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WWDC Wrap-Up: The Real iPhone is Here, Apple Running out of Big Cats
Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has come and gone, and in it's departure has left us with a quite a few new goodies for us to analyze.The biggest news coming from WWDC is the iPhone 3G. As was expected, the new iPhone has been upgraded to work on AT&T's 3G network. Which is currently the fastest cell-phone wireless data technology out there. The former iPhone was on the much slower EDGE Network. In-fact the 3G network boasts near-broadband speeds, and is 3x faster than the EDGE network. The new iPhone is what I consider "The Real iPhone", as should be expected with any brand new product from any company, the first generation will always sport some new bugs, or missing features that those suckers who couldn't wait for the 2nd Gen. model will complain about.
This new iPhone has pretty much everything that was rumored, and that I posted in my blog last week (yeah that's right, I know what I'm talking about). The iPhone 3G is about 22% thinner, 3G capable, better battery life, GPS built-in, flush headphone jack (which allows support for all standard 3.5mm jacks), simultaneous data and voice connections, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (which is great news for all you business users). The "Real" iPhone is also substantially cheaper, with an AT&T subsidy the iPhone 3G is $199 for the 8GB model, and $299 for the 16GB model. Furthermore, the 16GB iPod comes in black or white, for those of you who care about that. The iPhone 3G will be available July 11, 2008 in 22 countries (Apple will eventually offer the iPhone 3G in over 70 countries worldwide), which is perfect timing for me. My T-Mobile contract ends in August, looks like it's about time I get an iPhone!
While we're talking about the iPhone 3G, let me debunk a bit of a misperception that has been going around in the media lately. Some news outlets have done a poor job of fact-checking and have stated that while the face value of the iPhone 3G is cheaper, the way they "get" you is by charging you more for the service itself. Not true. The reason the iPhone plan is more expensive (by about 10 bucks) is because AT&T charges more to all of their 3G subscribers, not just the iPhone customers. If you're on the EDGE network, you pay less for the slower speeds. Simple as that.
Now for those of you who may have gotten the first iPhone ... sucker ... you're not completely out of luck. Apple also previewed the new iPhone/iPod Touch Firmware 2.0 along with highlighting new features of the iPhone SDK (Standard Developer Kit). The new Firmware 2.0 provides contact searching, complete iWork document support (allowing you to work on iWork, Apple's productivity suite, documents directly from your iPhone or iPod Touch), complete Microsoft Office document support (including PowerPoint), bulk delete and move for Mail, save images you receive, scientific calculator in landscape mode, parental controls, multiple language support for over 18 languages (also support for over 20 different international keyboard layouts).
In addition the iPhone SDK allows developers to create a multitude of applications for the iPhone, which means not only will you be able to use the standard apps that are bundled with the iPhone, but you can also hop onto the iPhone App Store and purchase applications from independent developers all over the world. I'm not going to get too deep into the iPhone SDK, as it's more technical information, and I'm sure none of you are really that interested in that much info.
Apple also introduced MobileMe, formerly known as .Mac. MobileMe is an internet service that allows you to sync your calendars, mail, and phonebook computer (Mac or PC) with your iPhone or iPod Touch. On top of that MobileMe has a web interface that allows you to access all of these items online without have to be at your computer, iPhone or iPod. You can create quick and easy photo gallery pages, utilize online storage space for large file, even access and control your home computer remotely (Mac only). MobileMe is a pretty cool service. I had .Mac, when it was still called that, and I always enjoyed it. It made it very easy to make photo webpages after a vacation or whatever I had going on, even being a designer, I used .Mac for some of those menial tasks because it allowed me focus on real work. The new features are very cool and something that make me consider getting MobileMe when it's available.
Lastly, Apple announced the next version of Mac OS X, 10.6, or Snow Leopard. The details for Snow Leopard are sparse, as Apple was doing their preview solely for developers. However the little that has leaked shows that Apple is going to focus predominately on performance enhancements as opposed to the feature-rich iterations of OS X that Apple normally releases. The only real conclusion that I can gather from this is that Apple is running out of big cats to name OS X after, so far the big cats that Apple has used are Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard? Really? I mean what's going to happen next? What will Apple resort to once they run out of big cats? Mac OS X: Liger, how about Mac OS X: Li-ti-liger or Mac OS X: Ti-li-tiger? I'm personally rooting for Mac OS X: Li-ti-li-li-ti-li-ti-liger.
How well is the new iPhone going to work in Loudoun? I checked out the coverage maps for the data service a while back and it looked like anyone west of Leesburg wasn't going to get any data services. I travel into West Virginia and I wish I still had my analog phone there as it at least worked. Digital services are useless if you can't use them virtually everywhere (like you could the old analog phones).
Posted by Sam
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On AT&T's website it shows a pretty good amount of coverage in Loudoun, especially east of Leesburg. It starts to fall off past Winchester, but it doesn't seem to be too bad until you get out to WV, that seems to be where you'd have the most problem.
One thing to remember also, is that if you're in an area that doesn't provide 3G data coverage the iPhone will also be able to use the EDGE network, if available.
Posted by B_Joe_Carter
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