With apologies to Carole King: "Now it's too late, bayyybeee, now it's too late, though we really did try to make it..."
If you were waiting until the last minute to get your reservations in for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, aka WWDC 2008, you're out of luck. All available spaces at Apple's annual developer love-fest have been taken, so you'll have to wait until next year's event to get your fix of sessions and labs.
That also means you're going to miss out on the Steve Jobs keynote address, which you'll hear about within minutes of it happening anyway. Don't procrastinate for WWDC 2009!
According to World of Apple, Mac OS 10.5.3 (build 9D25) has been seeded. No new issues have been identified this time around, and twenty-two fixes have been implemented, including:
Various printing issues
An issue with Safari bookmarks and .Mac Mail account has been resolved (I'll believe that when I see it)
Issues with mounted Boot Camp volumes
A crash within the Network Preference Pane
So far, 180 fixes have been implemented for this version of the OS. Apple seeded build 9D10 in March and several in the month of April. As of the release of build 9D12 on April 4th, 110 fixes had been applied, meaning an additional 70 bugs have been squashed between then and now.
No word on when 10.5.3 will be released officially.
According to our sister blog, Engadget, the iPhone 2.0 firmware has been seeded to developers. Before this update, the firmware was listed as version 1.2, but now shows up as version 2.0. Engadget says that the update didn't provide many changes: Cisco VPN tweaked, root-level mail / ActiveSync settings were changed around, but not much else.
It's safe to say there's a lot of interest in the iPhone SDK. In the first four days since its release on March 6, the SDK has been downloaded 100,000 times. Also, the video of the press event at Apple.com has already been viewed more than 1,000,000 times.
That's a lot of interest in something that's only truly meaningful to one group of people - developers. But I see where the anticipation comes from.
As a consumer, I'm just as excited by this release. When I first started playing with the iPhone, I said that it feels like a computer that happens to make phone calls, not a phone with some additional features. The promise of great native applications by some of my favorite Mac developers reinforces that feeling.
One more reason why we can't wait for the iPhone SDK to drop. GameSetWatch has a short interview up with developer Steve D of Demiforce about his new iPhone game, Trism. It's a Bejeweled-like gem matching puzzle game, but the twist is that after getting matched, the gems fall in the direction that the iPhone's accelerometer tells them to fall. It's wild stuff, and you can see it clearly in the video above.
He's playing the game on a jailbroken iPhone, but it's still a work in progress, so the game isn't available to the public yet. Depending on the terms of the iPhone SDK, he's looking at porting it over to that and releasing it via whatever distribution system Apple comes up with. And he cooked this thing up in about ten days (he wanted to rush it to show it off at GDC last week), so if Apple is able to include smaller developers like Steve in their SDK setup, we'll see some terrific software come off the line in no time at all.
Coda is Panic's awesome all-in-one web worker's application that we've written about before. We even got a nice first hand look at this month's Macworld Expo.
Today, the folks at Panic have released a Developer Zone for Coda, which is full of great resources like video tutorials, quick tips, handy Applescripts and feature articles. If you're a developer or a power user, you'll want to check this out. It's quite useful.
What the heck happened to resolution independence?
In Gruber's review of the Powerbook a few years ago, he trumpeted the coming of a feature long evading the Mac faithful, a resolution independent interface. Others at the time expected the same thing to appear in Leopard: UI elements that were completely independent of the screen's resolution, and, finally, a fully scalable interface, and freedom from whatever screen you were working on. Higher resolutions without squeezing down the UI elements. And as we got closer to Leopard, more and more word went around that OS 10.5 would have it. At WWDC 2006, some developers even confirmed it. And Apple even filed a patent to get it done.
Except now it's November, Leopard is out, and resolution independence is nowhere to be found, at least at the user-accessible level. What gives?
How it works: Like buttah. Ruby, the language that powers RoR, has actually been built-in to OS X for a while (don't believe me? type "irb" in your terminal right now to access interactive Ruby), but Ruby on Rails has been mostly a pain to install around OS X. Packages need to be downloaded, settings need to be tweaked, and servers need to be config'd. No more. Ruby on Rails, free and installed on every new Mac. Developers, start your developing.
Who will use it: Mostly people who develop applications for the web. But even though I personally don't code much, if you've ever done any coding, once you dive into Ruby and RoR, you'll probably have the same reaction that I do: wow this thing is neat! For a start in Ruby, check out the classic Why's Poignant Guide, and for a tutorial on RoR, hit up Curt Hibbs (he's from St. Louis, so you know he's a good guy).
You can check out all our 24 Hours of Leopard posts here.
Here's another thing you may have heard on last week's talkcast (which again, I'm told, is this close to being edited and posted): we were talking, of course, about the new iPhone/iPod touch SDK, and knocking around ideas for how Apple might implement apps on the iPhone. Someone in the Talkshoe channel suggested something exactly like this suggestion, sent to us by reader Thomas. They'd like to see apps distributed through iTunes, just like podcasts. Choose which apps you want (submitted by their creators to Apple), dock the iPhone, and voila, apps on the iPhone.
Not really a new idea, and it is pretty obvious in its implementation (I had the same idea about games for the Mac a while back). I'd love to see it happen. But the problem, of course, is just how open Steve wants to (or can be) with the iPhone SDK. I really doubt we're going to see something freely distributed, and I know for sure that we probably won't see anything that anyone can place unsigned content on. I'd love to see a quick, easy way for anyone to simply publish apps for the iPhone, but from what I've heard, there are so many security holes in the system right now that that's not really a possibility.
Jobs clearly wants to fix things (if his iPhone SDK note is to be taken honestly), but unless Apple starts plugging holes fast, I don't see it happening. More likely, I'd see a few trusted developers given SDKs, and asked to create applications of their own which might then be listed on iTunes, for sale or download. Other developers could probably apply, but Apple will likely try to keep control over the whole thing, pulling an application off of iTunes (and possibly even the iPhones themselves) when a problem is discovered.
It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. As I said, it would be great to see apps on the iPhone from anywhere and everywhere, but the concern we're hearing is that security is far from tight, and Apple is watching its back as closely as it can.
Inside Mac Games reports that their sister site, Macgamefiles.com, has received a complete site redesign, its first since the site started up seven years ago. In addition to a whole new look, the site's got some extra new features, too, including lots of new Developer features-- devs can now have control over their own files, and check download statistics, as well as a few other profile-related features.
It'd be a real stretch to call the Mac games scene bourgeoning-- a few almost on-time releases from EA does not a market make. But kudos to Macgamefiles for serving up games and demos as long as they have. And giving developers that much more control over how their games are listed and presented is definitely an admirable move as well.
The 3rd Party iPhone applications are starting to roll in. Here's TUAW's list of currently available packages. I'll update this list as more apps become available and we hear back from more developers.
Our little blue and green TUAW tipster birdie is chirpin' again, and this time the news could make both developers and consumers happy if everything pans out. From what we hear, evidence has been found that references to the ARM architecture appear in several of Leopard's standard include files, such as those found in the /usr/include/machine directory. Since ARM is the type of processor found in the iPhone but not in any Macs (for the most part, virtually any Mac still in service is likely running on PowerPC or the newer Intel processors), this is leading some to believe that these references are a sign that Leopard could usher in an update to Apple's Xcode development app, allowing Mac OS X developers access to the current holy grail of making true apps for the iPhone - apps that would be able to take advantage of things like synching data, storing files, RSS feeds and a whole lot more. Imagine being able to truly travel with, edit and create new Yojimbo notes (instead of simply view them with Webjimbo), bring your NetNewsWire feeds or do basic blogging with a mini-MarsEdit or ecto, and you have only seen the tip of the iceberg that is the iPhone's 3rd party app potential.
[Update: Adrian, Webjimbo's developer, set me straight in the comments that Webjimbo can in fact create and edit Yojimbo notes, bookmarks, archives and serials. This leads me to agree with Derik DeLong at MacUser: Webjimbo is indeed one of, if not the, coolest implementations of web 2.0 technology that integrates with a desktop app.]
Of course, for now this is merely speculation, but it's still speculation based on evidence whose existence is a bit puzzling. Fortunately, October is getting closer by the day, so we should have a clearer idea as to when a true iPhone SDK is coming. I simply hope that it's still a closely guarded question of when in Apple's eyes, instead of 'if.'
Well, not exactly everywhere, as apparently there is still a working version of Dashcode in the Leopard developer beta given out at WWDC. And of course all of us will be able to get our hands on the official release of Dashcode when Leopard comes out in October. So cry not, developers-- the real thing is only months away.
Mark Howson from The Mac Pak sends word that another mysterious bundle has been posted, this time for the very, very low price of $5.00. The Mac Pak, you'll remember, is one of the more mysterious software deals out there-- you pay the money for three different secret applications, and then at the end of the sale (three days and change as of this writing, so around July 1st), the apps are revealed, and sent to you. Buyer beware, but a fun deal, and I'm not sure I've ever seen one this cheap.
All we know about the apps this time around is that added together they'd usually cost you over $50, and that's about it. Back in May, the apps were revealed as the sale went along (and the price raised), but there's no indication that's happening this time around-- looks like it's a $5 shot in the dark. Will the low price pull you in, or are you going to pass on buying something you might not want?
As we all sit in (not so) silent torture waiting for Apple to release a true SDK (Software Development Kit) to developers for the iPhone, I figured it might be a bit more productive and fun to start dreaming up which apps would be great to bring along with us in our i-pockets. I'm glued to a Mac a lot during the day, both for my work and some of my hobbies - it would be great if I could take some of my favorite and most-used apps off the desktop and get a few things done without having to balance a notebook on my lap.
After thinking about it, I came up with eight apps I would really love to see on the iPhone. Of course, I have no idea if their developers are even considering rolling an iPhone version, especially since we have no clue as to when Apple will stop screwing around and actually release a full-on SDK. Nevertheless, a blogger can dream, and dream I did. Read on for my list of apps that I think would fit right at home on the iPhone.
With apologies to Carole King: "Now it's too late, bayyybeee, now it's too late, though we really did try to make it..."
According to our sister blog, 
It's safe to say there's a lot of interest in the iPhone SDK. In the first four days since its release on March 6, the 
Coda is Panic's awesome all-in-one web worker's application that we've written about before. We even got a nice 
What the heck happened to resolution independence?
Feature: The most awesome, easy, groovy, 
Here's another thing you may have heard on 
The 3rd Party iPhone applications are starting to roll in. Here's TUAW's list of currently available packages. I'll update this list as more apps become available and we hear back from more developers.
Our little blue and green TUAW tipster birdie is chirpin' again, and this time the news could make both developers and consumers happy if everything pans out. From what we hear, evidence has been found that references to the ARM architecture appear in several of Leopard's standard include files, such as those found in the /usr/include/machine directory. Since ARM is the type of processor found in the iPhone but not in any Macs (for the most part, virtually any Mac still in service is likely running on PowerPC or the newer Intel processors), this is leading some to believe that these references are a sign that Leopard could usher in an update to Apple's Xcode development app, allowing Mac OS X developers access to the current holy grail of making true apps for the iPhone - apps that would be able to take advantage of things like synching data, storing files, RSS feeds and a whole lot more. Imagine being able to truly travel with, edit and create new 
Mark Howson from The Mac Pak sends word that 
As we all sit in (not so) silent torture waiting for Apple to release a true SDK (Software Development Kit) to developers for the iPhone, I figured it might be a bit more productive and fun to start dreaming up which apps would be great to bring along with us in our i-pockets. I'm glued to a Mac a lot during the day, both for my work and some of my hobbies - it would be great if I could take some of my favorite and most-used apps off the desktop and get a few things done without having to balance a notebook on my lap.
