We all know that the new iPhone is going to have GPS, but what we know now is that TomTom already has iPhone navigation software ready to be released with the App Store. I’m not sure what Garmin is going to think about this, with its Nuvifone coming and its killer app being the GPS capabilities, I would assume Garmin isn’t too happy that their biggest GPS competitor is going to be teaming up with its biggest cell phone competitor to build a GPS phone
Engadget
Update:
“Lafargue confirmed that there was a version of TomTom software running on the iPhone but he does not know if they will ever actually ship the product. You would think that the major reason for not shipping would be the clause in the SDK agreement that states “applications may not be designed or marketed for real time route guidance,” but Lafargue insisted that is not a problem. He believes that Apple is only “trying to protect itself” (from litigation presumably) so the verbiage in the SDK would not be an obstacle.”-Gizmodo
The data plan for the iPhone 3G is going to be $30 a month now, apparently the faster data means AT&T feels that they need to charge more for data. We also now know that the iPhone 3G will no longer be activated at home, instead it is going to be activated in store, which will take about 10-15 minutes. AT&T has also decided to drop the GoPhone plan for the iPhone completely.
Gizmodo
Apple has also announced Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, there is no firm release date (although the products home page says it is scheduled for release in about a year) yet but there is some information about what it will include.
- No new features, instead Apple will streamline OSX and enhance performance
- Dramatically reduced footprint, so more hard drive space for you
- “Out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007
- Grand Central – This will make “all of Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizing it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors
- More 64-bit support for accommodating more amounts of memory (up to 16TB)
- Quicktime X – for more efficient media playback
- Fastest implementatioin of JavaScript to date
- OpenCL – “making it possible for developers to efficiently tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit”
We also learn that it is likely that Apple will still be making a profit, even with the new $199 price point. When the first iPhone came out a teardown analysis came to the conclusion that the iPhone cost Apple about $170 in parts. David Carey, president of Portelligent says that the iPhone 3G may cost Apple only $100 in parts.
EETimes