Business Week (in the US) has reported that the release of the iPhone SDK, and Apple’s support of third party applications will now not happen in February as first expected, but is still likely to occur in March.
[Via Engadget]
As part of announcing the 2Gb iPod Shuffle, Apple have now reduced the price of the 1Gb version down to £32, although the 2Gb model (which should sell around the £49 the 1Gb model was priced at) is still not available, although it has been announced.
Although not yet listed in the UK Apple Store, Apple have released a larger capacity iPod Shuffle in the US, with 2Gb of storage, and have reduced the price of the 1Gb model. We expect similar changes in the UK to come at some point in the near future. The new 2Gb model will go on sale later this month in the US.
Although it’s not yet made it to the UK Apple Store, the US Apple Store is now listing a 16Gb iPhone for sale. We expect this will be available in the UK too in the very near future.
Also, just announced, a 32Gb iPod Touch is available now too.
The IBM Lotus Notes support for the iPhone we mentioned here has been delayed by IBM (ie it wasn’t launched at LotusSphere). It’s not clear if the decision was from IBM, or forced on them by Apple, but we expect it should be announced in the next month or two alongside the Apple iPhone SDK.
IBM are apparently soon to launch a Lotus Notes solution for the iPhone (and iPod Touch). Many large corporates are Notes users, and this will allow greater business usage of these devices throughout these companies. Apple and IBM have been working together on this solution, and there are rumours that IBM have had earlier access to the SDK due for release next month. More details are not likely before IBM’s LotusSphere, which starts over the weekend, although it is likely the software will be free.
Garmin have created a download page for their new software, codenamed Bobcat. Although they have not yet formally announced the software, we can provide some details on the functionality….
The software appears to be a Beta version right now, but this bodes well for the future of Garmin’s Mac support plans.
Screenshot courtesy of GPS Review.
As we mentioned earlier today, Steve Jobs has announced the ultra-thin MacBook Air just now. The device features an 80Gb 1.8″ hard disk (or an optional 64Gb SSD), 2Gb RAM, a trackpad with multi-gesture support, a 13.3″ widescreen LED backlit screen, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and a full sized backlit keyboard.
The laptop thickness (or should we say thinness?) varies from 0.76″ down to 0.16″.
However, the $1799 turns into £1199, which is a premium compared to the US/UK Dollar exchange rate.
In other points, the MacWorld keynote speech also announced iTunes Movies Rentals ($2.99 to $3.99 for a movie, add an extra dollar for HD versions), a major software update (and price drop) for the Apple TV, new applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch (Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes and Weather) although this will be a chargeable upgrade on the iPod Touch, the iPhone 1.1.3 firmware update that we’ve already mentioned, and native Office Mac 2008.
Well the rumour mills are in full flow now, with the consensus that Apple will announce a new MacBook range at MacWorld today as we first mentioned here. The main additional information that’s being floated around is that the device will be called MacBook Air.
More news later today / tomorrow once it is formally released by Apple.
Picture courtesy of Engadget.
JBL have announced an iPhone speaker dock, the JBL OnStage IIIP, which is similar to previous OnStage docks, but is for the iPhone. It comes with a remote control, and a mini stereo jack for other music devices, and is powered from the mains or from batteries. It will charge the iPhone, and has connections to allow you to sync your iPhone with your PC / Mac. No details of UK availability yet though.
Next week, as part of MacWorld, Garmin will announce some new software and showing hardware which are both Mac compatible. Garmin, the GPS and SatNav company, pledged better Mac support across their range a while ago now, and have been slowly making good on their promise. As part of this, next week they will announce a new software solution codenamed Bobcat.
partfoundry have developed a GPS solution for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the locoGPS, and are hoping to release it in February this year. This will allow jailbroken devices to have GPS functionality and a GPS application. Along with the Google Maps Cell-Based Location Services due for the iPhone, it seems these Apple products are adding one of the few features that the top of the range Symbian devices had to differentiate them. With the SDK due to ship in February, we can safely predict this year there will be a lot of new applications and hardware accessories for these devices.
According to Engadget, we may well be seeing a new iPhone firmware very soon, although it may not be released until MacWorld in a couple of weeks. The key features are Google Maps Cell-Based Location services (as already available for many Symbian and Java phones), and the ability to reorder the icons on the home screen (springboard). The springboard also support pagination, which appears to be in preparation for additional applications, due around February 2008 when the SDK formally ships.
There are already rumours that you can’t downgrade, and people with jailbroken / unlocked phones may suffer problems upgrading to 1.1.3
Avaya plan to release their one-X mobile client for the iPhone in the first quarter of 2008 (likely to coincide with the formal release of the Apple iPhone SDK). This will allow corporate iPhone users to link their iPhone to their corporate Avaya PBX (and many other enterprise IP telecommunications networks), allowing calls to be transferred to and from the office and the iPhone. This is already available for other mobile phones, such as Nokia Series60 devices.
If you’ve been suffering from keyboard problems with your MacBook or MacBook Pro running Leopard, then Apple has just released a fix which may help. Although it appears to have not fixed all the problems (such as missing the first character typed), the keyboard locking up for minutes on end problem seems to have been fixed.
After blocking it before, and then making it just downright difficult, Apple have now relented and provided instructions on how to make ringtones for your iPhone. This support article for GarageBand, includes instructions on how to use it to create the ringtone. For non-Mac users, there are still plenty of methods available as before. You’ll need the latest iPhone firmware, the latest iTunes, and the latest GarageBand for this one though.
From TUAW [Via Screencastsonline]
Google announced yesterday that they have updated their Picasa Web Albums (mobile version) to better support the iPhone / iPod Touch, with a completely redesigned and optimized the interface specifically for these devices. They have also added an iPhone-only slideshow feature.
Orb will, on the next few days, announce that it now has support for iPhones / iPod Touchs. Orb allows you to access your songs and playlists on your home PC wherever you are. Orb have managed to achieve this without needing any applications on the iPhone / iPod Touch itself, using the built in browser to access the functionality.
