to medical imaging and should be available sometime in early July (along with the iPhone 2.0 software required to run it), according to Apple representatives. Follow the jump to check out demos of each of the applications announced during the keynote speech. We'll update this post with more video demos as they come.
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I really don't like the iPhone. OK, I just don't like its horrific typing interface. I've tried to convince myself that I like hitting a flat panel, but I don't. I hate it. Some things are best left tactile...
But I must admit I was tempted when John Robb shot me an e-mail indicating that Zimbra was developing its application to run "on" the iPhone. Then I read about it again in Dan Farber's blog. Fortunately, there's $600 worth of reasons not to cave in on this one.
But I'm tempted. Sorely tempted. Looks so pretty, and I'm so superficial... :-)
Speaking of temptation, I'm pushing to have my employer switch from our current mail server to Zimbra. We're coming up on 33 percent of the company running Macs now, with a smattering of Linux too. Zimbra's treatment of the Mac as a first-class citizen is looking very good right about now.
I know Stephen O'Grady has had good experiences with Zimbra. Anything one can share about their experience in moving to Zimbra? Either positive or negative? You can either use the TalkBack forum or send me an e-mail.
Slide to unlock, eh?
(Credit: Playboy.com)The iPhone hype has either reached a high point or totally jumped the shark, depending on your personal opinion. Playboy.com just announced that it has launched its official iPhone effort, which it calls "iPlayboy."
We'll just say that it sure gives "touch screen" a whole new meaning.
Playboy's virtual goodie bag for the iPhone consists of 12 "sexy non-nude wallpapers" for the sleek Apple handset, a special photo album with another dozen photos of Playmates, an episode of Playboy's Sirius Satellite Radio show, and a video customized for the iPhone's interface. It's free, and available on the main Playboy Web site.
Now that the adult entertainment world has officially penetrated the iPhone hype machine, the next step is obvious: naughty toy add-ons!
(Credit:
Apple.com)
MacRumors has confirmed that the forthcoming version of iTunes will contain a built-in ringtone creation utility for songs purchased via the iTunes Music Store. Users will be able to right-click on purchased songs and select "Make into Ringtone," which will give them a small audio workspace to select the 30 seconds they want to use as a new ringtone. According to MacRumors, the use of this feature will cost $.99 per track--a fee which goes toward licensing the music for your mobile phone. That means the total fee for a ringtone is $1.98.
There's no confirmation of whether users will be able to use this feature on music ripped from CDs or other DRM-free tracks.
All things considered, this isn't a bad price for a ringtone. However, for many mobile phone users, iTunes has long been a fairly simple way to convert music tracks into mobile ringtones using its importing tool. It's been confirmed that the iPhone won't play your full music tracks as ringtones.
iTunes 7.3 will be required for both activation and sync of the iPhone. Apple is expected to release the updated software Friday morning.
(Credit:
Apple)
Apple's made it official: the iPhone will have full-blown YouTube integration. According to the iPhone Web site, the much-anticipated handset will include "a special YouTube player that you can launch right from the home screen." iPhone owners can now load and browse videos from the video-sharing site as well as e-mail them to their friends.
This comes less than a month after Steve Jobs announced that the company's Apple TV set-top box would also have built-in integration for the wildly popular YouTube.
The iPhone, as we all know by now, hits stores at 6 PM ET on June 29. That's next Friday!
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