Gawker: valleywag, stevenote

No Schmidt, Sherlock: Why wasn't Eric at WWDC?

wagger1 — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:12:20 EDT

The leaked outline of today's Stevenote was apparently wholly spurious, including the promise that Google CEO Eric Schmidt would get on stage at Apple's WWDC to talk about a Google-Apple deal. The unfulfilled rumor was that Google's Web apps would replace or enhance Apple's .Mac email and file-storage service. But the consensus seems to be that the logic of such a deal is still compelling. So, tell us, readers: Was Schmidt, an Apple board member, supposed to show, and backed out? Did Jobs nix an appearance at the last minute? Or was there really nothing to the Google-Apple rumor after all?

5 things you need to know about the Stevenote

wagger1 — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:23:48 EDT

The Silicon Valley tech corps is doubtless too exhausted and giddy from liveblogging today's Steve Jobs keynote at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference to rake it over the coals. Please, allow us. Here's a recap of what Jobs announced — and how much impact it will have on the Valley.1. Almost a million Apple developers. Jobs threw this out casually, but the number of programmers registered with Apple for updates is up 25 percent in a year. That's a huge victory for Apple, which has long suffered from a lack of Mac apps compared to Windows. Impact: 9 Surprise: 5 2. Apple's got game. Every five years or so, Jobs trots out John Carmack of Id Software, who proclaims his renewed enthusiasm for the Mac platform. The only problem: Jobs does this only every five years or so. Today's promises of more Mac games should be viewed in that light: Apple owes its weak lineup of Mac games to its on-again, off-again approach to videogame developers. Impact: 3 Surprise: 1 3. Log into your Mac from anywhere. Most of Jobs's Mac OS X Leopard was a rehash of already announced features. But this was new and significant: You'll be able to use Apple's .Mac service to log into your home Mac from any other Mac. That's a good reason for families with one Mac to add another. In other words, unlike most of Leopard's ho-hum new features, this one could actually lead to more Mac sales. Impact: 7 Surprise: 10 4. iPhone will run Web apps. A brilliant move that at once weakens Microsoft, strengthens Google, and quiets critics: Apple will let Ajax-ified Web applications like Gmail run on the iPhone. Some had demanded that Apple open up the iPhone to allow programmers to write native applications, a move Jobs resisted because of security and bandwidth concerns. By making the iPhone a platform for Web apps, Jobs is giving that nascent software platform a boost, while discouraging programmers from writing Windows-only apps. Impact: 9 Surprise: 8 5. Google and Apple integration — not! Less than two hours ago, every tech pundit on the planet was predicting that Google ZCEO Eric Schmidt would take the stage, Google and Apple would strike a deal to integrate Google's back-end Web services like email into the Mac, and Apple would make its .Mac service free. He didn't show, and it didn't happen. Impact: 0 Surprise: 10

Spoiling Apple's iPhone party

wagger1 — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 13:16:10 EDT

We hate to interrupt the Apple lovefest with a tiresome observation about currency markets. But for anyone still outside the reality distortion field, here's some required reading: A Wall Street Journal article about the rise in value of the South Korean won (reg. required). Here's why this is bad news for the iPhone.What's an iPhone? Mostly a metal and plastic package for a flash-memory chip and an LCD screen. And where do those come from? Largely from South Korea, home to Samsung, LG, and countless other parts-makers. Those poor souls get paid in dollars, which are worth less as the won gets more valuable. Apple, whose profits have been supercharged by rapidly falling component prices over the past year, will have a tough time negotiating lower prices. If the won appreciates further, forget hopes of an iPhone cheaper than its current $499 price tag.

Promoting the unpopular Truemors via the widely popular Stevenote

Tim Faulkner — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 14:11:17 EDT

Leeching on the success that gadget sites Engadget and Gizmodo and numerous Mac fan sites have had covering live Steve Jobs keynotes, Guy Kawasaki, former Apple evangelist, hopes to pump some page views into his belittled rumor site, Truemors. Kawasaki will be gracing us with his own live coverage of Apple's WWDC keynote event Monday morning.

Guy Kawasaki, returning to the scene of the crime (the creation of his image), does carry some interest, and certainly his personal coverage could yield unique insight as a former high-profile Apple employee. But feeding this coverage through Truemors is merely sad and desperate. Each site providing coverage has their own pros and cons (speed, heavy traffic, accuracy, detail, wit), but anyone tuning into Truemors as their primary source for Jobs WWDC keynote is as delusional as Kawasaki. (Of course, I will tune in to see how his stunt pans out.)