World of Apple

In what is becoming a reasonably common occurrence, prominent blogger John Gruber has weighed in on what he believes will come at this years WWDC which starts June 8th 2009.

The article is mostly speculation on Grubers part but there are a few tidbits where Gruber refers to a source.

Gruber begins with the new iPhone which he expects to be called iPhone 3GS although has no clue what the ‘S’ could stand for. As expected a faster processor and double the current RAM is expected in the new model which will remain priced at $199/299 for 16/32GB.

Video will be the major selling point a long with an increase in battery life of 15-20 percent.

Gruber also expects that rumours of a $99 iPhone are true but expects this to the current iPhone 3G, from this point the blogger speculates:

I see two possibilities: (a) a new device, something that is to the iPhone what the iPod Mini was to the original iPod; or (b) the existing 8 GB iPhone 3G, unchanged but reduced in price

On the subject of Mac OS X Snow Leopard Gruber’s concerns lie with Apple’s problem when it comes to marketing the new OS. Gruber suspects that Apple will sell Snow Leopard for a reduced price, such as $59 or even a nominal fee. Finally the new look expected known as “Marble” is unlikely to come to Snow Leopard as Gruber explains that Apple is leaving very little time for developers. But this is just a hunch of Grubers.

A screenshot showing T-Mobile Netherlands’ internal phone catalogue system shows an iPhone named “iPhone 2009″ available in 16GB and 32GB capacities.

The image which is posted on iPhoneClub.nl also has two stranger entries, the first reads “iPhone 2009 (NTB)” and “iPhone 3G 8GB Black V2.” It is unclear where these models would fit into Apple’s iPhone lineup.

Apple has been widely expected to release a 32GB iPhone at tomorrow’s WWDC opening keynote.

A report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Apple may hold a special event to coincide with the return of Steve Jobs in late-June.

While Mr. Jobs has been on sick leave, some Apple directors have gotten weekly updates about his medical condition from the CEO’s physician, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Jobs’s recovery “is coming along” and he is on schedule to return to work later this month, said this person, who has seen Mr. Jobs in recent weeks.

WSJ cites sources who have ties to Apple senior management who told them that the company is trying to co-ordinate Jobs’ return with a product launch.

Much of the buzz appears to be conjecture of the type that has swirled around Apple and Mr. Jobs for years. But two people who do business with Apple said senior Apple managers have told them the company is now trying to coordinate Mr. Jobs’s return with a product launch or public event.

The article does not cite when the event would be or what product would be launched alongside Jobs’ return.

A report from the Financial Times which cites “people familiar with the initiative” suggests that Apple could unveil an iPhone model with a considerably lower retail price as early as Monday.

“The anticipated new phone is likely to start production in July with the third version of the iPhone operating system, also expected to be released next week as a free upgrade for existing iPhone owners,” writes FT.com.

The article does not go into details on what features a cheaper iPhone would include but cites Morgan Stanley analyst Kathryn Huberty as saying, “it’s either a $50 or a $100 cut” based on a survey of consumers that indicated a $50 drop “could increase demand by 50 per cent and a $100 cut by 100 per cent.” Huberty has a reputation for off the mark predictions.

AppleInsider notes that UK based reseller of the iPhone, Carphone Warehouse has added four new inventory placeholders onto its system in recent days.

The four place holders refer to an iPhone labelled “v3″ but of interest is two place holders for “IPhone 32GbV3 Black” and “IPhone 32GbV3 White”.

It should be added that placeholders on inventory systems are not necessarily a sure sign of a future product, in many cases they are guesses by staff at the retailer. The placeholders however fit with rumours of a 32GB iPhone.

The new iPhone is expected to be announced at the WWDC 2009 opening keynote on June 8th at 10.00 a.m. pacific time.

Mac Rumors reports that Apple has begun putting the finishing touches on it’s Push Notification service testing which the company began several weeks ago.

The AP Mobile application was the first application to be included in the large-scale testing program of Push Notifications which allows applications to receive notifications on the iPhone when they’re not running.

Some are speculating that with the release of iTunes 8.2 this week and the end of Push Notification testing that Apple could be preparing an imminent release of iPhone OS 3.0, although it would not be expected until July.

Boy Genius Report has published a rumour about the possibility of video chat on the new iPhone. The source of the rumour is Fido’s 2009 product roadmap which BGR says it is “very far away from being able to confirm”. The published image shows a $99 4GB iPhone with “Video Calling (iChat)” listed in the features list.

The most notable slide has to do with a 4GB iPhone 3G. While there is a huge disclaimer that the image isn’t the device itself, the slide depicts a 4GB iPhone model that will run for $99 and come with quad-band EDGE, tri-band HSDPA, a 2 megapixel shooter and, believe it or not, iChat video calling (oh hi, front-facing camera).

It is unknown how authentic the image is but BGR doesn’t seem very convinced.

Over the weekend Best Buy sent out a memo saying that iPhone 3G stock was now constrained, adding that some locations would run out of inventory completely.

The news follows a similar report from retailer Brightpoint in Australia who issued an End of Life warning for the iPhone 3G 16GB.

“We have just been notified that the following devices [iPhone 3G 16GB] are End Of Life and that there is only a few weeks stock available from Brightpoint,” adding “This is an opportunity to take advantage of these devices whilst they’re still available.”

Apple is widely expected to announce a new iPhone at the WWDC opening keynote on June 8th 2009, the device will likely be in public hands by mid-July.

Engadget is reporting that the new iPhone could be available in 4, 8, 16 and 32GB capacities. Engadget pinpoints an approval received from the PCS Type Review Certification Board as the source of the information.

4GB to 32GB — that’s one hell of a range, but we’re hearing from a trusted source that new iPhones in 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities just garnered approval by the PCS Type Review Certification Board, the standards body responsible for certificating handsets for use with some carriers (AT&T, for instance).

Engadget goes onto speculate that Apple will use more than just capacities to help differentiate models and could make use of software to reduce features on certain models.

A number of images from Chinese-based UMPCFever claim (original post removed) to show several unseen features of iPhone OS 3.0. The images also purportedly show a new unreleased iPhone in action which had been brought over from the US, the images are said to be deliberately blurry to prevent features of the iPhones physical design being revealed.

The two features of interest are the iPhones new auto-focus camera and the built-in compass which corresponds with rumours that the new iPhone will have a magnetometer built-in.

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