Bites from the Apple: The Final Countdown

Time to cue that old 80s chestnut from hair metal band Europe (or perhaps you prefer the faithful remake by Leif Garrett... yes, Leif Garrett) as we dive into the final weekend of conjecture, rumor mongering and dreaming of the new iPhone hardware that everyone knows will be announced on Monday at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Despite the fact that some stock analysts think that Apple might not intro new iPhone hardware, lest the rollout of the Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.6 and iPhone 3.0 software get upstaged, signs are pointing to hardware on the horizon with new model numbers entering into inventory systems and even AT&T's support site. (Heck, even Uncle Walt pretty much let the cat out of the bag.) And the new rumor flying around today, offered by the Financial Times newspaper, is that Apple will be introducing a cheaper iPhone on Monday--perhaps as low as $99 with AT&T service contract.

There's been a lot of rumors about what might be showing up in the new hardware--from improved camera megapixels and video capture to a digital compass and support for 802.11n Wi-Fi support--that it's a little hard to sift through it all. Happily, The Green Room blog has put together a very handy info-graphic that rounds up the bulk of the rumors along with the probability that they'll make the final cut (it's even been translated into Spanish).

While I think it's a safe bet that new hardware will be announced on Monday, I don't think we'll actually see the hardware in stores until sometime in July (with July 17 being the focus of most bloggers) as the new iPhone hardware will need to pass some system tests with AT&T in addition to Apple releasing some features to developers that haven't been unleashed yet (such as the in-app commerce feature as noted by Wired's Gadget Lab). Check back on Monday afternoon when we'll have a wrap-up of what happened and didn't happen at WWDC.

• Many have been hoping for an appearance by Steve Jobs at the Phil Schiller-hosted WWDC keynote, but the Wall Street Journal (by way of Cult of Mac) reports that Jobs most likely won't appear... but will "host a product presentation or other special event later in June."

• If you're heading to San Francisco for WWDC and aren't familiar with the city, Lonely Planet is offering its SF City Guide iPhone app (link opens iTunes software) for free for a limited time (via iPhone Central).

• The new white MacBook that was quietly released two weeks back has been benchmarked by Macworld, and it actually outperformed the entry-level 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro--with "an 8 percent boost in Photoshop times and iTunes MP3 encoding scores." As John Gruber ponders at Daring Fireball, "Almost makes you think that Apple is going to announce a refreshed lineup of aluminum MacBooks, with the 13-inch one gaining the "Pro" designation, at WWDC next week."

• If you're frustrated by the lack of controls on the latest iPod shuffle, Scosche has released the TapStick case, which adds three button controls that mimic those on the headphone remote (via CNet's Crave)

• Rumor Roundup: Based on a patent application, we could be seeing the iPod clickwheel transform into multi-touch scroll wheel (via The Apple Blog).

• Macworld reviews the Birdhouse iPhone app, which is yet another Twitter app... but then again not. It functions as a notepad where you can elegantly compose tweets and save them until you feel they're ready to publish. To learn more about it, check out this developer introduction--one of the funniest demo vids I've seen in a long time:

• John Paczkowski reports at All Things Digital über-analyst Gene Muster is hyping the very speculative idea that Apple could release an SDK (software developers kit) somewhere down the line for the Apple TV that would be aimed at making it an app-friendly platform like the iPhone--complete with Wii-like gaming with your iPhone or iPod touch as the controller. Gizmodo likes this idea and so do I--a slightly frustrated owner of an Apple TV who yearns for it to be more than just a dumb box that is essentially just a gateway to making purchases and rentals from the iTunes store (though these days I'm using it more to access video podcasts, from Rachel Maddow to Geekbrief.tv).

• My pal/colleague Jeff Carlson over at TidBITS offers a good survey of Mac software that can help you recover photos that you might have been accidentally erased from a memory card before transferring them over to iPhoto or Aperture.

• Wow. I haven't seen an iPhone peripheral as wacky or tacky as the Ozaki iMini Pet--an iPod dock with an animatronic frog that dances on the back of the dock (seen at right and covered in great detail over at iLounge)--in some time.

• Belkin's already touting a new accessory (available in the fall) that's specifically compatible with the upcoming iPhone 3.0 software--the TuneCast Auto Live FM Transmitter, which transmits audio from your iPhone to your car stereo. But it adds a twist of GPS, where it's able to access your iPhone's location services to determine the best "known" clear frequencies on your FM dial (via Macworld and Engadget).

• And finally... find out if you're a true Mac Geek by seeing if you match up with these 10 signs at The Apple Blog.

--Agen G.N. Schmitz

Comments

[Byron00 on June 07, 2009 at 05:56 AM]

Has anyone heard rumors about the unveiling of a SiriusXM satellite radio app?