Pre-iPhone 2.0 (remember those days), we managed to snag an early leak of the iPhone 2.0 firmware and install it on our original iPhone. We found it to be buggy, but chalked that up to the distinct possibility that the firmware wasn't technically designed for the iPhone 2G. Now that we all have official 2.0 ROMs, is the picture any better? TUAW and Engadget Mobile and Ars aren't so sure -- and to be frank neither are we. Take a perusal through our iPhone 3G forums and you'll find all sorts of examples of bugs and hassles. Heck, it even has our Twitter followers (find us on Twitter, here) checking out the competition!

I myself have noticed significant instability in the few minutes immediately following either installing or deleting an App from the on-board App Store. I'm also still pretty darn unhappy with the various lags and slowdowns in certain apps -- the most egregious of which is Contact/Phone. I timed myself trying to make a call to somebody not on my favorites list yesterday. Out of 900 contacts, it took me around 25 seconds to get the call placed. Anything more than, say, 5 is pretty much unacceptable to me.

How about you? How's iPhone 2.0 treating you? Will the 2.1 firmware save us all?

The fine folks at iphone-dev want to make it clear: they've jailbroken the iPhone and they have the video above to prove it. Now all we need is a release announcement ...and maybe confirmation that it will work on that rumored 2.01 release. On the first score, they let us know they're hard at work. They must be -- it's clearly fried their taste in music -- check the video above out for proof of both.

Thanks to Cherryhead25 for the tip!. [via]

Could last Friday have been any more massive for Apple? Following on the heels of slew of preparatory updates including OS X 10.5.4 and iTunes 7.7, the transition from .Mac to Mobile Me, and -- oh, yeah -- the highly anticipated launch of the iPhone 3G hardware (see Dieter's review), Apple also dropped a little something called the 2.0 firmware. Available pre-baked in the new iPhone 3G, Apple didn't spare the love for owners of the original iPhone 2G who receive it as well as a FREE downloadable upgrade, as do owners of the iPod Touch (minus the phone, camera, SMS, and GPS functionality, and the FREE part -- $10 please).

The 2.0 firmware was first demonstrated back at the Apple iPhone SDK Roadmap event in March 2008 and immediately went through a very long, very public beta process where almost anyone could sign up and download it. In spite of the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), during the 8 different betas released to developers, many new features that weren't originally demonstrated still leaked out all of the interwebs. But did all of them?

Read on to find out!

What Hasn't Changed

Before we dive in to all the new hotness, let's just get some housekeeping out of the way. Some apps remain pretty much unchanged (at least to our eyes!) from the 1.4 firmware that immediately preceded this release. This includes:

• Home. 3G label replaced E(DGE) for the new hardware, and dock icons look to get a tad more translucent when they zoom out or back in, but otherwise its the same Springboard as before.
• Text. SMS messages tweaked to allow following or bookmarking of texted linls, but still no SMS forwarding. Still no MMS.
• YouTube. It's your vidz, what else did you need? Oh... inline Flash...
• Stocks. Same old widgety goodness from the last gen.
• Weather. See stocks. No HTC Touch Diamond-style animated goodness here.
• Clock. What do you want, it's timeless!
• Notes. Still no sync. Still no integration with the other PIM (Personal Information Management) apps. Still no landscape keyboard. Stevie, please!
• iTunes. Icon tweak aside, you can still buy songs over WiFi, and that's still it. No media and nothing long-form.
• iPod. Gets some small tweaks like video rotation (you can watch portrait or landscape now), and video podcasts are gone from the audio section, so no more listening-only option (?!). But how about metadata? A2DP Stereo Bluetooth support ?

Sure, constraints on time and resources, not to mention battery life trade-offs mean we can't have everything and all at once, so let's see just what Apple did choose to update this time around...

Calendar

The most visible for every user in Calendar is color! No longer doomed to dull blue, the new Calendar 2.0 will retain your color settings when you sync from Outlook or iCal, and what's more -- will use transparency effects to visualize overlapping effects. Very sweet.

The biggest change overall, however, is integration with over-the-air, wireless syncing via "push". For more details on these, see our already-posted reviews for both Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Apple MobileMe "Exchange for the rest of us" service.

Camera

The Camera 2.0 software has also been tweaked to improve image quality but the big news is that it is now location aware, which means it will geo-tag your photos.

For more on how CoreLocation services work, including how to grant and reset permissions, check out the sections on Maps and Settings (below).

If Flickr popularity is any indicator, a lot of people will welcome these updates.

On the minus side, there's still no ability to tweak basic camera settings, however, and no Mobile iPhoto-like post-processing options have been added. Apple may figure users will do this once they sync back to their computer, but if you want to take a shot and quickly email it upload it, the ability to do basic corrections on the iPhone itself would be more than handy.

Photos

Photos is mostly unchanged from 1.4. The only difference is that now, in addition to photographs taken with the iPhone's built camera, the Camera Roll also store screenshots.

How do you take a screen-shot? Press the Home Button and Sleep/Wake button (on the top) at the same time.

For the iPod Touch, since it lacks a camera and hence a Camera Roll, screen caps are stored under Saved Photos.

An almost invisible addition if you don't know about it, it's still much appreciated (especially by reviewers, no doubt!)

Still no ability to tweak photos, Mobile iPhoto-like, but as a viewer -- and a way to stun crowds with accelerometer spinning, finger-pinch zooming -- it's still a killer app.

Maps

Maps 2.0 gets a minor face lift, using the more literally page curl icon to activate -- what else -- the page curling to reveal the extra options added during the late 1.x era.

For iPhone 3G owners, however, Maps also adds the much more precise location functionality provided by the new aGPS functionality. Rather than just the large blue circle (sometimes encompassing entire city blocks) that Google cell tower mapping and Skyhook's WiFi Router mapping provided previously, aGPS now gives a small blue dot within yards/meters, if not right at your exact current location. (Complete with eye-candy fading ripple effect).

Leveraging the cell and WiFi location services to handle some heavy lifting, the aGPS is remarkably snappy.

Moving? No problem, the blue dot will follow you.

From staying on route to keeping track of where you parked (via the pin drop), this functionality is huge, especially for people who have no inborn sense of direction... (present!)

Note: Like all location aware apps (including Camera and even 3rd party App Store apps like Twitteriffic), Maps will ask your permission to use your current location the first few times you launch it. Keep agreeing and it will stop bothering you. If you later have privacy concerns, you can revoke your permission in the Settings and force it to ask you again next time (see below). In the age-old battle between convenience and security (where the former often -- and unfortunately -- trumps the latter), this is an interesting and acceptable solution.

Incredible new functionality, though it is lacking in turn-by-turn

Calculator

Apple's Vice President of Design, Jonathan Ive, loves him his mid-1900s Braun, and few places is that more obvious than the iPhone's Calculator app. While the basic app itself remains unchanged from 1.x in its default, portrait mode, if you switch to landscape, Calculator 2.0 now switches with you, expanding to become a full-on scientific calculator.

While I have pretty much allowed myself to atrophy into a near math-lexic state, this had been a long requested feature and is a very welcome addition.

What would also have been a very welcome addition? The ability to backspace to precisely correct input errors. The ability to nuke the entire current display with the "C"-Clear button may be more in keeping with the 50 year old physical calculator from which the iPhone calculator was derived -- and thus default behavior for those raised on said calc -- it's just not how modern computer input should work. Bad user experience.

Settings

While Settings is not the sexiest app in the bunch, it underpins pretty much everything else and has received quite a few updates in 2.0. Fire and foremost is a new "Fetch New Data" section, while "Mail" has been renamed the MobileMe- and ActiveSync-enabled "Mail, Contacts, Calendars".

The Fetch New Data panel lets you globally toggle "Push" data syncing (for MobileMe and ActiveSync), schedule fetch/pull requests (e.g. for POP or IMAP email checking), and an Advanced panel to select Push or Manual (with the same type of scheduling set up in Fetch) for MobileMe.

Although a system-wide change, one thing is obvious in Settings that's fantastic news for anyone that uses strong, even pseudo-random passwords (no, not cut, copy, and paste, don't be silly!). Apple has changed the way password fields work, now leaving the last character you typed visible for a few seconds so you can minimize the chance of typos. Not perfect, but lightyears ahead of the old system which pretty much made everyone and their IT department shorter and simplify passwords, again trading security convenience. Good Job!

General Settings adds a new On/Off toggle for Location Services, to globally allow your iPhone to use the Google cell, Skyhook WiFi, and for iPhone 3G, aGPS technologies to keep track of where you are -- or not.

A new section called Restrictions allows you to selectively disable (via a 4-digit Pin number), iPod content flagged as "explicit" (though sadly only for violence and adult subject matter, not explicitly poor taste or writing/production...), and potentially inappropriate Safari web pages and YouTube videos, as well as access to spend money on the iTunes WiFi Music and App Stores.

Good stuff there for parents, even if no toggles will prove perfect and parents will still need to monitor their young hax0rs lest they find a way around them.

The Keyboard and International sections have been beefed up in anticipation of Apple's 70+ region eventual iPhone 3G rollout (and since the iPod Touch has already been available for almost a year in most areas, about time too!)

Yummy. Having done a couple of years of Mandarin, while I haven't had the chance to try out the Chinese handwriting recognition yet, I'm eager to and will definitely report back in a future post.

Last in the General Settings, Reset has been updated to let you change your mind about previously allowing or disallowing location services (for the Camera, Maps, and some App Store Apps), and to go along with the new emphasis on enterprise features, Apple's enabled Secure Erase, and warns it will take 2 hours just to prove it's serious.

Given previous reports that AT&T refurb iPhones contained the data from previous users, this is an important addition to a device that can easily contain all your personal and business data. Hopefully -- for Steve Gibson's sake! -- Secure Erase uses several passes of pseudo-random data writes, and not something patterned like zero-ing out, which can still be subtracted to reveal the underlying data -- if you have the tech and the will to go to the trouble, of course!

For Mail, Contacts, Calendars, in the Mail, the only new addition is the ability to add Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Apple MobileMe accounts (see our previous walkthroughs for more). Contacts and Calendars give similar options, allowing you to choose which account you want as default, how you want your information sorted and synced, and other bread-and-butter style management features. Newly added is the ability to Import SIM Contacts, which may be useful for people upgrading from GSM feature phones and who stores a lot of data on their SIM chips. For ActiveSync Calendar users, you can toggle New Invitation Alerts On/Off.

The last major change to settings is that now App Store apps, like AOL's AIM, can add their own panels to Settings. Not all do, with others choosing to keep their own local settings within the apps. Daring Fireball, Ignore the Code, and others have commented on the relative merits and implications for Apple's Mobile HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) for both approaches. I'd just add that Mac apps can have their own Preferences, or can add panels to the global Settings app. Perhaps the iPhone environment could likewise label local options as Preferences to avoid user confusion with the Mobile Settings app proper.

App Store

The only new icon on the first page of the 2.0 home screen, App Store is potentially the killer feature of 2.0, and one of the biggest ripples in the mobile market thus far. Check out our previous coverage in Brian's How To review.

The core concept really is game changing, but even as some accuse Apple of being too controlling (and they are to the extent they will not allow certain classes of apps, nor the discussion of the SDK in public), they obviously weren't controlling enough to keep out the silly, duplicative, buggy, ugly, and sleazy dev dwarves. But we'll post more on that later.

Bottom-line for me? The cream of the crop put to shame any previous mobile development ecosystems. It really might be the next major computing platform...

Phone (and Contacts!)

Phone's changes are primarily in the Contacts section, and as special bonus, Apple snuck the iPod Touch's dedicated Contacts app into the 2.0 firmware for iPhone users as well (though the hid it on the second screen). What's the point? Well, first its nice to have if you just want to access your Contacts in fewer taps. Second, unlike the Phone app's contacts, Nate Bird points out that the Contact apps allows for you to add contacts while speaking on the phone. Nice bit of extra functionality there!

Rounding out the contacts goodness is the long awaited ability to search your contacts. If you're at the top, you'll see the search box ready to go. If you've already scrolled down, just tap the magnifying glass icon above the letter A on the alphabet running down the right side, and you'll be whisked back up to it.

Drawbacks? It's... not exactly zippy to bring it. We're talking EDGE speed here, not 3G for the interface. But that problem plagues more than just contact search, so I'll save it for the end.

For the rest of the enhanced contact functionality, see our previous reviews for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Apple MobileMe.

Mail

At the risk of being repetitive, the major new feature in MobileMail 2.0 is the "push" integration of add Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and Apple MobileMe (see our previous reviews for the details).

Management gets a boost with multi-move and multi-delete functionality. Unlike 1.x, where you had to individually select and approve each message for deletion, in 2.0 you can select as many as you see and wipe them out all at once. Great for nuking "push"-spam according to Dieter!

Smaller, but also very nice new additions include, if you've setup multiple accounts, the ability to see which account your sending from, and change it on the fly if you want to.

Receive a picture in an email? Now with 2.0 you can hold your finger down on it for a second, and Mail will ask if you want to save the image. If you do, it will be filed in the Camera Roll, same as screen captures. (Or the Saved Images if you're using the iPod Touch).

I also noticed (though haven't been able to verify yet if this is new to 2.0) that when forwarding an email, I was prompted as to whether or not I wanted to include the attachments. If this isn't new, d'oh! Where've I been? If it is, equally sweet.

Safari

Update: Safari did get much, much faster, especially in Javascript execution! Still, I'm waiting for a full MobileSafari update that brings in some of the new WebKit technology, like the lightning-quick SquirrelFish javascript engine, which should go a long way to speeding up and stabilizing some of the more script-intensive sites. HTML 5, CSS animation, audio and video tags, SQLite local storage, and all the rest as well...

Maybe in 2.4?

Right now we get the same image-saving ability built into Mail (see above), and according to Daring Fireball, a horizontal keyboard that's roughly 30 pixels shorter, consuming less of the vital real estate than it's 1.x counterpart. Personally, I didn't notice. Confession: I don't use it much. I'm fine with the vertical keyboard. Call me a mutant if you must, but I really like the keyboard. (But then, I never liked, and hated using, Treo and Blackberry hard keyboards, so maybe even more pariah than mutant, eh?)

For those who do prefer the landscape keyboard, Apple still hasn't seen fit to enable it system-wide, like in Mail, Notes, or any other app in which it might prove beneficial.

3.0?

Sigh.

Conclusion

Overall, iPhone Firmware 2.0 is a stunning achievement that really puts the iPhone on par with the Apple II and Mac as one of the great revolutions in modern technology. It takes it beyond simple Phone + iPod, or even smartphone, and makes it the leading contender for the next great shift in computing.

That said, it's still far from perfect, and more to the here and now, suffers from stability issues and overall sluggishness problems that make me think Apple was cramming until the very last minute to finish the 2.0 release. That some users have reportedly fixed their problems (including overly-yellow screens, App Store app crashes, etc.) by hooking up to iTunes and restoring to a 2.0 firmware 2 build numbers later than the one that shipped makes this seem even more likely. (And no doubt, Apple is already prepping a 2.0.1 or even 2.1 update to polish things up -- hey, it happened with the original iPhone!).

If I had to give it a score right now, it would still be a 10, with the understanding that when it came to the 2.0 release, the bar was reset to 11 early on.

If you're an iPhone 3G owner, you already have it. If you're an original iPhone 2G owner, it's a free -- and therefore no-brainer -- upgrade (now that Apple's servers are working again!). If you rock an iPod Touch, and are worried about the $10 "non-subscription accounting mandated" charge, I would still recommend it. It's almost the exact same price as Super Monkey Ball, which many of you will want to download immediately there after...

So there it is, my iPhone 2.0 review. Did I miss anything? Have you discovered any more hidden gems buried anywhere? Let us know!

Here at TiPb, we've all had bugs with the leaked 2.0 update and, like the rest of the interw00ts, we're also not getting Mobile Me working reliably since it went live yesterday. Thankfully, Apple has fessed up and admitted that the transition from .Mac has "taken longer than expected" (per Engadget).

The Mobile Me desktop login just worked for me for the first time just now, this morning. I'm successfully pushing data out, but I'm not about to start depending on it for real work. Is it working for you?

Those of us who went ahead and downloaded the iPhone 2.0 Firmware Update direct from Apple may have jumped the gun a little too early. There have been some problems with it -- I myself have had a handful of crashes and, yes, a couple of full-on resets. A couple of times these crashes (and one of the reset) happened in the Phone App. The Phone app should be the most SOLID application on the device, so seeing it freeze up and make me drop a call (and wait for a reboot) was disheartening to say the least.

Looks like I'm not alone, though Engadget notes that they've been having some problems too and posits that maybe, just maybe, the firmware we downloaded was technically meant for the iPhone 3G and not the current-gen. If so, that would explain a lot, especially in the Phone app, which I imagine needs some pretty exact radio information in order to work properly.

Let's hope that when the official release comes via iTunes, these bugs will disappear, because otherwise it's going to be pretty tough to call people and brag about my iPhone 3G tomorrow when it's resetting on me.

How 'bout y'all? Did you download? Is it holding up?

You can grab the 2.0 update a little early, MacRumors notes, you can grab it directly by downloading this file from Apple. Let's get it on!

Note: since this is a separate file, make sure you're backed up to iTunes before you start, this full update will erase all your data and you'll need to have your data backed up in order to restore afterwards.

In order to install the firmware, you will have to do it manually by pressing the Option key when pressing the "Check for Update" button in iTunes. Then select the .ipsw file manually. If for some reason your download is a ".zip" file, rename it to ".ipsw" before proceeding.

The hits just keep on coming this morning. Next up, TUAW noticed a few new downloads on Apple.com - specifically they're iPhone configuration utilities that look to be the perfect tool (until there's OTA setup) for administrators in companies that have deployed iPhones. There's a web utility for both Mac and Windows and also a more powerful Mac utility. The basic idea here is you set up a simple file (just XML) with certain settings like:

security policies, VPN configuration information, Wi-Fi settings, APN settings, Exchange account settings, mail settings, and certificates

...then you just load the file onto an iPhone and voila, the darn thing is all set up for business. You can head over to http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/ for full instructions on how to use the tools.

I just told you today would be like peeking at your Christmas presents early and Rene just told you that iTunes 7.7 is live. Put those two things together and what ydo you get? Why, you get the ability to browse and download iPhone apps today. Once you have iTunes 7.7 installed, just use this handy tip from MacRumors:

1. Search for "aol"
2. Click on the AOL iPhone App.
3. Use the breadcrumbs at the top go get to the app store .

OMGAPPZ!

Check out the gallery after the break for some of the stuff we're browsing for -- including a free AOL App, a free iTunes Remote App (YES), and more! What are you downloading? Let us know in the forums or -- even better -- chat it up in our forums.

Even though the folks at Apple are toting the iPhone 3G as being business-friendly by offering some extra functionality and Exchange support via the iPhone 2.0 upgrade, the iPhone has always been a worthy platform for the business and finance-minded user (in my humble opinion).   Case in point,  the list of twenty-five (yes, 25!) different financial apps for the iPhone at currencytrading.net. I'll cover briefly just a few of these apps in today's Tip and you can explore the rest to your heart's content.

iCalc Mortgage Calculator is great for finding out what your mortgage payment will be when buying a new home, or you can use it to figure out what your payment WILL be once your interest-only payments expire (ouch!).

Another useful app is Currency Exchange. Given the free-fall of the dollar, it's not a bad idea to have a way to see how it stacks up against other world currencies.

iTIPZ Tip Calculator is exactly like it sounds - let this app compute your tip, split it as many ways as you have payers, and even let it round off the number for you.  Sweet!

Compound Interest Calculator helps you compute how much moolah ($$$) you can save over a period of time.  Remember when you were young (cough) and someone much older and wiser told you that if you saved $5 a week for 30 years you would have a gazillion dollars due to the magic of compound interest?  Yeah, well, I didn't save the $5/week either, but at least if you start now, you can use this app to set your goals.

These are just four of the twenty-five apps at currencytrading.net.  Just head on over there at the speed of a click to see the rest.  If you have finances on the brain, there's bound to be an app there that will be useful.

That's it for this week's Tip.  If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o' the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (ok, ok.  I may have exaggerated the "gazillion" you can save via compound interest if you sock away $5/week.  It's more like a bazillion).

Among the features we'd hoped to see in iPhone 2.0 that we didn't: Photo Speed Dial. Sure, there's a nasty hack to get photo speed dial by adding web shortcuts to your homescreen, but it's not very convenient and the photos are very small. TechAU managed to have one of those moment where they think of something that we all should have: Contact Coverflow. We like it because, well, the Coverflow framework is already on the iPhone (you've seen it in the iPod app) and can be utilized by other jailbroken apps -- as witnessed in the jailbreak app AppFlow.

We wish we'd thought of this first. Actually, we wish Apple had thought of this first. iPhone 2.1 anybody?

Out of the closest iPhone lover Paul Thurrott of the Supersite for Windows got his beige-boxy hands on pre-release version of the iPhone 2.0 software update and the pre-requisite iTunes 7.7 software, and ran the upgrade process through its paces.

His verdict?

[Installing the 2.0 upgrade] is a multi-step and time-consuming process but is largely hands-off. [...] There's a new App Store icon on the home screen, for example, and the Mail application includes prominent links to Microsoft Exchange and MobileMe account types. [...] The old iPod Games entry in the Source list [of iTunes 7.7] has changed to App Store, for example, though selecting it now, before the July 11 launch, displays only whatever iPod Games you've purchased. [...] I'll have a lot more to say about this impressive upgrade in the weeks ahead. So far, so good.

Check out his upgrade gallery, and massive iPhone 2.0 screenshot galleries.

Those lucky... bloggers over at Gizmodo have scored a video walkthrough of both the iPhone 2.0 software (build 5A345) and the matching iTunes 7.7 developers received last week. What say they?

As you can see in the video, the App Store is there—although it's not active yet—along with the new Push data feature, the content restrictions, and the BCC field in Mail, among the rest of the new features.

Though they also say that the Gold Master didn't drop last Friday due to some remaining glitches. However, the iPhone/iPod Touch Remote Control was already baked in!

Check out the video and then keep wiping the drool until the 11th!

Reason number 4952 (ok, we lost count) we're excited for the iPhone 2.0 software update: Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D. Yes, it's pretty much just a MarioKart Klone -- but it looks like a quality clone and, let's be brutally honest here, the chances that Nintendo is going to develop for the iPhone when they have a perfectly good and popular portable out there is precisely nil.

Looks like you steer with the accelerometer, tap the screen to shoot your powerups, and use your voice to giggle with glee. Next step (we hope): networked multiplayer. Pretty Please?

The webs are a blogger over (some awesomely sarcastic) reports originating from iPhone Atlas that -- wait for it -- an internal AT&T memo has revealed that MMS (Multimedia Messaging Services) will be among the new features revealed with the immanent iPhone 2.0 firmware release.

MMS -- a crusty old mobile-to-mobile technology that, once competing networks and technologies learned to play nice, let handset owners send photos, videos, and music to each other in the days when underpowered units were incapable -- or diliberately walled-off from -- established cross-platform file transfer standards -- has been one of the top most griped about features "missing" from the original iPhone 1.x firmware.

Is it for realzy realz this time? No idea. AT&T has been silent on iPhone 3G SMS plans to data (which some take to mean there won't be any other than the plans already available to every other smartphone), and yet Apple wouldn't really be Apple unless they were deliberately leaving off some obvious feature or another for no apparent reason, now would they?

With more rumors saying 2.0 has gone Gold Master, we should find out one way or another soon enough!

Remember when AT&T was selling refurbished iPhone 2G's at (what was then) ridiculously low prices? Remember how it turned out some of those units still contained the personal information of their previous owners? Apple seems to remember, and has reportedly taken steps to prevent it from happening again.

As with a computer, when you simply delete a file, the file typically remains but is marked as deleted by the file system and will eventually be over-written. To delete something and make sure it's deleted, you need to over-write it, and not just with a single binary bit (zero'ing out). You have to over-write it with (pseudo) random data, and over-write several times.

Apple does something like this on the desktop with "Secure Empty Trash", and now they're bringing the same concept to the iPhone. The catch? Time. The new dialog for "Erase iPhone" now warns that "This will take about an hour."

And let's face it: what's a little time if it prevents that eBay buyer from getting all your personal details, right?

Check the read link for the Settings screen shots...

Read

Since Steve Jobs announced it back in March at the iPhone SDK Roadmap Event, the iPhone 2.0 firmware has seen 7 updates, some bringing with them interesting new features for consumers, others giving more tools to developers. Delivery date was said to be "late June" which for Apple typically means June 30th, 11:59pm, but is now expected to be closer to the July 11th iPhone 3G handset rollout.

One sign that they're nearing the end of the long road to 2.0 comes from Gizmodo, via what they claim are sources inside Apple's iPhone development group. What sign is it? A rumor that iPhone 2.0 will hit "gold master" this Friday, following the release of build 345.

Ladies and gentlemen, we may just have our FINAL version!

Will there be any more last minute feature enhancements? Daring Fireball says it's all about Apple making trade offs. While I certainly understand and appreciate the desire to deliver a smaller set of more stable improvements, the desire for video recording, to-do's, and cut and freaking paste is strong!

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Rene Ritchie and Brian Hart join us as we run down all the big news from WWDC. Surprisingly, the iPhone 3G seems to have been shown up by the iPhone 2.0 software update for many of us!

Looks like we're having load issues from all the traffic. We're working it, bear with us! A reminder - no need to refresh this page, the widget updates automatically.

As promised, we'll be starting up our MetaLiveBlog in just over an hour. We'll be tracking all them other live blogs and posting updates and our thoughts and commentary real time. A few seconds behind, but way ahead in pithy commentary, eh? We should have one or two quick posts up before the excitement begins, but we'll move this post back up to the top when it all gets going. Keep an eye out (like you needed us to tell you that).

We're using the fancy widget above, so no need to refresh the page to get the updates. You can also submit your own comments and thoughts with the widget above and we can publish them as things get going.

Sites we're following just in case we forget to give credit in the above widget:

• Engadget
• Gizmodo
• iPhoneBuzz
• MacRumors
• iPhone Alley / U-Stream
• the digital lifestyle
• TUAW

...It's over folks! Here's the text of it all:

WWDC Meta-Live-Blog (06/09/2008)

11:41

The iPhone Blog - Aw, what the heck, it's too fun not to start early, hey?

11:42 [Poll popup] What do you want the most? View Results

11:42

[Comment From kenn]: when does the wwdc start?

11:42

[Comment From Matt W]: I didn't sleep allll night. Couldn't

11:42

[Comment From kenn]: hey

11:42

[Comment From Patrick Shepherd]: I know the feeling... this crap is all comsuming to a gadget guy

11:43

[Comment From Nasty N8]: WooHoo!

11:43

[Comment From Nasty N8]: Sounds fine with me!

11:43

[Comment From Frank]: Are you there or watching remotely?

11:43

The iPhone Blog - I'm meta-live-blogging. A whole lotta sites I'm keeping an eye on!

11:43

rene - Greetings former mobile accomplishers!



11:43

[Comment From Pewt]: is it going to be broadcast live online anywhere?

11:43

[Comment From GasDoc]: Cheers

11:43

[Comment From Guest]: Hey, greetings from Spain!

11:43

[Comment From Richie]: I was having nightmares they wouldnt release it today lol.

11:44

The iPhone Blog - @pewt, try here: http://www.iphonealley.com/news/wwdc-2008-keynote-live-audio-stream

11:44

[Comment From Matt W]: I'm actually "unjailbreaking" my iPhone right now

11:44

[Comment From Frank]: I have my Dell x51v ready to throw out the window. Tell me when.

11:44

[Comment From GasDoc]: Well, apples stores are down. I wonder if apples stores have them in stock as we type????

11:44

The iPhone Blog - @frank: you're still on an x51v?! Crazy man!

11:44

[Comment From Borja]: Has the Apple Store been closed ever before?

11:44

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Should I make some popcorn and sit back for the show?

11:45

[Comment From GasDoc]: I meant online

11:45

[Comment From Jorge]: Man I just woke up, 1 o'clock couldn't come any sooner

11:45

[Comment From Laz]: What time does the shindig start?

11:45

rene - My friend in the next cubicle, whose Treo 680 just crashed taking a call for the 3rd time today, has it on the floor, ready to stomp into oblivion -- Scott Bourne style -- the moment El Jobso clears Rogers in Canada for launch...



11:45

The iPhone Blog - Excitement starts at 1pm EST.



11:45

[Comment From GasDoc]: 1pm eastern

11:45

[Comment From Borja]: I'll do!

11:45

[Comment From stephen]: i just bought stock in apple so im hoping this new 3G comes out and is a hit

11:45

[Comment From GasDoc]: oh, it'll be a hit

11:45

[Comment From Jorge]: Great time to buy...

11:46

[Comment From Matt W]: I thought about buying stock

11:46

rene - Apple store goes down a any time a new launch or product hits...



11:46

Dieter Bohn - http://www.thedigitallifestyle.tv/index.html also should have live video or audio

11:46

[Comment From stephen]: yea well a few months ago wen it was at $119 was a great time to buy

11:46

[Comment From Louie]: I have my credit card ready to go

11:47

rene - Apple appreciates all the money we throw at them, I'm sure. Should be a... brisk quarter to say the least

11:47

[Comment From GasDoc]: If it isnt released or at minimum announced today, stocks will take a hit. So you're good!

11:47

[Comment From Borja]: Rene , thanks for the answer

11:48

Dieter Bohn - all those 'mystery boxes' give me hope. The lady at the apple store in Tampa gave our guy a "wink and a nod" and said "come back after 1"



11:48

[Comment From stephen]: i just bought, i dont want the stocks to take a hit, haha that would suck for the time being at least

11:48

[Comment From Jorge]: Remember, it starts at one, but we have a 15 minute leeway due to the fact that Steve takes the first part of the keynote to remind us how awesome he is and how much he has sold this quarter

11:48

[Comment From Guest]: i thought the stores close ?

11:48

rene - @Borja: No worries. Apple Store went down every Tuesday this year for while, and often came back with goodness like price drops or storage bumps...

11:48

[Comment From GasDoc]: You're good. Its hitting today!!!!! Steve wont fail. He's too much of a genius.

11:49

rene - @Dieter: Hope she doesn't get Steved for that wink.

11:49

Dieter Bohn - The apple store in Tampa is open...

11:49

[Comment From stephen]: i work at an apple store in MA and everyone has to work everyday this week...there expecting huge crowds but wont tell us why haha

11:49

[Comment From Borja]: But it looks this time is because of new product coming out, isnt it?

11:50

rene - Physical Apple Stores will probably only close the day they go on sale, and only for a few hours, like last year, to set up the lines and get Scoble-press...

11:51

rene - @Crackberry Kevin: Only if you brought along enough popcorn for the sister sites!

11:51 [Poll popup] Should we publish most / all of the comments or would you folks rather hear from Rene and I? View Results

11:51

[Comment From Guest]: Haha i wonder how long its going to take to jailbreak the new iphone ? Hmm give or take i think a couple of days:)

11:51

[Comment From harley]: How long do thesew key notes usually last?

11:51

[Comment From Kevin]: Stephen, they don't let you in on the release? how do they keep that from you?

11:52

[Comment From stephen]: haha they give us hints but they dont say much

11:52

[Comment From pancho]: do you know if anyone on the web, is video streaming this ?

11:52

[Comment From Luis]: do you guys think we will be able to get our hands on a new iphone today?

11:52

[Comment From Guest]: probably... do u honestly feel that they will sell new iphone today after Jobs' presentation?

11:52

rene - Apparently Steve Jobs hid the iPod Hi-Fi under tarp even from his wife and children. The man is old school NSA type secret.

11:52

Dieter Bohn - I think today is feeling more and more likely

11:53

rene - Live stream again: http://www.iphonealley.com/news/macworld-2008-keynote-live-video-stream

11:53

Dieter Bohn - Looks like the "keep the noise level down" is edging out "turn on the firehose" by a small margin. Don't get mad at me if I don't publish your comment.

11:54

rene - My best guess is still announce today, release by end of month (19th in the US, staggered internationally up to July for some).

11:54

[Comment From Borja]: I think Jobs does his job better than anyone else. He creates magic and expectation before going on stage.

11:55

[Comment From Andrew]: I called the local apple store, he refused to answer my question of "questionable boxes" but he did say, trust me you will be very happy by the end of today.

11:55

Dieter Bohn - @Andrew - that's pretty much EXACTLY what the Tampa Apple Store told us. "I can't say anything. But I would stop by later if I were you"



11:56

[Comment From Kasper]: Sounds nice, kind of an confirmation

11:56

[Comment From Guest]: Maybe they will show off the advertisement, but don't have devices ready to sell

11:56

Dieter Bohn - Sadly, the boxes having demo units and other displays still seems most likely to me. But Dare to Dream!

11:57

[Comment From Guest]: i have a feeling i will be very frustrated with the internet by the end of the day....:(

11:57

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Question. Since the iPhone never made Rogers in the past year.... but we know it's coming... will it be the 3G iPhone that eventually lands in Canada first?

11:57

Dieter Bohn - @Kevin - You're going to give Rene heartburn. His Canadian Heart is aflame with a desire for a native iPhone.

11:57

[Comment From Lauren]: I went into the store wanting to buy an iphone on friday and the guy told me I should really wait until monday to see if the "rumors are true"

11:57

[Comment From tim]: Are people lining up today to buy at the stores, any news on that???

11:58

Dieter Bohn - @Tim - So far I haven't heard of any lines. Another piece of evidence that it won't be available for sale today.

11:58

[Comment From Kevin]: I plan on staying on this site to participate in the chat, but does anyone know of any blogs that will be updated live from WWDC?

11:58

Dieter Bohn - We have a list of the on-site blogs we're following in the full post below.

11:58

[Comment From Dave]: OK - you've got me hooked. I'm on the road now - will update you for east coast info. 15 mins there, I'll post from my Curve as I get info there

12:00

Dieter Bohn - From Gizmodo: "Here’s our prediction, and we’ve got 2 to 1 odds on Coldplay showing up at the end of the show, pimping their new album live. LIVE. No John Mayer today…we don’t think."



Heh. John Mayer has turned to the DARK SIDe (BlackBerry), while Coldplay is all up in the latest iPod commercials. Coldplay is a lock imo.



12:00

[Comment From Andy]: If it goes on sale today, do you think only the Apple Store will sell it and then days later AT&T stores too?

12:01

Dieter Bohn - @Andy - No idea. We're hedging our bets and sending folks to both places.

12:01

[Comment From Dave]: @andy - ATT store is on the way - I can check both

12:01

rene - @Kevin: If Rogers can break my heart, frustrate me, and remind me it owns me all at the same time, it will definately do so!

12:02

Rene Ritchie - Any idea the geek-jam it would cause if everyone rushed from the keynote to the Apple Store? San Francisco would shut down!

12:02

[Comment From stevey j]: apple store cleaned an area of store shelves

12:02

Dieter Bohn - @ stevey j: BOOM!

12:03

[Comment From Andrew]: I just talked to my buddy who works at the Apple store in Tysons Corner. He said he can't confirm anything specific, but he is the second person stating i will be very happy tonight.

12:03

[Comment From Andy]: Honestly, I hope AT&T stores will sell it too, cause the Apple Stores will most likley be packed with dozens of people

12:03

Rene Ritchie - @Stevey j: So he can zig when we all want him to zag and introduce something like Time Capsule Take 2?

12:03

Rene Ritchie - @Crackberry Kevin: Odds of Lazaridis showing up to announce Blackberry Connect for iPhone?



12:03 [Poll popup] Richie asks - any guesses on price points? View Results

12:04

[Comment From Kevin]: I just drove by the local AT&T store and there are people sitting outside. I was going to poke my head in and see if I could get a look at what might be hiding but i have to work

12:05

[Comment From Jebus Christ]: i left an att store and its hella people waiting outside i guess craigslist ill wait lol

12:05

Dieter Bohn - t-minus 55 minutes.

12:05

[Comment From Kevin]: i just checked the ATT website and they're sold out of the iphones (which probably isn't new news but thought I'd share)

12:06

[Comment From Scott L.]: Check out this link on the AT&T site: http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store/iphone/

12:06

[Comment From Lauren]: apple store was saying they were out of stock earlier as well

12:07

Rene Ritchie - Banners:



App Store: Now accepting applications



iPhone SDK: Let's see what develops



Masters of the marketing entendres, as always

12:07

[Comment From Richie]: "Vote your hopes, not your fears!"

12:08

Rene Ritchie - Fake Steve with the hillarity:



Confession: I'm wearing Depends today

12:08

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: @ Rene: 0 % Chance of Lazaridis showing up. Would laugh my butt off though.

12:08

[Comment From Guest]: Ok, that iPhone SDK line is hardly deserving of "masters of the marketing entendres"...unless this is 1984

12:08

[Comment From KRAZYK]: Apple store website says its updating stock

12:09

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: What color is it expected to be? Same sort of Black/Chrome or will it be more divergent to stand out from iPhone 1. Maybe white or something? I don't really follow non-BlackBerry news... haha

12:10 [Poll popup] When do you think it will be released? View Results

12:10

Rene Ritchie - @Crackberry Kevin: Rumors of a blond, brunette, and product (readhead) versions...

12:10

[Comment From Matt W]: some say sleek white sme say sleek black, or product red

12:10

[Comment From Kasper]: I do not hope it will be some kind of cheap plastic at the back, like the earliest pics have shown..

12:11

Rene Ritchie - How about odds of Ballmer coming on stage for the Exchange demo. What I wouldn't give to see an iPhone DEVELOPERS! Monkey boy dance...

12:11

[Comment From Kevin]: i'm hoping they keep it simple w/ the models. having different colors is one thing, but lets stick w/ one or two models of the phone.

12:11

[Comment From KRAZYK]: Just called my apple store they said they will realease new shipments after 8

12:11

[Comment From Charles]: Kevin..... Nice to see you keeping up to date on everything including non-Blackberry items

12:11

Dieter Bohn - New Shipments after 8? Won't they all be closed by then?

12:12

Rene Ritchie - NYC Apple Store is 24hrs, no?

12:12

[Comment From Kasper]: Not the one on 5th. 24/7

12:13

Rene Ritchie - (They're building a Montreal Flagship just down the street from where I work. No chance in time for the launch, though )

12:13

Dieter Bohn - Naturally, Twitter is not performing for me. Good thing I wasn't going to be depending on that! Ah, mac and iPhone geeks, so dependable in your habits!

12:15

Dieter Bohn - Looks like the line is moving slightly, they're not in the hall yet but they've moved to a different part of the building. I miss the rush to get front row sets at these things -- always so crazy. At the MacWorld conference, we started waiting in line at 3AM I believe -- we were far enough back that Steve Jobs looked like a Circus Peanut.

12:15

[Comment From Kevin]: We're now just 45minutes away from the keynote

12:16

[Comment From FJR]: So is it a given that the 2.0 software is coming out later today at the least?

12:16

Dieter Bohn - @FJR: If not today, then within the month.

12:19

Dieter Bohn - Alright, folks, everybody go get your bathroom breaks and smoke breaks and eat a little sammich or something. T-Minus 41 minutes.

12:19

[Comment From Mike]: I am looking foward to see which way the apple share price will go once the announcement is made.

12:20

[Comment From Nuge]: Why aren't my comments getting through?

12:21

Dieter Bohn - @Nuge - We're only sending through a subsection of the comments -- trying to keep things a little less harried and a little more on-topic. Nothing personal to anybody!

12:21

[Comment From KRAZYK]: big update!! Apple store says their receiving a big shipment between 11 and 2 oclock tommorow

12:21

[Comment From Brian]: @KRAZYK, what store?

12:22

[Comment From KRAZYK]: Northpark Mall Dallas, TX

12:22

[Comment From Blackberry Jeff]: I just called T-Mobile to ask them about cancelling my contract a month early. They asked why and I told them about the iPhone. They offered me a brand new Blackberry Curve for free if I stayed. I love Blackberry's, but i'm ready for something new.

12:22

Rene Ritchie - Remember folks, you can subscribe to the Keynotes now via iTunes. 3 are already in the feed, with this one to follow soon-ish...

12:23

[Comment From Andrew]: I called Pentagon City and the girl claims there is no product launch today, just a keynote. I told her my buddy at Tysons Corner claims they were clearing shelves, and she just kinda froze. I replied with "I'll see you in an hour" she said, "you probably will"

12:23

[Comment From fwt]: Will the "everyone" chat be turned off during the WWDC? Or will this be full of random thoughts and booms while it is going on?

12:24

Dieter Bohn - When it starts it will mostly be Me, Rene, and Casey with a few comments sent through from the readers when they're on-topic, interesting, I'm able to click the button to approve them.

12:24

[Comment From Brian]: @Dieter, I do not envy your job right now but appreciate you having this forum up

12:24

[Comment From Lee]: This is the best live interface I see available for the keynote Thanks for taking the time to keep us in the know!

12:26

Dieter Bohn - Aw, thanks to all the comments everybody. Ok, we're just over a half hour away now. Seriously - everbody go take a quick breather, it'll get crazy soon. Rene is in charge for a bit.

12:26

[Comment From Kevin]: Rene- can you offer some details on subscribing to the keynote?

12:26

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: is there a reason Apple.com is down for me right now?

12:27

[Comment From Dave]: @kevin - it's up, just no store

12:27

[Comment From Bob]: Kevin, simply go to iTunes and sign up for the keynotes podcasts

12:27

Rene Ritchie - Also, please remember that this year's Macworld Keynote brought down Twitter, 3 AOL data centers (Engadget), and tons of live blogs, so if things, er... slow down around the net, that's just Steve Jobs talking for ya...

12:28

Rene Ritchie - @Crackberry Kevin: Apple.com fine for me right now...

12:28 [Poll popup] Ryan asks: What if they don't release the iPhone 3g? View Results

12:29

Dieter Bohn -

12:29

Dieter Bohn - Well, the image code works. Big UPS to Vincent Nguyen for allowing us to use his liveblog images from iphonebuzz

12:31

[Comment From Ray]: is that a Starbucks placement ad?

12:32

[Comment From Andrew]: Are they playing the keynote at the apple stores? If the phone isn't available for purchase right away I can at least enjoy a nice break from work and watch.

12:33

Rene Ritchie - @Ryan: If they weren't going to announce iPhone 3G, they would released some statement saying they weren't going to talk about it today, to get the bad press out of the way before the event. They don't need that kind of massive anticipointment today...

12:34

[Comment From iPhone Cult]: Predictions, will the new iPhone support MMS?

12:35 [Poll popup] MMS? View Results

12:35

Rene Ritchie - I also wants: new "air-ish" Mac Books + Mac Book Pros, but I think the Intel delays make it unlikely before July

12:35

Dieter Bohn - The Tampa Apple Store is NOT showing the keynote.

12:40

Rene Ritchie - MMS will get subsumed by the greater, cross-platform/device protocols (hopefully non-proprietary). Phones will soon be indistinguisable from computers and we want want to be boxed into anything that doesn't transparently communicate with everything else...

12:40

[Comment From jack]: MMS is a dieing service

12:40

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: BlackBerrys have supported MMS for years. I dont expect to see this one get published :p

12:41

Rene Ritchie - Keynote live link again:



http://www.iphonealley.com/news/macworld-2008-keynote-live-video-stream

12:41

[Comment From Solberg]: Only 30 min to go!

12:41

[Comment From Guest 2]: New lighter, more powerful, lower priced MacBooks would be nice. Any chance Apple enters the UMPC market?

12:43

Rene Ritchie - @Guest 2: iTablet will come at some point (heck, iPhone was based on the previously developed iTablet), but I think today they will want to keep focus on iPhone. Maybe a special iTable event in October for the holiday season?

12:43

Rene Ritchie - DOORS ARE OPENING!



We're crossing the Rubicon here people!

12:44

Rene Ritchie - @Borja: Nope, I'm in Montreal. Reportedly even press had a hard time getting in. Leo Laporte was lamenting his lack of invitation on TWiT yesterday...

12:45

Dieter Bohn - Hooray the widgets works for me again!



12:46

[Comment From Matt]: Any ideas if the VLC media player will be an offical app? Would be nice to be able to play videos in other formats. Or will it just be for jailbroken phones?

12:46

Dieter Bohn - They're literarally RUSHING in right now. running like MADMEN

12:47

Rene Ritchie - @Matt: I don't see an official VLC. Apple won't let anything go near their iPod app.

12:47

[Comment From Mosscow]: Women & children first!

12:47

[Comment From Borja]: And what about Dieter, is he there? Someone from tib?

12:48

[Comment From Mosscow]: Women & children first!

12:48

Dieter Bohn - Nope, we're metaliveblogging, watching all the sites.

12:48

Rene Ritchie - They're playing Oldies music...

12:50

Rene Ritchie - Keynote - 20 minutes and counting!

12:51

[Comment From Blackberry Jeff]: What will AT&T/Apple do for current iPhone users?

12:51

Dieter Bohn - @Jeff - Sadly, there have been literally 0 rumors suggesting that there will be rebates or other offers for current iPhone owners.

12:51

Rene Ritchie - iTunes Keynote Feed:



http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=275834665



12:52

[Comment From Dan]: @Blackberry Jeff Nothing...like most companies would do

12:52

Rene Ritchie - @Jeff: Orange in France has rumored *free* upgrades. I do not believe it pour un petite second...

12:53

Dieter Bohn - Here are the official TiPb predictions for those who are asking: http://www.imore.com/2008/06/07/iphone-3g-predictions-countdown-to-wwdc-crystal-ball/



12:54

Rene Ritchie - A few weeks ago I found the receipt for my first ever DVD player. $700. Things change fast...

12:54

Rene Ritchie - A few weeks ago I found the receipt for my first ever DVD player. $700. Things change fast...

12:56

Rene Ritchie - Gizmodo has the pick! Uncle Walt is in the hizzie! (Mosconizzie?)

12:56

Dieter Bohn - Giz:



...That's Walt Mossberg and Al Gore?

12:56

[Comment From Ryan]: Al Gore is there apparently according to engadget. Maybe the solar powered iphone? Yeah i know i doubt it too.

12:57

Dieter Bohn - Giz:



...That's Walt Mossberg and Al Gore?

12:57

Dieter Bohn - Giz:



...That's Walt Mossberg and Al Gore?

12:58

Dieter Bohn - Giz:



...That's Walt Mossberg and Al Gore?

12:58

Dieter Bohn - Sorry for the multiple posts, guys. This widget not as good as I'd like!

12:59

[Comment From Laz]: Nice triple-post there, slick!

1:01

[Comment From Ryan]: Al Gore is there apparently according to engadget. Maybe the solar powered iphone? Yeah i know i doubt it too.

1:02

Rene Ritchie - Two iMacs on stage...

1:02

Dieter Bohn - ...and we're officially late starting.

1:03

Dieter Bohn - and it looks like coveritlive is failing us off and on still. It also looks like we're starting a little late too!

1:04

Rene Ritchie - Two iMacs on stage...

1:05

Casey Chan - Did I come late to the party?

1:06

Dieter Bohn - Several sites reporting some sort of hijinks at the back of the room, but no bloggers can tell what's going on because they're up front and can't see behind everybody standing up.

1:07

Dieter Bohn - macrumors: Apple Employees trying to get the crowd seated and settled.

1:07

Dieter Bohn - Several sites reporting some sort of hijinks at the back of the room, but no bloggers can tell what's going on because they're up front and can't see behind everybody standing up.

1:07

[Comment From Seagram]: Are they going to announce that Al Gore is really the one who invented the first iphone?

1:08

Dieter Bohn - Steve is on stage! "We've been working real hard on some great stuff that we can't wait to share with you."

1:08

Rene Ritchie - Wow. Nothing pwns the interwebs like a Jobsnote. The man is a living, breathing, DDoS attack...

1:08

Rene Ritchie - STEVE JOBS ON STAGE!

1:09

Dieter Bohn - He's talking up iFund,

1:09

Dieter Bohn - There are 3 parts to apple now: Mac, Music, and iPhone. (AppleTV still just a hobby, I guess)

1:09

Dieter Bohn - Ok, Snow Leopard Announced!

1:10

[Comment From Lee]: Can you see anything in his pocket? He's going to pull something out of his pocket!

1:10

Rene Ritchie - iPod part of Music now?

1:10

Dieter Bohn - Talking about iPhone 2.0 now -- Enterprise features like push email, push contacts, push calendar. All of this stuff built-in.

1:11

Casey Chan - He's looking a bit skinny. Maybe all those plane rides to foreign countries are catching up?

1:11

Rene Ritchie - OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, rumored to be a stability and feature fix version of OS X, no new features, but will integrate Mac, iPhone, Applt TV, and other branches. Building for the future...

1:11

Dieter Bohn - Lots of companies on board with iPhone 2.0 -- wow, he seems to be keeping this overview kind of short. Good tidings for new products?

1:12

Dieter Bohn - Video of how much enterprise customers love the iPhone 2.0

1:12

Rene Ritchie - Bittersweet on Exchange (I use it at work). Hey for the support, tears for increasing Microsoft's lock on proprietary non-standards...

1:12

MikeOverbo - @ Casey: his skinniness could be from the pancreatic cancer too...

1:13

Rene Ritchie - Three parts: iPhone 2.0 software, SDK, new features...

1:13

Dieter Bohn - 35% of the Fortune 500 has taken part in the beta program -- WOW. MUCH bigger than I expected. This is a much bigger threat to RIM than I would have guessed.

1:13

Dieter Bohn - 35% of the Fortune 500 has taken part in the beta program (double post sorry) -- this is a bigger rim killer than I thought.

1:14

Rene Ritchie - @Joe: Small updated (i.e. 10.5.1) are free, full point updates (i.e. 10.6) are usually ~$120. You don't HAVE to buy anything. Depends if the features are worth it to you. (Leopard sure was to me...)

1:15

Dieter Bohn - OOhh. Talking about Secret Service and Homeland Security. That's some security there, bub.

1:15

Rene Ritchie - @Velenti 9am PDT at the Keynote site.

1:15

Rene Ritchie - DEMO TIME!

1:15

Dieter Bohn - Video's over. what's next? Demo Baby.

1:15

Rene Ritchie - Searching contacts, filters as you type...

1:16

MikeOverbo - @ Mike: Apple store always closed during wwdc.

1:17

Dieter Bohn - Scott Forstall - he's really moving on up in the company, ain't he? Talking up APIs --- Wish I was smarter about this stuff. But it looks like a rehash of what we've heard before. Same kernel as Mac OSX

1:17

Rene Ritchie - Scott Forstall came with Jobs from NEXT, on the OS X team, and is the new VP of iPhone software. He demo'd the SDK in March.

1:18

Dieter Bohn - Core Location -- If they do this right, people will laugh at Android phones when they come out. system-level GPS and location is really the biggest "secret sauce" that I've heard Android has. Now if we get Mobile Me Cloud based stuff, Andoid is dead in the water.

1:18

MikeOverbo - basically means that anyone has experience in programming natively in OSX using the Cocoa APIs will have very few problems writing code for the iPhone.

1:18

Rene Ritchie - OS X uses the Mach kernal, and the BSD (UNIX) core.

1:19

Rene Ritchie - Reposting: Foretall came with Jobs from NEXT, where he worked on the OS. He's the new VP of iPhone software...

1:19

Dieter Bohn - Don't have enough time to demo all the tools (yay! good stuff coming), so he's showing interface builder.

1:20

Dieter Bohn - not having enough time to go through everything == good news for big announcements later.

1:20

Rene Ritchie - Apple says they're eating their own dog food wrt development. If true, that's a very good sign (reminder: it's a developers conference, not a consumer show like Macworld, so they'll be heavier with the geek!)

1:22

Dieter Bohn - Boy oh boy our site is having problems, innit? Whatever you do, don't refresh the page, you might not make it back! Still going through interface builder.

1:23

Rene Ritchie - I'll be posting in the comments as well, just in case... (Again, Jobs is a one man DDoS attack -- he pwns the interwebs).

1:23

Dieter Bohn - The "nearby friends" app is sweet, though. Being able to see any of your friends withiin 10 miles. I always love apps that make it easier for me to bar hop with friends.

1:23

[Comment From Rene Ritchie (Comments)]: Forstall is demoing the SDK... He came with Jobs from NEXT where he worked on the OS. Now he's VP of iPhone software....

1:24

Dieter Bohn - I hear there's a live stream at Yahoo: http://live.yahoo.com/Viru ...not loading for me properly though.

1:24

Rene Ritchie - The cloud is the future. Google is predicted to earn more than Windows/Office next year. Everyone will want their piece. Apple is smart to get in on it this way, and now...

1:25

Rene Ritchie - The SDK looks incredibly polished and does tons of heavy lifting for coders right out the box. Amazing piece of work. Anyone who still thinks this was just rushed out the door in March is crazy...

1:25

Dieter Bohn - The demo has wrapped up, "this has been out for 3 months [...] what do they think of it so far? The responses are unbelievable positive"

1:25

Rene Ritchie - BTW- Looks like Forstall is building the Friends App right there on stage! Dayum!

1:26

Dieter Bohn - "It blows away everyting we've worked with RIM"



1:27

Dieter Bohn - "It blows away anything we've worked with with RIM" ZINGO ZANGO! No wonder it's on 30% of Fortune 500 companies

1:27

MikeOverbo - ( j2me is rim's development platform, and it can be a bit of a mess

1:28

Dieter Bohn - Bringing in a bunch of developers to show what they've created. The first is Sega, probably going to show us another demo of Super Monkey Ball. WANT THIS GAME. Looks like tons of fun. They've polished it and gotten it ready for market.

1:29

Dieter Bohn - LOL. They have all 4 original monkeys, 5 different worlds full of levels. This is the best gaming platform. Showing off how well the tilt control works -- "pinpoint precision" -- huge applause.

1:29

Dieter Bohn - Huge applause for the pinpoint precision of the accelerometer

1:30

Dieter Bohn - (possible trip post here) Huge applause for the pinpoint precision of the accelerometer

1:30

Dieter Bohn - $9.99 for super monkey ball!!!

1:30

[Comment From shael]: ebay BOOOOOOOO

1:31

Dieter Bohn - eBay app going to be demo'd now. Yawner? I'm not an eBay fanatic so I can't really comment.

1:31

Rene Ritchie - Casey is probably trying to order SMB as he types...

1:31

MikeOverbo - $10 is a good price. should sell like hotcakes. wonder if the price was set by apple or Sega...

1:32

[Comment From shael]: sega....

1:32

[Comment From shael]: sega... for sure

1:32

Casey Chan - over 100 levels! easy buy!

1:32

Dieter Bohn - likely the price was set by both. Apple recently exhorted developers to not offer free apps if they can help it.

1:32

[Comment From Zach]: Hopefully some of the other big game makers will follow suit and keep the prices low

1:32

Rene Ritchie - Apple takes %30 for hosting/transaction, Sega takes %70 for the game. App Store puts in in front of every iPhone user. HUGE!!

1:32

Dieter Bohn - Likely set by both, IMO. Apple recently exhorted developers to not offer free apps.

1:33

Dieter Bohn - eBay app is FREE

1:33

Dieter Bohn - eBay app is free!

1:33

Rene Ritchie - @Dieter: I don't buy that story. My guess is free for simple/demo, paid for consumer/full level. Apple gives away too much HD video (bandwidth intensive) for them to be cheap on app downloads.

1:34

Rene Ritchie - Yup, Apple will want tons of free apps just to grow the platform.

1:34

Dieter Bohn - Chris @ the Tampe apple Store "Pretty sure they have them here. The one worker hinted toward it."

1:34

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Might have to start carrying both a BlackBerry Bold and an iPhone

1:34

Rene Ritchie - Jobs quote: Previous Apple management went for money over marketshare. He won't make that mistake...

1:35

Dieter Bohn - (Comments may be broken, will add them when I can)

1:35

Dieter Bohn - Showing Loopt now -- another social networking app that gives your friends' location.

1:35

[Comment From HouseofG]: @Dieter - Did Tampa and Tempe merger? No wonder it's so damn hot here!

1:36

Dieter Bohn - @HouseofG: Quite youse!

1:36

Dieter Bohn - TypePad (SixApart) showing off their app. I wonder if it's basically the same thing as the web app?

1:36

Dieter Bohn - TypePad (SixApart) showing off their app. I wonder if it's basically the same thing as the web app?

1:36

Rene Ritchie - Given the cult-of-Mac, that will nail a significant elitist networking niche...

1:37

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Might have to start carrying both a BlackBerry Bold and an iPhone

1:37

[Comment From Guest]: live audio: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wwdc-2008-live-keynote-audio-stream

1:38

MikeOverbo - blog posts with photos uploaded from the camera will be nice.

1:38

Dieter Bohn - we're over a half hour in and the new stuff is just that they promised to show Snow Leopard "after lunch." I'm getting nervous.

1:38

MikeOverbo - (loopt is free!)

1:38

Dieter Bohn - TypePad will be free too.

1:38

Dieter Bohn - TypePad will be free too.

1:40

Dieter Bohn - Now we hear from the Associated Press. A Native News app sounds nice. "Mobile News Network."

1:40

Dieter Bohn - Now we hear from the Associated Press. A Native News app sounds nice. "Mobile News Network."

1:40

Rene Ritchie - Gruber is saying Serlet's Snow Leopard demo this afternoon will be under NDA...

1:40

[Comment From Andrew]: I'm really happy to see all of these free apps that are coming out. I know it is only a few, but it will definitely give a boost to platform, allowing people to experience a few, and then be pulled into spending $ on programs.

1:41

Dieter Bohn - Andrew writes "I'm really happy to see all of these free apps". 100% Agreed. (comments still borked, stil trying to publish them directly)

1:41

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: remember, whatever is shown today will help shape the coming year not just for iphone-heads, but for the entire mobile device and application space...

1:41

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Gruber is saying Snow Leopard won't be shown until Serlet's demo later today, which will be under NDA...

1:42

Dieter Bohn - Oof. Another demo of another SDK. Pangea Software, a Mac Games developer. iPhone 2.0 and App Store better launch TODAY or I'll be unhappy. Then again, we have to remember, this is the WW DEVELOPERS conference. Still. Le Sigh.

1:42

Rene Ritchie - Jobs is discussing SDK first, new features next (according to what they say he said), so stuff on GPS, etc. is hopefully still to come...

1:43

[Comment From Seagram]: So GPS is all but confirmed, right? It is needed for Loopt, right?

1:43

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: remember, whatever is shown today will help shape the coming year not just for iphone-heads, but for the entire mobile device and application space...

1:43

[Comment From Andrew]: I'm really happy to see all of these free apps that are coming out. I know it is only a few, but it will definitely give a boost to platform, allowing people to experience a few, and then be pulled into spending $ on programs.

1:43

Rene Ritchie - App Store live today, or live when 3G goes on sale? I'm guessing the latter...

1:44

Rene Ritchie - @StarWulfe: Apple defined the CLI with the Apple II, the GUI with the Mac, now they are re-defining the mobile platform with iPhone...

1:44

[Comment From wallyfr00]: @Dieter - Gizmodo's blog said "WordPress told them their native iPhone app is coming soon, somewhere around the end of the week or early next week." maybe that means we'll get the app store today

1:45

[Comment From Andrew]: I'm currently sitting in an Apple store...a few employees won't tell me anything, but they've said they haven't seen anything in the back...they must be lying.

1:45

Dieter Bohn - [Andrew writes: "I'm currently sitting in an Apple store...a few employees won't tell me anything, but they've said they haven't seen anything in the back...they must be lying." ]: 1:45

MikeOverbo - my guess: live when 2.0 software is released, today

1:45

Dieter Bohn - [Andrew writes: "I'm currently sitting in an Apple store...a few employees won't tell me anything, but they've said they haven't seen anything in the back...they must be lying." ]: 1:45

Dieter Bohn - [Andrew writes: "I'm currently sitting in an Apple store...a few employees won't tell me anything, but they've said they haven't seen anything in the back...they must be lying." ]: 1:46

Dieter Bohn - Another developer. "even a solo developer can create an amazing application for the iPhone." Developer for the Insurance Industry from England. Not what we're going to expect, eh?

1:46

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Apple defined the CLI with the APPLE II, the GUI with the Mac, and now are re-defining the mobile platform...

1:46

Dieter Bohn - Another developer. "even a solo developer can create an amazing application for the iPhone." Developer for the Insurance Industry from England. Not what we're going to expect, eh?

1:46

Dieter Bohn - Another developer. "even a solo developer can create an amazing application for the iPhone." Developer for the Insurance Industry from England. Not what we're going to expect, eh?

1:46

Casey Chan - Pangea's games are also $9.99. Think that's going to be the price point for games?

1:47

Rene Ritchie - Graphical level of Nintendo N64, 3 days to get ports up and running...

1:47

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Apple defined the CLI with the APPLE II, the GUI with the Mac, and now are re-defining the mobile platform...

1:47

Dieter Bohn - Looks likea music making app. Lots of fun and lots of applause for him.

1:48

MikeOverbo - portable garage band!

1:48

Dieter Bohn - Dang! Everybody thinks it's awesome. Good move ending with the one guy who makes an app in his spare time. Everybody is super smiley-time with this!

1:48

Rene Ritchie - Enigmo and Cro-Mag rally are the game titles...

1:48

Dieter Bohn - Oh, wishful thinking he was last. :-/ . MLB.com is up next -- demo'ing a baseball app next.

1:49

Rene Ritchie - Enigmo and cro-mag ralley were the 2 games...

1:49

[Comment From Brent Shelton]: Dev Center for iphone is down too so 2.0 should be available today http://developer.apple.com/iphone

1:49

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Enigmo and cro-mag ralley were the 2 games...

1:50

Dieter Bohn - MLB App has REAL TIME VIDEO.

1:50

Casey Chan - $9.99 looks like the price point for games...

1:50

Rene Ritchie - All demo's are being shown on what looks like current gen iPhones...

1:50

Dieter Bohn - "Best possible Video experience on EDGE." Wouldn't that be "not"? Wokka wokka!

1:50

[Comment From Bruce Kamby]: "All demo's are being shown on what looks like current gen iPhones... " Maybe to show their backwards compatibility

1:51

Dieter Bohn - Two more medical apps -- this thing is going to replace Palm and PPC for a LOT of medical industry types.

1:52

Rene Ritchie - Steve Jobs giving glasses of water to the medical industry...

1:52

[Comment From MC1171611]: by 2.0 all iPhones will be running the same firmware...just a little different hardware for the 3G

1:53

Casey Chan - So I guess I can see my Dodger's futility everywhere I go now?

1:53

Rene Ritchie - @MC1171611: Like Leopard on a G4 vs. Intel Core 2 Duo...

1:53

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: if only it had an IR transceiver--it would also replace the palm as the PDA of choice for those in the real estate industry that must use lockboxes.

1:54

MikeOverbo - 1/2 hour of app demos so far...

1:54

Rene Ritchie - It's WWDC

1:54

Dieter Bohn - Another Medical app. Sorry guys, I can't get myself to care too deeply about this beyond knowing that there is a TON of smarpthone and PDA use out there and this is a Big. Deal. for a lot of people.

1:54

[Comment From Paul]: It's almost an hour later; where are the Apple product announcements? Hmm.

1:55

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Apparently Apple's stock is down $5 since this live blog started... they should just get to the good stuff!

1:55

Dieter Bohn - [From CrackBerry Kevin: Apparently Apple's stock is down $5 since this live blog started... they should just get to the good stuff!]: 1:56

Rene Ritchie - Like Indy 4, the App demo segment could've used some good editing...

1:57

Rene Ritchie - @Crackberry Kevin: Profit takers panicking over too many free apps??

1:57

Dieter Bohn - "removed it from the realm of black art." ..iPhone 2.0: the best thing to hit the medical industry since leeches!

1:58

Dieter Bohn - Ok, phew, we're on the last app demo now. Hooray! Another game

1:58

[Comment From Dave]: @Dieter, at apple store now, columbia, md, no new units, no clean shelf, zip. business as usual, employees not saying squat (

1:58

[Comment From ckwells]: No one cares about half of this crap. Show us something good.

1:58

[Comment From GaryUSC]: If there are no announcement for the 3G iPhone today, the stock will retreat by more than just $5. A lot of the recent run up in the share price has the 3G iPhone news built in to it.

1:58

[Comment From Rene Ritchie (Comments)]: Any more of these medial apps and I am going to need a doctor!

1:59

MikeOverbo - to garyUSC: the stocks will just go up again when it's released anyway.

1:59

Dieter Bohn - Ok, we're done with demos now. I can has iPhone 3G now??

2:00

Rene Ritchie - 3D (not 3G!) fantasy adventure game, done in just 2 weeks. Somewhere between DS and PSP quality...

2:00

Rene Ritchie - Ready by September...

2:01

MikeOverbo - 'dungeon siege' has been mentioned as a comparison to the fantasy game.

2:01

Dieter Bohn - "There has been 1 feature request that doesn't currently exist in the SDK that doesn't exist yet." They want to get a notification even when the user isn't currently running the application.

2:01

Dieter Bohn - the wrong solution is to enable background processes. To allow an app to continue to run [...] bad for battery life... bad for performance...

2:02

Dieter Bohn - making fun of WM's task manager

2:02

Rene Ritchie - Also gets into issues of notification overload/collision...

2:02

Dieter Bohn - mocking WM task manager. but offering a push notification service to all devs!!

2:02

Dieter Bohn - mocking WM task manager. but offering a push notification service to all devs!!

2:03

Dieter Bohn - mocking WM task manager. but offering a push notification service to all devs!!

2:03

MikeOverbo - Gary -- there's generally no price difference between edge plans and 3g plans.

2:03

Dieter Bohn - mocking WM task manager. but offering a push notification service to all devs!! (expect multiple posts on this one)

2:03

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Also bad for notification overload/collision

2:03

Dieter Bohn - push service gives you your own custom sounds, text alerts, etc. This is a good solution. Sort of a half NOC I guess.

2:04

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Also bad for notification overload/collision

2:04

Rene Ritchie - Repost: Also bad for notification overload/collision

2:04

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update!

2:04

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update!

2:05

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update! (repost)

. Steve back on

2:05

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update! (repost)

. Steve back on

2:05

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update! (repost)

. Steve back on

2:05

MikeOverbo - w00t for push services. noc style scares me, given all those blackberry outages. @thomrobinson: at&t has a 3g coverage map on their website so you can check if your area is covered.

2:05

Dieter Bohn - the Push service will be available in september... the update for the SDK. sounds like we'll get the apps before that. We're done with the SDK update! (repost)

. Steve back on. Contact search is here. Full iWork documents! Edit documents!

2:06

Rene Ritchie - I was wrong, Mobile iWork now!

2:06

Dieter Bohn - Office docs too of course. Oh wait, maybe not editing? Nope, sorry for the wrong news...

2:06

Dieter Bohn -



This is nuts. yeah.. ok, it is.

2:06

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.

2:06

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.

2:06

[Comment From JFH]: Copy paste?

2:06

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.

2:07

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.

2:07

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.(repost). a lot of new langauges! 2 forms of entry for Japanese and 2 for Chinese.

2:07

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.(repost). a lot of new langauges! 2 forms of entry for Japanese and 2 for Chinese.

2:07

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.(repost). a lot of new langauges! 2 forms of entry for Japanese and 2 for Chinese.

2:07

[Comment From sietedos72]: Apples shares are down from $185 to $178 and still falling!

2:07

Dieter Bohn - scientific calculator, parental controls.(repost). a lot of new langauges! 2 forms of entry for Japanese and 2 for Chinese.

2:07

Rene Ritchie - Demi-Noc still single point of failure, but the criticality of the apps depending on it might mitigate (or should for sane users...) Still, CrackBerry Kevin will mock the demi-NOC at first signs of outage...

2:08

Casey Chan - Hey, we get to save our images in e-mail directly to library now..

2:08

Dieter Bohn - released in early July. BOOO

2:08

MikeOverbo - parental controls and international language support...

2:08

Dieter Bohn - released in early July. BOOO. Price down to $9.95 for iPod Touch users.

2:08

[Comment From Jonathan Campbell]: early july...

2:08

Rene Ritchie - #Apple Shares: They will fall until the moment Jobs pulls the iPhone 3G from his pocket...

2:08

Dieter Bohn - released in early July. BOOO. Price down to $9.95 for iPod Touch users.

2:09

[Comment From Darren Lu]: RE: saving email images: ABOUT TIME

2:09

Dieter Bohn - [Darren writes: RE: saving email images: ABOUT TIME]: 2:09

Dieter Bohn - [Darren writes: RE: saving email images: ABOUT TIME]: 2:09

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: @ Rene. The only reason I would knock the demi-NOC failure is so you have material to write about for your weekly Smartphone Schadenfreude

2:09

[Comment From sietedos72]: Stop press, Apples stock now down nearly $10, and $5 of that is the last 5 mins... they need that 3G!

2:10

Dieter Bohn - 62 Countries for the App Store..

2:10

MikeOverbo - second on that boo! for july. we were promised june, if memory serves.

2:10

Casey Chan - If 3G is out today, all will be forgiven though..

2:10

Dieter Bohn - If the app is over 10 megabytes, has to be downloaded over WiFi or iTunes, otherwise they'll let you download over "cellular network".

2:10

Rene Ritchie - Yup, June. Which previously meant June 30 at 11:59pm. Still, better late and polished than rushed and Vista'd...

2:11

MikeOverbo - devs set price for apps, not everything will be $10 or free.

2:11

Dieter Bohn - They're doing a customer "enterprise" option for distributiing apps just to their iPhones. In other words, if you want to sell via something other than the app store, this could POTENTIALLY be a window you could FORCE open. For now, though, expect it just to work for enterprise.

2:11

Rene Ritchie - FairPlay DRM will wrap all apps

2:12

Dieter Bohn - Whoa, wrong! Ad Hoc Apps....

2:12

Rene Ritchie - (This means if you sell your iPhone, the person who buys it may not be able to take ownership of the apps since they'll be bound to the original iTunes account...)

2:12

Dieter Bohn - "Ad Hoc Distribution" -- expanding Developer Certification Program.. you can register up to 100 iPhones ... so not really a good distribution method widely, but more for academic purposes....

2:13

Dieter Bohn - SOMETHING ENTIRELY NEW. MOBILE ME.

2:13

Dieter Bohn - Phil Shiller coming on.

2:13

Dieter Bohn - Phil Schiller doing the demo

2:13

[Comment From zebu]: what about copy/paste?

2:13

[Comment From Jonathan Campbell]: great name..

2:13

Rene Ritchie - Repost: DRM likely means that if you sell your iPhone, the buyer won't get the apps since they can't authorize the original iTunes account)

2:14

Dieter Bohn - "Exchange for the Rest of Us" Schiller called it "ActiveStink" Whoops.

2:14

Dieter Bohn - "Exchange for the Rest of Us" Schiller called it "ActiveStink" Whoops.

2:14

Dieter Bohn - "Exchange for the Rest of Us" Schiller called it "ActiveStink" Whoops. (repost)

2:14

Rene Ritchie - Repost: DRM likely means that if you sell your iPhone, the buyer won't get the apps since they can't authorize the original iTunes account)

2:14

Dieter Bohn - "Exchange for the Rest of Us" Schiller called it "ActiveStink" Whoops. (repost) With Mobile me we can all get push email, contacts, and calendar

2:14

Dieter Bohn - Compatible with Mac and PC.

2:15

Rene Ritchie - If MobileMe popularizes IMAP IDLE, CalDAV and related open protocols, it will be good for non-Exchange internet development...

2:15

Dieter Bohn - Showing how everything pushes -- from computer to mobileme, from iPhone to mobileme , etc etc.

2:16

Dieter Bohn - Works with native apps on Mac or PC. iCal, Mail, Address book, Outlook.

2:16

Rene Ritchie - Here comes the cloud...

2:16

Rene Ritchie - Here comes the cloud!

2:16

MikeOverbo - syncing .mac stuff to more than two computers with .mac is at times fraught with peril... hopefully the push aspect (with central info @ .mac) fixes this.

2:16

Dieter Bohn - They built Web 2.0 apps to go with all this too. Doesn't sound like we're getting Google-backed services. it's Me.com

2:17

Rene Ritchie - Here comes the cloud!

2:17

Dieter Bohn - me.com isn't live yet.

2:17

Dieter Bohn - me.com isn't live yet.

2:17

[Comment From Tom]: No task sync???????

2:17

Dieter Bohn - me.com isn't live yet. (repost)

2:17

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: but will mobileME play nicely with those of us using exchange? can we sync different types? (Exchange, SyncML, etc?)

2:17

[Comment From Thom Robinson]: What if you only use GMail? Will you be able to get your contact information from that?

2:17

Rene Ritchie - MobileMe won't work with Exchange -- it's designed to BE Exchange for non-Exchange users...

2:17

Dieter Bohn - Photos can be synced over the air as well.

2:18

[Comment From CrackBerry Kevin]: Will MobileMe push back to a BlackBerry??

2:18

Dieter Bohn - [CrackBerry Kevin] -

Will MobileMe push back to a BlackBerry??

2:18

Rene Ritchie - Repost: MobileMe won't work with Exchange, it's designed to BE Exchange for non-Exchange users, and likely do more of what a non-Business user will like...

2:18

Dieter Bohn - won't work with BlackBerries either I'm sure.

2:18

Dieter Bohn - demo Time!

2:18

MikeOverbo - (web apps with ajax) -- probably a very portable client.

2:18

Rene Ritchie - (But will it be competitive with Windows Live Mesh when that goes Live-er?)

2:19

Rene Ritchie - But will it be competitive with Windows Live Mesh when that goes Live-er??

2:19

Dieter Bohn - "just like a desktop app" -- round of applause.

2:20

Dieter Bohn - iDisk built into MobileMe.

2:20

Rene Ritchie - GUI is gorgeous. They really nail the software/services hybrid client. This is a good entry into the Cloud Space. I wonder if the Google CEO recused himself from Apple board meetings on this??

2:20

MikeOverbo - @George Smart: the publish comment widget is broken.

2:20

[Comment From George Smart]: Apple stock is at $6.55

2:20

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: *sigh* no "holy Grail" for us that like to keep both work (Exchange) and personal (GCalendar or iCal) in sync on one device... Any developers out there wanna take a shot at that one?

2:21

Rene Ritchie - @George Smart: The stock isn't AT $6.55, it's stll in the high hundreds...

2:22

[Comment From Cat]: It's down $6.15

2:22

Dieter Bohn - TUAW points out the lack of adds. smells like a subscription.

2:22

Rene Ritchie - @StarWulfe: Exchange runs on proprietary protocols designed for monopolistic reasons not to play nice with others.

2:22

MikeOverbo - let's hope its built into .mac so my money spent there starts being useful ;P

2:22

Rene Ritchie - .Mac is already $100 a year, so I'm guessing this will be paid. (And @Mike: AGREED!)

2:23

Dieter Bohn - contact app has built-in support for Google Maps.

2:23

Rene Ritchie - (They also need to significantly up the iDisk storage limit)

2:23

[Comment From sietedos72]: They will have to lower the price for mobileme, I don't think .mac took off so well due to it being $100 a year or something.

2:23

[Comment From merv]: the screenshot on engadget of login page *does* say signup for a "free trial"... so definitely some money exchanged at some point.

2:23

[Comment From David]: How long does this whole conference go for? If the 3G iPhone is the last thing to be announced, what is the latest this would happen?

2:24

Dieter Bohn - @David - probably in the next 20 minutes.. due to last another 40...

2:24

MikeOverbo - @david: they don't usually announce when the end is

2:24

Dieter Bohn - I stand corrected. Still demoing MobileMe by the way. Or is is Me.com? Worst Branding to come out of Apple in years.

2:24

Rene Ritchie - @Enagdget: Odds of this being Flash based? I would guess less that nill... (Though it would certainly re-ignite the rumors...)

2:25

[Comment From Ryan]: No 3G announcement. I'm calling it. Apple with a big fumble at the goal line.

2:25

[Comment From MC1171611]: No doubt the .Mac service will be rolled into MobileMe either right now or soon...

2:25

[Comment From Laz]: Dieter, I'd be willing to bet that the move from .mac to .me was designed to lure non-Mac iPhone / iPod users

2:25

[Comment From mo]: heard al gore is gonna demo it?

2:25

MikeOverbo - @laz: that's a great call.

2:25

Dieter Bohn - @mo: LOL! Will he do it with PowerPoint?

2:26

Rene Ritchie - @Dieter, isn't Al a *huge* Keynote user? Or was that a power industry joke?

2:26

Dieter Bohn - This mobile me stuff all looks pretty slick, but it's ambiguous -- will it only work with a me.com email address??

2:27

Rene Ritchie - Bets on who gets first registration of mini@me.com??? (TM Brian)

2:27

Dieter Bohn - wrapping up... Service, available for 99 per year.

2:27

Dieter Bohn - 20gb of online storage.

2:27

MikeOverbo - longshot: it will work with any mail provider that gives imap access.

2:27

Dieter Bohn - 60 day free trial.

2:27

MikeOverbo - (that's a guess)

2:28

Dieter Bohn - .mac automatically upgraded.

2:28

[Comment From Ryan]: no one will buy this. just like no one bought .mac

2:28

[Comment From Brian]: that's too much, they need to lower to about 50

2:28

Rene Ritchie - Basically .Mac on steroids for the same price... Wonder if new Mac owners will still get the usual ~30% discount...

2:28

Dieter Bohn - Steve back on. "near and dear to my heart" -- the iPhone. Talking about the anniversary coming up.

2:28

Rene Ritchie - .Mac was worth $99 for me just for the sync and the Back-to-my-Mac which I use near-constantly.

2:29

Dieter Bohn - "This is the phone that changes phones forever." huge applause.

2:29

MikeOverbo - @iphonebrent: you can usually watch the stream on apple's web page after the event.

2:29

[Comment From Paul]: @ Dieter: I'd like to call and ask about the 60 day trial and $99 service, but there's no phone.

2:30

Dieter Bohn - Talking about how iPhone users use MORE of the iPhone features than they do on other phones.

2:30

Dieter Bohn - going after other platforms.

2:30

Dieter Bohn - sold 6 million iPhones until they 'ran out'

2:30

Rene Ritchie - Google search and map usage on iPhone is reportedly off the charts...

2:30

MikeOverbo - 90% customer satisfaction (!)

2:31

Dieter Bohn - Challenges they need to beat. 3G network. Huge applause. Enterprise. 3rd party apps. 4th: sell in more countries.

2:31

Dieter Bohn - iphone risk map coming up?

2:31

Rene Ritchie - 98% browse. 94% email.

2:31

Dieter Bohn - congrats Vincent on having your picture up!!

2:31

Rene Ritchie - If so, am I allowed to send a DMCA demand?

2:31

Dieter Bohn - need to make the iPhone more affordable....

2:32

Dieter Bohn - Today we're introducting the iPhone ROAR CHEER WOOO!!!! (yeah didn't catch that)

2:32

Dieter Bohn - iPhone 3G

I win!

2:32

Dieter Bohn - thinner at edges, plastic back, rumors were true. Rene got it right exactly. Flush headphone jack.

2:33

Rene Ritchie - OMGZ1! New iPhonz! FTW11!!!

2:33

MikeOverbo - #1 reason people don't buy an iphone: price (56%)

2:33

[Comment From sietedos72]: WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

2:33

[Comment From Zach]: WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2:33

[Comment From Dan]: WOOOT!

2:33

[Comment From StarrWulfe]: YES!

2:33

[Comment From Ryan]: i was wrong.

2:33

[Comment From andyt3ch]: yyeeiiaaq

2:33

[Comment From jk]: yesss!!!!

2:33

[Comment From MC1171611]: Bout friggin' TIME!

2:34

Dieter Bohn - Same browser over Edge and over 3G.... 21 seconds on 3g. .........

2:34

MikeOverbo - looks like the very flat back is gone, meaning it will be easier to ipck up. looks a bit thicker to me too.



also, flush headphone jack.

2:34

Dieter Bohn - (images up here: live.gizmodo.com )

2:35

Dieter Bohn - .......

2:35

Rene Ritchie - 8GB?!

2:35

Dieter Bohn - 59 seconds on edge.

2:35

Dieter Bohn - 3G 2.8 times faster.

2:35

Dieter Bohn - 3G speeds approach wifi speeds...

2:36

Dieter Bohn - 36% faster than the Nokia n95 and Treo 750.

2:36

[Comment From carsly]: 8GB to keep prices down

2:36

[Comment From j]: it better be cheap, i don't see the vast majority of consumers shelling out big bucks for another phone, when "6 million" have shelled out in just the past year.

2:36

[Comment From R'Copeh]: No front facing camera either. Interesting.

2:36

Rene Ritchie - (Please let Rogers get reasonable data rates. Please let Rogers get reasonable data rates Please let Rogers get reasonable data rates)

2:37

MikeOverbo - i'm going to guess that they'll have a high-end version available with more storage.

2:37

Dieter Bohn - What about battery life? 300 hours on the original iPhone. 2G talk time from 8 hours to 10 hours on iPhone 3G... Other phones have 3G talk time in 3 to 3.5 hour range. iPhone 3G has 5 hours.

2:38

Dieter Bohn - 5-6 hours of 3G browsing. Definitely a step down from the previous iPhone but still damn decent. 24 hours of Audio...

2:38

Dieter Bohn - GPS!

2:38

Rene Ritchie - Is 5hrs enough? And can you default to 2.5G to save battery?

2:38

Dieter Bohn - Get location from WiFi and from GPS.

2:39

MikeOverbo - 5 hrs is typical of most high-end smartphones... lots of them only get 3-4, which is why extendo batteries are so popular.

2:39

Dieter Bohn - 5 hours is actually better than most, yes. But without a replaceable battery, it's a *little* nerve wracking.

2:39

Rene Ritchie - Anyone wanna bet Jony Ive didn'ty include no changeable battery on this baby?

2:39

Dieter Bohn - Built-in GPS, Faster Data. Enterprise.. What about the other challenges?

2:40

MikeOverbo - price is the one i'm waiting for

2:40

[Comment From Dan]: It is going to be cheap, look that was oneof his main points

2:40

[Comment From Bruce Kamby]: Stock just went up to 182

2:40

[Comment From David]: come on better quality camera....

2:40

[Comment From chris]: What about copy/paste? is there in there yet?

2:40

[Comment From john]: CANADA????

2:40

Rene Ritchie - Canadian release date is what I'm waiting for...

2:40

Dieter Bohn - Check off 3rd party apps. More countries.. Now it's in 6 countires...

2:41

Dieter Bohn - Goal of 12 countries, stretch goal of 25 countries. here comes the boom..

2:41

Dieter Bohn - Playing "its a small world after all" to occasional cheers as people's countries come up...

2:42

Rene Ritchie - Steve loves him his Disney!

2:43

MikeOverbo - mexico and canada are on the extendo map, as well as much of south america

2:43

Dieter Bohn - 70 countries

2:43

MikeOverbo - kadooj!

2:44

Rene Ritchie - China?!

2:44

Dieter Bohn - China.

2:44

Dieter Bohn - Last goal: price!

2:44

Rene Ritchie - Zhi Shi Fei Chang Hao!

2:44

Dieter Bohn - $599, now $399 for an 8gig.

2:44

MikeOverbo - cache.gizmodo.com/assets/wwdc08/2008wwdclive193.jpg

2:45

Dieter Bohn - iPhone 3Gboom wow yell can't hear!

2:45

Dieter Bohn - $199! for 8gig. 299 for 16 gig

2:45

Casey Chan - 199!!!

2:45

Rene Ritchie - Boom!

2:45

Dieter Bohn - wil come in white too

2:45

MikeOverbo - wow

2:45

Dieter Bohn - WOWZERS

2:46

[Comment From Borja]: wooooooooooooow!

2:46

[Comment From James]: impressive

2:46

[Comment From cheese]: AWESOME!!!!!!!!

2:46

[Comment From Ambrose, with an 'R']: holy crap

2:46

Casey Chan - who needs carrier subsidies!

2:46

Dieter Bohn - July 1st?

2:46

Rene Ritchie - Wonder how many competing execs just went into cadiac arrest...

2:46

MikeOverbo - they're driving the price down of smartphones, that's for sure.

2:46

Dieter Bohn - Showing an ad now.

2:47

MikeOverbo - seems that white might be available only in 16gb version?

2:47

Dieter Bohn - July 11th Launch Date

2:47

Rene Ritchie - @Crackberry Kevin throwing some cut and paste rain on the 3G parade...

2:47

[Comment From MC1171611]: $184 now!

2:47

[Comment From malcontent]: So much for Sprint/Samsung

2:47

Rene Ritchie - July 11 gives them a nearly guaranteed 2 months of free hype...

2:47

Dieter Bohn - (want one more thing)

2:48

MikeOverbo - @damien: there is no subsidy for the iphone.

2:48

Rene Ritchie - Jobs said a "maximum of $199", doesn't that leave the door open for less?

2:48

Rene Ritchie - (engadget says Jobs said that, for clarity)

2:50

Rene Ritchie - LOL@Steve: first iPhone to beat the iPhone

2:50

MikeOverbo - iphone teams getting applause...

2:50

Rene Ritchie - Deservedly so. Probably haven't seen their families since March...

2:51

Rene Ritchie - iPhone 3G was the "one more thing" ?!

2:51

[Comment From Tom]: We have to wait another 4 weeks?

2:51

[Comment From MC1171611]: Aww...no unlocked iPhone

2:51

[Comment From Borja]: no improved camera mp?

2:51

MikeOverbo - it does leave the door open for less, but you won't see a subsidy anywhere there's an apple store.

2:52

MikeOverbo - looks like that's it.

2:52

Dieter Bohn - That's a wrap, everybody!



2:52

Rene Ritchie - @Mike I'm guessing those scrappy Euro-carriers will subsidize...

2:52

[Comment From MC1171611]: Did he even SAY "One More Thing"?

2:52

Dieter Bohn - Nope!

2:52

Rene Ritchie - Okay, what will iPhone 4G be like?

2:52

Dieter Bohn - lol!

2:53

[Comment From Vyktoryuh]: 4 more weeks!?!?!?!?!

2:53

MikeOverbo - heh, when will iphone 2.0 be released?

2:53

[Comment From R'Copeh]: Shame there's no mention of GPS working with an external Bluetooth. Shags us V1 users

2:53

[Comment From FamousJerry]: im holding out till iphone 6g

2:53

[Comment From Kurt]: Thx Dieter & gang for the coverage!

2:53

[Comment From Dan]: THE STORE IS UP!

2:53

[Comment From chris]: the 4g better have cut and paste

2:53

Rene Ritchie - I'm guessing more stuff will filter out between now and launch day.

2:53 [Poll popup] Was it good for you? View Results

2:54

[Comment From CoachFreak]: so on our "did not get" list Flash, iChat, MMS, copy/paste, better camera, better battery life/ but we DID get a cheaper pricetag, 3G, GPS, mobleme sync

2:54

[Comment From R'Copeh]: Second that from Kurt. Thanks for the coverage.

2:54

[Comment From Mike]: Go Blackberry

2:54

Rene Ritchie - BT stack news, hopefully...

2:54

[Comment From Darren Lu]: store back up with iphone 3G!!!1

2:54

MikeOverbo - @eric: I'm giving my iphone 1.0 to my wife so she can ditch her treo 680

2:54

[Comment From Matt]: Store says it is available in white

2:54

Rene Ritchie - @Mike, where do you want Blackberry to go? That sounds awfully mean?

2:54

[Comment From FamousJerry]: the store is up and has listings of all the phone deatils and .me

2:54

[Comment From frank]: whats the point of having shut down the stores, and built everything up only to release it until july

2:55

[Comment From Matt]: Store says it is available in white

2:55

Rene Ritchie - iPhone 3G up on Apple Store Canada!

2:55

MikeOverbo - lots of comments indicating that white is available for every version

2:55

[Comment From sietedos72]: mobileme is on the store page too

2:55

Rene Ritchie - No "black" Apple tax like for MacBook!

2:55

[Comment From Matt W]: well, i'm out. thanks for the coverage

2:55

[Comment From R'Copeh]: LOL! There's all of a sudden a Brother Printer Driver update in Software Update. What the hell? Where did that come from!

2:55

[Comment From Matt M]: No camera improvement, no front facing camera, plus a cheaper feel (most likely) I think I will hold off and keep my ver 1.0.

2:55

MikeOverbo - mobileme indicates that it's live in july.

2:56

MikeOverbo - gotta go, thx everyone.

2:56

Dieter Bohn - We're outie 5000!



2:56

[Comment From Raphael]: Thanks for the coverage!

What? Oh, sorry... You though we...? Nope. Dunno. Haven't the foggiest. Maybe you could tell us? When Steve Jobs pulls out the updated version of his little pocket universe dent'er, what's he going to call it?

• iPhone 3G
• iPhone Black
• iPhone: The Next Generation
• iPhone Nano
• iPhone Pro
• i2
• iPhone BOLDEST
• iPhone X 2.0 "Lynx"
• iPhone M6524X2519 (oops, Nokia's already TM'd that...)
• iPhone Me
• iPhone Take 2
• iPhone Release II: Attack of the iClones
• iPhone Air
• iPhone Vista

No? None of the above? Well then, what do you think the next generation iPhone will be called?

And remember, this is a Wait-A-Thon post! Comment on this post -- or comment on any post tagged "Wait-a-Thon" -- for your chance to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card! Note that you must post with a valid and real email address so we can send you your prize -- no switching!

Monday we asked you "What's the iPhone 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?". Tuesday it was "What is the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?". Today we want to know what YOU think the iPhone 2.0 software and services are going to give us, and what surprises might they have in store?

Exchange ActiveSync and the AppStore are gimmes. Enterprise features are checked. Beta leaks are everywhere. And .Mac to Mobile Me -- Don't get us started! But what else will we get? MMS? Blogging? Mobile iChat? Universal home remote control? And what about the Holy Grail... cut and paste?! What do YOU think?

To give you some help, here's a HUGE roundup of all the iPhone 2.0 software and services rumors. Epic-style. Because let's face it, roughly 0.01 seconds after Steve Jobs pulled the first iPhone from his pocket back at Macworld 2007, and someone, somewhere, put aside their childlike sense of wonder long enough think: "Nice! What's the next gen going to be like?"

Complementary, contradictory, obvious, confusing, all but confirmed or from left field via outer space, the rumors have flooded the internet ever since. It's become almost impossible to keep track of them all.

Five days from today Steve Jobs takes Moscone Center stage for the sold-out WWDC keynote, and according to everyone and their newsfeed, announces the iPhone 3G. In eager anticipation, every day this week, TiPb wil be asking you to tell us what you think the next generation iPhone will be, from 3G to GPS, release dates to price points, colors to casings, 2.0 software to .Mac .Me services, and this weekend we'll wrap it all up with a look into the WWDC/iPhone 3G Crystal Ball, and a roundup of the very best of YOUR predictions.

So come on, let's get in on!

WWDC -5 and Counting: iPhone 2.0 Software & Services

The iPhone's interface quite literally took the smartphone world's breath away. Some of us watched the Macworld 2007 demo over and over again -- watched as Jobs slid, flicked, pinched, spread, and otherwise touched his way around a set of mobile applications so good looking they were positively "lickable". We got SMS, Calendar, Photos, Camera, YouTube(!), Stocks, Maps, Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, Phone, Mail, Web/Safari, and iPod/Media Player, and Settings for all of them. The wait for release day was torturously long.

Apple also showed an unprecedented ability to upgrade and add functionality via firmware updates handled by iTunes. Minor things included double-clicking the home button to bring up Phone Favorites or the Currently Playing controls on iTunes, and double spacing to add periods. On the major side, the iTunes WiFi Music Store made its debut in the fall alongside the introduction of the iPod Touch, CoreLocation made Google Maps so much more useful, and WebClips and "jigglies" allowed for custom SpringBoards (home screens). All in all, we got updated 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3, and 1.1.4. And then came the Apple SDK Roadmap Event and the debut of 2.0 (Beta).

Let's start there, at the beginning and work our way forward. Please note, 2.0 has been in beta since early March, and that beta has been updated 6 times already, so developers have had ample opportunity to dive into the code for hidden strings and other goodies, making many of these rumors as close to fact as possible:

March 6, 2008: Apple held their iPhone SDK Roadmap Event.

While this event was primarily focused on the SDK and 3rd party apps (which we'll get to tomorrow!), it also unveiled firmware 1.2.0 (which soon after became 2.0). What did that mean for 1st party iPhone software and services? Phil Schiller, VP of Marketing announced Cisco IPsec VPN, authentication and certs, enterprise/University compatible WiFi (802.1x), security policies, enterprise configuration tools, and "remote wipe". But none of that was the big news. The big news was that Apple had licensed Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync technology. Not any locked-in application, but the technology itself. And they were going to be integrating it into MobileMail, Mobile iCal, and the other built-in iPhone apps for "push" based enterprise support. What's more, ActiveSync was given first-class status, even over Apple's own .Mac and existing partners Yahoo! and Google.

In addition to the event proper, Apple snuck a few more goodies into the press release:

[T]he beta iPhone 2.0 software provides several new Mail features such as the ability to view PowerPoint attachments, in addition to Word and Excel, as well as the ability to mass delete and move email messages.

Eagle-eyed viewers, like our own Chad Garrett, also spotted icons that provided the first hints of Event Invitations and Contact Search.

March 17, 2008: Hax0rs extraordinaire, the unofficial iPhoneDevTeam found the Parental Controls settings when they managed to get their hands on a pre-release of the 2.0 software.

March 18, 2008: Apple released Safari 3.1 with built-in support for advanced CSS, including animation, and HTML 5.0, including video and audio tags, as well as key technologies for offline interactivity, including SQLite databases. Based on the same WebKit framework, and big brother to the MobileSafari browser, could the same feature set be making its way to the iPhone?

March 25, 2008: Though his predictions about the first generation iPhone proved completely wrong, on his monstrously popular Diggnation podcast Kevin Rose claimed that iPhone 2.0 would include iChat video conferencing.

Likewise one of the longest and most confusing debacles of the first generation came to a head with rumors that politics and positioning would make 1st party Flash support in the iPhone unlikely even for 2.0.

March 27, 2008: iPhone SDK Beta 2 is released by Apple, changing the release numbers from 1.2.0 to 2.0, superficially with a YouTube plugin for Safari, and VPN, mail, and ActiveSync tweaks and re-org’s.

Over at Apple Insider, a very interesting Apple DVR patent was uncovered. More than just a TiVo-style device, it suggested the iPhone could work as a remote manager, scheduling recordings while you're out, and syncing them so you could take them with you on the go. Was Apple poised to free your TV, with the iPhone as its key?

March 28, 2008: iPhone Alley dug into the Beta 2 frameworks and found the first references to expanded .Mac services and syncing in 2.0:

Syncing with this Dot Mac account will turn off syncing for other Dot Mac accounts and delete any existing synced data.

March 30, 2008: Not tiring of the seemingly endless soap opera, Gizmodo brought word (again), that Flash would be coming to the iPhone with firmware 2.0. Unfortunately, they mistook embedded YouTube support in MobileSafari for Flash. More likely, it's a mere extension of existing MP4 H.264 video support already found in the YouTube App proper.

April 8, 2008: Engadget leafed through their WWDC course program and found hints at a MobileSafari update bringing CSS transformations and animations. Could it be getting the same ultra-modern love desktop Safari 3.1 got?

April 9, 2008: iPhone SDK Beta 3 was dropped, with the before-rumored Contact Search and Event Invitations activated.

April 14, 2008: More from Beta 3, as Gizmodo's anonymous tipster discovered the ability to save images directly from MobileSafari to the iPhone Photo Album.

Meanwhile, Roughly Drafted speculated that ActiveSync itself could be a trojan horse for more open, standards-based "push" protocols like IMAP IDLE and CalDAV. Could Apple get a gorgeous iPhone interface in front of users, while they worked behind the scenes on technologies already supported in Leopard Server as part of the .Mac revitalization for consumers?

April 17, 2008: Apple Insider shone the light on an Apple patent for an iTunes-like iCarrier store for selecting carriers based on up-to-second rate information. This would remove lock-ins to the extent where the big telcos would "bid" for users by offering the best price/performance deal in real time. Unlikely any time soon, given the existing carrier agreements already in place, but one day?

April 22, 2008: Ever watchful Apple Insider revealed a patent filing that held tantalizing potential for a Mobile iChat, and also much-improved MMS and SMS applications. Multi-tasking 3rd party app restrictions may one day have a 1st party solution?

April 24, 2008: iPhone 2.0 SDK Beta 4 hits, with mucho developer tool fixes, updates, and enhanced functionality.

April 27, 2008: Deep code diving on Beta 4 had TUAW bring word on iController, an Apple project that would allow the iPhone to connect to shared iTunes libraries to browse and play media, similar to how the Apple TV functions.

April 28, 2008: TUAW's tipster returns to reveal that the Beta 4 holds evidence of Jabber/XMPP protocols for instant messaging. Mobile iChat again moves from future potential to present possibility.

May 5, 2008: MacRumors reported that Apple had quietly added Chinese "handwriting" support to 2.0. Not only the key to a massive Asian market, the idea of handwriting recognition itself was huge. Could non-ideographic language support follow?

May 7, 2008: iPhone 2.0 Beta 5 landed with not much new, it seemed, but dev tools and tweaks.

A TUAW tipster soon brought word of .Mac "push" Settings. The buzz of a .Mac ramp up continued, even if on the email-only side. Still, could this be an effort to deliver something akin to ActiveSync functionality to non-business users?

May 8, 2008: Following up on their .Mac "push" email story, TUAW reported that the entire .Mac service would be revamped along with the iPhone 2.0 release at WWDC. Full wireless (wifi + cell) calendar, contacts, and email sync for both Mac and Windows (?!) users.

May 12, 2008: Apple Insider brought word of developers discovering strings that indicated 3G data support. While some controversy surrounding fake/mocked-up screenshots distracted from the news, this was the first software confirmation of the much-anticipated iPhone 3G.

May 22, 2008: Apple Insider again delivers the goodies, this time from "private" updates to "select developers" that showed support for Geo-Tagging. Although not necessarily bound to GPS (Google cell tower and SkyHook Wi-Fi triangulation are already on the iPhone), Geo-Tagging is typically used to add location-based data to photographs.

May 28, 2008: Less than three months in, and Apple released iPhone 2.0 Beta 6! This could well be the final beta going in to WWDC. Any last minute surprises?

May 30, 2008: Coding Robots went through OS X 10.5.3 and found that .Mac was .missing. Seems the name had been replaced with a string variable that would allow Apple to change it. Could the rumored revamp include brand new branding as well?

At the same time, Apple Insider's patent watchers found a filing for a system to warn users of impending system loss, and another to help locate missing Blue Tooth enabled or tagged items. While iPhone users had been hankering for better BT support, stereo headset and keyboard-style peripherals were no doubt higher on the list... Could they, at least, be headed for 2.0?

May 30, 2008:The missing .Mac mystery deepened as DaringFireball suggested an old Apple trademark may be the new online services marquee: Mobile Me. Howls of grief and confusion echoed through the interweb pipes for days.

June 1, 2008:Dot Mac-Gate continued when DaringFireball brought word that Apple might skip the Mobile and go straight to Me.com (later reports suggested even .Me with a newly established Top Level Domain scheduled). DNS listings, hosts, and domain name ownerships were transferring left and right. And we still weren't happy with the branding...

June 3, 2008: Those of us who use it found the .Mac email service down. Was Apple shuffling things behind the scenes in preparation for WWDC?

June 4, 2008: TUAW continued their .Mac scoopage with word that the new "MobileMe" service would include all new, all snazzy web interfaces that better resembled the desktop iCal, Address Book, etc. (Even for Windows users?)

Also from TUAW came word that, due to carrier "first look" agreements, the 2.0 firmware gold master from this week would require 1-2 weeks of testing before it could be released to the public, pushing it back as far as end of June/early July.

UPDATED:

June 4, 2008: A Gizmodo reader found icons for the iPhone (and iPod Touch) in a place typically reserved for Bonjour-capable devices. Apple's implementation of the zero config networking system, iPhone integration could allow for wireless syncing.

June 5, 2008: WWDC banners unfurl, highlight a branding change to iPhone OS X, the World's Most Advanced Mobile Platform.

Your Turn!

So there you go. We already know what Casey's top ten most wanted features are, now it's your turn. Tell us what surprises YOU think the iPhone 2.0 software and services bundle will have for us. Tasks? Consumer-oriented "push" mail/contacts/calendars? Even more Google or Yahoo integration? Custom Widgets? MMS? iChat 3D? Photo Speed Dialing? ... Cut and @#$% paste?!

And after you're done telling us, don't forget to head over to our iPhone Blog's super Wait-a-Thon spectacular where you could win an iPhone 3G of your very own, whatever it looks like, on the very day it's released!

Go back and read Part 1: What's the iPhone's 3G Chip and When Will it Ship?
Go back and read Part 2: What’s the iPhone 3G Going to Look Like?
Continue reading Part 4: What 3rd Party iPhone SDK Apps Will Be Available Launch Day?
Continue reading Part 5: What Will the iPhone 3G’s Hardware Features Be?

We all know it's coming. Steve Jobs said so. AT&T said so. Everyone and their blog has posted so. But it's still super sweet to see Apple code confirming it!

Apple Insider (via Chronic Productions) brings word that deep delving the latest iPhone SDK firmware has yet again revealed buried treasure. This time, Beta 5 gives up the strings for 3G:

Most notable is a setting that will allow users of the second-generation iPhone -- expected for an unveiling sometime in the coming weeks -- to disable 3G access in favor of prolonging the handset's battery life. "Using 3G loads data faster, but decreases battery life," reads a caption beneath the setting toggle.

The ability to toggle 3G data on and off -- in other words, manually handle the transition -- is an interesting decision for Apple, and one they're squarely labeling the blame for on battery life.

Is this a way to cover still poorer-than-needed power efficiency on the 3G chipset? Something that may annoy users? A beta feature for people testing the mythical 3G right now inside Apple? Something that might not survive to the release version?

My guess is yes to all the above. What do you think?