Jim Barraud

iPhone 3G
Very nice. I really dig the white variant. 3G speeds are obviously a good thing. The suits will love the Enterprise Exchange integration and will probably prove to be the killer app of this iPhone. The addition of GPS is huge. This will fuel a slew of awesome location based services. The price drop is very welcome, but still won’t get me to by one since it’s still chained to AT&T.

iPhone 2.0 Software
This is what I was really waiting for since I’m an iPod Touch owner. I was expecting more in the way of new features, but I’m sure the addition of the SDK and App Store will more than make up for it. I’ll be plunking down my $9.95 nominal payment come early July. Oh, and three words. SUPER MONKEY BALL.

MobileMe
.Mac rebranded. The angle this time is “Exchange for everyone”. Which is odd because if by “everyone” they mean people not in an office environment who don’t use exchange, that may be an issue. Because office workers are the only ones who would really know what “Exchange” is. Sure, there’s small business and non-microsoft shops. But they more than likely have their own solutions (Google Apps?). Essentially MobileMe is a glorified way to sync your Address Book, Email & Calendar with your PC, Mac, and iTouch device. I’d call this a minor improvement over the current .Mac and that it falls short of it’s potential.

I finally got the new Mac OSX (10.5) Leopard up and running. I had attempted to do a regular upgrade, but that ended in a blank blue screen staring back at me after restart. I attribute that to either the fact that the image size of Leopard is 6.66 GB (the number of the beast!) or more than likely, months ago I installed some third party system level app that I completely forgot about. A quick “Archive and Install” resolved the issue.

First impression, it’s pretty nice. Seems faster (spotlight seems usable!) and there’s some gratuitous visuals that bug me. I’ll post a full observation after putting this cat threw it’s paces over the next couple days.

Update: Turns out my installation issues stemmed from my Logitech trackball driver. Apparently Logitech doesn’t know how to properly write Mac OSX drivers for it’s mice and relies on hackie third-party solutions. Providing users of it’s software hours of fun when trying to upgrade to Apple’s latest and greatest operating system.

I’m not one for posting my predications of Apple announcements. They’re usually reserved for the “I think Apple will…” conversations with friends. Which usually stems from my time of working as an Apple Retail employee. Trust me, they have no inside info and speculate just as much as everyone else. But for fun, I thought I’d post my thoughts for the upcoming WWDC.

Just to note, I have absolutely no inside knowledge or “sources”. These predictions are based entirely on my observations of trends, gut feelings, and pulling things out of my ass. So without further ado.

Mac OSX 10.5 Leopard

It’s already been announced that we’ll get a preview of the feature complete version of 10.5 Leopard, but what will those still unannounced features be?

New User Interface

We’ll see a revamped user interface. Less glossy with a more matte gradient finish. I believe the latest version of iTunes and the new iPhone commercials are hints to that.

Touch Screen Support

Leopard will incorporate touch screen support similar to what’s used in the iPhone. The technology is there. Why not use it? And as an added bonus, it’ll tie into the already existing inkwell technology for onscreen writing.

Lots of Google Integration

Google and Apple have been close bed fellows recently. With Google CEO Eric Schmidt being on Apple’s board of directors, the integration of Google Maps on the iPhone and now YouTube becoming available on Apple TV. I believe we’re going to see a lot of Google Integration in 10.5. Spotlight will not online search your hard drive, but it will provide the most relevant web results via Google. You’ll be able to get directions from within Address Book via Google Maps. And we’ll probably see a bunch of new Google Dashboard widgets.

Dashboard Improvements

They’ll be lots of improvements with the Dashboard and the related widgets. There’s already been rumors of having multiple dashboard workspaces. Widgets will be allowed to live on the desktop (without a hack).

New iMac

Sure, this is a “Developer” conference. But you’re going to need something to demonstrate that new touch screen functionality in Leopard. And since the iMac hasn’t been updated in ages, it’s about due.

Touch Screen Support

There will be a new iMac introduced with touch screen support. Allowing you to move windows, resize objects and page through documents like you can on the iPhone. You’ll also be able to write onscreen using inkwell technology.

Updated Look

The new iMacs will have a slightly updated look. Probably thinner and available in black.

New Model

This is really going out on a limb, but there will be a new iMac model. A smaller one, that can detach from the base and be used as a tablet. Of course utilizing all the new touch screen and inkwell goodness.

New iLife & iWork

This is a given. But the reason this has been in the holding pattern for so long is all the Leopard integration both suites will incorporate. The new iLife will see modest improvements to all apps, but the biggest will be to iWeb. iWork will include a new spreadsheet application. That’s about it.

New .Mac

Long overdue for a complete overhaul if Apple’s struggling .Mac service. I say struggling because it’s struggling to keep up with all the superior FREE online services it competes with. The only thing it has going for it is the Syncing feature and the tight integration with the operating system and iLife apps. But what good is that tight integration if the online experience sucks?

Free version

They will introduce a free version of .Mac to compete with all the free competition. This will be similar to what exists now, but will include vastly improved online experience.

Pro Version

There will also be a Pro version introduced. Apple has tried to position .Mac as small business solution (website, online backup, email), especially in the retail stores. This Pro version will introduce features that make it worthwhile. Increased disk space, customer support, ability to host your own domain and perhaps some online apps.

Vastly upgraded services

All the services will see a major overhaul, making .Mac something you would want to use.

Google Integration

I think it’s possible you’ll see some Google integration with the new .Mac. Apple is big on partnering with companies who specialize in specific services. And Google excels at online services. Update: Looks like I’m not the only one who thinks this. So does Wired and BusinessWeek.

iPhone

They’ll obviously be some talk of the iPhone. But I don’t think it’ll be anything more then a rehash of what we already now and possibly a preorder date.

Those are my predictions.