一切都是新的iphone Steve soft
Apple today introduced the new iPhone 3G S. It includes longer battery life, a 3-megapixel autofocus camera, video recording, and hands free voice control. We are live-blogging Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Here’s the latest from the San Francisco event.
3:08 p.m. | Over and Out And Mr. Schiller is wrapping it up, thanking Apple employees. No mention of Apple’s iconic founder. That mystery lingers for another day.
3:07 p.m. | Coming to the Close To wrap it up, Apple shows a new ad that highlights the 3G S’s video capabilities. The iPhone 3G S has some interesting additional features, but we wonder if it’s enough to get current 3G owners to upgrade before their contracts are over? It might be enough to keep potential Pre owners from switching over (it is priced the same). It should be noted that two-year contracts of original owners expire this month.
3:06 p.m. | Release Date The new iPhone 3G S goes on sale June 19th — a bit earlier than expected. By August, the new device will be available in more than 80 countries.
3:05 p.m. | Less-Expensive 8 GB Model “We want to reach even more customers,” Mr. Schiller adds. So the old 3G model will stick around and be priced at $99 for the 8 GB version. “There’s never been a good smartphone yet at this price point” Mr. Schiller said. The price cut takes place today. This price cut is consistent with Apple’s other efforts today to expand market share.
3:03 p.m. | From the Tweet Chorus The iPhone 3G S has some new Palm Pre owners, like @ericjlubbers, second-guessing their decisions.
3:03 p.m. | How Much? Price: $199 - same as the last model for 16 GB and $299 for 32 gigabytes. same prices, double the memory for each model. Of course, add a data and voice plan on top of that.
3:01 p.m. | Battery Life iPhone 3G S about a third better than the 3G.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press2:54 p.m. | New Compass There is also a new built-in digital compass - much rumored - that will help the phone get a little smarter about its location. Developers will have access to API for Compass which may lend to creative gaming ideas.
2:59 p.m. | From the Sidelines Jay Freeman, founder of Cydia, a third-party app store, says he’s not deterred by today’s introduction of new features and native applications popular among users who have elected to jailbreak their phones. “Apple slowly adds features from jailbreak-land to their platform,” said Mr. Freeman. “I, and many developers, take that as a compliment. There are always things that Apple isn’t doing.”
2:54 p.m. | Voice Control New voice control features in the iPhone 3G S. Lets you use spoken commands to do things like play music, call people in your address book, and pause a song that is playing. The iPhone will also respond to commands — telling you for example what song is playing on the device. In addition, voice control will make DJ’ing parties even easier — you can tell the phone to play more songs like the one currently playing via iTunes’s “Genius” feature.
2:52 p.m. | Big Response Booming applause for the improved camera functions suggests that iPhone photographers are more than a niche.
Jeff Chiu/Associated PressPhilip Schiller, Apple senior vice president for worldwide product marketing, talks about the video features on the new iPhone 3G S.
2:50 p.m. | New Camera, Now With Video A new built-in-camera, as was heavily rumored. The old camera was 2 megapixels. The new camera is 3 megapixels, and not 3.2 as speculated. Auto focus is included and a new feature — tap to focus. You can tap items that appear on the camera to switch the camera’s focus. The camera also captures video, unlike the last iPhone. That was an oversight Apple is now correcting. 30 frames-a-second VGA, with audio. “Whenever you have your iPhone with you, you also have a video camera,” Mr. Schiller said.
2:48 p.m. | Now We Come to the Payoff And now — iPhone 3G S, the newest generation of the iPhone. The “S” stands for speed, Mr. Schiller says. Same physical profile, new innards. The difference is speed, Mr. Schiller says. Launching messaging and games and attachments is more than two times faster. A side note: The fact that Mr. Schiller is bringing us the new iPhones suggests that, alas, Mr. Steve Jobs will not be making an appearance today.
2:46 p.m. | iPhone Dominance Two-thirds of all mobile browsing is done on an iPhone or iPod Touch, Mr. Schiller says. When rivals catch up, the Internet will truly be mobile. Mr. Schiller is taking a few cracks at applications availability for other smart phone platforms.
2:46 p.m. | More Tweets Some iPod Touch owners are grumbling on Twitter about having to fork over $10 for the 3.0 update, after coughing up $20 for the last one.
2:46 p.m. | Back with Schiller Phil Schiller is back on stage — it’s now or never for Apple to wow this audience.
2:44 p.m. | iPhone Release Date And Mr. Forstall is now wrapping up the iPhone OS 3 demo. Timing: available worldwide June 17, free for all iPhone customers. $9.95 for iPod Touch customers.
2:44 p.m. | What would Steve Do? Twitterer @sabeen thinks “Ooops. Another demo FAIL. Steve would have thrown everyone off stage by now. I’d give anything for a royal tantrum right about now #WWDC”
2:42 p.m. | More demos Analyst Michael Gartenberg on Twitter: It appears we are seeing all 50k apps this morning.
2:40 p.m. | Tweets on the WWDC: Fanboys and girls are getting restless.
2:39 p.m. | This iPhone Goes to 11: Line 6 and Planet Waves let you control amplifiers and guitars from the iPhone. The guitar-control app is failing to work properly. Awkwardness ensues.
2:38 p.m. | ZipCar: ZipCar’s iPhone application will include features that lets users unlock their cars remotely and activate a honk to locate it. ZipCar missed a golden marketing opportunity by not naming it iCar.
2:36 p.m. | Tick-tock: A thousand bloggers are now looking with concern at their laptop’s battery icon.
2:35 p.m. | Oops: An apps maker called Pasco has just completely flopped its on-stage balloon-pressure application demo, which failed to work properly. Despite the deflated demo, the potential to control the iPhone using external sensors could pave the way for some innovative apps.
2:29 p.m. | Star Defense Demo: Neil Young, chief executive and founder of iPhone games publisher Ngmoco, takes the stage. Mr. Young and developer Stephanie Morgan show off Star Defense, an upcoming sci-fi strategy game for the platform. Star Defense will make use of the new software’s in-app capabilities and feature multiple expansion packs.
2:28 p.m. | The Waiting Game: This has been quite a long appetizer: 90 minutes into the keynote here, we are still waiting for a date on the new iPhone operating system, and of course, details of the next-generation handset.
2:26 p.m. | TomTom Navigation: TomTom is now introducing a new portable-navigation application and car kit to provide drivers with turn-by-turn directions. TomTom is acknowledging that the iPhone and other smartphones are killing its market for standalone GPS hardware and is getting into the accessories and applications business.
2:22 p.m. | ScrollMotion Demo: Next up: e-Book reader ScrollMotion. The app developer is hoping that the new features of iPhone 3.0 (cut, copy, paste) will appeal to students looking to cite texts. In addition, company announc
