Apple announces new iPhone 3G S

Apple kicked off their Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) yesterday, much to the excitement of Apple enthusiasts everywhere.  Apple refers to WWDC as "the premier technical event for developers and IT professionals innovating with Apple platforms," and have they ever proven it this year!

Phil Schiller led this year's keynote address because Steve Jobs is on medical leave until later this month; however, this did not diminish the magic that only Apple can create.  Phil first introduced several upgrades to the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, most significantly boosting the 13" MacBook to MacBook Pro status by increasing the specs.  The new 13" MacBook Pro is incredibly low in price, at just $1199.  The MacBook Air received in a bump in specs as well, in addition to a $700 price cut.

Apple then went on to demonstrate their new operating system, Snow Leopard, which touts some incredible new features.  It will be available in September.  The company wants Leopard users to upgrade and take advantage of the amazing new features so badly that upgrades will cost only $29.  This may hurt Microsoft, whose Windows 7 operating system, will launch on Oct. 22 at the same prices as Vista.  Apple's head of software engineering, Bertrand Serlet, even took a quick jab at the company during the keynote, saying, "What a big hole Microsoft has dug... They're trying to get out of it with Windows 7 [but] it's the same old technology as Vista.  Fundamentally, it's just another version of Vista."  ... And we all know how we geeks feel about Microsoft's most recent excuse for an operating system.

And for most of us, the biggest announcement of the day was the new iPhone 3G S, to be released in just a week and a half, on June 19.  The phone will function at twice the speed of the current iPhone 3G, sports more storage (up to 32 GB), and has a better battery.  The camera has been improved and will be video-capable, featuring both video recording and editing - could this challenge the Flip Mino?  I think so!  With direct upload to YouTube, e-mail and MMS capabilites (yes, Apple has added that too!), the iPhone is now a serious contender amongst digital video recording devices.  The camera will also have auto-focus, auto-white balancing, and macro settings.  The prices for iPhone are now iPhone 3G 8 GB $99, iPhone 3G 16 GB $149, iPhone 3G S 16 GB $199, and iPhone 3G S 32 GB $299.

Also touted amongst new features were a digital compass that will play nice with Google Maps, allowing the map to orient itself based on which direction you are facing.  Voice controls will allow for hands-free operation, including voice dialing and complete iTunes control.

The new iPhone OS 3.0 launches June 17, and I've already gotten my hands on the Gold Master developers' release which Apple pushed out to developers yesterday.  Thanks very much to @toxinide!  I will be installing it this evening and will blog again later with my thoughts.

Who will be standing in line at midnight to get his new iPhone 3G S?  That's right -- THIS geek definitely will!

Apple

    Ok folks, it is definitely time for me to start keeping up with this thing, and now I feel like I can actually do it... (maybe).  If you've been around me much since March, you know I've totally fallen in love with my iPhone.  This is phenomenal, for one big reason: I used to be the biggest Apple hater in the world.  Yeah, yeah, I liked my iPod and everything, and wow, iTunes is the best media player around, but overall Apple sucks... or so I thought.  In all honesty, I've only had two real experience with Apple computers.  I had an Apple IIE when I was about 3.  It was great for games; Reader Rabbit and Diggity Dog were phenomenal for a young kid who was just starting out on the road to becoming a Computer Science major.  My only experiences with Apple computers since then have been with one of the original iMacs which my aunt had back around 2000.  It was probably running OS 8 or OS 9, I honestly don't remember; but, in my opinion, it was an absolute annoyance.  I could never get anything done on it, it was slower than any PC I had used, and I would have thrown it in the garbage, plain and simple.  I abhorred that thing, and with that in mind I developed an extreme bias against -- or rather, hatred for -- Apple computers.  I looked down upon Mac users ("Nobody programs for Mac, you idiot.  Get a real computer!").  Then Apple released their line of Intel based computers...  "Sure," I said to myself, "of course that will make them better.  They're more like a Windows system now!"  That was my opinion of Apple and Mac, and whenever I saw them in movies or on TV, I thought to myself, "There's another stupid person using Apple."  The iPod only started to open my eyes to the marketing genius that is Apple.  As an already avid music enthusiast, Apple literally opened my eyes to the entire world full of music that is available on the Internet.

    Nonetheless, when Apple first launched the iPhone, I was disinterested... not truly uninterested, just disinterested.  I was indifferent; sure, 4 GB... that's great, but that sure as heck isn't going to be able to handle my music addiction.  So, the iPhone launch came and went with little attention from me; sure I realized there were people out there that were absolutely fanatical about it, but it just wasn't a big deal to me.  I took a while... Christmas 2007 rolled around, and I saw my first iPhone.  Megan R., Blythe's cousin, got one - an 8 GB - and I couldn't get enough of it.  I annoyed Megan for weeks at youth group, asking to play with it, check my e-mail, get on Facebook, etc.  Then I got suckered into being in 1776 (which was an absolute blast, by the way!).  Lo and behold, here is Chris M., a businessman and fellow geek, sporting his own iPhone and showing off the truly innovative, useful features that Apple had included in the newest firmware.  Ok, Megan had one... great.  The gadget geek in me is jealous.  It's a toy.  But when Chris had one...  Oh... iPhones are cool for businessmen too!  And they can increase productivity!  iGoogle works on iPhone?!  Wow, I use iGoogle!  You can sync every family member's Google Calender and view them on a mobile version on iPhone?!  That's amazing!  YouTube in my pocket?!  You've gotta be kidding me!  Oh my gosh, that touch screen's tight.  Ahhhh, I want one!!!!  I can't believe I want another Apple product!!!

    Fastforward to March.  I've gotten my 16 GB iPhone.  It's amazing, I love it...  I've jailbroken it, I have tons of third party apps on it, I've ventured out into a world of customization that most iPhone owners probably don't even realize exists!  Amazing!  Open source software heaven.  Apple is, indeed, genius!  Still can't stand there computers, but man do they make great mobile devices...  Microsoft are obviously the computer gods... (until Vista... D'oh! that sucks!  Don't get me started on Vista's problems... Needless to say, it's no wonder Billy-boy stepped down).

    Oh boy... the keyboard studio at the college just got a lab full of iMacs?!  Look, man, I already know that music, video, and graphic design people are all goo-goo-gah-gah over Mac, but c'mon... Gimme a break.  Geek that I am though... "Hey Mrs. White, I heard the keyboard studio got new computers!"

    "Sure," she says, "you wanna play with one?"  Would I ever.  Another chance to criticize Apple... Hey, wait a minute...  This is easy to use...  Hey, that's cool... You can do that??  And, yeah, I'd heard about OS X, but I didn't believe the hype.  I'm a logical, critically thinking person.  I know a lot about Windows; I can troubleshoot Windows all day.  Then I realized that I spend all day doing just that -- troubleshooting Windows.  Macs never need troubleshooting!  Wow, this software is amazing!  Wait a minute, you mean that's freeware?!  I didn't think anybody even designed software for Mac...

    And through a few really wise people, I've discovered several really amazing things in the last 6 months...  First the iPhone, then I discovered Linux through Chris... oh my gosh, what can't you do with Linux?  Even my idols at Pixar use Linux for part of their rendering process!  Open Source Software!  Now here's a concept I can behind - FREE STUFF!!!  Now my eyes are open to Mac OS X, and I never want to go back to Microsoft again.  Sure, I have to use Windows at my workplace, but I much prefer OS X.  There's really a wellspring of software out there if you're only willing to search.  Name any piece of Winblows software, and I guarantee I can find a Mac equivalent that will do the job faster, better, and with more style.  I placed my order for my 24" iMac on Monday, July 7th, 2008; I received it on Friday, July 11th.

    For you geeks like me, here are some stats:

• Mac OS X Version 10.5.4
• 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
• 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
• 320 GB HDD

    Yeah, it has Bluetooth, wireless Internet, 5 total USB ports, 2 Firewire ports... it's a beast.  It was a freaking breeze to set up.  It hopped on my network, straight out of the box.  Setting it up to print from my network printer was as easy as locating the printer on the network and picking the driver -- the pre-installed driver -- for it.

    Another really nice feature can be best illustrated by the following image:

    No more dealing with all that extra CRAPOLA!

    I love my iMac, and I hereby vow to convert as many people as I can.  I was foolish to hate Mac without experiencing the wonder that is OS X.  It just works.  It's intuitive, it's innovative, and, thank God, it ISN'T VISTA!

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