First photos from Apple's WWDC site highlight App Store success

[AppleInsider]

With roughly five days to go before Apple kicks off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, signage spotted around the Moscone Center can already be seen paying homage to all things App Store.

AppleInsider reader Alan Jackson burnt the midnight oil on Wednesday to deliver this Flickr album of 22 photos he snapped outside the Moscone West Tuesday evening, the conference hall where Apple will deliver its inaugural keynote early next week and proceed into individual training sessions.

The photos show workers adhering a trademark white Apple logo to the upper glass facade of the conference facility just before sundown. Jumbo-sized App Store icons were later seen strewn around the lower glass near the hall's entrance.

Only one banner is visible from the photos: a sprawling New Year's-themed piece peppered with confetti of App Store icons and the calling phrase "One year later. Light-years ahead" -- obviously in reference to the App Store's blistering success that has left rivals and the industry in awe.

Nothing related to Mac OS X or Snow Leopard can be seen from the photos, suggesting that this year's conference may follow in the footsteps of last year's, where the Mac took a back seat to iPhone-related disclosures.

Apple has promised to equip developers with a near finalized copy of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard during the conference, but recent reports suggest new iPhone hardware introductions could steal the spotlight.

A team of Apple executives led by marketing chief Phil Schiller will kick off WWDC 2009 with a keynote address on Monday, June 8 at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[saarek]

WWDC might concentrate on developers, but they seem to release more cool hardware/software than anything else, it's like Macworld used to be!

[nvidia2008]

RIP Macworld. Long live WWDC.

I miss San Fran... *sniff*

[ivan.rnn01]

This is exactly how I view it.
However, the guys at Flickr think the icon in the bottom left angle of the image #6 means "iPhone 32GB"...

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

However, the guys at Flickr think the icon in the bottom left angle of the image #6 means "iPhone 32GB"...

What? Because the icon has a number 32? It looks like a gas pump of some sort ... probably mileage app / cheapest gas nearest to you kind of app.

[vercordio]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

However, the guys at Flickr think the icon in the bottom left angle of the image #6 means "iPhone 32GB"...

Betting that the next iPhone will increase to 32GB is like betting the sun will come up tomorrow. Now, whether or not it's announced at WWDC, there's a far more interesting question.

Anyway, I agree with the poster above. Looks like a gas pump.

[abrooks]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

This is exactly how I view it.
However, the guys at Flickr think the icon in the bottom left angle of the image #6 means "iPhone 32GB"...

App is called AccuFuel.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

What? Because the icon has a number 32? It looks like a gas pump of some sort ... probably mileage app / cheapest gas nearest to you kind of app.

Personally I think your explanation is closer to truth.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by abrooks

App is called AccuFuel.

Indeed. I use Road Trip, this is why I've never seen that one.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

Personally I think your explanation is closer to truth.

Thanks. On another matter, during the Keynote I predict the wonderful new iPhone 3G will be announced but shipping only in July, iPhone 3.0 Software released for all iPhone owners to download, App Store improvements etc. etc., a few cool Snow Leopard "news updates" but nothing too flash.

iPhone 3.0 Software is great. But putting that with the new iPhone 3G with 32GB, 3+ megapixel camera, front-facing camera (20% chance this will happen I predict), Magnetometer and new sexy design, faster CPU etc etc. ....... will be the kind of iPhone kickass stuff Apple will want going into and through this "economic bottom" of the rest of the year.

Apple should actually put a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording just to shut everyone up.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by vercordio

Betting that the next iPhone will increase to 32GB is like betting the sun will come up tomorrow. Now, whether or not it's announced at WWDC, there's a far more interesting question.

Anyway, I agree with the poster above. Looks like a gas pump.

Nothing says it will be announced at WWDC. Absolutely nothing. On the contrary, everything suggests WWDC will be completely software-centric.

Apple's silence, though, is very suspicious.

[Slang4Art]

I just want Spotlight already... *sigh

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by nvidia2008

Thanks. On another matter, during the Keynote I predict the wonderful new iPhone 3G will be announced but shipping only in July, iPhone 3.0 Software released for all iPhone owners to download, App Store improvements etc. etc., a few cool Snow Leopard "news updates" but nothing too flash.

iPhone 3.0 Software is great. But putting that with the new iPhone 3G with 32GB, 3+ megapixel camera, front-facing camera (20% chance this will happen I predict), Magnetometer and new sexy design, faster CPU etc etc. ....... will be the kind of iPhone kickass stuff Apple will want going into and through this "economic bottom" of the rest of the year.

Apple should actually put a 5 megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording just to shut everyone up.

I give, as I always did since long, 50% of probability to the event which consists in the new iPhone hardware being announced at WWDC regardlessly if SJ will attend it or not. But another 50% share goes to the option that they will wait for Steve to present new iPhone.

[Switchers (Chief Editor)]

WWDC next week? Who gives a beep when you have this in your hands



Say hello to the new front camera!

[Lorre]

I don't think they can afford not to mention Snow Leopard in the WWDC keynote, however, there's not enough room for both SL and a new iPhone, unless they don't talk about iPhone OS 3.0, which would imply older iPhone users will not see additional features beyond what's already known.

I still believe either SL or new iPhone models will get their own event.

[chronster]

It appears they are getting rid of the very failed App Store judging by how they decorated everything.

[mark2005]

Originally Posted by Lorre

I don't think they can afford not to mention Snow Leopard in the WWDC keynote, however, there's not enough room for both SL and a new iPhone, unless they don't talk about iPhone OS 3.0, which would imply older iPhone users will not see additional features beyond what's already known.

I still believe either SL or new iPhone models will get their own event.

The keynote is usually about 90 minutes. (I'm not attending so can an attendee confirm the actual scheduled length?) With a 10 minute state-of-Apple intro, that leaves approx 25 minutes each for Snow Leopard, iPhone 3.0, and iPhone devices.

That's plenty unless you're wanting to see more developer demos...

[Rokken]

Light-years ahead. That's quite a statement. It really makes me excited to see what's coming.

[Redglittercoffin]

Originally Posted by chronster

It appears they are getting rid of the very failed App Store judging by how they decorated everything.

Of course! Who wants apps for their PHONE?

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by Lorre

I don't think they can afford not to mention Snow Leopard in the WWDC keynote, however, there's not enough room for both SL and a new iPhone, unless they don't talk about iPhone OS 3.0, which would imply older iPhone users will not see additional features beyond what's already known.

I still believe either SL or new iPhone models will get their own event.

We've already seen the dog n pony show with SDK 3.0 so the only thing Apple could really talk about are features like video recording, and more that are thusfar hidden from the public at large.

If Snow Leopard has a new unified UI then it certainly needs a demo and Apple does need to reassure people that Snow Leopard is something they are going to want to have especially considering the overhyping of Windows 7.

The book publishers already have their placeholders for Snow Leopard books coming in August. I think we see Snow Leopard in September at the latest and the WWDC preview is going to be probably more mature than people know.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

We've already seen the dog n pony show with SDK 3.0 so the only thing Apple could really talk about are features like video recording, and more that are thusfar hidden from the public at large.

If Snow Leopard has a new unified UI then it certainly needs a demo and Apple does need to reassure people that Snow Leopard is something they are going to want to have especially considering the overhyping of Windows 7.

That all seems most likely.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

We've already seen the dog n pony show with SDK 3.0 so the only thing Apple could really talk about are features like video recording, and more that are thusfar hidden from the public at large.

If Snow Leopard has a new unified UI then it certainly needs a demo and Apple does need to reassure people that Snow Leopard is something they are going to want to have especially considering the overhyping of Windows 7.

The book publishers already have their placeholders for Snow Leopard books coming in August. I think we see Snow Leopard in September at the latest and the WWDC preview is going to be probably more mature than people know.

All very true. It also helps to look at what Apple's done at past WWDCs. Last year they unveiled the iPhone 3G, its new features, pricing and a release date. With the Palm Pre getting so hyped, there's little doubt Apple will show the next iPhone, its new features, pricing and a release date.

Then look at the WWDC before Leopard was originally set to launch. Apple talked about its new features, unveiled its UI changes, and set a release window. They're likely to do the same thing this year.

What's different is, with Leopard there were tons of new user-facing features to articulate and demo, while Snow Leopard will only have a few, the rest being under the hood, and of course, there's UI. While the next iPhone will come with OS 3.0, as you said, most of the features it brings have been demonstrated, so that just leaves things like video capture/editing, 802.11n, perhaps twice the processing power and RAM, a digital compass, etc.

There might even be time to talk about Snow Leopard's support for 3G hardware and how that relates to Macs (i.e., MacBooks subsidized with 3G service), though that will probably be saved for their annual laptop refresh.

Hmm, on that note, wouldn't it make a lot of sense to have the launch of Snow Leopard in late Summer/early Fall coincide with subsidized MacBooks sporting built-in or bundled 3G antennas?

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by wobegon

All very true. It also helps to look at what Apple's done at past WWDCs. Last year they unveiled the iPhone 3G, its new features, pricing and a release date. With the Palm Pre getting so hyped, there's little doubt Apple will show the next iPhone, its new features, pricing and a release date.

Then look at the WWDC before Leopard was originally set to launch. Apple talked about its new features, unveiled its UI changes, and set a release window. They're likely to do the same thing this year.

What's different is, with Leopard there were tons of new user-facing features to articulate and demo, while Snow Leopard will only have a few, the rest being under the hood, and of course, there's UI. While the next iPhone will come with OS 3.0, as you said, most of the features it brings have been demonstrated, so that just leaves things like video capture/editing, 802.11n, perhaps twice the processing power and RAM, a digital compass, etc.

There might even be time to talk about Snow Leopard's support for 3G hardware and how that relates to Macs (i.e., MacBooks subsidized with 3G service), though that will probably be saved for their annual laptop refresh. Hmm, wouldn't it make a lot of sense to have the launch of Snow Leopard this Fall coincide with subsidized MacBooks sporting built-in or bundled 3G antennas?

The dynamics will certainly be different this year. I think that after the initial numbers praise at the beginning, we’ll get to the Snow Leopard demo. Since there features are limited we’ll have to see a new UI. We’ll also see a bunch of benchmarks comparing Leopard and SL on the exact same HW. perhaps even live demos, like they’ve done i years past, showing "real world” actions that a user might do.

After that we’ll get any app or service changes that were’t previously talked up at the 3.0 special event, like Push Notifications actually up and running. Finally, the new iPhone’s HW and the new apps, like the compass (magnetometer API) and video recording, as you mentioned above.

I don’t expect much more or less. I hope that that the additional MobileMe services that allow for location finding and remote wipe are mentioned.

[macslut]

My guess is that Mark2005 has it right with 10 minutes of status update followed by 25 minutes each for Snow Leopard, iPhone 3.0 and the new iPhone.

If you look at the pictures you'll see that the only banner is highlighting the iPhone apps...of course, this is a developer conference. So definitely, they're going to be talking about iPhone 3.0.

It also makes sense to talk about the new iPhone to the developers. They're going to need to know what's different about it and how to develop for it. If Apple were to have a separate event for the iPhone, they would've done it *before* the WWDC...but that would've just been a waste of time/money as compared to doing it at the WWDC.

While this is a developer focused conference, the keynote is a press/media event. It *is* where you want to make announcements.

Snow Leopard is getting close to being finalized. Apple has been pretty consistent in its development and stating what Snow Leopard will be. As such, don't expect any surprises regarding Snow Leopard at WWDC. Instead, expect a relatively quick run through with it as compared to most OS demos from Apple.

And of course iPhone 3.0 will need to have a run through. It does have a lot of features, and again, the developers need to know now as opposed to getting info from an iPhone media event later.

All signs point to a WWDC announcement for the new iPhone and a July 17release with iPhone 3.0 coming out sometime in between (probably earlier this year than last).

So what's missing from the pictures are the banners that they usually cover up before the show. These pictures have arrived early, so those banners probably hadn't been hung yet. I haven't been by Moscone today, but in the past, those banners are usually hung as part of the last things set up later in the week before the start of the conference.

If those banners are not up and covered, then I might start questioning whether the new iPhone is going to be announced at the WWDC, but until then, all signs seem to point that way.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by solipsism

We’ll also see a bunch of benchmarks comparing Leopard and SL on the exact same HW. perhaps even live demos, like they’ve done i years past, showing "real world” actions that a user might do.

Right, I forgot about benchmarking. That will hopefully include a race between Leopard and SL for startup times. That alone could be noteworthy if they get it down to a few seconds or *gasp*, you hit the power button and there it is.

There's also the essentially confirmed death knell for PowerPC backwards compatibility, which I have a feeling the PC rags will decry Apple for. QuickTime X and Snow Leopard's UI appear destined to be given sizable portions of time considering the former represents one of the few featureish things and the latter is important for a visual distinction between SL and Leopard (as well as any enhancements in ease of use).

Originally Posted by solipsism

After that we’ll get any app or service changes that were’t previously talked up at the 3.0 special event, like Push Notifications actually up and running. Finally, the new iPhone’s HW and the new apps, like the compass (magnetometer API) and video recording, as you mentioned above.

I don’t expect much more or less. I hope that that the additional MobileMe services that allow for location finding and remote wipe are mentioned.

Yeah. I guess there's an outside chance for an Apple TV announcement, mainly if Apple opened up a Apple TV App Store and SDK, but that seems like something we'd see sometime next Spring. If anything, we might instead see a Mac section within the App Store as an optional path to the user, perhaps modeled off of iTunes' podcast directory (yes, I know I've said this a few times elsewhere ).

Lastly, we probably shouldn't rule out the showing of revised versions of existing Mac software, like iTunes, the Finder, Mail, etc.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by wobegon

Right, I forgot about benchmarking. That will hopefully include a race between Leopard and SL for startup times. That alone could be noteworthy if they get it down to a few seconds or *gasp*, you hit the power button and there it is.

There's also the essentially confirmed death knell for PowerPC backwards compatibility, which I have a feeling the PC rags will decry Apple for. QuickTime X and Snow Leopard's UI appear destined to be given sizable portions of time considering the former represents one of the few featureish things and the latter is important for a visual distinction between SL and Leopard (as well as any enhancements in ease of use).

Yeah. I guess there's an outside chance for an Apple TV announcement, mainly if Apple opened up a Apple TV App Store and SDK, but that seems like something we'd see sometime next Spring. If anything, we might instead see a Mac section within the App Store as an optional path to the user, perhaps modeled off of iTunes' podcast directory (yes, I know I've said this a few times elsewhere ).

Lastly, we probably shouldn't rule out the showing of revised versions of existing Mac software, like iTunes, the Finder, Mail, etc.

So far, I've noticed a slighter shorter startup time and slighter zipper startup of apps, but nothing astounding, though it is still Beta and I'm using a MB 2.4GHz w/ 9400M IGP. Pretty much all other new Macs would probably show more gain with OpenCL and GC working. I have found about a 10% benchmarking gain, but I certainly haven't seen this is real time usage yet. The machines with IGPs are still without a 64-big kernel option, and we've seen no SL or iPhone OS updates for a few weeks.

I hope that we see a lot more than UI changes but logistically it would probably be best to regroup with a future-forward backend change, even if marketing is yelling "features sell!

I wouldn't be surprised if the address the lack of PPC support by saying that Leopard will updated for x-long, and perhaps even adding the ActiveSync feature to Leopard Mail. Okay, that latter I would be a little surprised by.

AppleTV is a wildcard. What event would it best bs to update it? It doesn't currently warrant its own event but a silent update doesn't work either. There is HW, OS, distribution, apps, a potential SDK and the other media appliance vendors and optical media to consider. If you have a educated guess I'd love to hear it because I find it all quite complex.


PS: completely untelated to the thread, but iPhone OS X v3.0 does not refresh mobileSafari like it does with v2.x.

[Medusa]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

We've already seen the dog n pony show with SDK 3.0 so the only thing Apple could really talk about are features like video recording, and more that are thusfar hidden from the public at large.

If Snow Leopard has a new unified UI then it certainly needs a demo and Apple does need to reassure people that Snow Leopard is something they are going to want to have especially considering the overhyping of Windows 7.

The book publishers already have their placeholders for Snow Leopard books coming in August. I think we see Snow Leopard in September at the latest and the WWDC preview is going to be probably more mature than people know.

If there's going to be so little Snow Leopard news at the conference, why did the banner designer chose to have it SNOWING iPhone applications. I'm just saying.... I don't think this is a co-incidence. Design choices that Apple make at any level rarely are.

Unless, they're about to reveal a secret project codenamed HAIL... which means you can discard my post entirely

[Ireland]

Originally Posted by Switchers (Chief Editor)

WWDC next week? Who gives a beep when you have this in your hands



Say hello to the new front camera!

No, I won't say hello. Nor will I even use it.

[ivan.rnn01]

nicely and intriguingly sounding english word, which is employed to name that chinese artistic interpretation of ugly phone outlook...
Wait... That's it! "Rendition"!

[Paul N]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

AppleInsider reader Alan Jackson burnt the midnight oil on Wednesday to deliver this Flickr album of 22 photos he snapped outside the Moscone West Tuesday evening,

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

To give credit to who it is due, Adam Jackson took these pictures not Alan Jackson.

[hill60]

I wonder if there'll be any game demo's shown on a new iPhone?

A faster processor and more RAM should make for an awesome experience, Sega showed Monkeyball last year.

ID Software perhaps, John Carmack has made positive comments about the iPhone and has been quiet since launching Wolfenstein 3D a couple of months ago.

[meelash]

Originally Posted by Medusa

If there's going to be so little Snow Leopard news at the conference, why did the banner designer chose to have it SNOWING iPhone applications. I'm just saying.... I don't think this is a co-incidence. Design choices that Apple make at any level rarely are.

Unless, they're about to reveal a secret project codenamed HAIL... which means you can discard my post entirely

Sorry to RAIN on your parade, but.... What??

[PXT]

I anticipate an endless parade of hardware linked to the dock.

Phil Schiller will demonstrate that his stress levels are fine, his blood sugar levels are normal, and his children are all his - live onstage.

Then (either way) there won't be much time for anything else.

[nvidia2008]

Originally Posted by PXT

I anticipate an endless parade of hardware linked to the dock.

Phil Schiller will demonstrate that his stress levels are fine, his blood sugar levels are normal, and his children are all his - live onstage.

Then (either way) there won't be much time for anything else.

Ooh... Gattaca-style instant genome sequencer for iPhone 3G. Nice.

[nvidia2008]

OpenCL is still in its infacy but the concept is sound. Folding@Home on GPU, CUDA, Badaboom, Cyberlink Media Espresso, while all somewhat buggy, do demonstrate that used wisely GPUs can definitely do some heavy lifting. The 9400M will be no slouch in terms of GPGPU. Sure, you can't really play Crysis on it but GPGPU wise the Nvidia 9 series and newer can provide tangible benefits. Of course, ATI is no slouch and their 40nm GPUs are kicking ass overall.

Most important is for Apple to lay out some real good groundwork (SDK, API, whatever) so that Devs can start making all sorts of cool GPGPU apps for Snow Leopard. There's a great, intelligent development community out there and with OpenCL, I think they'll certainly make the most of it if the foundations are there.

The icing on the cake is when OpenCL becomes de facto for ATI and Nvidia ~ Sure, they may still market their tech as "CUDA" or "Stream" but if OpenCL really takes off, it could be a strong common platform that will take processing up a notch.

I mean, Folding@Home on my ATI 4830 on PC (high GPU use with very little CPU use) delivers twice the computational power (in the case of this app) than my MacBook Alu 2.0ghz Penryn CPU.

I'm not playing much games with my new MacBook Alu 2.0ghz because I've got a PC as mentioned above. However, it is very reassuring to have the 9400M around after years of dealing with that Intel integrated GARBAGE.

Ran a Keynote file I was working on before I swapped to this MacBook, the previous one had GMA950, this MacBook with 9400M, the effects are fairly sweet and snappy. As OpenCL matures I do feel I have peace of mind that whether its me or someone I sell this MacBook to, we're good to through to 2011 at least.

AppleTV will either continue in its current form if Apple is happy with it as it is. Or, if they want to, they could bring apps (read: GAMES), SDK, App Store, etc. AppleTV becomes *a gaming platform* by itself. All it needs is a motion sensitive or other kind of controller (need not be Wii-like, could have Guitars, etc...) and Boom! One-stop entertainment centre thingy. Blu Ray player inside would be nice but is very unlikely.

Originally Posted by solipsism

So far, I've noticed a slighter shorter startup time and slighter zipper startup of apps, but nothing astounding, though it is still Beta and I'm using a MB 2.4GHz w/ 9400M IGP. Pretty much all other new Macs would probably show more gain with OpenCL and GC working. I have found about a 10% benchmarking gain, but I certainly haven't seen this is real time usage yet. The machines with IGPs are still without a 64-big kernel option, and we've seen no SL or iPhone OS updates for a few weeks.

I hope that we see a lot more than UI changes but logistically it would probably be best to regroup with a future-forward backend change, even if marketing is yelling "features sell!

I wouldn't be surprised if the address the lack of PPC support by saying that Leopard will updated for x-long, and perhaps even adding the ActiveSync feature to Leopard Mail. Okay, that latter I would be a little surprised by.

AppleTV is a wildcard. What event would it best bs to update it? It doesn't currently warrant its own event but a silent update doesn't work either. There is HW, OS, distribution, apps, a potential SDK and the other media appliance vendors and optical media to consider. If you have a educated guess I'd love to hear it because I find it all quite complex.


PS: completely untelated to the thread, but iPhone OS X v3.0 does not refresh mobileSafari like it does with v2.x.