iOS 4 to drop any time soon

Get your iPods and iPhones ready (lest you're on the 1st generation), Apple's almost dropping the next software update to your devices, and it's a big one.

iOS 4, the update that brings in multitasking, wallpapers and folders among others was announced a mere few weeks after the iPad was announced. It will ship with the new iPhone 4 this June 24, as well as the special 8GB iPhone 3GS's that are already shipping.

It's free for both iPhone and iPod touch from 2nd generation and up. Multitasking is only supported in the 3GS and iPod touch 3rd generation.

The WWDC Recap

The main enchilada, the iPhone 4, was announced to much applause in spite of the much-publicized leak.

This is the power of a speaker who knows how to engage his audience.

While Steve Jobs does his routine stockholder stroking in the form of iPad and iOS sales figures, he also gets the audience interested in features we've all seen before in older phones.

FaceTime, Apple's moniker for video calling, had a pretty good commercial that tugs at your heartstrings, and it shows how simple you could change between normal phone calls and video calls.

It has yet to be known whether Apple can pull off the popularization of this feature for now, but tech sites that have tested it out have proven that the feature is quite seamless and easy, unlike the older implementations of the feature.

Adding to that would be a camera that's been upped to 5 megapixels, as well as 720p high-definition video recording. I'm not sure it'll replace my mom's Bloggie, but so far, people have been raving about the camera as well. Yes, my Sony Ericsson can do 8 megapixels, but I'll be damned if I didn't say the photos of my phone can be a bit lackluster despite the megapixels.

In its website, Apple has posted a few pictures taken with the brand new camera, and claims that they are not retouched in any way.

That picture up there is one of them, and it's clear that the camera has been improved quite a bit from the 3GS's crappy camera.

There's also a demonstration of unretouched HD video, but the quality isn't really all that hot for me.

Another point of discussion is the Retina Display that Apple's been touting. It's basically the screen becoming so crammed with pixels that your retina can't even discern them anymore. Here's a real-life demo: go real close to your screen. Real close. What do you see? Boxes. More specifically, pixels. What of those pixels, you say? And why does it matter if you can discern these pixels from up close? Well, the iPhone 4 doesn't have visible pixels, and as a result, the screen can display some really impressive text and more refined colors than any phone in the market. Or at least, that's what the tech press are agreeing with.

I've read somewhere in TechCrunch (or was it Giz?) that not being able to discern any pixels was a great problem to have, however, a lot of "experts" have been derailing Jobs' claims back and forth. Samsung claims AMOLED is superior, while Wired reports that it's all slightly false advertising. This article clarifies that if you have 20/20 vision, then maybe Jobs' claims are a lie. As it stands though, I know far too few people who have perfect vision, if at all. After 20/20, you won't be able to discern the pixels of the new display.

Also, Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone's new form factor as a marvel of engineering. That metallic side with three random lines? That's the antenna. It seems quite random for Apple to change up the antenna, but it's quite possible that there's something wrong with the old antenna, more specifically, signal strength.

Despite the beefier display, powerful processor and the gyroscope (think Wii MotionPlus), they managed to make the battery a lot larger, and as a result, the battery life has become improved by 40%. Apple's claims are usually theoretical and even conservative. Since their iPad claims were held to be true, it's hard to say that the iPhone won't have the same impressive 10 hour battery life (browsing on WiFi; 40 hours playing music).

As is tradition with WWDC of recent years, there are obligatory app demoes from third-party developers like Zynga and Activision.

Yes, you read Zynga right.

Effing Farmville.

Also, Activision demoed its Guitar Hero app, now available for $2.99.

I'm currently reviewing this one, and quite frankly, there's something that feels wrong about the all-important issue of lag and its song selection is paltry.

In addition to that, Netflix for the iPhone was demoed, but I don't give a crap about Netflix.

Also, Apple announced some enhancements to its iBooks (PDF support, bookmarking, etc), as well as the debut of an iMovie app.

To start, iMovie is usually an HD video editing application bundled for free with new Macintosh computers that allows users to make quick cuts and edits, as well as a few effects like Green Screen and Picture-in-Picture. This iPhone version is an adaptation of that concept, however, said video effects have yet to be shown; maybe they're not even included.

Lastly, the iPhone OS has been rebranded into iOS to reflect its presence on iPad and iPod, and developers have been given a "Golden Master Candidate" for tweaking and compatibility during app development.

The new iPhone 4 has been slated for release in 88 countries by September. The usual $199, $299 price points for 16 and 32GB models apply, with a selection of two colors: black and pure white. A $24 dollar "bumper" accessory (a silicone protector) is going to be sold at launch.

Jobs ended the keynote with a lot of gratitude towards key Apple staff, but not Grey Powell, the guy who lost the late-stage prototype iPhone 4. Ala the iPad, a video was also shown recapping all the new iPhone 4 features to conclude everything.

Has the iPhone 4 changed everything? Again? It'll be a game of wait and see.

iPhone 4 (re-)revealed

Yesterday's WWDC had Steve Jobs on stage once again to show off the recently leaked new iPhone. While Gizmodo's revealing first look had them looking at hardware specs and a resolution assessment, nothing's better than details that come from the horse's mouth.

Nothing was particularly changed in the exterior, which means most of the features that were assessed during the much-storied leak have proven to be true (thus leading to Gizmodo's non-invitation) so that means, it has a brand new glass-plastic combo of an exterior, a lot of un-Apple-like seams, and separate, honest-to-goodness buttons for volume control. It runs on micro-SIM (so you may actually have to cut your SIM card) like the iPad and ships with the newly rebranded iOS 4.

The much hyped upgrade brings about some direly-needed upgrades: a 5 megapixel camera that shoots actual high-definition video plus LED flash, a front-facing camera for "one-tap video calls" through an app called "FaceTime", extravagantly upgraded motion controls thru gyroscopes, and a crazy fast Apple A4 chip. Two unexpected upgrades though, come with the doubled resolution of the screen ("Retina Display") making text sharper for that iBooks app that's coming to the phone, as well as the noise-canceling microphone, which sounds pretty cool.

Another new development comes with the fact that the phone will come in pure white; the front side of the phone shall be the same with the backside.

Supporting the announcement is a positively killer iMovie app, which lets consumers edit videos with professional sheen, and the fact that other (positively upcoming) phones will actually be able to use the video chat with the iPhone because Apple is aiming to have FaceTime become an industry standard.

I haven't really watched the WWDC keynote in its entirety, so no "impressions" for now, maybe never. For now, I have zero an idea as to how all that new crap works.

The new phone is slated for release in late June, and will roll out to 80+ countries by September, making it "the fastest international rollout yet".

Apps Weekly: Street Fighter IV + Splinter Cell: Conviction

Hot on the heels of the announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I decided that my app of the week should pretty much fit with the moment, and it's a good thing I saved this one for weeks on end.

Street Fighter IV
Capcom
$9.99
Requires iPhone 3.0, compatible with iPad

I love Street Fighter IV and when I first heard of the iPhone version I was skeptical, to say the least. How does one pull off such graphics in a tiny device? Heck, how does one pull off the controls in a buttonless device?

Sure enough, Capcom rose up to the challenged and delivered what is, for the most part, gaming goodness.

While it doesn't have that annoyingly catchy J-pop theme song (oh great, it's stuck in my head again), it does have a lot of things that make the game just feel like its console counterparts.

The interface is kind of similar, and just the sounds alone are unmistakably borrowed from the original tracks. Obviously, it has the single player modes, but it also has local multiplayer (instead of... online) that can connect solely through Bluetooth. I haven't tried the versus yet, but it sounds pretty good so far.

There are 4 single-player modes to choose from: Tournament, Free Sparring, Training Room, and the special mode that is "Dojo".

What the "Dojo" basically is, is a tutorial for those who wish to master the art of fighting with a touch screen- basically this is how you get used to the new controls.

Dan is your teacher in this one, but other than that, I won't really delve deep into this mode.

The more important gameplay mode is pretty much "Tournament". Yes, it doesn't have the complete character roster (but Capcom will be adding more in the future with updates, starting with Cammy), nor does it have the anime cutscenes that start and end the tournament, but it's still pretty much Street Fighter IV, and that's because of the way Capcom handled the graphics.

After the familiar loading screen, we finally get to our battle.

Basically, the game is consistent of pre-rendered character models that were ripped from the console versions, meaning that the character models aren't actually rendered in real time.

But who cares about pre-rendered when the animation and the graphics just look damn good for the iPhone? I mean, the PSP and the DS could've been candidates for this game, but Capcom chose the iPhone, and my is it stunning to look at.

Most of the mechanics are there: health bar, power bar, revenge meter, timer, and of course, the somewhat complex button combinations.

These "button combinations" let the player execute more powerful moves aside from the usual punching, kicking and throwing, and all of them can be memorized with the handy Command List that you will always have at your disposal when you pause the game.

But what are button combinations, when there aren't any buttons? Luckily, Capcom did a bit of playtesting and did quite an excellent job with the touch controls, because they do the job and they are responsive.

It's not perfect, but hey, if I can pull off a Shinku-Hadouken or a Spinning Bird Kick, I'm perfectly content with that.

Oh, and did I mention that the buttons can be placed wherever the user wants?

Now, some of the more nerdy Street Fighter experts won't really like how a few of the moves have been simplified (as in, you can execute a move by moving, then touching the power bar), but it's not like it's the end of the world or anything. What really matters is that a lot of the Street Fighter staples are present: the cheesy lines...

... the Continue screen...

... and of course, the satisfaction of hearing the announcer scream "K.O." as you defeat an opponent.

Now if there was something wrong with the game, it would have to be... the lack of "Indestructible" as the theme song... and oh yes, the bells and whistles (ie, the online mode, alternative character models, anime cutscenes) but hey, you could only pack so much into a 200-some MB download... for the iPhone, should I repeat.

Overall, the game does not feel like a bastardized Street Fighter game, and the effort of putting all that could've been put in the game really, really shows. The controls are not perfect, but they are usable, and the graphics and performance shine... on a 3rd generation iPod touch, at least.

In the purest sense, this game truly is a portable Street Fighter IV. Kudos to Capcom for such an awesome port (and what a relief from the usual half-assery that the company puts on the App Store).

Rating: 8.5/10

Not resting on its laurels, Gameloft isn't one to stop and look at the flowers, because the company's constantly hard at work pumping out iPhone game after iPhone game.

This time, however, we're talking about Splinter Cell: Conviction.

The graphics look cool, and the battles promise to be intense. It's likely that the game will also feature much of the presentational flourishes its console counterpart has, and I really can't wait to see how the helicopter battles will play out.

Just looking at the screenshots makes a few facts look apparent: 1) the game will probably have the "mark and execute" mechanic the console version has, and 2) it will have the same "objectives on the wall" presentational gimmick that made the game distinctive in the first place. My gut tells me that the stealth aspect, which I love, is a bit lost in the shuffle, but we'll see when the game launches on the App Store.

Now excuse me while I wait for the PC version to come out. The real game looks doubly amazing.

4th Gen iPhone...? (Real)

The past few days oversaw more iPhone buzz, and that's because website Engadget purportedly released some "leaks" of the upcoming iPhone 4G prototype that was found somewhere in San Jose in an iPhone 3G case.

At first it was claimed to be a Japanese knock-off, but the claim was retracted and said to be false (unless that Japanese counterfeiter made an NDA, which is silly). Now, a lot of factors make this model a rather legitimate prototype, especially because of strong evidence that Apple has been working on features that complement a front-facing camera, which is something this brick has. Also, it has the company's proprietary 30-pin connector which can only be found on official iPods and iPhones (knock-offs rely on USB connectors).

The back of the device has the model numbers and memory count crossed out, which if memory serves correctly, is the norm for these models. The only thing that can determine its legitimacy is the underlying operating system, which in a prototype may, or may not be, looking similar to this:

However, reports say that the actual OS is not functional at all, which leaves the question of legitimacy in limbo at this point.

Engadget points out further that this may even be the model that was leaked alongside the iPad! Mere moments before Jobs' announcement in January, Engadget was able to post a few pictures of the Apple slate, and they turned out to be extremely accurate.

Still, the reported prototype doesn't really correlate with trademark Apple design metaphors. For one thing, there's a removable battery, and there are plenty of lines that do not conform with the unibody manufacturing process. Now, I guess that if it's an early prototype, Apple will want to cut research and development costs by having a flexible prototype that they can scrutinize so they can actually conceptualize the real final look of the product, but it's still hard to say that the model really is a true blue prototype that was out in the wild. Also strange is the reported "80GB" of storage that is in the actual device. Perhaps this will be the new "shocking" model that will replace the 32GB model (and the 32GB model will replace the 16GB model ala the iPod touch right now)?

Also contributing to the strangeness of it all is that no one's reported to have committed suicide yet. Not that there's anything particularly good nor funny about that.

*EDIT: Trusted Apple blogger John Gruber of Daring Fireball also reports that the iPhone may or may not possess a glass back which is a rather strange choice. Hmm, better be more careful with those iPhones if that claim is true. A reader of his points out a 2006 Apple patent that involves a "ceramic enclosure that is radio-transparent". Hmm, Apple doesn't always use its patents, but that doesn't mean it will never use them.

*EDIT 2: Gizmodo got their paws on the very same prototype, citing a bigger battery, better buttons, and a higher resolution screen. It may very well be the real deal.

Apps Weekly: Opera Mini + Orion Racer

Apple introduced a new firmware version (to be released June-ish) and one of the biggest controversies surrounding the new terms and conditions Apple set for iPhone app developers was that if developers used anything other than Apple's supplied tools to build an app (somewhat like an app being emulated through a system that bypasses Apple's own), the app would be rejected. It's hard to say for now if the fire Apple is getting prompted them to actually approve the app I'm about to review, but this somewhat surprising move is a sign that Apple actually has a heart despite the megalomaniacal quest for control of the platform. At least that's how PR for the company would be.

But now that I'm severely off-topic and unwilling to think of some witty segueway for the review, I'll just say "LET'S GET ON WITH THE REVIEW".

Opera Mini
Opera Software ASA
Free
Compatible with iPhone 2.2.1 or later

Apple's SDK rules dictate that if a developer were to create a browser, the browser cannot execute proprietary engines and must run off Safari, so basically, most of the browsers in the App Store are pretty much Safari with a new skin. Opera, however, is not a new skin, but it doesn't run off a proprietary engine either. What Opera Mini is, since its Java versions a long time ago, is basically a browser that compresses a web page you want to visit by as much as 90% and displays that version of the website on the screen, slimming down the expenses made on your cellphone bills considerably. This is done through Opera's own servers, which may actually prove a security risk for banking or shopping sites, but I'll elaborate more on that later.

First and foremost, you shall see the "Speed Dial" screen which lets you go to a favorite website in a tap of a thumbnail.

Like the desktop and Java versions, these slots are customizable.

Also brought over from those versions are real, full-fledged tabs.

When you tap a certain menu item below the screen, you'll be able to see the thumbnails of the web pages you have open, and you can scroll to the end to open a new tab. This system is quite slick and fast compared to the Safari version of tabs, and it's extremely easy to just leave a tab while it's loading and open another tab to load another page.

Like any browser, Opera also offers Bookmarks, History, and access to Settings. What Safari doesn't have that Opera has is a basic (but sorely needed) "Find in Page" feature, the ability to access your favorite pages in a cached state ("Saved Pages") and a Help manual.

In the Settings, you'll be able to customize the quality of images, size of text, the ability to enable "Opera Link" and more.

I'm not gonna delve too much into "Opera Link" (because I didn't try it), but if you do use Opera on a computer, you'll be happy to see that this will enable the iPhone and the computer to sync together. This means that whatever Bookmarks and pages are open and stored in the computer will be transferred to the iPhone.

What I am going to let you see is the "Fullscreen mode" and it's basically the app hiding out most of its interface elements and leaving out two buttons that'll let you summon said interface elements.

Another thing that Opera has a leg up on Safari is the ability to switch between search providers on the fly.

Granted, you can't really add more search providers to the list even in the settings, but the ability to choose is much appreciated. A feature that actually makes search super-easy is that you can actually select a block of text and you can just tap "Search" and the block of text will instantly be copied to the search field, saving you much time copying and pasting.

At this point, Opera Mini sounds like a real threat to Safari, but like any product, it has its flaws. One criminal flaw is the inability to granularly specify a zoom level, meaning that you're stuck in two levels of zoom:

This is the zoomed out view of a typical website...

...and a single tap will bring you a close-up. That close-up will be the only zoom level you'll be afforded, meaning that you won't be able to pinch the screen and zoom it out slightly, because that will only bring you the zoomed out version of the whole website. This kind of sucks, quite frankly, but that's not to say it actually makes browsing near impossible.

To save time, I've made a little side by side comparison of Opera Mini and Safari all running my blog.

If you noticed, Opera Mini does quite the crappy job of rendering certain web page elements, like my Shoutbox which becomes downright unusable. Apparently, the compression also seems to be limited to rendering a standard, bland font, which makes the web page look rather iffy. In addition to that, the system with which Opera actually displays web pages can be quite the security risk. Since Opera sends out the URL you want to visit to their own servers first before displaying it all, anything involving user names and passwords may be at risk in case an Opera employee goes rogue. If a log-in screen is sent for compression, all that private data will be transmitted to Opera and it might instill quite a bit of paranoia now that I think about it. If you're gonna do that, please please please use Safari.

Despite its flaws, Opera Mini is a perfect mobile browser for iPhone users that surf with 3G or GPRS because the real goal to the browser in the first place is giving you the web in smaller chunks of data, thus putting less strain on the network, as well as your pocket. It's not about rendering web pages perfectly, which means that if you're gonna use a Wi-Fi hotspot anyway, you might as well use Safari to see web pages in the way it was intended. But if you're really into speed, Opera Mini can and will do the job for you. Now it must also be noted the Opera Mini is merely a first generation product, and updates will happen. For now though, I don't see much reason in switching to this one, other than to save some time and money, which for a lot of people, is reason enough.

Rating: 7/10

Now let's go see a little game that looks promisingly fun, and it's called Orion Racer.

It looks like a basic racer, because it kind of is, but hopefully the space motif and hovering going on will bring on a sense of speed, which is actually the appeal to these types of racers.

There are a few unlockables to be found, and... well, it's pretty barebones. The crisp visuals and general fun to be had with a racer can justify the not too demanding $2.99 the developers offer, and I'm off to download this one myself.

iPhone 4.0 revealed, to be released in "Summer"

New iPhone point releases are always exciting, especially because this is a way for older iPhone and iPod touch users to be able to catch up with the inevitable new iPhone and iPod touch models that'll be released in the second half of the year, and it gives developers a way to dig into what Apple is planning but hasn't announced yet (like iChat).

Yesterday, Steve Jobs discussed the "7 tentpole features" that the existing base of 85 million iPhone and iPod touch users will be able to get their hands on this "summer". The primary feature of note is pretty much the ability to multitask by double-tapping the Home button, but the new firmware also offers an organizational metaphor unflatteringly called Folders, an upgraded Mail app, a port of iBooks, a preview of the Xbox Live-esque "Game Center", more Enterprise features like Exchange 2010 support and wireless app distribution, and a mobile advertising platform called iAd.

Again, like all those other times, my initial gut reactions of the announcements made during the event are to follow below. If you want to watch the on-demand stream of the event, click this link.
============================

This is it. iPhone OS 4.0. What will it hold for the world's best-selling smartphone?

First up, Steve goes down to iPad business. 300,000 iPads in the first day and 450,000 today. 250,000 iBooks in the first day and 600,000 iBooks today (to the tune of someone whistling), and over a million iPad apps in the first day, and 3.5 million apps today. Truly some amazing figures to appease the stockholders.

Steve also wants to show this little picture of a little girl loving her iPad to some applause.

More figures regarding the App Store and the iPad... I'm having a sense of deja vu. Shall Scott Forstall come to the stage for not too long? Well, for now, Steve's pretty much enumerating his favorite iPad apps for now, and I have to admit, they all look quite impressive.

"Now let's go to the iPhone."

Steve briefly brags about the phone in terms of browser usage, consumer satisfaction, and sales figures to date (FIFTY MILLION iPHONES + THIRTY FIVE MILLION iPOD TOUCHES).

Like all other iPhone OS's before it, 4.0 shall be released in the "Summer" and developers will be able to get their hands on a beta for free today. Users will also pretty much have more features as well ("more than a hundred) including a digital zoom, the ability to gift apps, create playlists, check your spelling, change the backgrounds, and use a Bluetooth keyboard. All pretty cool, but Steve wants to talk more features, as in "7 tentpole features".

1) Multitasking
"We're not the first to the party, but we're gonna be the best."

"Worries about multitasking like battery life and sluggishness", says Jobs, "will not be necessary because we have nailed it". Obviously, there shall be a demo.

With the double-click of a Home button, all the open apps are shown in a small strip and tapping the app will let you go there. (Steve also plays a little Tap Tap Revenge) But seriously, how about if I didn't mean to summon that little strip? Steve doesn't seem to want to address that yet, but we'll see.

Scott Forstall is summoned into the fold to explain the efficiency of iPhone multitasking and he basically says that the core services of an app will only be running instead of the whole damn app to preserve CPU and battery life. Meaning that if you opened Pandora, it won't really go to the Internet to refresh its recommendations, but it will still keep playing songs in the background, which is pretty much the point of the service.

Apple will be offering 7 major services to complement multitasking, but I won't really be running them all down here. Why? Because we finally have multitasking. I'm quite worried that several services will conflict each other in practice (and essentially render the floating iPod controls useless) but we'll see if Apple truly nails this.

Voice over IP services like Skype will be able to work like it should: like the Internet-enabled phone service it should be. The iPhone will be able to receive calls from Skype contacts even if the app isn't open, and if you're in the middle of a call, you won't find the need to keep caution of the home button because the call will be preserved while outside the app, like the regular iPhone Phone app. To say that this will make the iPod touch a bit of a legit Wi-Fi enabled phone is a bit of an understatement...

Social services that also take advantage of the GPS sensor will be able to take advantage of multitasking by tracking your location whilst not opened. A little icon on the status bar will indicate that an app is tracking you, and you'll be able to close Location Services one app at a time.

Push notifications... will they be better? Scott Forstall wants to tell you that yes, they will be. I don't know. But Local Notifications are gonna be added in addition to this. Basically, this is a notifications system that doesn't need a connection to the Internet, meaning that Things can finally alert you of a task you need to do, or TV Guide will say that Desperate Housewives is on.

Apps will also be able to take advantage of multitasking by, for example, uploading photos to Facebook in the background and notifying you if the photos have finished uploading.

Lastly, there is "Fast app switching" which basically preserves the condition of an app as you left it, which enables the iPhone to use less battery.

2) Folders
Since iPhone 2.0, the advent of apps has been a boon for the mobile industry in general, but for the iPhone, just navigating through pages upon pages of apps becomes quite hellish. Folders changes all that.

Just tap and hold an app and drag that app on top of another app. Done. Finished. Simple.

Steve also demoes how you can put wallpapers on your home screen which is pretty simple (you can also change the wallpapers for the lock screen and the home screen individually and separately). Kinda like how you would on an iPad.

Folders basically renders the 180 app limit to 2160 apps. Nice.

3) Enhanced Mail
When a MacRumors user e-mailed Steve Jobs about the unified inbox, he replied with a resounding "Yes.".

And here we are.

You'll be able to see the messages in your e-mail accounts (even several Exchange accounts), and more awesome: you can finally organize your e-mails by thread. Like G-Mail, you'll be able to see the conversation in a logical way.

Also, attachments can be opened through other apps.

4) iBooks

Featuring the same familiar bookshelf and e-book store, iBooks is pretty much a port of the iPad app (including the free Winnie The Pooh) and, well, you get to read frigging eBooks ala Stanza and Amazon Kindle.

Logically, the app also enables wireless synchronization of pages and bookmarks (meaning the app remembers the page you stopped in your iPad and continue from there on your iPhone).

5) Enterprise
Scott wants to introduce more features for the Enterprise, and it'll have better data protection (passwords for e-mail and apps), mobile device management (managing swarms of iPhones in one master device), wireless app distribution (boss distributes an app without having to go through iTunes), multiple Exchange accounts (Server 2010) and SSL VPN support.

No demoes here because general users aren't interested.

6) Game Center
But this one is one thing users will be interested in.

Since the iPod touch is being marketed as a gaming device, and Microsoft is about to launch Xbox Live for Mobile when Windows Phone Series 7 (eff that name!!!) comes out, Apple is coming to the fold and offering leaderboards, challenges, matchmaking, social networking, and yes, achievements.

It will be available for all "later this year". Does this mean that it will be a separate app like iBooks?

7) iAd
Using their acquisition of Quattro, Apple is rolling out iAd which is basically like AdMob. If you've noticed, many free apps offer ads but as Steve Jobs says, "they suck".

Usually, search engines are "where it's at", but Steve Jobs thinks that "on the iPhone, apps are where it's at". Using statistical jargon, Steve Jobs wants to entice developers to use Apple's own mobile advertising platform. With iAd, Steve says that they want to have that advertising be more interactive, but deliver the same emotion that TV ads offer. I don't know what the hell that means, but we'll see when this plan goes into motion.

With multitasking, iAd will also not take the user out of an app and go back "any time they want" so people are more interested in clicking them.

60% revenues for the developer, Apple will sell and host all them ads.

So yes, Steve Jobs will actually offer a demo for this new platform with their own mock-ups "using the brands we love, all using HTML5".

Essentially, Apple's pretty much bringing a less annoying AdMob (as in Google Adsense... but you can just tap the X button to exit the ad instead of be forced to use Safari) that adds interactivity that can very much rival the likes of Flash (which, if you were keeping track, Steve Jobs is allergic to).

Obviously, this is a feature very much focused towards developers and their moneys, especially because the pressing matter behind developers making free apps is pretty much the revenue- or lack of it.

While Jobs is emphasizing on their competitive advertising program (versus Google, of course), the way he says "dude" makes for a bit of entertainment, but it's all pretty much a demonstration of HTML5 technology, and how it'll be able to substitute Flash.

The keynote is pretty much done at this point, with a little review at the end. All features are compatible with iPhone 3GS and the 3rd generation iPod touch. The iPhone 3G and 2nd generation iPod touch will run "many things, but not some things because hardware doesn't support them", especially multitasking. No word on the first iPhone and the first iPod touch, but come on, Apple, at least give those devices the ability to, I don't know, change the wallpaper?! iPad users will have to wait longer for multitasking and company: "Fall".