WWDC 08: Developer Demos Roundup

11:02 a.m.: Forstall's back. He thanks all the developers whodemonstrated their applications. He mentions one feature request fromdevelopers: instant-messaging developers want to deliver notificationseven when the application isn't running. This is the background-runningissue that arrived after the March event. Forstall says backgroundprocesses are bad for a number of reasons, such as battery life andperformance. He uses the opportunity to ding Windows Mobile's taskmanager for handling background processes the way desktop Windows does,to widespread laughter and applause.
11:00 a.m.: Forstall promises that Digital LegendsEntertainment is the last demo for this morning. These guys built agame in two weeks, and Xavier Carrillo Costa shows off his game. Theirgame is called Krull, and it's another caveman adventure gamewhere you battle enemies, swing across rope bridges, and solveproblems. They expect to have the game ready by September.
10:57 a.m.: Mimvista has another medical application thatbuilds on their niche, medical imaging software. Mark Cain isrepresenting Mimvista, and he says developing one of their types ofapplications before the iPhone wasn't going to work. The idea is toconnect doctors with their workstations, so they can evaluate medicalimaging from the golf course. The application, like Modality's, canshow extremely detailed pictures of the human system, as well as movingimages. "The iPhone has created a new direction for our company."

MLB on the iPhone
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)
10:53 a.m.: Modality is the next company that Apple isshowing off. These folks, represented by Dr. S Mark Williams, havedeveloped an application that helps medical students ditch their flashcards and use an iPhone to view anatomical images of the body that arevery detailed, down to the arteries and veins, and can quiz students onthe various parts of the heart, for example. Within weeks of the AppStore launching, they will have about a dozen applications availablefor various health-care needs.
10:50 a.m.: MLB.com is getting in on the action, so we canwatch the tortured season of the New York Mets on our iPhones. JeremySchoenherr shows off At-Bat, as we check out the Royals-Yankees game.You can see who's at bat, who's pitching, the count, and the score: Mussina'soff to a decent start this morning. You can get real-time videohighlights of the Yankees turning a double play. They aren't really"real-time" since the highlights arrive after the fact, but still.
10:48 a.m.: It's a parade of developers. An app called Bandwas made by a solo developer named Mark Terry, whereas all the otherapps so far have been corporate-developed. Band lets you create musicon the iPhone, with a touch-screen piano, and the demo guy cranks out apassable version of John Lennon's "Imagine." There are also drums and a12-bar blues creation app, which lays down a bass line while you playguitar over the track, and a bass guitar, which is used to play theslinky bass line from Pink Floyd's "Money." There's other stuff, buttime is limited. Terry says Band will appear on the App Store in a fewweeks' time.

Developer shows off music application on the iPhone.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)
10:45 a.m.: More applications! Brian Greenstone of Pangea Software comes up to show off two games they ported from Mac OS X to the iPhone, Enigmo, a 3D puzzle game, is very CPU intensive, says Greenstone, and it doesn't miss a beat in the demo. Cromag Rally,which is apparently a caveman racing game, is the other game shown off.Driving looks hard, but he is racing on snow, and people fromCalifornia don't know how to drive in the snow. Both games will cost$9.99.
10:41 a.m.: Our good friends at the Associated Press alsohave an application to show off. Benjamin Mosse of the AP is showingoff their application, which is essentially a reader-style applicationthat focuses on local news. This is another location-aware applicationthat sends you local news based on where you are. You can customize thefeeds for your favorite sports teams, and browse AP photos and video.Those stores can be shared via text or e-mail, and civilians can uploadtheir own stories and pictures to the AP from the iPhone, andcontinuing with the trend, it will be free.
10:39 a.m.: TypePad is next up, for the mobile bloggers inthe audience. Michael Sippey of TypePad shows off what they've puttogether, with a simple interface that lets you create a post, take aphoto, or add a photo. You can take photos with the iPhone's camera andadd them to a post, as well as add photos from your library on youriPhone. This will be yet another free application.

eBay application on iPhone.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)
10:36 a.m.: Looptis the third company to demo, and they're talking about alocation-based application. Again, no distinction is made whether thisis an application using GPS or the current location-based service onthe iPhone. Loopt blends your social networks with the Mapsapplication, so you can see where your friends are. You can also go totheir journal to see what they've been doing today, what picturesthey've added, and so on. This app will also be free.
10:33 a.m.: eBay is the next developer to show off anapplication, and Ken Sun of eBay comes onstage to show off Auctions onthe iPhone. The iPhone is already the primary mobile device used oneBay's Web site, he says. The app has a basic front door with optionsto track auctions you've bid on, see whether you've been outbid, and toplace new bids. You can also pick up the photos from the auctionlistings, and blow them up to full screen. eBay is making this appavailable for free.
10:30 a.m.: This demo is showing off the capabilities of theaccelerometer, where the iPhone can be tilted back and forth toaccelerate or brake. The tester gets a nice hand from the audience forhurling Baby Monkey through the goal. Super Monkey Ball will be available at the launch of the App Store for $9.99.
10:29 a.m.: Forstall is bringing third-party developersonstage to talk about their application, and Sega revisits the stage.They demoed a game called Super Monkey Ball in March, andthey've refined it. Ethan Einhorn of Sega comes up onstage to talkabout the app. The initial game had four stages developed in two weeks,now they've got 110 stages, with all four classic monkeys.

Showing tilt control on Sega games.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News.com)
10:26 a.m.: The application finds your friends within acertain radius, but Forstall says nothing about whether the applicationwas designed for the current iPhone, which uses a Wi-Fi/cell tower typeof location-aware application, or the new iPhone, which is expected tohave GPS. Forstall reads off a few quotes from corporate developerpartners like Disney--once again--and Fox Interactive.
10:23 a.m.: His mock application is going to merge thecontacts databases and location-aware services. He's taking us throughthe actual development experience, dragging and dropping icons thatrepresent things like the iPhone's search bar around the developmentenvironment. Once the application is done, the developer can test itright on a Mac for bugs or to make different aesthetic choices, such aswhether to put things in the toolbar or within the regular fields.

Appletook the wraps off version 2.0 of its iPhone firmware at WWDCtoday.But it didn't send thousands of iPhone owners scurrying away toclickon 'Check for Update' in iTunes.
The 2.0 firmware, and by associationthe new iPhone3G, are due to be rolled out worldwide on July 11.
Thenew iPhone 3G is undoubtedly theheadline act – it updates Apple'spioneering smartphone withtri-band HSDPA connectivity, GPS and improvedbattery life. If theiPhone was hard to beat before, it's even toughernow. But the new2.0 firmware that's being rolled out with it is equallyimportant.
Enterprise, SDK and 'new features'
Availableon both the 3G and original2G iPhones, version 2.0 adds a several newfeatures to the iPhoneplatform. There are those that we've alreadyseen: push email andcalendaring (via MS Exchange), Cisco VPN supportand downloadablethird-party applications via the forthcoming App Store.
And there are those features we didn'tsee coming: a pushnotification service, a scientific version of Calcand a nifty ContactSearch. These hardly make compelling front pagenews. Apple has improvedthe iPhone in very subtle ways.
When it hits on July 11, version2.0 ofthe iPhone firmware won't offer a major overhaul of theiconictouchscreen interface. Why should it? If it 'aint broke... AsSteveJobs explained in his keynote, there are three elements to theiPhone2.0 software – enterprise, the SDK and 'new features'.
SinceApple firstrevealed the iPhone 2.0 software back in early March, we'veknownabout its enterprise plans. Apple's support for MS Exchangewillenable the sort of push calendaring, push email, push contactsandremote wipe capabilities that businesses have been crying outfor.Ditto the built-in Cisco VPN client.
What we're reallyinterested in is thepersonal apps and games. With 250,000 softwaredeveloper kitsdownloaded since March, Jobs revealed that Apple hadadmitted 4,000applicants to its iPhone developer programme (from25,000applications).
With access to the iPhone's coreAPIs(shared with Mac OS X), plus its accelerometer, cameraandlocalisation features, we now have a better idea of what theiPhoneis capable of.
Super Monkey Ball for $9.99
Just as it did back in March, Segashowed off an updated cut of its GameCube favourite Super MonkeyBall.This game will be available on the App Store for $9.99 when itlaunchesin July. That's about £5 or £6 in UK money,although expect thereal-world exchange rate to be avoided in favourof $1=£1. At least it'sa lot less than the rumoured $25 pergame that was swirling around techwebsites pre-keynote.
In comparison, the rest of the earlyAppStore line-up at WWDC seems a little simplistic – anuninspiringselection of games, medical applications and prettied-upnews feeds. Butthere are some bright sparks.
The mobile version of TypePad,forexample, has been designed to tie in with the iPhone's camera,enablingyou to take shots and upload them to a website. Looptoffers a mix ofsocial networking with location-aware intelligence,while the AssociatedPress plans anapp that will map your whereabouts to deliver relevantnews.
Apple itself has developed a pushnotification service,designed to keep a persistent IP connectionopen that can notify you ofnew emails or instant messages. And itdoes this without the relevantapplications running in thebackground. It's a big deal, but pencilSeptember in your diary forthis one.
Like the iPhone 3G, the AppStoreshould launch on July 11th. 2G and 3G iPhone owners will be abletodownload apps less than 10MB over 2G/3G, Wi-Fi or via iTunes.Anythinggreater than 10MB will be limited to Wi-Fi connections anddownloads viaiTunes.
The 2.0 upgrade will be free for iPhoneusers, but it will cost iPod touch owners $9.95.