FaceTime for Mac beta Released

One of the smaller announcements from todays event is FaceTime now has it’s own app for Mac and although it’s in beta it works just like you’d expect. It imports your contacts and then allows you to call either their phone number or email address of the other device and will attempt to call them. I’ve tried calling my MacBook from my iPhone 4 and vice versa and it both cases it worked flawlessly. The best thing is there is nothing to set up it’s just ready to go straight away. Hopefully we will see this technology being deployed in Windows and Linux soon but for now if your on a Mac and know someone with a FaceTime capable device then install it now and give them a surprise call.

WWDC 2010 Keynote

Heres the local times that it begins at:

07:00AM – Hawaii
10:00AM – Pacific
11:00AM – Mountain
12:00PM – Central
01:00PM – Eastern
06:00PM – London
07:00PM – Paris
09:00PM – Moscow
02:00AM – Tokyo (June 8th)

Just a note normally I do a near live coverage of the events from Apple but due to prior plans I won’t be in from 6PM (London) till about 8 if not a bit later so I will still cover the event but it won’t be live as it has been at pervious events which is a shame as I’m really excited for this WWDC but I’ll still be keeping up on the events on my iPhone.

Apple Killing Off Intel Atom Support

The latest build of Snow Leopard (10.6.2), no longer supports the Intel Atom chip which is widely used in netbooks.

In the current developer build of 10.6.2, Apple appears to have changed around a lot of CPU related information. One of the effects of this is Apple killing off Intel’s Atom chip.
Among other things, Sleepenabler.KEXT is now ineffective and will need a new version. It is now suggested to run CPUPM with a proper DSDT.

Although Apple has long engadged in a hack-and-mouse game with with users who use Mac OS X onto third-party hardware, some people see it as a shot against low-cost netbooks, maybe meaning a low-cost MacBook soon? Others believes its another sign of the Apple Tablet as it’s rumoured to have a price point a lot higher than netbooks and so Apple is trying to get rid of the competition.

Stellarola also notes that similar restrictions in Leopard 10.5.9 may disable the Atom, and so advises any pre-Snow Leopard hackintoshed Atom netbooks to stick with 10.5.8.

Who know’s how this will be implemented or how long it will take them to figure away round it. But hopefully this won’t end the use of Mac OS X on third-party hardware.

WWDC Coverage

12:01 PM: The iPhone 3GS will be available on June 19th.

12:00 PM: iPhone 3G 8 GB remains at $99.

Apple iPhone 3G WWDC 2009

11:59 AM: $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB. (AT&T New Customers)

11:58 AM: Improved Battery Life (Up to 9 hours internet surfing, 10 hours of video, 30 hours of audio, 12 hours of 2G talk-time and 5 hours of 3G talk-time.)

11:57 AM: Encrypted iTunes Backups, iPhone 3GS supports encryption, Supports Nike+.

iPhone 3GS Spread

11:55 AM: Supports OpenGL|ES 2.0 great for games, Supports 7.2Mbps HSPDA, 3 Megapixel Auto-Focus Camera, Auto Macro, 3o FPS VGA Video, Voice Control, Digital Compass.

11:47 AM: Phone 3GS. S stands for speed.

11:43 AM: iPhone OS 3.0 is free for iPhone users, $9.95 for touch users. And it will be available June 17th.

11:12 AM: Maps, Accessories, Push Notifications and Peer to Peer talked about again, nothing different from the iPhone OS 3.0 event.

11:08 AM: If your phone is now lost you can send a message to the iPhone that will sound a special tone which will sound even if the phones on silent. You can also remotely wipe all the data on the device.

11:01 AM: Internet tethering, you can use your phone’s internet connection on your computer (Mac or PC) using USB or Bluetooth.

10:59 AM: Enhancements to iTunes you can now rent and purchase movies right from your phone. Also purchase TV shows, music, and audiobooks.

10:56 AM: iPhone OS 3.0. has 100 new features.

iphone_os_3

10:49 AM: It has been an incredible year for the iPhone – 1,000,000 SDK downloads, 50,000 Apps on the App Store, 40M iPhones/iPod Touches sold, 1 Billion+ Apps downloaded.

10:47 AM: Snow Leopard update charged at $29.

10:40 AM: Snow Leopard is making everything faster on the Mac platform: Mail, Safari, Spotlight etc.

10:15 AM: Also upgrading the Air today. Prices changing to $1,499 to $1,799 – up to 2.13GHz CPU.

10:14 AM: The 13″ MacBook is now called a MacBook Pro. Starts at $1,199. Price ranges from $1,199 to $1,499 in standard configurations, available today.

10:13 AM: The backlit keyboard is now standard in it as well. Also, FireWire 800.

10:12 AM: Updating the 13″ MacBook as well. Gets the new display, SD card slot and better battery life.

10:11 AM: The 17″ MacBook Pro has also been updated: 2.8GHz CPU, 500GB HD, retains ExpressCard Slot. All shipping today.

WWDC 2009 MacBook Family

10:10 AM: Starts at a lower price of $1,699; Standard configurations range from $1,699 to $2,229.

10:09 AM: It’s also the fastest notebook they have ever made. Up to 3.06GHz Dual Core CPU. Up to 8GB of RAM. Up to 500GB 7200RPM HD. Or, 256GB SSD.

10:08 AM: The new 15″ MacBook Pro has a brand new display; nicest in any of their laptops. 60% color gamut increase. Now has a SD card slot.

10:06 AM: New 15″ Mac Book Pro, new battery, lasts up to 7 hours. More eco-friendly – gets up to 1,000 charges.

10:04 AM: 25M active OS X users in first 5 years, up until 2007. In the last two years, however, it has grown to 75M.

9:59 AM: The Keynote is about to begin.