What are we expecting from the Worldwide Developers Conference in June? Lots of people are predicting that Palm will launch their much hyped Pre handset on June 7th, just a day before the Apple conference begins. Maybe Palm are hoping to overshadow any Apple announcements, but that looks dangerous to me, as Apple are likely to have some cool stuff up their sleeves.
Here at OnSoftware we’ve been wondering out loud what might happen, so starting with the most likely things, here we go:
1: Snow Leopard. Surely there’ll be an exhibition of the next version of OSX, 10.6, which sounds like it will build on what is already my favourite operating system. The most interesting thing about it for me is that it will have an overall smaller hard drive and RAM footprint (like Windows 7) – efficiency is always a good thing. We know that Windows 7 is lighter so it can work on netbooks…. Probability: 100%
2: The next surest thing, and it’s a pretty sure thing too, is an announcement of a third generation iPhone. What’s it going to be like? I wouldn’t expect much of a visual difference (it won’t be available in pink any time soon), but should do the things people think it should already do, like video capture or maybe a compass (like the HTC Magic). Perhaps you’ll be able to alter the backlight time too? Reading that back, maybe Palm are right to gamble, or maybe Apple have something really cool for the next gen iPhone? Probability: 90%
2.5: Rumours abound that working with Verizon, there might be an iPhone lite in the works, and some have claimed to have actually seen the device. It’s worth remembering that Apple went as far as creating fake prototypes to keep people from knowing the truth about the original iPhone… I think an iPhone lite is a pretty underwhelming concept too. Probability: 30%
3: Mystery item! With all the stories about Apple ordering 10 inch touchscreens, Snow Leopard being easier on resources and the success of netbooks in general, there are many predicting Apple will announce something between a Macbook and iPhone. Tim Cook, Apple’s COO recently said that netbooks “suck”, but that could be a precursor to “but ours are cool”. Bets are divided between some kind of netbook or keyboard free tablet device. The 10 inch touchscreen tablet sounds like a sweet idea – a device for browsing and watching media. However, in my head that looks like a big iPhone, which shows a lack of imagination on my part! Probability: 50%
We’ve seen numerous alleged photos of Apple netbooks, or Macbook minis, but none of them look convincing (or good!)!
*thanks to our resident Apple insider Tom for the secret Apple iPhonebook image!
Mac: Although uTorrent has come along and proved stiff competition, Transmission (updated to version 1.60) remains one of best torrent clients out there on Mac thanks to a beautiful interface and a simple set of intuitive features. This new version brings many more improvements to an already solid release. You can set different priority levels for torrents and establish stall limit times, new speed limit modes and have more control over bandwidth.
Pocket PC: Install VirusChaser and a bug will be unleashed on your PDA, that no antivirus software can save you from. Instead you’ll have to do the job yourself. Don’t panic, because VirusChaser is just a game, in which you need to prevent a green bug escaping from a network of tiles. To do this you need to block its way by creating barriers from green tiles. Just click on a tile to turn it green. Hurry up though before you get infected!
Windows: After a few months of beta testing, Microsoft has finally launched Windows 7 RC. This version fixes hundreds of bugs and improves the system’s general performance, while keeping the same cool new features we already saw in the Beta. You can ownload the ISO file – Windows Live account required – and try it for free until June 1st, 2010.
