14 DAY TRIAL // The event we've all been waiting for, WWDC '08, finally took place. Steve Jobs and fellow execs took the stage and immediately started emphasizing the iPhone. After inviting some of their partners up on stage to showcase their apps, Apple popped the big one: iPhone 3G! After all the rumors, you're probably half as excited as you should have been, but wait 'till you hear the pricing.
Talking about iPhone 2.0, Apple revealed that, in the first 95 days of the SDK being available, over 250k people have downloaded it. Moreover, while 4,000 people have been in the beta program, 3 parts represented the iPhone 2.0 Enterprise, SDK, and new end-user features, MacRumors reveals.
Starting with enterprise, the company talked about the already-announced Exchange support (out of the box), bringing features such as push email, contacts and calendars, auto-discovery, global address book and remote wipe. Apple also revealed enterprises can distribute apps just to their employees.
Higher-education participated at the event too, showing a video of enterprise and higher-education use of iPhone 2.0. But who could be more entitled to talk iPhone 2.0, if not Scott Forstall, recently appointed Senior Vice President of iPhone software.
The man provided a demo showing how to construct a UI in Interface Builder, and created a basic Cocoa Touch application called Nearby Friends. Using the built-in Address Book API, Forstall accessed contacts as well as the Core Location API. The application is said to show contacts within a 10 mile radius.
Half an hour into the event, Apple invited a number of developers on stage to demo their apps. From apps using location-aware social networks to physics-based games using both touch controls and the iPhone's built-in accelerometer (Supermonkey Ball now has 100 levels!), Apple proved that everything can be slapped on that device (and work like a charm too). Some of the apps will be available for free when the App Store launches, some will be priced ($9.99 an app), according to macnn.com.
After thanking the developers, Apple started talking background support. The company said it wanted to solve this problem, explaining how the wrong solution would be to allow for background processes. This would be bad for both battery life and performance, hinting at Windows Mobile's task manager. Apple, however, has a different solution - something available for all developers: a push notification service.
Talking about the App Store, Apple claimed it would be available in 62 countries. Free apps are still a go, but only if the app is less than 10MB can it be downloaded through the cell network. If these requirements don't meet, it's Wi-Fi or iTunes.
The App Store will provide wireless download support, as well as automatic updates. Developers get to set their apps' price and keep the promised 70% revenue, while Apple gets the other 30 percent for maintenance. Apps will be FairPlay wrapped, while iPhone users won't be charged for anything else when downloading a free app.
iPhone 2.0 will be available in early July. iPhone owners will be able to upgrade for free, while iPod touch users will pay a rather small fee for the upgrade - just $9.99.
After two hours and a half of everything mentioned above, Steve took the stage again to reveal that Apple was very satisfied with the way its iPhone has performed; nevertheless, there was even more they could do for the fans - this was probably the moment every living being in that room was waiting for.
Steve confirmed 3G network support, GPS, enterprise support, third party application support, more countries, a more affordable and better-performing device. He demonstrated faster download speeds over Wi-Fi and 3G, comparing them to EDGE. Apple's CEO claimed 3G has great battery life on iPhone. The new device is a bit thicker, it sports the same display, black back, flush headphone jack, improved audio capabilities and, according to information provided by macnn.com, it "feels even better in your hand."
As far as price is concerned (I strongly suggest you grab hold of your chair) iPhone 3G (8GB) will sell for $199! The 16GB version of the device will be priced at $299. The latter will also come in white. The new device will be available July 11th in 22 countries.
During the second part of the event, Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of software engineering, Apple Inc., will be offering insight on the new OS X 10.6, code named Snow Leopard.
NOTE: Article updated to reflect the nature of iPhone 3G's silhouette. The device is not thinner, but actually a bit thicker than the original device.
