What is Macworld without rampant speculation? This year, though, someone is going the extra mile and is using Wikipedia to spread what looks to be a fake outline for the Stevenote tomorrow. Many blogs and media are biting (see here and here), including people who should know better (Steve Rubel).
At first glance, the notes seem plausible. Nothing too earth-shattering: a thin new MacBook, a 16GB iPhone, YouTube downloads on iTunes, and a preview of the iPhone software development kit. But it has a few fatal flaws: No mention of iTunes movie rentals, Microsoft Office 2008, more DRM-free music partners, or the much hoped-for Beatles iPod. (At least one of these highly-anticipated announcements has to be true). Not to mention that the self-correcting mechanisms of Wikipedia are already at work debunking the premise behind the notes. “This is TOTAL BULL,” reads one comment.
Still, it is a well put-together piece of speculation and plays on people’s trust of Wikipedia to spread rumor. My favorite part is the purported SDK news. According to these “notes” Steve Jobs will be spending a lot of time on it. The details: iPhone apps will be sold for $6.99 and widgets for $2.99, with 70 percent of revenues going to the developer (or they can be free). Apple will only accept source code, not executables, to protect the device. And example iPhone apps that Jobs is supposed to demo include an RSS feed reader (that would be nice), a Last.fm music app, and Twitter for the iPhone (this part may be true). Here is the relevant excerpt:
iPhone/iPod Touch SDK
– Apps and Widgets
– Using Cocoa with Objective-C
– Developers submit programs as source code, not executable
– Specify iPhone or both iPhone/Touch (certain features iPhone only)
– Set your own price: Apps $0-$6.99, Widgets $0-$2.99
– Users buy/download in iTunes Wi-Fi Store / iTunes Store (Mac/PC)
– Automatic updating wirelessly or docked– Demonstration of exporting from XCode 3 to iTunes Store
– Submits source code to Apple for validation (make sure that people aren’t abusing the system, prevent malware and viruses)
– If using microphone or GSM, iPhone only; otherwise, available for both iPhone and iPod Touch
– Apps can be free or up to $6.99; Widgets free or up to $2.99
– Developers recieve 70% of revenue for their products
– Licensed under Apple Mobile Software License
– Can download wirelessly from iTunes Wi-Fi Store or docked to computer from iTunes Store
– Demonstration of wirelessly downloading (and running) the app submitted earlier
– Apps and widgets can be rearranged on front screen; front screen scrolls to show all apps/widgets
– Resubmit updated versions of apps; when added to store, iPhone/Touch will ask you to update it next time you use it (or next time you dock the iPhone/Touch)
– Developers can get their hands on a beta version of the SDK tomorrow on ADC and start developing; final version due early February
– iTunes 7.6 and iPhone/iPod Touch Software update 1.3 allowing for Apps mid-FebruaryExample apps/widgets
Apps:
– iChat (coming with 1.3 update) (AIM, Jabber/Google Talk)
— Quick demonstration
– RSS Feed Reader (coming with 1.3 update) (read feeds online or off)
– One of our partners made something cool: Last.fm (scrobble tracks played on iPhone/touch wirelessly without syncing w/ computer)
Widgets:
– Dictionary (coming with 1.3 update) (quickly look up words, translate, use wikipedia)
— Quick demonstration
– Yellow/White Book (coming with 1.3 update) (search for contacts, add them to your address book directly from the app, will sync back with address book on your Mac/PC)
– Sports Ticker (coming with 1.3 update) (choose your sports and teams, get updates on their progress)
– Another partner: Twitter (update your Twitter on the fly, see your friends tweets)
– Try these out on the show floor today
Again, I say this is all bunk. But it does reflect in its own way what the Apple faithful want to hear. And hopefully, Jobs will shed some light on Apple’s iPhone SDK plans tomorrow.
Update: Turns out this was fake. Check out the real Stevenote here. Barely no mention of the iPhone SDK.