All Things Digital

Boy, Apple (AAPL) really sucked all the air out of the news cycle today, eh?

First with the announcement of the iPhone 3G and the new features and applications that will accompany it, and now with a handful of details about OS X “Snow Leopard,” a forthcoming upgrade of the Mac OS X. (Interesting aside: Unlike other large cats, the Snow Leopard (Uncia uncia) cannot roar.)

Jobs touched on Snow Leopard, otherwise known as Mac OS X 10.6, only briefly in his keynote this morning, but a statement released by Apple this afternoon offers a bit more insight into the OS. It will focus on performance enhancements rather than new features. It will be optimized for multi-core processors with a new technology dubbed Grand Central and it will include a new media platform called QuickTime X. Also included will be a new version of Safari that Apple claims will include the “fastest implementation of JavaScript ever, increasing performance by 53%, making Web 2.0 applications feel more responsive.” Finally, when it arrives at market in about a year, OS X 10.6 will offer out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007.

“We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering in the statement released by Apple. “In our continued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on perfecting the world’s most advanced operating system.”

Apple’s much lauded iPhone captured 28% of the smart-phone market in the States by the fourth quarter of 2007–just six months into its launch. Today it holds something less than that–about 19.2%. But to look at the headlines, you’d think it controlled the market in its entirety. A quick search on Google returns 19,035 results for “iPhone”– from Jun. 2, 2008 to today. Why? Because in a few hours, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will address the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, at which he is expected to unveil the next version of the company’s iPhone.

And for Apple’s (AAPL) sake, I hope he does. Because with expectations running this high, I’d hate to see what happens if he doesn’t. Although the new Apple Store housed in a life-size replica of the Golden Gate Bridge pictured in the invite would certainly take some of the heat off …

Anyway, I’ll be live-blogging from inside Moscone West in San Francisco starting at 10 a.m. PDT. Here’s something to read while you wait …

• From Moscone West: This is crazy. They just opened a single door to let cameras in and the media rushed the gate. Its like that 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.



• The hall in Moscone West is filling quickly to the sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis. From the looks of it media and developers are here in equal numbers.
• Jobs takes the stage. I’m sitting about 20 rows back, but even I can see he’s looking pretty thin from here. He gets right into it, pulls up a slide of a stool and describes Apple as a three-legged company. Macs, music and the iPhone.
• Jobs will spend the morning talking about the iPhone. This afternoon Apple will discuss OS X “Snow Leopard.”

Read more »

Well, if this rumor proves true, Canada really will have to declare a national day of mourning for the BlackBerry (RIMM). When Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs uncrates the 3G iPhone a few months from now, presumably at the company’s WWDC conference in June, the device’s price may draw more oohs and ahs than its feature set.

Fortune claims AT&T (T) plans to knock $200 off the cost of a new iPhone for customers who sign two-year contracts. If that is indeed AT&T’s intention, the 8-gigabyte version of the device would likely price out at $199, the 16-gigabyte model at $399. Which is a pretty compelling value proposition given that the device will soon support Microsoft (MSFT) Exchange and run Spore, Salesforce (CRM), AIM from AOL (TWX) and a host of other third-party apps.

No wonder Apple execs seemed so comfortable reiterating the company’s goal of selling 10 million iPhones in 2008. At $199, they might be able to hit that number without the Asian markets.

Try as they might, financial analysts attending Apple’s (AAPL) Q2 earnings call yesterday were unable to goad company execs into giving up a launch date for the 3G iPhone. Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO, and Tim Cook, the company’s COO, refused to confirm rumors that the company plans to announce the device this summer, though they did–as they always do–claim Apple has a number of exciting products in the pipeline.

And that was confirmation enough for analysts. Citigroup’s (C) Richard Gardner promptly issued a research note pitching June 9, the kickoff of the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference, as the likely date of the 3G iPhones’ debut. Wrote Gardner, “We expect a steady stream of new products beginning on 9 June with a 3G iPhone and iPhone/iPod touch SDK, continuing with a refresh of the complete laptop line in July/August and concluding with a complete refresh of the iPod line in August/September.”

June 9 seems a plausible, if not bleedingly obvious launch date. Announce the 3G iPhone at WWDC, with an eye toward an official release on June 29, the first anniversary of its predecessor’s debut? That gives Apple plenty of time to reach its goal of shipping 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008. The company has so far sold 1.7 million iPhones worldwide, leaving 8.3 million more to go if it wants to hit the 10 million mark. Uncrating the 3G version of the device in early summer, perhaps in concert with a move into the massive Japanese and Chinese markets, would make reaching 10 million iPhones shipped an easy matter.

In the run-up to Apple’s (AAPL) Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June, the Mac faithful are sifting entrails for portents of iPhones to come.

Yesterday the creators of the popular ZiPhone jailbreak discovered in the latest test firmware for iPhone developers a reference to Infineon’s (IFX) SGOLD3H chipset–a chipset that supports 3G wireless broadband of up to 7.2 Mbit/s.

Now “industry sources” cited by TG Daily are claiming that the next-gen iPhone that runs on that chip will debut at WWDC. And there’s more. The device will be slimmer than its predecessor (by about 2.5 mm) and it will be offered in least two configurations at current price points: an 8GB version for $399 and a 16GB $499.

With less than three months to go before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple (AAPL) observers are slowly being swept up in that most hallowed of Mac faithful traditions: the futile guessing game.

Last Friday, Digg founder Kevin Rose, whose “Diggnation” videocast has become a sort of Psychic Friends Network for Apple rumors, claimed the next-generation iPhone would include two cameras and support for video chat. A few days later he added that the device will also run on a faster 3G network, include GPS and ship in June.

Now Gartner Group analyst Ken Delaney has joined in the handicapping, speculating that the device will boast an organic light-emitting diode display that will make it thinner and reduce power consumption. Delaney says the iPhone’s somewhat disappointing performance in Europe has forced Apple’s hand, inspiring it to fast-track the 3G phone and place an order for 10 million of the devices from its manufacturing partners in Asia.

Could it be that Apple is planning to announce the 3G iPhone at WWDC, with an eye toward an official release on June 29, the first anniversary of its predecessor’s debut?