March 16, 2009

Live Coverage: Apple’s iPhone 3.0 Event on Tuesday 10:00 AM PST

We will post detailed analysis and information about iPhone OS 3.0 on TechzTalk.

The new SDK has many new features that will improve application development for iPhone. No new exciting features for customers. The SDK will definitely bring better applications to the iPhone platform.
  • That's it from Apple iPhone 3.0 event.
  • A: You can see them but I don't know if you can play them.
  • Q: Can you use peer to peer access for iTunes library?
  • A:It's a different radio, so it is a physical issue.
  • Is there a hardware limitation on first gen iPhone that prevents it from doing MMS?
  • A:We absolutely take performance very seriously. These units, because they're tethered are more laggy than you would see on standalone units.
  • Q:Are you addressing performance issues in 3.0?
  • A: yes with adapter
  • Q:Can you use off-the-shelf mic with Voice Memo?
  • A:Nothing to Announce
  • Q:Support for Bluetooth human input profile for external keyboard?
  • A: nothing to announce today
  • Q: Netbooks?
  • A: We're supporting tethering in the client side, we're building that support in. We're working with carriers around the world.
  • Q:Where do you stand on tethering?
  • A: it uses Bonjour so is limited to apple devices.
  • Q: Will peer to peer work with non-Apple devices?
  • A: We have no announcement, there are a lot of video streams iPhone can handle. we're adding HDTV streaming for audio and video.
  • Q:What about Flash?
  • A: It's not that easy. There were security issues.
  • Q: Why did copy/paste took so long?
  • Scott, Greg and Phil will be present for Q&A.
  • That's it for iPhone OS 3.0 and it's Q&A time now.
  • iPhone OS will ship this Summer, it will be a free update for iPhone owners, some features like A2DP and MMS won't work on first gen iPhone. iPod touch owners will be able to buy the update for $9.95.
  • The developer beta is available today for iPhone 3.0. App store is now available in 15 more countries bring the total to 77 countries.
  • Scott says that there are many other features in iPhone OS 3.0 like Note Sync, suto-fill, youtube accounts, stereo Bluetooth, WiFi auto login and anti-phising.
  • You can access search by flicking left from your standard home screen. The Spotlight searches through all the application on the iPhone and can it works as quick launcher for applications.
  • Next is system wide search - Apple has created a new home screen for this and it is called Spotlight.
  • A new application Voice Memos has been added that records voice memos. Apple is adding support for CalDAV and subscriptions to Calendar application.
  • Apple is also adding MMS to next version of iPhone OS and it works just like the SMS application.
  • iPhone 3.0 will have landscape view for applications like Mail, Notes and SMS.
  • Scott says that he wants to show one more thing and that's photos. now you can select multiple pics to send via email in iPhone OS 3.0.
  • The feature works with all the 3rd party apps also.
  • Double tap on text (a magnifying glass appears) to select it then slide your finger and pull across what you want to grab. Now you can paste the selected text anywhere. he is showing copy and paste across apps.
  • He says Apple has been working hard to develop a easy to use interface for the function on touchscreen. he demoing it now.
  • Scott is back on stage and says "3.0 brings a lot of new features for devs, and also for customer" The first new feature is cut, copy and paste.
  • They are doing a multiplayer demo on stage. it sounds good.
  • The app is similar to Ocarina, you blow in the mic, then slide the trombone on the right and change the range on left.
  • The new app from the company is Leaf Trombone World Stage, it is a multiplayer music application.
  • Now on stage it's Dr Ge Wang from Smule - the company that created Ocarina for iPhone.
  • The second game LiveFire is multiplayer first person shooter and the game play is really good. Graphics are good and smooth.
  • As you would have guessed Touch Pets is about pets, they are showing in-game purchases. a message appears on screen asking " Would you like to purchase Shirt Pack for $0.99?" with Buy and Cancel options.
  • Now ngmoco - a startup company is showing their new games for the iPhone - Touch Pets and LiveFire. Both are multiplayer games.
  • The Johnson & Johnson app for the iPhone uses that data for dieting and keeping track of glucose levels.
  • Anita Mathew from Johnson & Johnson is on stage showing off diabetes testing kit. She says that with the new SDK data from the kit can be transmitted to iPhone over Bluetooth or via dock connector.
  • ESPN is showing streaming video and it looks very good, the iPhone 3.0 has a new media player that automatically adjusts quality for the bandwidth available.
  • Steve's magic is missing and except from all the new API, till now it looks like nothing much is changing in iPhone OS 3.0
  • It is getting really boring, Now ESPN representative is on Stage.
  • They show a data base app from Oracle that uses Push Notification.
  • Next Hody Crouch from Oracle is on stage.
  • They are showing the game play - a character is buying something in the game.
  • EA's Travis Boatman is on stage now showing The Sims, which actually looks very good on the iPhone.
  • Meebo CEO Seth Sternberg is on stage and he is talking about Meebo apps in OS 3.0.
  • Scott says "this is a big update for iPhone SDK. Now, a couple of weeks ago we called a few devs to see what they could do in two weeks.
  • The new SDK will also feature new APIs for streaming video and audio as well as API for in-game voice.
  • Now he is explaining the Push architecture. So there will be no background application in iPhone 3.0
  • Scott explains why Apple is not allowing background applications. he says that Apple has been testing background applications, but battery life of the device drops by as much as 80 percent when multiple applications are running in the background.
  • Scott says that Apple was late because they had to re-architect the server structure to support Push.
  • Scott now talk about 'Push' " You know, we're late on this one".
  • Apple will now support use of core location for turn by turn navigation. Application based on this feature will be coming soon.
  • Apple shows FM transmitter with its own custom app and medical device that shows off blood pressure reading on the iPhone.
  • iPhone SDK 3.0 will also include support for accessories. For example, developers will be able to build custom apps that talk directly to their hardware.
  • Apple is adding peer to peer connectivity, which will be great for multi-player games. A new API allows iPhone and iPod touch to form an IP connection with other devices with same application to play games or share information via Bluetooth.
  • App Store will now support subscription model for e-books, games. For example you purchase a game with 10 levels, then after completing the first 10 levels you can update the game by buying next 10 levels directly from the game.
  • He says more than 800 million apps have been downloaded from App Store and there will be some major enhancements to the App Store in the new SDK.
  • Scott says that Apple worked hard for past one year to make iPhone SDK even better, 1000 new APIs have been added to the upcoming SDK.
  • He will talk about the iPhone OS 3.0.
  • Scott Forstall, SVP iPhone Software is on stage now.
  • Greg says " we've has a lot of curiosity over the submission process, 96 percent of application that have been submitted to app store have been approved."
  • Greg is now showing video of Steve Demeter creator of Trism, he talks about how easy it is to develop for iPhone.
  • Apple has sold over 30 million units of iPhone and iPod touch together. More than 800,000 people have downloaded iPhone SDK. there are 50,000 companies and individuals who have joined iPhone dev program.
  • He says that Apple is going to show the future plans for iPhone today. More than 13 million iPhones were sold in 2008.
  • Greg Joswiak is on stage and wishes everyone good morning.
  • Few more minutes to go.
  • What will Apple show along with iPhone OS 3.0? we hope there will be some new hardware. One More Thing...
  • Will Steve come for the keynote, just to watch as others do the work.
  • Well we are inside the hall and waiting for the keynote to start.
  • Less than 20 minutes to go. we should move in the hall soon.
  • iPhone 3.0 Event will start in less than a hour now.
We will be doing complete coverage of all the Announcements after the event. Please visit TechzTalk for detailed coverage of iPhone OS 3.0 and other announcements after the Event




Last week, Apple sent out invitation for iPhone 3.0 media event on March 17th. Apple has called the event “advance preview of what we’re building”. Many analysts believe that Apple will not only showcase iPhone OS 3.0, but also new device at the event. We don’t have any such information from our sources, however it would be great if Apple announces a 10-inch netbook/tablet.
TechzTalk will be doing live coverage of the iPhone event on Tuesday March 17th. So join us to find out more at 10:00am PST/ 12:00 pm CST/ 1:00 pm EST/ 5:00 pm London. Live iPhone OS 3.0 event coverage will be on live.techztalk.com.

Review Roundup: Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro (Unibody)


In January, Apple announced the new 17-inch MacBook Pro with built-in battery that gives 8 hours of battery life. The 17-inch model also adopted the unibody manufacturing process that made it slimmer as well as lighter than any available 17-inch notebook on market. Like the other MacBook models the new 17-inch model also featured high resolution LED-backlit display and large glass Multi-Touch trackpad. Below we have added links to six best reviews for the new 17-inch MacBook Pro:
Read More

New Mac Pro the Fastest Mac Ever


Apple released their new Mac Pro based on Nehalem processor earlier this month and the company claimed that the new desktops were twice as powerful as previous generation. The CineBench 10 test done on the latest Mac Pro models show that they are definitely the fastest Mac desktops ever, but it also shows that they are not twice as fast as previous generation Mac Pro. Read More

March 14, 2009

Apple to Introduce Premium App Store Along with iPhone 3.0


Apple has sent out invitation for its upcoming 17th March iPhone OS 3.0 event, where the company will showcase their latest iPhone OS 3.0 as well as the new iPhone SDK. However, according to Wired that won’t be all, they have heard rumors that Apple will also introduce a “Premium” App Store section that will feature applications priced above $20. Read More

Apple’s iPhone Market Grew 245 Percent in 2008


Gartner has released smartphone market share statistics for 2008 and iPhone saw the largest rise in market share. Though Nokia still rules the smartphone market, its market share went down from 49.4 percent in 2007 to 43.7 percent in 2008. RIM was in the second place with sales of 23 million BlackBerry devices, their market share for 2008 was 16.6 percent up from 9.6 percent in 2007. In third place it was Apple with sales of 11 million iPhone. Read More

March 13, 2009

Microsoft Says IE8 Faster than Firefox and Chrome on Average


Microsoft has been taking lot of heat as IE8 has been shown to be way slower than other competing browsers in various tests done by tech journalists. Microsoft has posted a video showcasing that IE8 is faster than Firefox and Google Chrome on average when loading top 25 most visited websites. According to Microsoft existing browser benchmarking tools available today are either narrow in their scope (SunSpider, Celtic Kane), inaccurate (iBench), or don’t consider important factors such as network latency, network congestion and caching. Read More

Onkyo Introduces TX-SR607 World’s First AV Receiver with Dolby ProLogic IIz


Onkyo today introduced three new home theater receivers, including world’s first to offer Dolby’s new ProLogic IIz processing. All three receivers include an array of advanced HD audio and video technologies from Onkyo, Dolby, DTS, Audyssey, Faroudja and others, but it is the TX-SR607 receiver that is the most interesting as it features Dolby ProLogic IIz. Read More

March 12, 2009

Apple Invites Media to Show iPhone OS 3.0 on March 17th


Apple has sent out invitation for a special media event on March 17th. The event will focus on iPhone OS 3.0 and new iPhone SDK. Apple is calling this event an “advance preview of what we’re building”. The event will take place at Apple, Building 4, Town Hall on March 17 at 10:00am. Read more

Dell Unveils All-in-One Studio One 19 Desktop


Dell today announced the new Studio One 19 all-in-one desktop that is designed like the iMac. The desktop features a 18.5-inch 16:9 ratio LCD screen with 1366 x 768 resolution that has optional support for multitouch input for media playback and image editing. Read More

March 11, 2009

Apple Releases iTunes 8.1 Update


Apple has released the latest iTunes update, which was revealed earlier today. According to the releases note, iTunes 8.1 is now faster and more responsive. You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone and optimizing photos for syncing. Read More

Apple Announces New iPod Shuffle World’s Smallest MP3 Player


Apple today introduced the all-new iPod Shuffle, the world’s smallest music player at nearly half of the size of the previous model, and the first music player that talks to you. The revolutionary new VoiceOver feature enables iPod shuffle to speak your song titles, artists and playlist names. The third generation iPod shuffle holds up to 1,000 songs (4GB capacity) and is easier to use with all of the controls conveniently located on the earphone cord. Read More

March 10, 2009

Rumor: New iPhone, iPhone Nano and iPod touch Coming Soon


Derek Underwood has posted on his blog that Apple is putting the final touches on the new and improved iPhone and iPod touch, which they will launch soon. The new devices will see substantial increase in performance and capacity. The existing iPhone owners will be able to upgrade before their contract expires at reduced rate. Read More

More Sources Point Towards Touchscreen Netbook by Apple


Dow Jones Newswires has joined the list of news sources pointing towards imminent launch of touchscreen notebook from Apple. Two people close to the situation told Dow Jones that Apple is planning to launch a netbook computer with a touchscreen monitor as early as the second half of this year. Read More

Dell Posts Teaser Video for Upcoming Adamo Laptop


Dell has posted a video showcasing the manufacturing process that is used to make the upcoming Adamo luxury laptop. The video shows two laser-equipped robots cutting a block of aluminum to make the base of Adamo laptop and then adding various laptop parts to it, resulting in a the finished product. Read More and Watch Video

March 9, 2009

Palm Investor Says iPhones Customers will Switch to Pre


In an interview with Bloomberg, Palm investor Roger McNamee said Palm Pre would lure iPhone customers when their contracts start expiring in June.
“You Know the beautiful thing: June 29, 2009, is the two-year anniversary of the first shipment of the iPhone,” McNamee told Bloomberg. “Not one of those people will still be using an iPhone a month later.”
Read More

Apple Adds QuickTime X Player, Cocoa Desktop and Multi-Finger Gestures in Latest Snow Leopard Beta


Last week, Apple released the latest beta build 10A286 of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard to selected developer. The new build included significant changes to the QuickTime player, Finder, Core Text and Gesture inputs. Apple has added completely redesigned QuickTime X Player to Snow Leopard. The new player loses the current below the video control scheme in favor of video overlay controls similar to iTunes video playback. Read More

Is Apple Developing a Touchscreen Netbook for Release in Second Half of 2009?


Rumors about Apple working on touchscreen netbook/tablet have been around the blogosphere for more than a few years now. Apple has repeatedly denied the rumors, but Apple does that with every produce before officially announcing it. According to Chinese language Commercial Times, Taiwan based Wintek is working with Apple for developed of touch panels that will be used in Apple’s new netbook and the shipments of these panels will start in the third quarter of this year. Read More

March 6, 2009

A-DATA to Bring First 512GB SSD to the Market


While SSD makers have talked about bring 512GB Solid State Drive to the market this year and some have even claimed that they will have a 1TB SSD on market by end of 2009. It looks like A-DATA will be the first company to actually bring 512GB 2.5-inch SSD to the market, as the company is showcasing their new 512GB XPG 2.5-inch SSD at CeBIT. Read More

LG Gets 1 Million Pre-Orders for KM900 Arena Touchscreen Smartphone


LG today announced that it has received one million pre-orders worldwide for its upcoming KM900 Arena smartphone. Arena is LG new flagship touchscreen phone that was announced last month at Mobile World Congress. The phone features a 3-inch high-resolution 800 x 480 touchscreen, 5-megapixel camera, 8GB on-board memory, 3G, WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth. Read More

March 5, 2009

Smartphones Driving the Growth in Cell Phone Market


Smartphones are the next big thing in electronics. While the consumer electronic market is collapsing the smartphone sales are rising. According to the latest research from NPD Group for US market, smartphone sales doubled to 23 percent in 2008 when compare to previous year. iPhone was the driving force behind growth in US market. This growth will continue in 2009 also as other carriers are releasing phone to compete with iPhone. Read More