Surprisingly, this was one of the lightest WWDC’s as far as developer info goes. They talked about iOS 4 (used to be iPhone OS 4) and that was really about it.
Steve told us that developers have made ONE BILLION dollars since the release of the App Store.
The rest of the show was talking about the iPad, App Store, iOS 4 from a users standpoint, iAds and the ONE MORE THING which turned out to be Video Chat or FaceTime.
A very quick synopsis of the new info:
KeyNote coverage:
iPad:
- 2M+ iPads sold (1 every 3 seconds since it’s release)
- 19 countries by end of July
3.5M downloads of Apps (17 per iPad)
App Store:
- Update to iBooks will support PDF’s (available mid to late June)
- Steve still pushing WebApps for iPhone/iPod touch/iPads
- Netflix for iPhone later this summer
- Farmville for iDevices by end of June (Yawn!)
- Updated Guitar Hero (Really?)
- 5B apps downloaded
$1B paid out to developers
iPhone 4:
- iPhone #2 in cell phone market share at 22.7% after RIM
- Steve announced 8 new features of iPhone 4
- 24% thinner, thinnest phone in the world (.37″ or 9.3mm)
- Aluminosilicate Glass front and back for better feel
- 5MP camera with LED flash
- Noise cancelation with second mic near headphone jack
- Stainless steel bands on sides act as antenna for cell radio
- Retina Display: 4 Times resolution (960×640, 326ppi)
- 800:1 contrast ration (4 Times better than iPhone 3GS)
- A4 processor means a really fast device
- 40% longer battery life
- 3 axis gyros for 6 axis sensing
- HD Video (720p at 30fps) can be saved as 720p, 540p and 360p
- New iMovie for iPhone ($4.99)
- Search now can be configured for Google, Yahoo! and Bing
- 100M iPhone/iPod touch/iPad’s sold
- iBooks for iPhone
- Purchased books can be downloaded on all devices
- Books place, bookmarks and notes will sync between devices
- FaceTime will only work over WiFi for now (talk of 3G/4G connectivity next year, not holding my breath)
So, the new phone will be avialable June 24th, with pre-orders starting the June 15th.
Prices are:
- $99 for iPhone 3GS (probably 16GB)
- $199 for iPhone 4 16GB
- $299 for iPhone 4 32GB
iOS 4 will be available June 21st.
A very important note was that AT&T will be allowing anyone who’s contract is up some time this year to upgrade to the new iPhone 4 without penalties. So if your 2 year contract is going to expire sometime this year, you are eligible to upgrade for the prices listed above. Otherwise you will be paying a bunch.
And that was pretty much that for the WWDC keynote. Again, not much developer stuff. I’m really surprised about that. Previous WWDC’s have had way more coverage of developer related stuff including Scott Forstall coming out to discuss them. Scott Forstall was no where to be found in this keynote.
So guys, anyone reading this planning on getting the new iPhone 4?
I personally am on the fence. Not because of features but price and the wife letting me. If it were just up to me… I would definitely want to get it for no other reason than to have an iPhone that won’t slip out of my hand when holding it. I get the feeling the glass panels will be way more grippy than the plastic or aluminum of previous iPhones. I would also love the speed increase.
However, the iPhone 3GS being only $99 (or $97 at Wal-Mart) is darn tempting too.
