Apple will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.

Apparently it is not possible to view the live stream if you’re on a windows or linux machine. The stream is only compatible with a Mac, iPod touch, iPhone or iPad.

While the protocol has been proposed as a standard, so far Apple is one of a few companies who has implemented it. As a result, the video will only be easily viewable on the specified platforms. There seem to be some advantages to the system over existing streaming technologies. Notably, there should be no router/firewall issues as the stream is sent over standard HTTP protocols. (via MacRumors)

You can try and find out if you are able to follow the live stream by using the following link: this HTTP Live sample stream. This link will offer a free sample of the stream.

Server Farm

As to why Apple is delivering a live stream of the presentation, some people say Apple wants to test their new server farm. An anonymous tipster said: “Apple’s first live video broadcast in years is a test of the server farm’s ability to stream a future version of iTunes for iOS devices. The goal is to monitor traffic load and quality”. (source: cult of mac)

Twitter

I’ll also be doing a Twitter coverage. The most important bits of information of today’s keynote will be posted in the form of tweets on iPadFreakz’s official Twitter-account: iPadFreakz Twitter. So for those of you who are unable to follow the live stream, maybe the twitter coverage is a nice alternative option.

Summary

When Steve Jobs ends his keynote, I’ll be posting a summary of the event, so you can calmly read about today’s music event. You’ll be able to read about the latest iPod touch and possibly about a new iPod nano, iTV and iOS 4.1 as well. Hope to see you back and have a happy “Apple Event”.

As with many Apple events, people try to get their hands one every single piece of information about the event in the hopes they can unravel the secrets behind new products etc. The downside of these rumors, is the fact that people start expecting too much of Steve Jobs, which leads to disappointment.

This year’s rumors talk about an iPod touch with FaceTime capabilities without the need of any SIM-card. There are also rumors about a new Apple TV and a web-based iTunes. People are also expecting to here some new information about iOS 4 for the iPad. As the above picture shows, Apple is fully preparing for the event. The image of the guitar clearly shows the importance of music during this event. The Yerba Buena center is ready to receive its guests on September 1st, at 10 o’clock in the morning, local time.

Source: 9to5mac

iPhone 4 Design

The iPhone 4 has a completely new design. It comes in black or white, just the usual. But it has a stainless steel band, which functions not only as the phone’s antennas, the band also provides structural rigidity. The volume buttons are now separate plus and minus buttons. And there is the microphone, headphone jack, speakers, 30-pin connector.

The new feature is that iPhone 4 has dual-mic instead of only one. One mic is at the bottom and the other is right next to the headphone jack. This secondary mic is used to cancel background noise so you can have a clear and silent conversation.

iPhone 4 also has a new processor chip. The iPad offers an A4 processor chip and the iPhone uses the same A4 processor technology but pushed on an even smaller chip. This makes the iPhone 4 a fast mobile phone capable of smoothly executing tasks like multitasking, video editing, and placing FaceTime calls.

The battery is the largest component of the iPhone. It is designed to provide 40% more power. The talk time will go up to 7 hours on 3G and 14 hours on 2G. The Internet use will go up to 6 hours on 3G and up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi. The battery will last up to 10 hours while playing video and up to 40 hours when playing music. In other words: an impressive improvement.

New Camera System

The iPhone 4 has two camera’s and both of them are impressive. The normal camera on the back is now a 5 megapixel camera which produces sharp and crysp pictures. The exciting part is the fact it offers LED flash. So even in the dark, making pictures is fun. When you look on the front you’ll notice another camera. The front-facing camera is used for video calls. This features is called FaceTime and can be utilized in many ways. Click “FaceTime” to see FaceTime in action.

Just call someone and tap the FaceTime button to start video-chatting with each other. And with a simple tap you can switch between both the front camera and the one on the back. The FaceTime feature only seems to work on Wi-Fi. Apple will have to make deals with providers to offer 3G video calls.

The Retina Display

This technology allows for better and much sharper display of pictures, video and text. The pixel density is so high, your eyes  won’t even be able to distinguish individual pixels. This is what they call a Retina Display. The new 3.5-inch display has 4 times the number of pixels per inch. The ppi is now at a stunning 326. The contrast ratio is also 4 times higher, meaning every single color is just much brighter then you’re used to with previous iPhone models.

The iPhone 4 also offers IPS, the same technology used in the Apple LED Cinema Display and iPad. To top it all off, the glass of the screen is made of the same material used in trains and helicopters. It’s harder, more durable, more scratch resistant and even more flexible.

Video Recording And iMovie

The 5 megapixel camera has become something you’ll use more often then a normal digital camera. Since a phone (in this the iPhone) will be with all the time, it’s a perfect device to use for making pictures. But what’s even cooler is the fact it can now shoot video in high definition. Even in dark environments you can still make perfectly smooth videos.

After making a video you may want to edit it a little. Making the clip shorter for instance. But with iPhone 4 comes a brilliant new piece of software: iMovie for iPhone. The application will soon be available for just $4,99 and offers features like adding themes and transitions. It’s designed for multi-touch and offers you the possibility to also add photos and music.

As far as the information on Apple’s pages goes, it seems the iMovie app is only available for iPhone 4. No word on iMovie for 3GS or previous models.

Gyroscope

According to Apple the iPhone 4 is the first phone with a built-in three-axis gyroscope. This new sensor is capable of sensing advanced motions. It can now ‘feel’ when you’re moving forward or backwards, or up or down. This allows for a better gaming experience and people will probably come up with some interesting new applications.

One of the banners reads “4 Billion Apps Downloaded – The Center of the App Universe”

Another banner shows the text “Folders. Drag. Drop. Organize”.

I’d also like to announce that iPadFreakz and iPhoneFreakz are going to work together again to bring you a live blog. Tomorrow, June 7th starting at 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time, 00:45 p.m. Eastern, we’ll start the live blog and bring you as many details as we can about the keynote Steve Jobs is going to deliver us.

Hope you’ll be there with us (and hopefully the blog won’t fail us again)

“The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is the premier technical conference for developers innovating with Apple technologies. Over 1,000 Apple engineers will be at Moscone West to present advanced coding and development techniques that will show you how to enhance the capabilities of your applications with the revolutionary technologies in iPhone OS and Mac OS X.”

As is tradition, Apple will kick-off by delivering the keynote. Since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 a new iPhone is introduced each year at this conference. The excitement of this year’s iPhone is very different then previous years as the actual design of the fourth generation iPhone has been leaked.

Gizmodo published details (like a higher resolution camera with flash and also a front-facing camera) about this so called iPhone HD lost by an Apple employee in a California bar. Mashable reports that this leaked iPhone might go on sale during WWDC.

And maybe we will see more of the previewed iPhone OS 4.0. If there really is a front-facing camera, could there be a iChat app for the iPhone?

1. Multitasking
2. Folders
3. Unified Mail
4. iBooks
5. Enterprise
6. Game Center
7. iAd

The new firmware is available today for developers only. The consumers will have to wait till this summer. The official launch of the iPhone OS 4.0 will probably go alongside the introduction of a new iPhone. The new version for the iPad will unfortunately be launched this fall. Apparently iPad users will have to wait a little longer before they can use these new cool features.

Let’s give a little explanation of the 7 so called “tentpoles” (as Steve called them):

1. Multitaksing

Apple says they will do multitasking better then any other company ever did. They admit they’re not the first to offer multitasking, but they will make it better so the battery will last longer. The performance will also be unaffected. So, how does it work?

To use multitasking you just double tap the home-button to activate it. You then see the currently active applications and you can tap either one of those apps to go into that app. The nice thing is, is the fact that the app will continue where you finished last time you opened the app. So the apps will not restart or anything, just the way multitasking was meant to work.

You cannot use multitasking for every single app on your device. Apple has chosen the most important services to run in the background. Those services will be available for developers in the form of API’s. The seven API’s demoed in the keynote are: background audio, voice over IP, background location, push notifications, local notifications, task completion, and fast app switching.

2. Folders

It took Apple a couple of years, but they must have finally realized that we need folders. And so Folder is the second great new feature many of us have been waiting for. You can make as many folders as you’d like and you can even put a folder in the dock. By dragging apps on top of each other they will merge into a folder. The name of the folder will automatically generated but you’ll also be able to change the folder-name yourself. It will be possible to have a total of 2160 apps on the iPhone.

It will also be possible to change the wallpaper of the iPhone homescreen. Unfortunately there can only be one wallpaper. Just like on the iPad you will be able to have two background: one for the lockscreen and one as a wallpaper in the homesreen.

3. Unified Mail

Unfied Mail will enable you to have multiple accounts connected to one Inbox. There’s no need to switch from one account to another, all your incoming emails will be shown in one Inbox. You can also have more than one Exchange account with iPhone OS 4.0. If you’d rather have separate Inboxes there’s an option called Fast Inbox Switching. You can show emails in a threaded mode like in Gmail. And it will be possible to open attachments within messages via an app from the App Store.

4. iBooks on iPhone

This is nothing new for those who own an iPad: the iBooks app will be available for the iPhone. I thought this feature would be a ‘iPad-only’-thing, but apparently it will be universal option. The bookshelf is a lot smaller obviously displaying a maximum of 9 books at the same time. You can synchronize the same book on different devices. The app will remember and sync the bookmarks and the page you were last time as well.

5. Enterprise

The business-user will see a couple of enhancements as well. Things like better email-encryption, mobile device management and wireless app distribution will all be included. There will also be API’s to enable developers to encrypt data within an application.  The wireless app distribution will allow users to to sync their iPhone wirelessly with iTunes. SSL and VPN will be supported.

6. Game Center

The Game Center offers a social game-network. It automatically sorts higher leveled gamers with each other and could potentially be a big threat to other social game-networks like Plus+ and OpenFeint. It is likely Apple will also implement a system for achievement-points.

7. iAd

The seventh ‘tentpole’ was iAd. It’s an advertisements system for free apps so developers can still make money. This is Apple’s way to help those developers. Apple says the current advertisement system doesn’t work good enough. They don’t like it.

The average user spends 30 minutes a day using iPhone applications. If Apple displays an ad every 3 minutes, that means there will be 10 ads a day. The ads will appear in the running apps. There’s no need to quit the app in order to see the ad, it will run inside the app. Apple goes pretty far with this system. It’s not just a simple banner display, it can be videos, screenshots and even games all running inside the running application. It’s very interactive. You can even download apps via the ad.

Apple no longer uses the 70/30 system like with the App Store, they will use a 60/40 system for ads. So 60% will go to the developers of the app the ad appears in and 40% will go to Apple. All ads will be made in HTML5 but can be made with any tools you want, as long as it’s HTML5.

iPhone OS 4.0

Steve Jobs said showed us a sneak preview, demoing 7 new key features of iPhone OS 4.0. He said there are a total of 100 new features and more than 1500 new API’s in the new firmware. The firmware will be available this summer for the iPhone and iPod touch. The complete version of OS 4.0 will only be available for the iPhone 3GS and 3rd generation iPod touch. Multitasking will not be available for the 2nd generation iPod touch and iPhone 3G. Apple didn’t say anything about the first iPhone. OS 4.0 will be available on the iPad this fall.

More information: Apple iPhone OS 4.0
Start downloading the SDK 4 Beta

We won’t know for sure ofcourse, until we see it so no need to start speculating again. Steve Jobs said it’s time for an A+ update so obviously I’m expecting a lot. But at the same time I know I shouldn’t have too high hopes. Steve will likely start talking about iPad sales as well.

And could there finally be a…one more thing?

Every new update of the iPhone firmware brings new functionality, but with a whole new version of the operating system, all kinds of new features are added. So this week we’ll hear about the next big update of the iPhone OS. And since the iPhone firmware also runs on the iPad, it’s interesting to know what new features Apple has to show us.

Rumours say Apple will mainly focus on multitasking, a unified inbox for multiple email accounts and the ability to place contacts directly on the home screen. Many people will still ask for Flash support, but Apple will never implement that. It’s sort of a swearing. It’s going to be HTML5 on those devices. It also seems Steve Jobs said the next big update should be a A+ update. So I’m very interested to see what kind of new things will be added in the next iPhone OS update.

What do you think Apple will show us this Thursday?

Source: Gizmodo

P.S. I will not be doing a live blog, but I will report about the event instead, giving you every detail about iPhone OS firmware 4.0.

The tag line seems to hint at the upcoming tablet: “Come see our latest creation”.

“Apple Inc. plans to unveil a new multimedia tablet device later this month, but doesn’t plan on shipping the product until March, people briefed by the company said.

While the shipping time hasn’t been finalized and could change, people briefed on the matter said the new tablet device will come with a 10- to 11-inch touch screen.”

The reports also talks about the possibility of two different Tablet devices. The source indicates that Apple has been working with two different materials for the device’s casing. It is not clear if Apple is going to release both types.

“One of the people briefed on the matter added that Apple was working on two different material finishes for the tablet, though it was unclear whether the Cupertino, Calif., company was just testing them or planning to come out with multiple versions of the device at different prices.”

It could be that Apple is planning to release two different models, just like what they did with the MacBook line. Maybe we get a white / black Tablet and an aluminum version of the device. Although, I think it would be best to release just one version, so it gets easier for the customer to choose.

The remainder of the report tells us what we already knew: price point near $1,000 and features like watching videos, listening to music, reading electronic books, newspapers and magazines, and ofcourse being able to play a game.

Source: Wall Street Journal