Wow... after the announcements this morning (iPhone, Apple TV, etc) I expected there to be some posts here. This forum seems really dead lately.

Anyway, the iPhone looks amazing. I've been spending the past fifteen minutes looking at the QuickTime demos of it at Apple's site, and I really want one. It's actually a good thing it's not coming out until June though, since it'll take me that long to afford it.

Apple TV looks okay. Too bad you can't use it like a TiVo. As-is, I think it's too expensive for what it does. I haven't bought a single video off of iTunes, so it's of little use to me, personally. It would be a nice way to pipe my iTunes library through my stereo, but there are other options for that.

I was surprised to see nothing mentioned of OS X 10.5, iWork '07, iLife '07, or any Mac or display updates. But the iPhone is going to be huge. They're going to have a tougher time meeting demand than Sony did with the PS3.

Although he prefaced the entire keynote with "this isn't about the Mac today"... i still came away very disappointed that this was the only keynote ever that had NOTHING to say about computers or software.

My impression of the iPhone is that it IS an amazing piece of technology, but out of my price range and locked to a wireless carrier I dropped a year ago because I was unhappy with their service and coverage. IF they had one withOUT the phone piece (essentially a pumped up iPod/PDA hybrid) for $300 or less... I'd be first in line though.

I also think the AppleTV needs a tuner/recorder to make it useful to most of us. I have an eyeTV now which I LOVE but dont' like that its tied to me leaving a computer on for recording or playback. If apple had included recording ability... I'd also be very tempted, but as is, its kinda useless to me. I think they've become so cozy with the studios and the revenue stream of people purchasing TV shows they miss that they can't add a feature that will make that less attractive.

I followed the feeds for 2 hrs because I was looking for news about iLife (which I use very heavily) and Leopard. Neither of which we got. So... good news for stock-owners and yuppies who need a new toy, but nothing for the Mac user unfortunately.

PS... also since a week or more ago, you can no longer get to these forums through older links, which now pull up Richards homepage so maybe people think the forums are down. I only found them by playing with the links somehow. The path to the UBB has changed.

Sometimes the old link will redirect you here, other times it won't.

At any rate, I updated MacMAME.net's links, so maybe that will help (assuming anyone still reads that site).

Back to the topic at hand - I wonder if (when) Steve's going to do a special event for Leopard and iLife? I would expect it sometime soon.

Also of note, Apple is no longer "Apple Computer, Inc.", but rather "Apple, Inc.".

Well, the wireless carrier thing is a no-brainer from the perspective that if they wanted worldwide compatibility they'd have to do a GSM phone, not a CDMA one. That means Cingular or T-Mobile in the USA.

I *knew* the iPhone looked familiar - it's the Linux phone in (not much) disguise

Hmm, that looks nice (the linux phone) Will have to keep an eye out for one of them. Wander what year it will be available in the UK :P

That's probably why there weren't many posts. The iPhone looks really cool, but I'm not sure I'm willing to pay that much for it. I would have much rather heard about Leopard, iLife, new Macs, displays, etc. You know, stuff I actually use.

Well... I thought it was a pretty good show. I'm not so interested in the iTV for the many reasons already mentioned. Essentially all I wanted was an Apple branded Tivo. I can see the iTV being kinda of fun and it has its uses, just not for me at this time.

Now the iPhone on the other hand... I've already ordered one. I've been waiting to replace my 3G iPod with a widescreen iPod that could play TV shows and movies at a decent resolution... check! And I've also been waiting two years for a new phone that got me all excited again... check! And the fact that the two items are the same... well, for me, that's just icing on the cake.

It still might not be the perfect smartphone/iPod/mobile internet device... but it looks FAR better than anything else that is currently available IMHO.

And yes, it's expensive... but if I remember correctly this very board attacked Apple vehemently when they first announced that iPod at its then very high price... and that seemed to work out pretty well for them.

So... how long until there is a version of MAME for the iPhone?

I can't see a touch screen being good MAME controls - in one of those "hail of bullets" shooters you'd be liable to put a finger right through the phone trying to mash the fire button

Sadly that might never be possible as it seems (at least for now) that Apple has the phone completely locked and will offer no APIs for third party programs.

That's my biggest gripe, plus maybe the lack of a GPS receiver (and 3G to a lesser extent).

GPS would be nice indeed (especially coupled with Google Maps). I'm guessing we'll see that in a future revision of the iPhone, once component costs come down.

What I'm really hoping they'll do though, is use this as the form factor for the next generation iPod (and soon). Keep the wide touchscreen and PDA functionality, but dump the phone components, BlueTooth and Wi-Fi. Stick a hard drive in there, sell it for what the current models go for, and you've got a true video iPod that people will climb over each other to buy.

One big concern about the touchscreen though - is how long will it take for the surface to become so scratched up and dull that it ruins the clarity of the screen? If you thought people complained about the Nano getting scratches...

Yeah, screen protectors will be essential for the thing if you don't want it to get scratched to pieces.

I won't get one though: no UMTS, no live video calling, no Java MIDP and no mechanical keypad. Whether a touch screen is better in a lab or not, you can't use a touch screen by feel (like when you can't look at the handset because you're driving).

Well, you're not supposed to use a cell phone while you're driving.

Incidentally, Apple may have gotten the touchscreen interface from here. I first saw this back in August.

I'm interested to see what they end up doing with it beyond the iPhone.

It appears to have been running on OS X even back then (note the Dock at the top of the screen):