Stephen Chinnadorai

In case you weren’t following the WWDC news this week, Apple came out with two major products in Monday’s keynote: MobileMe and the iPhone 3G — both of which link together. MobileMe replaces the .Mac service that Apple previously offered, and brings a range of improvements.

First off, you get 20GBs of storage “in the cloud” — this is shared between e-mail, photo galleries and iDisk backup space. The new service gives you an @me.com e-mail address, which is pretty easy to remember — but the chances of you getting your desired username@me.com are slim. MobileMe also syncs everything up between your computer(s) and iPhone; Apple call it “Exchange for the rest of us” because of this.

But is it worth paying $99 a year for this service? You could use Google’s Gmail for push e-mail to your iPhone with their free IMAP service; you could also use Google Calendar for calendars (although syncing to iPhone does not yet exist); you could use Flickr, or Google Picasa Web Gallery; DropBox is a free alternative to the iDisk.

The table below shows MobileMe and all of its main competitors:

It looks like if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, and want to keep it in sync with your e-mail, calendar and contacts — plus benefit from 20GBs of online storage — then MobileMe may be worth the $99 price.

When Steve hits the stage on Monday, June 9th 2008, hundreds of thousands of people around the world will be awaiting the launch of a new product, or several. It’s impossible to predict what Apple does behind the scenes — rumours are about as close as the general public gets. I’m going to list the most anticipated products expected to be launched, or announced, at this year’s WWDC keynote.

1. 3G iPhone

The 3G iPhone has had so many rumours in the past months that it’s almost certain the next iPhone will be launched, or at least announced on Monday.

It’s expected to have 3G (of course), GPS, video conferencing and most of the features that people expected in the first version (copy & paste, multimedia messaging, etc.).

2. New .Mac

Let’s face it, .Mac isn’t exactly the best value service for e-mail, or backup — in fact the only good thing about it is its perfect integration with the Mac. The new .Mac service is expected to include over-the-air syncing with iPhones, and could potentially be released for Windows users too.

3. Mac OS 10.6

This very recent, last-minute rumour was unleashed into the blogosphere only yesterday, and has caused quite a disruption. TUAW broke the “news” that a new version of Mac OS X would be announced at this year’s keynote, and could be named “Snow Leopard”. It is not expected to include any major new features, but rather an upgrade focused on ”stability and security” — isn’t that what you get in software updates?

4. New Macs

The Mac Mini, MacBook Pro and Apple Cinema Displays are overdue for an update — WWDC seems like an appropriate place and time to launch some upgrades to them. The MacBook Pro would most likely include a redesign and processor speed increase, the Mac Mini may also include a redesign and spec increase.

Of course, the rumours could be entirely wrong. These are just predictions, and nothing in this article has been said by Apple themselves. The WWDC keynote starts at 10 a.m. PDT/6 p.m. GMT.

[I apologize for the horribly rendered photoshop job above - it's all I could throw together in 30 seconds. Of course I'm not part of those 60% of Photoshop users who pirated it *cough*. As you can see, with my skills, it's not worth the $6oo price tag - that's my excuse.]

If you’ve been following the Apple blogs and rumor websites recently, you will have noticed a sudden surge in rumors about product launches in June. It all started with MacBook and MacBook Pro revision rumors expected to launch at the WWDC, and lead to 3G iPhone rumors in June, too. Here’s a list of everything so far:

The Mac Mini is not dead yet - it’s going to live on with more processor upgrades, and possibly a smaller case redesign.

[AppleInsider], [MacRumors], [MacScoop]

Penryn iMacs are expected to be launched, after the success of the newly-launched Penryn MacBook Pros - don’t expect a redesign, though.

[MacRumors], [9to5Mac]

MacBooks and MacBook Pros have both been recently updated, but only in terms of internal specifications -the design still remains the same. Many are expecting a complete redesign of the MacBook and MacBook Pro in June, most likely launched at the WWDC.

[MacRumors 1, 2], [AppleInsider], [Ars Technica]

Last but not least is the iPhone. Walt Mossberg recently caused a lot of speculation when, during a conversation about IPTV & Broadband, he said that “the 3G iPhone is coming in 60 days“. Well, now he’s saying quite the opposite. However, analysts still predict a 3G iPhone worldwide for June.

Out of all the rumors mentioned above, this is the most likely one - AT&T’s CEO even said it himself.

[MacRumors], [Gizmodo], [TimesOnline], [Stuff.tv]

What do you think: Will any of these products come out in June, or will Apple wait until later this year?

Roughly Drafted has posted a long, in-depth analysis of the iPhone as a gaming device - they bring up a lot of great reasons for the iPhone to become a great gaming device. The iPhone has an amazing amount of processing and graphics power for a mobile phone, comparable to any of Nokia’s gaming phones, but not quite up-to-scratch with dedicating gaming device, Sony PSP. Apple’s recently announced SDK also looks promising to game developers that want to turn their game ideas into reality on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

The iPhone would also have a great distribution platform: The iTunes App store. Unlike traditional portable gaming devices, e.g. the Sony PSP, the iPhone wouldn’t require external media like UMD discs. Instead, the iPhone could download games wirelessly, either over Wi-Fi or EDGE connections. I believe the iPhone could make it as a gaming device. It eliminates the need for three things: Your iPod, your phone and your portable games console. Its only limitations are battery life and storage; a lot of your 16GB flash drive will be taken by music and video already.

An interesting article on the iPhone as a gaming platform I wrote for Appletell. What do you think - could the iPhone replace your Sony PSP or Nintendo DS?

Read [Appletell]

It’s almost been 6 months since I bought my 16GB iPod Touch in October 2007, and I haven’t looked back on my old 5G video iPod since. After Steve Jobs announced the iPod Touch, I immediately checked it out at the Apple Store and decided to buy it. I’m glad I went for the slightly more expensive 16GB model, because it is almost completely full of music, videos and photos.

Some people like to think of the iPod Touch as a pointless device - why not get the iPhone instead? There are several reasons you would buy an iPod Touch over an iPhone:

1. You already have a good/better phone than the iPhone
2. The iPhone costs so much that you could buy an iPod Touch and a Nokia N96
3. You don’t want to be forced onto one network, on a pay-monthly contract
4. You want 3G or HSDPA internet access, rather than EDGE.

The list could go on much further, but I think those are the main reasons.

The iPod Touch does everything else the iPhone does, with the exception of making phone calls and SMS messages - other than that it’s a fully-functional media player, organiser and web browsing device. It even has the exact same multi-touch interface you get on the iPhone.

I also think the iPod Touch’s design is much nicer than the iPhones. The mirrored finish on the back is nice, and it’s 8mm thinner than an iPhone. With an iPod Touch you now get three options of storage: 8GB, 16GB or 32GB. At the time of purchasing, there were only the first two available - I would have gone for the 32GB if it were possible.

iPhones are great for people that can’t stand carrying around an iPod and their phone, and have the money to spend on an 18-month O2 contract. But if you want the latest phone technology, with the latest music technology, you should buy both an iPod Touch and a similarly priced phone - it will still be cheaper than an iPhone in the long term.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m happy that Apple finally updated the MacBook Pros to the speed they should be. But, I was expecting slightly more. Here are five things that today’s MacBook Pro update should have included:

1.  Re-designed chassis

I don’t know about you, but I feel that the MacBook Pro, no matter how beautifully designed it is, has an old design. It’s still using the case that the PowerBook G4 had - that’s over 5 years old now. I think the MacBook Pro is thin enough already, but it just needs a newer design.

 2. Newer graphics card

I’m glad Apple still pays some attention to the graphics cards, as they have bumped the VRAM from 128mb in the lower models to 256mb - and in the higher models from 256 to 512. But, they are still using the same card from the previous generation MacBook Pros: The NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT. It’s still a lot better than my MacBook’s Intel GMA 950, though.

3. Cheaper price

I guess you can’t expect this from Apple - but it will happen over time. The MacBook Pro still costs £1299 ($1999), and although there is now a larger hard drive and faster processor, I want it cheaper.  And in the UK especially, we are still being ripped off by about £200 compared to the US price.

4. Implement the new-style Apple Keyboard

I was quite disappointed to find the old Apple keyboard layout on the MacBook Pro. I thought Apple were making a transition to this new keyboard layout - I’ve only heard positive things about it. My MacBook keyboard and my new Apple Bluetooth keyboard both use this layout, and it works perfectly. The MacBook Air adopted it, too. I don’t see Apple’s reasoning for keeping the old-style keyboard. The backlighting still works on the new keyboard, as the MacBook Air has proven.

5. Blu-ray

This is probably the most unrealistic and unnecessary thing on the list - but it would be cool to have. I’ve seen Sony laptops that contain a Blu-ray burner for less than the price of a MacBook Pro. I know Apple would have to use a more expensive slot-loading drive, but it would have been a nice option. Now that a lot of people have HD video cameras, they will want to edit HD video on their computers, and then burn it to a Blu-ray for high-definition viewing on a PS3 or other Blu-ray player.

Even though these few things were missing from today’s MacBook Pro update, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad laptop. I’m still probably going to buy one later this year.

I went to the Apple Store in Regent Street, London recently, to see Apple’s new notebook in my own eyes. My first impression was: “Wow, that’s the thinnest laptop I’ve ever seen.” However, the MacBook Air doesn’t have a SuperDrive or much hard disk space - the processor is slower than a regular MacBook, too. I’m going to summarise the good and bad things about the MacBook Air, and this will hopefully help you to decide whether you really need to buy one.

Pros

• Thin, light and ultra-portable
• Solid-state hard drive option
• Full resolution (1280×800) 13-inch screen
• Excellent build quality
• It fits in a Manilla envelope

Cons

• Expensive
• Relatively low-spec, 80GB 4200rpm max, only 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor
• Solid-state drive costs as much as buying another MacBook Air (almost)

Who is it for?

People that travel a lot, or feel the need to buy the world’s thinnest notebook. The MacBook Air is definitely not a primary computer - it’s designed as a companion to your desktop. My MacBook is my only computer, and if I buy a new one, I plan to make that my primary computer. The MacBook Air definitely isn’t for me - no matter how thin and beautifully designed it is. I just can’t compromise for any less speed, storage or graphics power than I currently have. Although, saying that, I did buy a 16GB iPod Touch - coming down from a 30GB iPod Video (5G) - and I don’t regret it at all.

Conclusion

The MacBook Air is definitely a step in the right direction, from a design point of view at least. The aluminium casing feels far better than my MacBook’s plastic enclosure - but I guess that’s what you get for buying a “low-end” Apple product. But the technology under the hood has a long way to go before the majority of consumers will buy this product. Hopefully with flash memory prices decreasing, and capacity increasing, we can see higher-spec MacBook Airs later this year. Even though the speed is perfectly bearable for average use (web browsing, word processing, e.t.c.) - it’s still far too expensive for a device that only does that sort of thing.

I would definitely buy a MacBook Air if I had the extra cash to buy a desktop machine with it, but right now I’m saving for a next-generation MacBook Pro.