Summary of the WWDC 2010 keynote address

Apple iPhone 4

As expected, Steve Jobs took to the stage today as WWDC 2010 kicked off. Here is a summary of his keynote:

  • iPad update:
    • Over 2 million iPads sold since its release about 2 months ago
    • iPad on sale in 10 countries and headed to an additional 9 countries by the end of July
    • Over 8,500 iPad apps now available with over 35 million downloads already
    • iBooks to receive an update later this month to support PDF format, note-taking, and a new bookmark system
  • App Store update:
    • Catalog now has more than 225,000 applications
    • About 15,000 apps submitted each week with 95 percent approval within 7 days.
    • Apple has topped 5 billion app downloads and US$1 billion paid out to developers
    • Three new apps highlighted:
      • Netflix iPhone app coming this summer (iPad version already available)
      • Farmville for iPhone with push notifications and in-app purchases
      • Guitar Hero for iPhone
  • Apple iPhone:
    • US marketshare at 28 percent (three times what Android has at 9 percent)
    • Introduction of iPhone 4 with over 100 new features:
    • All new design – As revealed by Engadget and Gizmodo earlier (Steve Jobs: “Stop me if you’ve already seen this.”). Glass front and back with steel sides (which are part of the antenna system). 24 percent thinner than iPhone 3GS (9.3mm)
    • To be available in black or white
    • Retinal Display with 3.5-inch display with resolution of 960 by 640 pixels (increased pixel density to 326 pixels per inch – four times as many as iPhone 3GS) and 800:1 contrast ratio
    • Other features: A4 chip, improved battery life, quad-band HSPA, 802.11 n WiFi, front-facing camera and back-facing camera with LED flash, microSIM card, gyroscope (6-axis motion sensing when combined with accelerometer), up to 32 gb of storage, 5MP camera capable of HD video recording (720p at 30fps), iMovie for iPhone app ($US4.99), iBooks application (purchased books can be downloaded to all your Apple devices)
  • iOS 4 (renamed from iPhone OS 4):
    • 1500 new features including multitasking, folders, unified inbox, and addition of Bing search engine
    • iOS 4 to be released “soon” but no specific date provided
    • iOS 4 will be a free upgrade for the iPhone 3GS and 3G although not all features will work on the latter.
  • Overview of iAds with upcoming ads from companies such as Nissan, Chanel, GE, and Best Buy. Will go live on all iOS4 devices on July 1st
  • One more thing: Video calling from iPhone to iPhone – Called FaceTime. Wi-Fi only for now though.

    • The iPhone 4 will sell for US$199 for the 16GB model and US$299 for the 32GB one with two-year contract. The iPhone 3GS will drop in price to US$99. AT&T will let also you upgrade early if your contract is ending in 2010.

    The iPhone 4 will go on sale on June 24th in the US, France, Germany, the UK, and Japan. 18 additional countries, including Canada, are to follow on July 8th.