Apple's advertising disproved... sorta.

As announced recently, Apple has released the new rebranded, bumped up and priced down MacBook Pro's. The main thing about the MacBook Pro's aside from the SD card slot is the presence of the non-user-removable battery. While some will just hate the design choice, others will welcome it due to the fact that it purportedly delivers 2-3 hours more than the normal laptop battery with the same specs.

But is the "enhanced battery life" just a bunch of baloney? Apple news site MacRumors reports that hardware analysis site Anandtech has put the battery to the test to prove (or disprove) Apple's claims... at least in the "wireless productivity" front.

After surfing the web under Wi-Fi using the new 15-inch MacBook Pro, AnandTech has sort of disproved Apple's claims- in a good way.

They actually got to churn out 8.14 hours instead of the advertised 7 out of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which is pretty amazing. 7 hours out of a laptop is already pretty darn good, but 8?

Obviously, this depends on user activity, which is usually varied. Thing is that most users will probably appreciate the battery life when browsing under Wi-Fi, because that's probably what most people would do with a Wi-Fi capable laptop.

Anandtech explains that the laptop uses a battery that utilizes the extra space the notebook is capable of giving. Basically, instead of using the usual cylindrical batteries that come with the usual notebook, Apple has made the batteries flat rectangles so that they are bigger (and thus provide more battery life) without sacrificing the portability. The catch, again, is that they are not user-removable. But for 8 hours and 1000 charge cycles? I'd take that.

A Mac for $29. Seriously.

Obviously, I'm not talking about 29 dollar Apple branded hardware, but I'm talking about Apple branded software. Unbelievably so, Apple has set its next major OS release Snow Leopard, a month earlier than Windows 7. Not only that, Leopard users will be able to upgrade to Snow Leopard for just $29, but a family pack is also available for just a video game ($50).

For Mac users, this WWDC also means a long-awaited official public demo of the much-awaited streamlining of the Leopard OS. For Apple, Snow Leopard is the introduction of new technologies and minor features for Mac OS X.

Basically, Snow Leopard is actually more for hardware optimization- basically, Apple's converting much of the system programs of Mac OS X to 64-bit so there will be limitless utilization of RAM as well as a new open standard for graphics called OpenCL. Apple also promises 45% faster installation times which is a relief, and even 6GB freed space compared to the current Leopard.

However, tangible changes like QuickTime X which sports a new interface as well as the extermination of QuickTime Pro (probably), better Stacks, Chinese handwriting on the trackpad and Dock Expose (which I love), will probably impress buyers.

On the business side of things, Microsoft Exchange is now built into Snow Leopard and the seamless integration it has with the Mac is very good.

Expect Snow Leopard to be bought by a lot of people since, well, it's basically 30 dollars less than a video game and hell, 40 dollars less than Apple's own consumer iLife (and iWork) software!

iPhone App Demoes

A new tradition Apple has taken upon things that have to do with the iPhone is to demo a slew of cool iPhone apps.

The first company to demo was Gameloft with Asphalt 5. It has 47 licensed cars, and a few bicycles thrown in for good measure. Yes, it's basically a racing game that lets you listen to your iPod library- a first- as you drive and the graphics are actually kinda pretty.

It also has the features that will become standard on probably all iPhone games: local multiplayer through Bluetooth, worldwide online competitive modes, and DLC that nickel and dimes the player. I'm sure we'll see something abusive from Capcom some time in the future.

And here's a cool, more practical app: Airstrip Technologies' Critical Care. Unfortunately, I have yet to actually see a video for it. But when you see it in action, it's actually pretty cool.

Next is the Iceberg Reader which features quite a few books, magazines, textbooks and newspapers that you can buy.

Again, there's still no video of it, but I will update this post when a video comes.

What America considers to be the most major app demo is the Tom Tom GPS app, which also comes complete with a companion car kit. It seems pretty sweet indeed since you won't have to buy an extra GPS unit, but the thing is, Philippine maps probably don't exist there. Fail.

It was actually rejected in the App Store at first, but now it seems Apple and Tom Tom are getting buddy-buddy. Apple actually has a leg up Microsoft with this since Microsoft recently charged Tom Tom for patent infringement or something like that. Actually, even cooler is that the car kit will also charge the iPhone.

Then Neil Young from ngmoco demoed a game called Star Defense. It's an RTS that's actually available right now, but the expansions that are not free have yet to be in that version. iPhone 3.0 firmware users will get that.

45-year old company Pasco also wants to make science fun for kids through the iPhone app Spark. I'm not sure how fun it is, but at least it helps you do science experiments, like say, measuring the air pressure and how it lowers and increases when inflating and bursting a balloon. Unfortunately, I can't even find a video nor a picture, but I'm gonna update this when I do.

But here's a cool one: Zipcar. It basically lets you find all the Zipcar branches and reserve a rental of a car. You can even unlock or use the horn of your car if you can't find it. We don't even have a Zipcar in the Philippines so it's useless here (and will not probably even see the light of day in the Philippine App Store).

Here's another gem: amps for your guitar. And I mean a real guitar. Line 6 who makes amps collaborated with music iPhone app devs Planet Devs to make a pretty damn cool app. You can connect the amp to your iPhone, and the guitar will definitely sound like the amp you select.

It's so sad that there isn't any video right now.

Obviously, I'll have to do a lot of updating here. -sigh-

iTunes for iPhone: Now with Movies

It's probably the whole iTunes Store in your palm now that Apple has announced that Movies, TV Shows, Audiobooks and iTunes U are all available for download in the iPhone iTunes Store. You can also rent or purchase movies directly through your device, which is pretty cool if you live in the US.

Now, Apple, I have a question: WHEN WILL YOU BRING THE iTUNES STORE TO ALL THE COUNTRIES THAT HAVE AN APP STORE?!

Find a stolen iPhone... for $99 a year?

Apple today introduced a new and admittedly very cool feature called Find My iPhone. But the catch here is that you'll have to have a paid MobileMe account to be able to use it. And that service is not cheap at 99 dollars a year.

But this really cool feature could be irresistible and just plain invaluable for some, so this feature might be the one that could draw in all those iPhone owners to crowd the servers once again.

Anyway, Find My iPhone in MobileMe enables you to find your iPhone through its GPS receivers, whether you just misplaced it or left it at the diner. It will beep a lot when you send a message to it, so that you or other people will be able to notice- regardless of whether it was in silent mode or not. If it's stolen, you can also wipe it remotely, and the deletion of all data will be instantaneous.

If you do get to find your iPhone after instantaneously wiping it out, you can still retrieve all data through backup anyway, so it's a big win of a feature.

It's just so unfortunate that the Philippines doesn't have any decent GPS maps, really. I would actually subscribe to Me.com in a heartbeat if I got an iPhone. If ever I get it, that is.

Is Globe ready to support the new iPhone?

AT&T has announced that it will not support the iPhone's MMS and Tethering features for a while, so it might worry some of the folks here in the Philippines. Will Globe do the same thing and screw over Globe users who want to have the iPhone 3GS in July or the iPhone 3G owners who will download the 3.0 firmware next week?

The answer is no.

Fortunately enough, Globe has raised support of immediately supporting all iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS along with more than 20 carriers around the world, so no worries about the network screwing up. 7.2 MBps HSDPA will also be supported.

Safari 4 gets final

Maybe you just downloaded the Safari 4 Beta and liked it. If you did, then you'll probably like downloading the final version of the standards-compliant browsers.

It's medium-scale size-wise at 45MB, but there is actually a huge new addition to the browser. Not only does it feature a more stable overall feel, it also features the much awaited "sandboxing".

First introduced in Google Chrome, tab sandboxing basically involves different tabs acting like different entities. If one tab fails, the others don't. Plug-ins also have the same feature: if the plug-in crashes, the other windows aren't affected, and you can just restore it, seemingly by clicking on it. At least, that's how I understood the keynote.

Additionally, the final version doesn't have the Chrome-style "tabs on top" layout anymore, and it seems to be returning to the old style ala Safari 3 or Internet Explorer 7.

People have complained about Safari being a resource hog, however, so if you have an old computer, you may have to turn off Cover Flow or just boycott it altogether.

MacBook Air lowers altitude by 700 dollars

While still kinda expensive, Apple lowered the prices and upgraded the specs of both the high-end and low-end models of the ultra-thin MacBook Air.

The base model is a hundred dollars less ($1499) and the higher-end model has dropped its price by a whopping 700 dollars. It effectively makes the higher-end model worth $1799. Basically, the 300 dollars extra is probably worth it if you're into this laptop.

No more aluminum MacBook.

The first thing Phil Shiller told the audience was that not only were they gonna put SD card slots on nearly every MacBook they have (but no iMac?), but they were gonna rebrand the 13-inch MacBook and claim that it is a MacBook Pro.

This would've split the sides of Apple fans and force them to choose a stance on this. But the thing is, the 13-inch MacBook Pro is basically the 15-incher by way of it actually having a FireWire 800 port and an SD card slot. Nothing else new is really added to the 13-incher, but apparently, those additions including the default backlit keyboard, constitute a MacBook Pro, therefore, what was then the MacBook is now the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

It's only the 17-incher that's actually not gonna get an SD card slot, and it's pretty ironic. Still, audio professionals probably would still want the ExpressCard slot, so Apple was most probably torn. Additionally, all of the MacBook Pro's support 8GB of RAM now.

Moreover, the prices have been dropped like crazy. Basically, the price of entry for the new 13-inch MacBook Pro has become even cheaper than what would've been the price of a 13-inch MacBook yesterday. If you bought a MacBook yesterday, you're screwed. Feel the pain as they are all available today.

An even bigger pain in the ass is that all of the MacBook Pro's have the "enhanced battery", therefore they cannot be manually removed by the user. Isn't that banned in Europe now or something?

What of the MacBook, then? Well, it seems that the old white MacBook returns to the primary line-up, therefore it will also receive the more regular upgrades to processor, RAM, etc..

Entry price for a 13-inch MacBook Pro (wow, I gotta get used to that) is $1199, a hundred dollars cheaper than the then 13-inch Aluminum MacBook. 15-inch MacBook Pro is also 300 dollars cheaper at $1699 and the 17-inch is still the same $2299. The plastic MacBook is still $999.

iPhone 3GS Release Dates

This is the list of countries the keynote listed as having the new iPhone 3G S by these times.

June 19: US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, UK

June 26: Austria, Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands

July '09: Bulgaria, Columbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Moldavia, Montenegro, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Uruguay

August '09: Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Central Africa, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Guinea, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela

Apparently, the Philippines has it one month later than the US, but one month earlier than last time during the iPhone 3G's release. Mainland China still doesn't have it, notably.

iPhone 3G (the old one) now $99

Despite persistent rumors of Apple announcing a new low-priced 4GB iPhone to the mass market, Apple didn't do so and cut the price of the old iPhone instead. Now the 8GB iPhone 3G sells for just a hundred dollars with a two-year plan on AT&T in America. This change has yet to be seen in Philippine shores, but it will probably happen only when the new iPhone 3G S comes to our shores. Greenhills imports excluded.

UPDATE: The Hong Kong online Apple store has reflected the changes made to the line-up and now offers the old 8GB iPhone for HK $4288, basically 26353.17 pesos unlike the 30000+ pesos it used to cost. That's the open line, though.

Apple announces iPhone 3G S

As expected, Apple announced new iPhone hardware and with it comes new features.

Just judging from the picture above gives you an impression of the new exclusive features featured within the new iPhone model. But Apple's guided tour can give you the highlights as well as an impression of how much focus on speed Apple put on it for snappier response times and less loading times.

Personally, the voice control takes the cake even if it is quite limited. Just being able to dial numbers and control the iPod is enough for me. Future updates will possibly add more voice commands like, I don't know, search?

It comes with the iPhone 3.0 firmware, so old iPhone users can somewhat join in the fun as well. I won't elaborate on the features of the firmware coming out June 17 for iPhone and iPod touch users (iPod touch users will have to shell out 10 dollars though), but I will give you the link to a past post I made featuring those, uhh, features. [click here for linkage]

So aside from those already pretty cool features, the iPhone 3G S also exclusively features 50% more battery life than the iPhone 3G- on Wi-Fi which is extremely impressive in comparison, VGA 30fps video recording (to catch up with phones made in 2002), a one-tap autofocus (YES!) 3 megapixel (OK...) non-zooming (aww...) camera with direct YouTube and MobileMe uploading, digital compass (which is much more accurate than the accelerometers) for more accurate turn-based directions and a basic video trimmer.

These features are actually nearly the same as the rumors that preceded them months ago, but the one feature I didn't hear about in the rumors (but probably was rumored about) is voice control. And as the video makes it out to be, it seems just awesome. It seems pretty natural, so it might become the killer feature of this iPhone model in my opinion. I don't think it's present on the Pre right? But nor is the relatively basic video editor.

But another more important part where the iPhone beats Palm is the price-for-GB. Basically, the iPhone has upped its storage capacity, therefore the 16GB iPhone will come in the 199 US dollar price point and the 32GB iPhone will come in the 299 US dollar price point.

It's available June 19, but pre-ordering is available, apparently with free shipping to your door. Obviously, this applies for the US, but what about the Philippines?

-looks for details in Apple's PH site-

Well, nothing yet. It'll probably take a few weeks before the iPhone 3G S comes here, maybe months? Who knows? The carrier has been established already right? You know, Globe? So chances are it might take less time than last time to bring the iPhone to our shores.