TechMiso

The entire world was sitting on the edge of their seats, anxiously awaiting the fabled Apple World Wide Developers Conference Keynote Speech, a presentation which over the course of the last few years has provided some of the most exciting new Apple product news. Or maybe not? After soaking in the announcements for the past week, it seems there really is nothing truly revolutionary or groundbreaking even though a vast array of consumers seems quite jazzed.

While the keynote was lengthy, fun and seemingly interesting, Schiller failed to deliver anything Earth-shattering. This is not to discount the new product releases because there is some excitement to be had. However, overall the keynote was wholly uninspiring.

iPhone 3GS

The iPhone 3GS, other than the annoyingly lame product name, on the whole is a real disappointment. The new features are nothing to excite with the possible exception of the ability to capture full motion video. But still, considering that just about every other mobile phone on the planet has had this capability for years, why be thrilled about an average feature?

The iPhone 3GS does offer a speedier processor and twice as much RAM, which will help immensely with iPhone OS 3.0 as well as the inclusion of the push notification system. Unfortunately, the one feature I was looking forward to – exponentially increased battery life – is completely absent from the device. The iPhone 3GS only offers incrementally better battery life, but only when not using the 3G network.

Colour me dumbfounded because most people use their iPhone for data access while mobile, so why not even attempt to offer marginally increased battery life when on 3G?

What is really exciting about the iPhone is not the iPhone 3GS hardware itself, but the upcoming release of iPhone OS 3.0. A metric ton more functionality will be added to an iPhone as a result of the OS upgrade rather than a hardware upgrade.

iPhone OS 3.0 is exciting while the iPhone 3GS is nothing if not snore-worthy.

MacBookPro

As expected, the 13” notebook was “promoted” to the MacBook Pro line of notebooks. This move was apparent after the Apple Store started selling a white MacBook with better specifications than the unibody MacBook 13. This is probably a smart move and further clarifies the products, but also leaves open the door to add additional MacBook products to supplement the single remaining MacBook. Is this where the mythical netbook or tablet will arrive?

The more exciting news is the migration from a removable battery to the non-removable battery on both the MacBookPro 13 and 15. After the MacBookPro 17 started using the longer lasting, non-removable battery it seemed as if Apple would eventually move the entire lineup in this direction. This is the one modification I was anxiously awaiting Apple to make, and am glad to see they finally took the plunge.

Considering how much extra battery life the new battery offers, this can only be seen as a smart move. Although, many people will still complain about the inability to swap out the battery on a long flight or trip without the ability to rejuice. But the battery life should negate that need for the most part.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the WWDC product announcements should be seen as a success even though they are nothing to write home about. While the iPhone 3GS is a disappointment, the updated MacBookPro lineup is solid and worthwhile. Even though I am broke as the next guy, I would die for the chance to upgrade from my existing MacBookPro to one of those newer, sexy unibody types with the non-removable battery!

No matter how you look at it, Apple is still on point and making the moves they need to in order to continue to attract more consumers towards their products.