Appletell

If the first little teaser of the iPhone’s upcoming app store we reported on earlier this week didn’t do anything for you, The Boy Genius Report now has extensive photos of the iPhone 2.0 update scheduled for release later this year. There are 38 photos in total which cover everything from the Calendar to Parental Controls. Many of the things featured in these photos are things that Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall went over or mentioned at the media event earlier this month.

Being Canadian, I don’t have an iPhone (yet), so I don’t have a lot to compare these new screenshots to, to see what has changed. The iPhone 2.0 developer build ships with a game called Lunar Lander, which demos the iPhone gaming features showcased at the media event. It is not known whether this is just a game to help developers get a better idea of how they can utilize the iPhones hardware, or if it will also ship with the iPhone 2.0 update released to the masses. Nevertheless, the new features and applications that are going to be introduced in the iPhone 2.0 update are sure to please both business users and personal users.

Via [MacRumors] Photos [The Boy Genius Report]

Every couple of years, I take out my old Macintosh Plus to boot it up and play with it. It is, quite frankly, amazing how many things are exactly the same in OS X today as they were in System 6. For instance, I couldn’t find an OS X Finder keyboard shortcut that didn’t work in System 6, barring of course, those that pertain to technologies no availble in the mid-80s. I just realized that it is amazing that this computer is now 22 years old, and still works. Sadly, it is on it’s last legs. The CRT is going and the floppy drive no longer works.

In this video, you will see a Macintosh Plus with these following specs:

System 6.0.4, Finder 6.1.4
1 MB RAM
30 MB External Hard Drive

You will see it run Shufflepuck Cafe, Control Panel, and Microsoft Word, as well as some of it’s desktop applications like Calculator. Also keep your eye out for the error dialogues that I get. Notice how human the errors are. Its apologizes to me for not finding a file. This is a truly intuitive computer.

Video after the jump.

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It’s very rare to see photos of what lies beneath Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, CA. Even the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley had to recreate what the offices were like. To my knowledge, these photos are some of the first to ever be shown online - and probably the most recent. Stephen from Office Snapshots, one of my favourite blogs, has managed to get photos from inside and around Apple’s campus in Cupertino. There aren’t many shots, but it gives a better view of how the Apple employees work. I was surprised to see some old iMacs at reception - I assume they will be replaced soon. It looks like a fun place to work, plus I’m sure they get free swag, or at least huge discounts from “The Company Store”. Even though there are MacBook Pros everywhere, the computers seemed to be varied. There are what looks like a PC with touch-screen in some of the shots. If you want to see the most MacBook Pros under one roof - I think you’ve found the place.

Via [Office Snapshots]

Some people actually enjoy having the slimmest notebook in the world, and others, just want to tear it apart. Gizmodo has gotten their hands on Apple’s new MacBook Air, and have decided to take it apart. The innards of this sleek sub-notebook are almost cooler than the outside (at least for a geek). All you need is a Phillips #00 screwdriver, and you are 10 screws away from voiding your warranty. Inside the Air there is an easily replaceable HD, and RAM that appears to be soldered to the board (in other words it’s not working out). From inside the notebook, you can see that the battery is very easy to replace. You can also replace your battery for $129 and Apple will unscrew the 10 screws for you.

Via [Macrumors]

MacRumors has the latest scoop on the MacBook Air. It appears the first unboxing photos come from a remote Macworld Expo presentation in Japan. The pictures show that they received their demonstration MacBook Air in the retail packaging. Because the MacBook Air contains this new technology Apple calls “Remote Disc”, it has the ability to wirelessly boot off of a Remote Disc shared drive. This means that if your MacBook Air requires an emergency boot or fresh reinstall, it can be done without the $99 external SuperDrive - pretty cool. This added functionality required changes in the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and is not presently available on other Macs.

The MacBook Air will most likely ship with Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2, the next updated that many have been eagerly awaiting. Leopard is currently still full of minor bugs that can get majorly annoying. The sooner Apple can get this update out, the better. MacRumors have reportedly been told that Mac OS X 10.5.2 will bring wireless booting to all Macs. This means all of us will be able to borrow another computer’s drive - PC or Mac - for booting from disc.

MacBook Air Unboxing [Flickr] Via [MacRumors]

Yesterday, Symantec released their latest AntiVirus suite, 11, to retail. But the official site was not up and running, and no screenshots or demos had been posted on the internet. MacNN has just posted a first look at AntiVirus 11 for Mac - with plenty of high quality screen shots. As you know from Apple’s consistent marketing, Macs do very rarely receive viruses, and if they do they are often minor issues. For exmaple, there was once the case of a Microsoft Word macro virus - but it didn’t affect any other part of the Mac OS X operating system. It’s a solid OS, built on UNIX, which is very secure at the core.

MacNN’s first look covers most of the basic stuff you need to know - from installation to daily updates and weekly scans. To me, this looks like a great piece of software. But I am still unsure how many Mac users will actually buy this AntiVirus suite - after Apple continually marketing the Mac as practically virus-free. AntiVirus 11 is just a virus scanning suite, so there is no firewall (Mac OS X has one built-in anyway). The official product page is now online and the system requirements are very low: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher, PowerPC or Intel, 128MB RAM and 100MB of hard disk space free.

Via [MacNN]

Want some more closeup shot of the iPhone? Head over to our gallery to check it out at every angle. But please remember to wipe the drool off your face prior to going out…

[Photo Gallery]

Are you sitting at home wondering how big/small the iPhone is in relation to some other gadgets you may be familiar with? Head over to this gallery, where we compare the size of the iPhone to the Blackberry 8830 and Apple 2nd generation iPod Nano.

Clearly the Nano is the smallest (and lightest) of the three, but given that the iPhone combines the Nano and the Blackberry its size isn’t to shabby (though a little heavier than we would have expected).

[Photo Gallery]

Ah, the bag from the store, which contains the iPhone. There is very little for us to say, except for enjoy…

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With technology gurus Walt Mossberg and David Pogue receiving their iPhones almost two weeks ago, they have had plenty of time to spend with the device. Today, the NDAs on all journalists who have been given eternal life an iPhone have been lifted, so reviews are beginning to pop up.

At the moment, only the above mentioned have reviews out now, with more expected to be published soon. Overall, both reviews saw the iPhone in a pretty positive light, while also highlighting the negative aspects. Pogue’s review features a video, done in typical “Pogue fashion” and also a short slide-show with pictures taken with the iPhone itself.

In the end, these reviews don’t really offer anything up that we didn’t already know about the iPhone, but really just sheds light on the user-interface. The things that most people will be happy about is how the keyboard got a great review, and that the iPhone withstood scratches better than anyone could have imagined. If you want to read either of the reviews, David Pogue’s is available here, and Walt Mossberg’s is available here.

Update: Newsweek’s Steven Levy has released his review, along with Edward C. Baig of USATODAY who has released his review.