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It’s 10am and Steve Jobs has taken the stage at Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, California. While the presentation is ostensibly targeted at programmers who write software for Apple devices, in reality it’s a thinly-veiled excuse for Jobs to offer an update on the company’s business and announce new products to the world. Live blog updates will appear below in reverse-chronological order. Refresh tJhis page for the latest updates.
10:56 – Camera is upgraded to 5 megapixels, with 5x digital zoom and the aforementioned “illuminated sensor” (don’t call it a flash — Apple hates Flash). Also records video in HD resolution. Flip cameras are in trouble.
10:50 – Internal accelerometer features are also upgraded to add a gyroscope to the mix. It’s a little wonky, but now the phone will sense movement on a six-axis basis. Pretty early stuff, we’ll see how developers (mainly game devs) take advantage of this.
10:48 – iPhone is now powered by Apple’s A4 chip. Battery is bigger, and Jobs promises 40% more talk time than before (great news). 32GB of storage standard (no upgrade vs. the 3GS). And support for 7.2Mbps networks… once AT&T supports it.
10:46 – As rumored, 960 x 640 pixels of resolution on the 3.5-inch display. That’s unheard of on a cell phone and actually approaches what most smaller laptops have. 78% of the pixels that the iPad has.
10:43 – Hiccups with the demo… blame the AT&T network. (That’s what I do!)
10:38 – The display is going to knock you out of your New Balances. With 326 pixels per inch, it has a better display than the human eye can even process (300 ppi, per Jobs). It’s called a “retina display.” Will have to have some hands on time to see exactly how much better it looks — and the existing iPhone screen looks pretty good as it is.
10:35 – All the rumors are true. The new phone has the thinner, squared-off design we’ve seen in the leaked photos of the device, redesigned buttons, a front-facing camera, a flash on the rear camera, a secondary microphone for noise cancellation, and improved antennas integrated right into the design. 26% thinner than the iPhone 3GS: The thinnest smartphone ever, according to Jobs.
10:33 – Now it’s time for the main event. iPhone. It’s real: the iPhone 4 (the official name) is as expected, with a new case design.
10:28 – Jobs is done with app demos. More statistics: 5 billion apps downloaded so far, with $1 billion paid to app developers. iPhone has (according to Jobs) a 28 percent market share vs. 9 percent for Android. (But Blackberry still has 35 percent.)
10:24 – Guitar Hero for the iPhone? Zzzz. We already have Rock Band for the iPhone, this doesn’t look that thrilling. “A new strumming mechanic” will make gameplay perfect. Not that excited.
10:20 – Zynga’s Farmville comes to the iPhone. The first Facebook app that I’m aware of to make the crossover from PC to phone. Now 70 million players can plant and harvest no matter where they are. “Farm anytime, anywhere!” That was grandpa’s motto, too. Arriving this month.
10:16 – Netflix, at long last, is coming to the iPhone. Reed Hastings, Netflix’s CEO, is out to give the demo. Looks a lot like the iPad application, letting you stream video and manage your queue on your iPhone. Pause a move on the iPad and it picks up where you left off on the iPhone. And — big news — it will work over the cell phone network as well as Wi-Fi. AT&T must be cringing already.
10:12 – Jobs is already into pumping up HTML5 and trashing Flash. Why, because apps cocded with “private APIs” … “break and crash.” With 225,000 apps available, that’s a problem.
10:09 – New iBooks feature will include a note-taking system that emulates Post-Its (looks very Apple-like), bookmarks, and native PDF viewing (see, Apple doesn’t hate everything that Adobe does). Updates should roll out this month.
10:07 – Now 200,000 iPhone apps available. Demos of iPad apps getting underway. 5 million books downloaded for the iPad so far (in a little over two months). Jobs say publishers are in love with the iPad already.
10:03 – Various updates about the conference (which starts today), with Jobs’ usual braggadocio about how big the event has become. Then on to the sales updates. The “magical” iPad of course (2 million units).
10:01 – Steve Jobs takes the stage right on time to a standing ovation.
This year (as it’s been in the last three), all eyes are on the iPhone, as a now infamous leak has all but confirmed that a new model iPhone – alternately dubbed the iPhone HD and the iPhone 4G – will be announced. Will all the leaked details come to pass as expected? And what else does Jobs have up his turtleneck sleeves for us to look out for in 2010?
I’ll be live blogging the announcements here as they emerge from Jobs’ lips. So stay tuned – the fun begins at 10 am PDT!
— Christopher Null is a technology writer for Yahoo! News

1. Topaz Green Residence – 22.575 euro

Ansamblul rezidenţial este situat în oraşul Bragadiru, pe strada Mărgelelor, iar cea mai ieftină locuinţă la cheie este o garsonieră cu o suprafaţă de 34 de mp şi care costă 21.500 de euro fără TVA de 5%, dacă se efectuează plata cash integrală. Preţul creşte dacă se achită un avans de 50% sau unul de 25%: 22.600 şi 23.900 de euro, tot fără TVA. În schimb, dacă clientul doreşte să cumpere garsoniera la gri, preţul este mai mic, de 18.600 de euro fără TVA. Cel mai ieftin apartament cu două camere, ce are o suprafaţă de 52 de mp costă 33.900 de euro fără TVA de 5%, tot la plata cash, iar un apartament cu trei camere costă 64.700 de euro.

Vizualizaţi Harta celor mai ieftine locuinte noi din Bucuresti pe o hartă mai mare

2. Family Residencia – 30.450 euro

Şi acest ansamblu rezidenţial se află tot în localitatea Bragadiru. Cel mai mic preţ al unei garsoniere, care are o suprafaţă de 39 de mp este de 30.450 de euro cu TVA inclus, pentru cei care achită cu banii jos. Preţul este mai mare dacă se achită un avans de 50%: 32.000 de euro fără TVA. Apartamentele cu două camere au preţuri ce variază de la 45.000 de euro la 75.000 de euro, iar un apartament cu trei camere costă 85.000 de euro.

3. Militari Residence – 37.760 euro

Situat în apropierea parcului comercial Militari, proiectul cuprinde 1.000 de locuinţe, iar cel mai mic preţ este de 37.760 de euro cu TVA inclus pentru o garsonieră de 36,6 mp. Un pic mai scumpă este o garsonieră de 40 de mp care costă 40.000 de euro, la fel cât o mansardă cu o suprafaţă de 50 de mp. Apartamentele cu două camere costă 53.000 şi 75.000 de euro în funcţie de suprafaţă. Cei cu dare de mână pot opta pentru un apartament cu patru camere, utilat şi mobilat, cu o suprafaţă de 126 de mp. Preţul este de 126.000 de euro.

4. Confort City – 39.500 euro

După ce au operat reduceri de preţuri, în proiectul fraţilor Negoiţă o garsonieră cu o suprafaţă totală de 47 de mp costă 41.500 de euro cu tot cu TVA de 5%. Apartamentele cu două camere care au o suprafaţă de 52 de mp costă 47.250 de euro cu TVA inclus, iar un apartament cu trei camere cu o suprafaţă totală de 122 de mp are un preţ de 77.700 de euro cu TVA inclus.

5. Style Residence – 40.000 de euro

Situat în apropiere de MIlitari Shopping Center, în proiect se mai găsesc de vânzare doar trei garsoniere care au suprafeţe de 40 de mp şi preţuri de 40.000 de euro cu tot cu TVA, iar apartamentele cu două camere costă 62.000 de euro cu tot cu TVA şi au suprafeţe de 62 de mp.

6. Brâncuşi Residence – 40.000 de euro

Un alt proiect, situat tot la marginea Bucureştiului este şi Brâncuşi Residence, unde mai este disponibilă doar o garsonieră de 40 de mp la un preţ de 40.000 de euro cu tot cu TVA. Dezvoltatorul mai are în construcţie şi alte două blocuri unde garsonierele costă 43.000 de euro cu TVA. Acestea vor fi livrate în două etape, la sfârşitul acestui an şi în primăvara lui 2010. Preţurile apartamentelor cu două camere pornesc de la 60.000 de euro şi pot ajunge până la 76.000 de euro, cu tot cu TVA.

7. Răsărit de Soare – 40.950 de euro

Construit în imediata apropiere a hypermarketului Auchan din Titan, în proiectul Rărăsit de Soare mai sunt disponibile spre vânzare 50 de garsoniere la un preţ de 40.950 de euro cu tot cu TVA. Apartamentele cu două camere au preţuri pornind de la 65.000 de euro fără TVA.

8. Scandinavia Residence – 41.000 euro

Lansat pe piaţă anul aceasta, proiectul cuprinde 420 de locuinţe şi este situat pe Şoseaua Alexandrei. O garsonieră costă 41.000 de euro cu TVA de 5% inclus, iar locul de parcare este gratuit. Locuinţele au o suprafaţă de 43 de mp utili inclusiv terasa. Preţurile apartamentelor de două camere pornesc de la 62.500 de euro, iar pentru cele cu trei camere, de la 87.000 de euro şi au o suprafaţă de 93 mp. Dezvoltatorii proiectului îşi propun ca cele şapte blocuri să fie finalizate la sfârşitul acestui an.

9. Vitan New Residence – 42.000 euro

Proiectul de 53 de apartamente se află în apropiere de centrul comercial Bucureşti Mall şi urmează a fi finalizat în luna decembrie a acestui an. Cea mai ieftină garsonieră costă 42.000 de euro, iar cea mai scumpă 46.200 de euro cu TVA inclus. Apartamentele cu două camere depăşesc suma de 76.000 de euro.

10. Primăvara Rezidenţial – 43.000 euro

Garsonierele mici din proiectul situat în Drumul Taberei – Prelungirea Ghencea, de 30 de mp şi cu o terasă de 6 m,p costă 43.000 de euro cu TVA inclus. Garsonierele de 32 de mp utili cu o terasă de 6 mp costă 47.000 de euro, iar apartamentele cu două camere care au 45 de mp costă 65.000 de euro cu TVA inclus.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is at the D8 Conference this evening, participating in an opening session involving a sit-down interview with All Things Digital’s Kara Swisher. John Paczkowski is officially liveblogging tonight’s interview while Engadget and CNET are also offering live coverage, and we’ll be keeping track of any significant revelations coming out of the event. While Jobs is not expected to make any product announcements, the format will likely allow for some informal discussion and insight into Apple and Jobs that could prove interesting.

The opening session is just getting underway, with News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch currently giving some opening remarks before turning things over to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher.

Jobs’ Comments:
- On Apple’s market capitalization passing Microsoft’s: “It doesn’t matter very much. It’s not what’s important. It’s not what makes you come to work in the morning…It is a little surreal.”

- On his return to Apple in the ’90s: “Apple was about 90 days from going bankrupt. It was much worse than I thought back then. I expected all the good people had left, but I found many of them still there, and I asked them, “Why are you still here?” They said it was because they believed in Apple.”

- On the Adobe Flash controversy: “Apple doesn’t have the resources others have, and we have to choose which horses to ride. We try to ride those that are on the way up. If you choose wisely, you save yourself an enormous amount of work.” Points to the move to 3.5-inch floppies, the discontinuation of floppy drives, removal of serial and parallel ports, adoption of USB, removal of optical drive in MacBook Air. “Sometimes people call us crazy.”

“We didn’t start off to have a war with Flash. We made a technical decision. But it wasn’t until the iPad that Adobe raised a stink about it.” Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” was a response made only after Apple grew tired of Adobe trashing it in the press. “We have the courage of our convictions. We’re going to take the heat because we want to make the best products in the world for our customers. If we succeed they’ll buy them, and if we don’t they won’t. So far they’re liking the iPad…we’re selling one every three seconds.”

- On email correspondences: Refers to exchange with Gawker’s Ryan Tate…”He never identified himself as a journalist. I was up late and working and this guy starts sending me obnoxious emails… and I wanted to straighten this guy out. I’m just enough of a sucker… and he publishes it!”

- On the lost next-generation iPhone: “There’s an ongoing investigation, but I can tell you what I do know. To make a wireless product, you have to test it. You can’t just keep it in the lab. There’s a debate about whether it was left in a bar or stolen out of his bag, but the person who found it tried to sell it. It’s a great story…it’s got theft, buying stolen property, extortion. Probably sex in there somewhere…someone should make a movie out of this.

- On Foxconn suicides: “We’re all over this. We do one of the best jobs in any industry of understanding suppliers’ working conditions. Foxconn is not a sweatshop, it’s a factory. 13 suicides out of 400,000 workers this year is less than the U.S. rate of 11 per 100,000, but it’s still troubling. We’re trying to understand things right now and we have people over there.”

- On the future of Apple and “platform wars” with Microsoft, Google, Facebook, etc.: “I don’t see it. We never saw ourselves in a platform war with MSFT, and maybe that’s why we lost. We think about the competition, but we’re focused on building a better product.”

- On WebKit, particularly for mobile devices: “Almost every modern browser is based on it…Nokia, Palm, Android, RIM. We’ve created a real competitor to Internet Explorer. It’s #1 in mobile.”

- On Google: “They decided to compete with us. We didn’t go into the search business!” Not going to remove Google from the iPhone. “We want to create better products than them. If people like our products, we get to come to work for tomorrow. Just because we’re competing doesn’t mean we have to be rude.”

- On acquisition of Siri: “It’s an AI (artificial intelligence) company. We’re not going into the search business.”

- On AT&T’s network: “iPhone is the first phone where we separated the carrier from the hardware. They worry about the network, while we worry about the phone. They’re improving, but they do have some issues. Remember that they’re handling way more traffic than all other competitors combined.”

- On possible expansion to other U.S. carriers: “There might be advantages.” When asked if it might happen in the near future, he responds, “You know I can’t comment on that.” And getting back to AT&T specifically, “We changed the business model for phones, and AT&T took a big chance with us.”

- On tablets: “We did something similar to what we did with the iPhone. We started from scratch and threw out the existing paradigm of handwriting recognition.” Acknowledges that tablet project actually came before phone, but realized that phone was more important.

- On the iPad’s ability to save journalism: “The foundation of a free society is free press, and some of the newspapers are in real trouble. I don’t want to see us descend into a nation of bloggers. I’m all for anything that can help newspapers with new ways of expressing themselves and getting paid. We need editorial oversight now more than ever.” Jobs notes that iPad opens up way to offer much more than print or static webpages. But should charge less than print… “The biggest lesson Apple has learned is price it aggressively and go for volume.”

- On Apple’s entry into eBooks causing price increases: “The new structure allows pricing to be more sensitive to consumers and should allow prices to eventually go down.”

- On whether tablets will replace PCs: Compares to vehicles…”When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farms. But cars eventually became more prevalent is people moved to cities. PCs will be like trucks…they are still going to be around, but there is a transformation coming, and it will make some people uneasy. Is it the iPad? Who knows? Will it be next year or five years from now?”

- On the iPad: “People laugh at me because I describe the iPad as magical. We’ve stripped away what’s between you and the computer. We’re just scratching the surface with the kinds of apps that can be built.” Regarding the lack of a keyboard hindering content creation, “When I am going to write that 35-page analyst report I am going to want my bluetooth keyboard. That’s one percent of the time. These machines will grow to be able to more things…time takes care of lots of these things. Productivity apps, video editing, etc.”

- On flexible displays: “We don’t have the technology and it’s not on the horizon. A lot of people have tried and are continuing to try, but probably several years away still.”

- On control of the App Store ecosystem: “We have two platforms we support. One is completely open and uncontrolled and that is HTML 5. We support HTML 5. We have the best support for HTML 5 of anyone in the world. Then there’s the curated App Store platform. We’ve got a few rules (function as advertised, can’t crash, can’t use undocumented APIs), but we approve 95% of apps within a week…thousands per week.”

Regarding rejected political cartoon content, Jobs notes, “We had a rule that said you can’t defame people. By definition, they defame people. We didn’t think of that. That was an unintended consequence. We had actually changed the rule several months earlier, but made a mistake. We’re doing the best we can and fixing mistakes as fast as we can. But sometimes people lie and run to the press. We take it on the chin and don’t call them out.”

- On Jobs’ typical workday: “I have one of the best jobs in the world. I get to come in and work with some of the most brilliant people in the world. We play in the best sandbox. We’re structured like a start-up. We’re the biggest start-up on the planet. And we all meet once a week to discuss our business…and there’s tremendous teamwork at the top and that filters down to the other employees.

- On the next ten years: “You know, when this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got advice from people who said ‘you gotta just let it slide, you shouldn’t go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you.’ And I thought deeply about this, and I concluded the worst thing that could happen is if we change our core values and let it slide. I can’t do that. I’d rather quit.”

“The company is a little more experienced and a little more beat up, but Apple is still the same company it was 5 or 10 years ago in terms of values. We’re still trying to build the best products. Nothing makes my day more than getting a random email from someone talking about how cool the iPad is. That’s what keeps me going. That’s what kept me going back then, and now, and will keep me going in the future.”

- On entering the ad business: “We want to help our developers make money. We’re not going to make much money on this. People’s behavior on phones is very different than on computers…less searching and more apps. So you put ads in the apps to help developers make money. Sure, someone else could do it, but they’re not. We can build it right into the OS.”

- On user privacy: “We take privacy very seriously.” Points to location-based apps having to call up iPhone OS panel to request permission to access data. “That’s one of the reasons we have the curated app store. A lot of the people in the Valley think we’re old fashioned about this. But we take it seriously.”

Q&A
- On whether he would change anything about his 2005 Stanford commencement speech: “Probably I would just turn up the volume on it. The last few years have reminded me that life is fragile.”

- On ad analytics controversy: “Some company called Flurry had data on devices that we were using on our campus — new devices. They were getting this info by getting developers to put software in their apps that sent info back to this company! So we went through the roof. It’s violating our privacy policies, and it’s pissing us off! So we said we’re only going to allow analytics that don’t give our device info — only for the purpose of advertising.” When pressed about legitimate uses of analytics data on device usage, Jobs noted that Apple would be willing to sit down with analytics firms, “but it’s not today”.

- On balance shifts in content: “The way we market movies is changing. It used to be TV advertising with trailers, but now it’s the Web. Content providers used to think their customers were movie theaters, record stores, etc. But they need to recognize that it’s the viewer and you need to let them watch whenever, wherever they want. It’s starting to happen in television, and even now in film.”

- On content syncing to the cloud: “We need to better on letting people share content amongst their own various devices.” When pressed on a timeline, Jobs noted, “We’re working on it.”

- On iPhone dropped calls: “Credible people tell me that things get worse before they get better as the carriers switch things around to make improvements. If you believe that, things should get a lot better soon. Should be better by end of summer. We’ll see.”

- On HDCP/content protection: “The content providers are afraid of a Napster repeat, and they set the rules. Apple tries to persuade, but if they can’t convince providers, they have to either accept the limitations or go without the content.”

- On vision for social gaming on iPhone OS: “Clearly iPhone plus iPod touch have created a new class of gaming. It’s a subset of casual gaming. But it’s surprising how good some of them are. They’re almost as good as console gaming in terms of graphics. Console games the software is $30 or $40 a game. It’s cheaper on iPhone, so the market has exploded.”

- On the future of television: “Subsidized set-top boxes have squashed innovation because no one wants to pay for separate boxes…ask TiVo, Roku, us, Google in a few months. The set-top box needs to be torn up and redesigned to get people things they way they want them. And there’s no go-to-market strategy for that. With the iPhone, and now the iPad, we could partner with carriers, but television is very balkanized…everything is local.

Romana

- Steve Jobs despre Flash pe iPad si iPhone:

“unele produse sunt bune, altele sunt rele. Daca piata ne va spune ca am luat o decizie gresita, vom face schimbari. Noi incercam sa facem produse bune. Daca ceva nu este foarte bun – renuntam. Ne vom asuma riscum sa facem cel mai bun produs din lume. Daca noi reusim – oamenii il vor cumpara. Si pot sa va spun ca lumea cam cumpara iPad”.

- Despre iPhone-ul pierdut intr-un bar:

“Ca sa ai un produs bun trebuie sa-l testezi in afara. Unul dintre angajatii nostri folosea un astfel de produs. Nu se stie daca l-a pierdut sau daca i-a fost furat. Persoana care l-a gasit a sunat Engadget si Gizmodo. Povestea e complicata si un procuror o analizeaza acum. Nu stim cum se va termina.”

- Despre sinuciderile de la Foxconn:

“Ne ocupam direct de analizarea situatiei de acolo. Foxconn e o fabrica bine dotata. Au cinematografe, restaurante. Sunt peste 400 mii angajati si rata sinuciderilor este sub cea din Statele Unite. Chiar si asa, este greu de acceptat.”

- Despre competitia cu Google:

“Noi am vrut sa facem un produs bun. Google a ales sa ne fie concurent. Chrome este bazat pe Webkit – un produs Apple, la fel ca si toate celelalte browsere moderne folosite de Nokia, Palm, Android sau RIM. Noi am creat un competitor adevarat pentru Internet Explorer. In spatiul mobile, webkit este acum numarul 1. Nu vom elimina produsele Google din iPhone

Nu suntem interesati sa intram pe piata . Altii o fac deja bine. Achizitia Siri nu are nicio legatura cu asta”.

- Despre iPhone si alte retele in USA:

“Ar putea fi avantaje daca iPhone ar merge in doua retele. Am gasit o cale sa vindem telefonul pe care noi vroiam sa-l vindem prin intermediul ATT. Pina acum totul a mers OK.”

- Despre iPad:

“Scrisul cu un input device pe o tableta era foarte greu. Noi am re-imaginat tableta si am urmat o cale opusa fata de ceea ce impusese Microsoft. Tableta lor se baza pe un PC – bateria era slaba, greutatea mare si avea un cursor pe ecran. Atunci cind renunti la Stylus, ai precizia degetului si nu mai poti sa folosesti un sistem de operare similar cu cel de pe computer. Trebuie sa faci totul de la zero.

Sistemul de operare pentru iPhone a fost, la inceput creat pe un tablet. Am venit cu ideea de a avea un display multi-touch pe care sa poti tasta. Am intrebat lumea si sase luni mai tarziu am primit acest display minunat. L-am oferit unui specialist in interfete. El a venit cu ideea pentru “inertial scrolling” si alte citeva. Atunci am zis . Asa ca am amanat tableta si ne-am apucat de telefon.

Cind eram o natie bazata pe agricultura, masinile noastre erau mai mult camioane. Odata ce omul s-a mutat spre oras a inceput sa-si schimbe si masina. PC-urile sunt ca si camioanele. Tot mai putini oameni vor avea nevoie de ele. Nu stim daca tranzitia catre un alt fel de device va dura un an sau cinci.

During tonight’s All Things D Interview with Steve Jobs, Walt Mossberg asked about Apple’s intentions of getting into the search space and possibly competing with Google.

Jobs was insistent that they aren’t going to search and that the Siri acquisition had nothing to do with search:
Steve: [Siri is] not a search company. They’re an AI company. We have no plans to go into the search business. We don’t care about it — other people do it well.

We profiled Siri when it was acquired by Apple. Siri was focused on personal assistant technology that serves to help users accomplish tasks.
Virtual Personal Assistants (VPAs) represent the next generation interaction paradigm for the Internet. In today’s paradigm, we follow links on search results. With a VPA, we interact by having a conversation. We tell the assistant what we want to do, and it applies multiple services and information sources to help accomplish our task. Like a real assistant, a VPA is personal; it uses information about an individual’s preferences and interaction history to help solve specific tasks, and it gets better with experience.

Steve: You know, when this whole thing with Gizmodo happened, I got advice from people who said ‘you gotta just let it slide, you shouldn’t go after a journalist just because they bought stolen property and tried to extort you.’ And I thought deeply about this, and I concluded the worst thing that could happen is if we change our core values and let it slide. I can’t do that. I’d rather quit

Ieri, la conferinta All Things Digital, Steve Jobs a surprins audienta decalarand ca iPad-ul a aparut inaintea iPhone-ului, decizia strategica de a le lansa pe piata in cronologie inversa apartinandu-i. Ideea de touch screen dateaza de la inceputul anilor 2000.