Posts tagged “keynote”.

New iTunes icon: I dig it

September 1st, 2010

New iTunes 10 icon

As reader Joseph said, I kind of asked for this one, didn’t I?

The new iTunes 10 icon is nice. It fits with the rest of the circular, glowing orbs that Apple trots out these days. It’s simple and clean, and has the old-school Aqua look to it.

And as Steve said during the keynote, the CD era is about to be eclipsed by everything digital. With version 10, now is the time for a change.

Steve Jobs: “Go Blue”

April 16th, 2010

As seen during the iPhone OS 4 keynote.

Two words: Hail, hail.

WWDC ’08: Putting the ‘pod’ in ‘iPod Touch’

June 9th, 2008

iPhone 3G and iPod Touch

Lots going on at the WWDC 2008 keynote, which I finally streamed and watched with much joy. Watch it yourself to see all the action, clapping, and skinnier Steve Jobs.

In the meantime, a few thoughts:

  • iPod is now a great name. Some folks made fun of the name “iPod” when it was first released. What’s so “pod” about music, after all? But now it fits perfectly. With the iPod Touch, the “pod” become the mobile computing platform – a place to get your e-mail, web, games, and – yes – music. The iPod is now a “pod” for your mobile computing platform.
  • “We’ve learned so much.” Here, Jobs displays some real humbleness. .Mac kind of sucked. MobileMe is an improvement of sorts. And Apple admits they had things to learn. That’s great.
  • $199? That’s all me. But because I’m such a big fan of the white Apple products (iPod, iBook, everything), I may splurge and grab the 16 GB version. No 32 GB iPhone? That does stink.
  • Wait for the Snow Leopard. I wished for a refurbished iMac with Leopard, but now I may just wait until Snow Leopard is released. Why not? “Improved” is always a good word when OSes are concerned. And waiting has seemed to pay off for me so far.
  • Chinese character recognizer hack? I can see it happening. Use the handwriting recognition app for Chinese characters and hack it so it will recognize English characters. Boom – a Newton-like HWR emulator. And Jobs was right in the keynote: the lack of plastic keys or a physical stylus actually plays in the multi-language-supported iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s favor.

Now I have to wait until July 11 (or maybe a day or two after, depending on lines and in-store activation), but oh well. This is what I’ve been waiting for. A true successor to the Newton has been born.

Behold: iPhone 3G

Quicktime makes the heart 3G

June 9th, 2008

Do you know how hard it is to stare at this and wait for Apple to upload their Quicktime video of the WWDC 08 keynote?

Do you?

I told myself: no checking the blogs, no checking the live feeds. Wait until you get home and watch the keynote via Apple’s Quicktime upload. That way, you’re watching it unfold like everyone who was there.

But no. No video uploaded yet as of 5:42 p.m. Eastern time Monday night.

C’mon…

Your 2008 WWDC Survival Guide

June 6th, 2008

Who will survive, and what will be left of them?

Stressed about the “one more thing” that will be announced this Monday, June 9 at the Worldwide Developers Conference? Fear not. We have a round-up of rumors, damned lies, and fun games to play while you’re waiting for the next big thing.

A Newton 2.0? That’s on the list, kind of.

WWDC ’08 Keynote Bingo. Ars Technica always does a nice job at this. I’m hoping for the top two corner pieces.

Snow Leopard strays from PPC. This one was first featured at TUAW.com, but the Cult of Mac guys really touch on what a change Mac users have seen from the days of OS 8 and 9 to now. In short, “The Mac is dead. Long live OS X.”

From .Mac to MobileMe. John Gruber did some snooping and found the new domain names Apple registered. People have been bitching about .Mac for years (I had it for a year, and it was…eh), so this could be pretty exciting.

WWDC banner pictures. That’s right. They’re up, and the speculation is flying. OS X iPhone, anyone?

Newton 2.0. This one has been like Lazarus. A new MessagePad in the form of a Mac tablet? Supposedly, there’s a 50/50 chance. But we’ll see. After all, Apple is shopping for handwriting engineers.

Oh, and that rumor. You know, the one everyone knows is coming. And the iPhone 1.0 is undergoing drought conditions. What else could it be?

I’ve decided not to participate in any of the live blogging feeds or constant refreshing of Apple news sites. I’m going to wait until the Quicktime video is released (which I watch faithfully anyway), just so it can all feel new and “just announced” to me. Should be fun.

To iPhone or not to iPhone?

January 17th, 2008

I was hoping that, after Tuesday’s Macworld keynote, I would be rushing to Ann Arbor’s Apple store to pick up my iPhone. But no such luck.

Why not? I’m one of those guys waiting for the 3G.

It didn’t come yesterday. What did come, however, were some pretty cool features: the where-the-heck-am-I feature, the new homescreen capabilities, the multiple-person text messaging. It all sounds great.

It just doesn’t sound great enough. iTWire.com feels me – saying that Apple isn’t listening to its fans like it should be. And if it wants to hit that magic 10 million number…:

According to Apple, the company has sold 4 million iPhones in its first 200 days. For any other company, this would be a phenomenal figure. However, at Macworld 2007 Jobs envisioned sales of 10 million units in the first year, so Apple has some work to do over the next 165 days. It is beginning to look as though Apple has to release a 3G iPhone very soon in order to move 10 million units [by the end of 2008].

Right. Even if Cupertino wants to sell just one, to me, it better make the speed bump.

I have a cellphone, and a good cellphone carrier, that I like. I have my Newton. I have plenty of Macs. In reality, I don’t need an iPhone. But boy… I’ve already been in situations where, standing in the grocery line or waiting for someone, I can imagine whipping out the Jesus Phone and wasting a bit of time.

At work, we had an annual goal, and I reached it, and got a hefty bonus. I was going to use that money toward the purchase of an iPhone, pending the 3G announcement. But no 3G came.

Salon.com’s Farhad at the Machinist says that past and current iPhones are all created equal because they keep getting updates via free iTunes software. The phone is evolving, and it doesn’t cost any extra. But the actual hardware I’m waiting for can’t be downloaded via Software Update. I need a whole new phone.

So the wait continues. I’m thinking of putting a time limit on the 3G iPhone announcement – say, this spring. Maybe April, or before I head out on my New England driving tour at the end of May.

So there you go, Apple. You’ve got $400 sitting in the credit union with your name on it. All you have to do is deliver.

Macworld Keynote edition: “It takes all sorts.”

January 15th, 2008

MacBook Air

by Robert Frost

Ft takes all sorts of in and outdoor schuoting
To get adapted to my kind of fooling

[Read the original. You have to get used to Steve Jobs’s fooling: no Newton, but a MacBook Air, iPod Touch and iPhone features, and tons of iTunes updates – like movie rentals. Plenty of coverage over at Cult of Mac, but I caught the whole thing thanks to live blogcasting.]

Play Newton Bingo for Macworld keynote.

January 7th, 2008

Now here’s a version of BINGO your grandma might not get.

Ars Technica is hosting a Macworld 2008 keynote bingo game – with a Newton MessagePad card.

Some of the highlights:

  • New Mac Pro – A new Mac Pro. I’m going to buy one of these (assuming they contain 45nm CPUs), so they damn well better be introduced.

  • New displays – New Apple external displays. I have grave doubts about this one (see later square), but the existing line desperately needs updating.

  • MacBook Thin – A new subnotebook from Apple, regardless of its actual branding or product name. What’s a subnotebook? Use your own judgement. The only restriction I’ll add is that it must have a hardware keyboard.

  • “Boom” – Steve Jobs says the word “boom” while demonstrating something.

The site has posted the card as a download-able PDF file, so you can play along at home.

But what – no Newton 2 spot?