MacBook redesign?
Multitouch screen?
A “mini-Mac”?
I love Apple. I am admittedly a part of the cult. So hearing rumors of an upcoming redesign is pretty exciting, in my opinion. According to Business Week, we may be seeing some of the afore-mentioned new developments in the coming months. I can’t wait. Watching Steve Jobs’ keynote is pretty much the highlight of my week. I’m not afraid to admit that either – except to the majority of my friends.
Image Courtesy TechCrunch
The iPhone doesn’t come out until tomorrow (8 a.m. to be exact, when Apple stores will be open), but the new App Store is available after an upgrade to iTunes 7.7. Over 500 applications are available, with about 1/5 free and the majority of the others between 99¢ and $9.99. To use them on your iPhone, you must upgrade your iPhone software to the 2.0 version. I’m not sure about any iTouch apps, or upgrades necessary for those…but I’ll be checking that out soon (since that’s what I could afford…).
AT&T has released its pricing for the new 3G iPhone:
new/upgradeable customer $199/$299
existing customer $399/$499
“no commitment” customer $599/$699
Individual plans range from $69.99 to $129.99, going up to $359.99 for family plans. Texting ranges from $5-20 depending on the number of messages.
(Engadget “AT&T announces iPhone 3G pricing plans”)
The iPhone, especially this upgraded version, is amazing technology that could (and will, and has started to) change mobile and internet use. In a Rubicon survey, 28% of respondents said they “strongly agree” that they often carry their iPhone instead of their laptop. With new applications making iPhones ever more useful to consumers (and marketers…), the devices are in high demand.
However, with yearly costs this high, they are out of reach for a large number of potential consumers. If I purchased an iPhone, my first year of use would cost me a minimum of $1099, or $92/mo. And I definitely use more than the 450 minutes and 200 text messages that would allow me. Us poor college student Apple-devotees are left somewhat in the dust.
Adobe has created a version of Flash for the iPhone that is currently operating on emulation software. However, pending an agreement with Apple, they may not be able to incorporate the software into the iPhone.
(Source: CrunchGear “Adobe already has iPhone version of Flash running on emulator”)
