After WWDC '06, when Leopard was first introduced, developers were a little annoyed that Apple took around two months to ship out the beta copies they were promised. This time around, Apple seems to have changed their tune: they allowed developers at WWDC to walk away with a beta copy yesterday - but as Steve Jobs mentioned on stage yesterday, only developers who are in attendance at WWDC can get their hands on the hot new beta.
We're hearing from some developers who couldn't make the trek to San Francisco this week that this exclusivity is, understandably, a little upsetting. Besides the cool factor of getting your hands on something as soon as it's released, developers are in the unique position of needing time - in some cases, a lot of time - to get up to speed with all the changes in a new operating system and preparing their applications to run properly on it. With this exclusive beta being released to developers at WWDC now in June, but no release schedule for the rest of qualifying developers who are members of the Apple Developer Connection, some developers are understandably worried and slightly upset that they can't get in on the fun, but more importantly: they also have no idea as to when they'll get to join the party.
The keynote is now up and available for QuickTime streaming here on Apple's website. If Apple follows its usual MO, a downloadable version should be available shortly on iTunes. Watch this space.
AAPL shares were down almost 3% to 121.40 just minutes after Steve Jobs wrapped up his World Wide Developer Conference 2007 keynote. The keynote failed to deliver any wild or exciting news, instead offering participants an advanced look at Apple's new 10.5 Leopard operating system features and Apple's port of its Safari web browser to Windows. Many participants had hoped that Apple would deliver a full third party software developer kit for its upcoming iPhone. Instead, Apple suggested developers work on Web 2.0/Ajax solutions for iPhone.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 2:44PM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
Okay TUAW readers. What did you think of the WWDC keynote with its coverage of Mac Gaming, Finder Features, Safari for Windows and iPhone development? Did it rock for you? Or was it a big fizzle? Or maybe it fell somewhere in between. Here's your chance to sound off. Let us know what excited you and what bored you abou this year's WWDC 2007 keynote.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 12:59PM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
This year, TUAW doesn't have a live feed into the WWDC keynote. Instead, we bring you this metaliveblog--a live blogging event of other live blogs. We hope you enjoy.
Content sources include Engadget, and Mac Rumors Live as well as any last-second live feeds from TUAW readers on the spot.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 12:00PM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
Gallery: Live at Moscone West
TUAW Reader-on-the-spot Michael G. Ströck has been using his MacBook Pro's built in iSight to give us some great peeks into what's going on over at Moscone West. Here is a gallery of some of his pictures for you to peruse and enjoy and feel as if you are virtually at Moscone, having been waiting on line since 6 in the morning--except without all that caffeine hangover stuff going on. Are you at Moscone too? Drop us a note using our Tip form and join in on the TUAW fun!
As we count down the last couple of hours to the keynote (don't forget to check out Engadget's liveblogging of the actual keynote), we've put together a couple of galleries for you (video coming soon and we'll update this post). Last night sf/macindie was kind enough to host a swell dev get-together, and we have a couple of pics here. If you're looking for what the Moscone is doing, check out this gallery. Does anyone see anything new in that big post of applications?
A couple of other items we hear swirling around:
Word is that there are several thousand more attendees this year than last
Something coming for .Mac? We've speculated, but there are murmurs...
Michael Yurechko has compiled a list of websites that will host live WWDC 07 updates. Sites include Engadget, LoopRumors, MacRumors Live and more. In addition, we at TUAW will be keeping an eye on the ongoing events and will publish a "metaliveblog" with the latest news as we hear it. It looks like the live audio feed we posted about earlier today has already crashed from too much interest.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 11:20AM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
TUAW is pleased to bring you this Man-on-the-Spot report live from Moscone West
Hi Michael
Hi
Can you tell me what it looks like over there at Moscone West? What's the mood like?
It's certainly the best-behaved and most MacBook Pro saturated crowd I've ever seen People have been lining up since 5.30 in the moring. I personally arrived at 6 am, and there already were a few hundred people waiting on the sidewalk.
People are discussing the news that's coming, throwing crazy ideas around. Others are discussing their jobs and why they are here. Nobody seems bored. They keep the crowd moving through the building. I'm in the first 5 percent or so of the line, and we are now up the escalators.
But there already were at least 200 people here when I arrived A nice touch: When you get up to the second level, they have free catering for the participants, and there were some funny scenes with people trying to grab a muffin, taking pictures and running along to keep at their place in the line at the same time.
What rumors are flying through the air right now at Moscone?
I've heard something about a new Finder. Appears to be called "Mighty Finder" this is from "a reliable source" but I think it's just a crazy rumor. I don't have any inside information!
What are the other hot rumor topics/hot topics of speculation out there?
Only the stuff that's out on the web anyway. As for the line, right now we're no longer moving. People are even sitting around on tables, typing away at least at the top of the line, where I'm right now.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 11:10AM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
Are you unable to attend WWDC? Do you want to feel as if you're there? TUAW reader Jason points to this WWDC2007 LiveSiting page. It automatically updates every 15 seconds to give you the feel as if you were really there. As I write, attendees are in line, waiting to move upstairs to the main event. Thanks Jason.
Update: TUAW readers report (quite humorously) that the site does not appear to be updating properly.
Posted Jun 11th 2007 11:00AM by Erica Sadun Filed under: WWDC
Oh man. It's that time again. Can you feel the excitement in the air? Apple Developer Connection has just gone off the air and the website portal has been replaced with this message... It's just a short while left until today's keynote.
Update: Site is back up. Unfortunately, nothing really interesting to report.
While we unfortunately won't have anyone liveblogging Steve Jobs' WWDC '07 keynote tomorrow morning, that doesn't mean we won't help you track down who will. Nik Fletcher has created an AppleScript that will automatically open nine - count 'em, nine - news sites and blogs that will be covering tomorrow's keynote and the rest of the WWDC 07 events in separate tabs of your default browser. He even includes a quick tip for those using Safari who haven't enabled tabbed browsing since - even still on 10.4 Tiger - Apple hasn't switched on this revolutionary feature by default.
The nine sites Nik included in the AppleScript are as follows:
Engadget
MacRumors Live
MacDailyNews (sigh, I know, but hey)
AppleGazette
Ars Technica
Gizmodo
Slashgear
LoopRumors
Apple Matters
Of course, I link Nik's script with a bit of advice: be kind to these sites. The more we all furiously pound that refresh button on any site covering such a major event, the more likely the site is to buckle under insane traffic and stop being able to serve up the very news you're looking for. Be sure to read up on how each site is running the show and abide by their rules so we all can join in on the party, even if we have to watch from far away.
Developers and other Mac notables are descending once again on San Francisco for WWDC 2007. It is sure to be a week of exciting product announcements (not just from Apple, mind you), partiesgalore and elbow rubbing in a way only the Mac community can lay claim to.
But what if you can't go?
Fear not, oh devoted reader of ours, for we have a 10-step plan that is sure to shake the "can't get to WWDC" blues. Who cares if you can't join the keynote audience Monday morning in giving Steve Jobs a standing ovation just for walking on stage? And who needs to go to the Delicious Generation party! It's just going to be a bunch of drunk Mac notables standing on tables and singing Daisy Bell together. Besides, the t-shirts we're giving away at our TUAW meetup are gonna be way cooler, but if you can't attend that... why go to WWDC at all?
If you're stuck at home and unable to acquire your wife's credit card number, our list of suggestions is for you. Besides, these are gonna be, like, way funner than anything happening in San Francisco this week anyway:
Take chalk, umbrella, sleeping bag, get an early start on that camp-out for June 29th
Furiously refresh Engadget and MacRumors for live coverage of Jobs' keynote
Seek out every developer's blog you've ever bought software from and ask them if you can share their room or just sleep on the floor if you buy a second license
Ignore the live coverage and don't check your RSS feeds so you can have all the excitement of playing Keynote Bingo Monday afternoon with what will likely be a pixelated and barely-working QuickTime stream
Collect apple cores, attach to puppeteering rigs, put on a show to convince family that this is what Steve meant by 'Core Animation'
Get VMware running Linux inside Parallels running Vista on your Mac Pro; leave your body and watch your own head explode
Try to come up with slightly weird pronunciations of 'Leopard' to memorialize Steve's rendition of OS X 10.2 as "Jag-wire"
Console yourself with the knowledge that this year the Apple party is in San Francisco, so there's no chance you'd get to go to the Company Store anyway
Buy an iPiggy Bank and start saving for Macworld '08, because #3 isn't a very good plan to begin with
Phone your local Apple Store on the hour, every hour to ask "did you get [it] in yet?" Have a friend make the calls once the store recognizes your voice and/or blocks your number
And there you have it: 10 great ways to entertain yourself if - like many of us - you'll be watching the coming week's festivities from a distance.
It's that time of season again, oh dear TUAW readers: the time just before a major Apple event when we TUAW bloggers look deep into our crystal balls to make both wild and sensible predictions as to what WWDC 07 might bring us next week. This time around we have a fairly rich selection of rumored products (like iMac updates) and updates we all thought we would see at Macworld 07 (iLife 07 anyone?).
Without further ado, and without any of that silly 'insider knowledge' tainting the perspective of our crystal balls, here are the predictions of some of our TUAW bloggers (in no particular order) for what WWDC 07 might bring us next week.