Yes, it is time for yet another WWDC ‘my thoughts’ segment. Many do this after WWDC every year and I have decided to ‘Jump on the Bandwagon’ so to speak. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts regarding WWDC 08.
iPhone 3G
Now without a doubt, the highlight of the conference was the announcement of the iPhone 3G. This has been an extremely long-awaited announcement from Apple. The new iPhone & iPhone 2.0 firmware includes the following new features: Flush Headphone Jack (You can now use any headphones regardless of the manufacturer), a new, tapered design for the exterior, both Black and White iPhone models (8GB – Black 16GB – Black & White), new plastic back replacing the aluminum back of the iPhone, a new ‘Sim-Card Ejector Tool’ in the box to make it easier to remove the SIM card from the iPhone 3G, Google Maps with included GPS function, 3G Speeds, the ability to use iPhone with Microsoft Enterprise & more languages included with the iPhone.
The iPhone 3G will eventually be distributed in 70 countries, include Australia and New Zealand.
The iPhone 3G is going to hit the shelves on the 11th of July globally, most of the major networks in the countries that iPhone 3G will first be rolled out in are going to sell the iPhone 3G.
Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’
The newest version of Mac OS X codenamed, ‘Snow Leopard’, was previewed at WWDC 08. Now the preview was not actually ‘hands on’ so to speak. However, the main point of Steve Jobs speech regarding ‘Snow Leopard’ was actually just to tell the audience that Mac OS X 10.6 would be named, ‘Snow Leopard’.
Disappointments
No new Mac Mini – Most Apple fans would have heard about the rumored new Mac Mini. I was extremely disappointed that this new machine was not released by Apple. The current Mac Mini is not really that old, however, if the Mac Mini could be made smaller, the market for smaller Macs would grow considerably.
No REAL preview of Snow Leopard – Apple has now hinted that Snow Leopard will be the next release of Mac OS X. Yet Steve Jobs still showed no REAL preview of Mac OS X Snow Leopard. In my personal opinion, Snow Leopard is not really a NEW revision of OS X, even Apple states that Snow Leopard focuses on Speed and Stability. I can only hope that either Snow Leopard will be extremely cheap, or be a free upgrade for Leopard 10.5 users.
No international pricing announcements – Now this is not really a criticism as I can understand why Steve Jobs could not explain about this. However, I still find it irritating that Steve Jobs did not announce what the Price for both the 8GB and 16GB would be in the countries that the iPhone 3G will be released in on July 11th.
The Lighter Side
I would like to end on a positive note.
I personally feel that Apple seems to have built a sort of, ‘cult’, around the iPhone. Why do I think this? The reason is pretty obvious. If you were to watch the video of when the iPhone 3G was announced, you would hear that the audience screamed with excitement. As many used to say, “When iPhone 3G is finally announced, all hell will break loose!”
