[E3 2010] All About Nintendo’s Press Conference

Nintendo’s E3 2010 press conference came out this year with a bang, with the debut of the new 3DS hardware and even several game announcement surprises. The 3DS is the official name and was the main focus of the show, including information of new first-party and third-party titles planned for the new handheld device. Keep reading to find out everything that came out at the conference!

Nintendo 3DS Officially Announced

Although everyone had a hunch that Nintendo planned to unveil the 3DS, the actual device was still largely a mystery until now. The device itself looks almost identical to the current model, but it does have a 3.5inch top screen and a “slide pad” for analog control. It comes packaged with a motion sensor and accelerometer, but as not to interfere with the 3D effect. Only the bottom screen is touch sensitive. The device also comes equipped with two cameras on the outside, which will allow users to take 3D pictures. Nintendo didn’t reveal too many details just yet, but they did claim it can also display 3D movies and that the company has already partnered with Disney, Warner Bros., and Dreamworks. The big selling point of the whole system is that all of these movies and games can be seen in 3D without the use of 3D glasses.

Iwata did mention the new device is equipped with a form of “always on” functionality and that it’s a lot like what we’ve seen on the Wii and the former DS, but it’s more automatic meaning that it can download new data like ghost race from other 3DS systems without the player ever realizing it.

3DS Game Announcements

Nintendo recognized that while hardware is all good, gamers care about the games they play as well. The 3DS has a huge list of games announced for it including games such as Kid Icarus Uprising and Nintendogs + cats. Third-party support seemed strong as wel with number of companies showing off their titles such as Square Enix with Kingdom Hearts, Capcom with Resident Evil, and Konami with Metal Gear Solid. A full list of announced games can be found at the bottom of the post!

Link Returns For A New Adventure! (Coming 2011)

The company started the whole announcement today with an announcement and a live stage demonstration of Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. A new game in the Zelda series planned to release in 2011. The look borrows the more realistic character art from Twilight princess and a mixes it with the cel-shading from Wind Waker.

The players use a MotionPlus-equipped Wii remote to control Link’s sword, and the nunchuck to control his shield. The game emphasizes on angle of attack where the sword can be charged for beams of energy and carefully swung at enemies, and once out of combat, Link can run and climb over small obstacles. The demo showed had several technical problems due to wireless interference as Nintendo claimed but it seemed to work well when the general public had a chance to test it after the conference in the demo booths.

More Popular Nintendo Faces Return to the Wii

Many of the popular old faces of the Nintendo brand are making a return to the Wii such as Donkey Kong in Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Kirby in Kirby’s Epic Yarn. Mario also makes another appearance in Mario Sports Mix, featuring the Mario cast playing volleyball, hockey, dodgeball, and basketball.

Other Popular Games Announced

Not everything was a surprise as Nintendo also provided game play demonstrations of Epic Mickey, the new Golden Sun, Metroid: Other M (coming August 31), and the new Goldeneye. We were a bit surprised no news of the Vitality Sensor was mentioned as we expected Nintendo to show off their plans for the device but we were left wondering. While the 3DS announcement and the list of heavy games (which again can be found below) were nice, no price or release date was mentioned, so we are still left in the dark about some of it.

The List of 3DS Games can be found below, courtesy of 1up

Nintendo

• Animal Crossing
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Mario Kart
• nintendogs + cats
• Paper Mario
• PilotWings Resort
• Star Fox 64 3D
• Steel Diver

Activision Publishing

• DJ Hero 3D

AQ INTERACTIVE

• cubic ninja

ATLUS

• Etrian Odyssey
• Shin Megami Tensei
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona
• Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Capcom

• Resident Evil Revelations
• Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition (name not final)

Electronic Arts

• FIFA Soccer
• Madden NFL
• The Sims 3

Gameloft

• Asphalt GT

Harmonix

• Music Game

HUDSON SOFT

• Bomberman franchise
• DECA SPORTS franchise
• KORORINPA franchise

KONAMI

• Baseball franchise
• Contra franchise
• Frogger franchise
• HIDEO KOJIMA'S METAL GEAR SOLID SNAKE EATER 3D "The Naked Sample"
• PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER franchise / WINNING ELEVEN franchise

LEVEL-5

• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle (name not final)

Majesco Entertainment

• BloodRayne: The Shroud
• A Boy and His Blob
• Face Racers: Photo Finish
• Lion's Pride: Adventures on the Serengeti
• Martha Stewart
• WonderWorld Amusement Park

Marvelous Entertainment

• BOKUJYOUMONOGATARI 3D (name not final)

NAMCO BANDAI Games

• Dragon Ball franchise (name not final)
• Gundam franchise (name not final)
• PAC-MAN & GALAGA (name not final)
• RIDGE RACER (name not final)
• Super Robot franchise (name not final)

ROCKET

• Crash-City GP
• VS-robo

SEGA

• Sonic (name not final)
• Super Monkey Ball (name not final)

SQUARE ENIX

• CODENAME: Chocobo Racing 3D
• DRAGON QUEST franchise
• FINAL FANTASY franchise
• KINGDOM HEARTS franchise

Take-Two Interactive

• Carnival Games franchise

TECMO KOEI GAMES

• DEAD OR ALIVE 3D (name not final)
• DYNASTY WARRIORS (name not final)
• NINJA GAIDEN (name not final)
• SAMURAI WARRIORS 3D (name not final)

TOMY

• LOVELY LISA 3D
• NARUTO SHIPPUDEN ACTION

THQ

• de Blog 2
• Kung Fu Panda Kaboom of Doom
• Marvel Super Hero Squad Infinity Gauntlet
• The Penguins of Madagascar
• Puss N Boots
• Saints Row: Drive-By

Ubisoft

• Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy
• Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike
• Driver Renegade
• Hollywood 61 (name not final)
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Warner Bros

• Batman franchise
• LEGO franchise

[E3 2010] All About Sony’s Press Conference

3D Gaming Coming Right Away

Sony had their press conference today at E3 2010 and revealed their plans to enable 3D gaming right away. The president of Sony’s Networked Products and Services group, Kaz Hirai, touted the company’s “end-to-end” 3D offerings, from the Bravia 3D TVs Sony released previously to the new roster of 3D enabled games for the Playstation 3. Hirai said games like Super Stardust, pain, and Wipeout, as well as more than 20 additional titles will all on the roster of 3D games released by the end of 2010. He mentions even more 3D titles will be coming next year, including blockbuster titles such as Killzone 3, Mortal Kombat, NBA 2K11, and Gran Turismo 5.

After 3D gaming, the second major part of Sony’s announcements was about the new motion-controller system, the PlayStation Move, which it first unveiled at E3 a year ago and talked more aobut in detail in March at the Game Developers Conference. Senior Vice President of marketing and the PlayStation Network, Peter Dille, boasted how the Move benefits from having three sensors that provide its pointing and motion capabilities, which allowed Sony’s publisher partners to focus on development and not worry about the device’s technology. He also mentioned how the PlayStation Move will be available in Europe on September 15, in North America on September 19, and in Japan on October 21. The price was said to be $50, while an accessory, the Navigation Controller, will run $30. Sony will be offering a number of bundles, including a $100 sports package featuring a Move controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, a Sports Champions Blu-ray game, and a PlayStation Move demo disc. For $400, Sony is offering another bundle that has everything in the package mentioned before plus a PlayStation 3. Sony then proceeded to uncover some of the games that will be coming out that will be enabled for Move. The titles included Sorcery, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, and a brand-new game that included many of the previous PlayStation games called Heroes on the Move (Sony’s answer to Super Mario All Stars.)

PSP - Still Alive and Kicking

The next big announcement that Sony made was about the PlayStation Portable (PSP), rumors of a new PSP coming were shot down. Sony Computer Entertainment of America president and CEO Jack Tretton talked about the handheld and boasted about titles such as the Metal Gear Solid package which recently hit shelves for the PSP and further discussed new exclusives that are soon to come such as God of War: Ghost of Sparta and Invizimals. Game such as Tron: Evolution, Toy Story 3, Madden NFL 11, EyePet, and many others were coming to the previously rumored “dying” handheld system.  All in all, 70 new PSP titles were mentioned to be released by December.

Little Big Planet 2

Next up, Media Molecule’s Alex Evans came up to the stage to announce Little Big Planet 2, the follow-up to the very popular Little Big Planet. The sequel to the popular game is said to be released later in 2010 and will allow players not just to make all-new levels as they could in the original, but to make entirely new games including racers, RTS games, side-scrollers, RPGs, and more.

PlayStation Plus - Premium PSN Service

The last thing that Sony discussed which has been rumored for a long time now, was the PlayStation Plus, a new service that for $50 a year or $18 for three months, will give subscribers a wide selection of new downloadable titles, new content for existing games, discounts on things in the PlayStation Store, and more.

Sony then had a wide variety of developers come up to the stage to announce some titles that will be introduced to the PS3 in the upcoming year. These included Medal of Honor, Valve’s Portal 2, SOCOM 4, Killzone 3, Dead Space 2, Mafia II, Madden NFL 11, NBA 211, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Sports Champions, Te Fight: Lights Out, NCAA Football 11, EyePet, gran Turismo 5, ModNation Racers, Motor Storm Apocalypse, True Crime, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Mortal Kombat, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, Dead Nation, Sorcery, DC Universe Online, The Sly Collection, Tron: Evolution, Final Fantasy XIV, and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

Microsoft’s Project Natal Official Name Leaked: “Microsoft Kinect”

Earlier today, USA Today leaked the name of Microsoft's controller-free motion control set up. Prevously known as Project Natal, the official name will be Kinect. Microsoft was apparently planning on revealing the details tonight at a pre-E3 event, but the leak was released before they had the chance to announce it themselves. There still isn't any word on pricing or a release date, but it is expected to be announced at the E3 2010 event this upcoming week. The writeup seems to have been taken down from USA Today so we hope they didn't get in any trouble, but their writeup previously mentioned a few titles include: Dance Central, Joyride, Kinectimals, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, and titles based on Disney and Star Wars characters. As usual, stay tuned for this news as well as E3 2010 coverage by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Microsoft Preview For Project Natal – Controller-Free Xbox 360 Gaming

Microsoft plans to reveal a new type of videogames this week, games that don’t require people to understand and utilize a complex controller with several buttons. Following the massive success of Nintendo’s Wii, Microsoft is introducing a technology, code-named Project Natal, that ditches the use of a controller altogether. The games will rely on a device the size of a stapler threat perches on top of a living room TV to recognize faces, obey voice commands, and track body movements. It won’t be necessary to mash buttons in different sequences to experience success in the game, no more buttons at all!

Although Microsoft doesn’t plan to reveal which games will launch with the device until Monday, last month it did show off four “tech demos” to a handful of testers. One can only assume that those games will come as part of the package. The lineup is expected to include: Living Statue, Obstacle Course, Ricochet, and River Rush.

Living Statue

This is Microsoft's social media strategy which lets players record their avatars singing, dancing, and singing karaoke-style, then allows them to email the video masterpiece to their friends. The company has had several ambitions for it's Xbox Live online game service, which has 23 million active users, and is hoping this attempt wil l encourage users to check into Xbox Live and make friends.

Obstacle Course

This game is exactly as the name suggests. Players dodge, jump, and pull their way through a series of levels much like those found in a typical summer camp.

Ricochet

Ricochet is a game where players use their arms, legs, feet, and head to block a barrage of balls. Microsoft also demoed an earlier version of this game during last year's E3 expo. The newest version of this game allows two people to play simultaneously. It uses facial recognition software to recognize the people playing and pulls up their avatars on the screen. This feature also allows parents to control which games their children can play. If the console see's that the persona playing is associated with a profile with parent controls, it will restrict the types of games that can be played.

River Rush

This game allows players to indulge in the thrill of real-life rive rafting in their living room rug. Steering a virtual raft past waterfalls, rocks, and other obstacles. The graphics are similar to that found in snowboarding games with large visual cues that guide players to assure no one gets lost. The game is designed to allow anyone to jump in without having to read any manuals.

In addition to these four games, another dozen more Natal-licensed titles from game developers are expected to be unveiled Monday and Tuesday but Microsoft has forbidden publishers from saying anything about them until its own news conference Monday morning. As usual, stay tuned for this news as well as E3 2010 coverage by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds. In the mean time, check out a video from the All Things Digital conference which shows off some of Project Natal's features, which you can find below:

Expert Opinions on Retina Display

During his keynote at WWDC 2010, Jobs announced the Retina Display on the new iPhone 4, calling it "the sharpest, most vibrant, highest-resolution phone screen ever." The claims have led to pushback, with a competing manufacturer saying that the Retina Display is actually a battery hog and that it can't touch OLED displays. An analyst, meanwhile, contradicted Steve Job's claim that the human eye can't detect individual picture elements at a density below 300 pixels per inch.

Jobs bragged that the new iPhone's LCD screen, reportedly made by LG Innotek, outperforms active-matrix organic LED (AMOLED) displays such as those found on the Samsung Galaxy S. Samsung quickly attacked back claiming that their AMOLED screens beat the Retina Display contrast ratio, color reproduction, and response time. A Samsung spokesman went as far as saying "Structurally IPS LCD technology cannot catch up with AM-OLED display technology."

One of the claims made by Jobs that the human eye can only discern jagged edges at a density above 300 pixels per inch was disputed by an expert. Dr. Raymond Sonieera asserted that the retina can idneitfy individual points at an angular measurement of 50 cycles per degree, or 0.6 arcseconds. He translated this to explain that "if you hold an iPhone at the typical 12 inches from your eyes that works out to 477 pixels per inch. At 8 inches it's 716 ppi. You have to hold it out 18 inches before it falls to 318 ppi." Despite taking an opposing side of the claim, Dr. Soniera still admits tha the Retina Display is "most likely the best mobile display in production (and I can't wait to test it)." However, he added, this is another example of spec exaggeration."

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and stay tuned for more jailbreak info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

[WWDC] Apple Allows iAds and Safari Developer Program Sign-Ups

As announced at the WWDC 2010 earlier this week, Apple has finally opened the doors to those wanting to join the iAd network and the Safari Developer Program, as Apple explains it:

The iAd Network offers you a new, easy-to-implement source of revenue through incorporating iAd rich media ads in your applications. Apple sells and serves the ads, and you receive 60 percent of the advertising revenue. Learn about getting started with the iAd Network, how to prepare your apps for iAd, and how to create iAd rich media ads.”

Apple has also announced the Safari Developer Program. This free program offers developers tools and resources they need to create extensions for Safari. “You can add buttons to the Safari toolbar, create bars of your own, modify the behavior and appearance of webpages, and more — all with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.”

The Safari Developer Program also provides you with the tools to create a digital certificate for your extensions. This certificate allows your extensions to be installed on Safari, protects them from tampering, and ensures that your extension can only be updated by you.

Stay tuned for more jailbreak info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

[WWDC] iPhone 4 Photo Gallery

Apple announced the iPhone 4 yesterday at WWDC 2010 from Moscone Center, San Francisco along with several new features that the phone has. You can check out the eight, well nine points that Steve Jobs discussed about the companies fourth generation phone. For some sweet pics of the phone take a look below:

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[WWDC] Steve Jobs Announces iPhone 4

Steve Jobs recently announced the iPhone 4 and discussed how there are eight points he wants to explore.

Design

He boasted about its precision and its beauty, even taking note how thin it is. He mentioned that it is 9.3mm in thickness, a 24% reduction in thickness over the iPhone 3GS. He proceeded to go on to show the location of the typical buttons / hardware in the phone, such as the volume buttons, the sleep/wake button, headphone jack, etc. One of the new engineering designs unique to the iPhone 4 are these engineering bands which are placed throughout the side of the phone which are used as antenna's to allow better reception. To sum up its appearance: thinnest smartphone in the market, stainless steel for strength, glass for optical quality and scratch resistance, integrated antennas, and an all new design.

Retina Display

An increase in pixel density by four times to increase the quality of the image/video on the iPhone. He continued to show how increasing pixel density increases the quality by showing features such as anti-aliasing. The new iPhone has a retina display which contains 326 pixels per inch. To summarize the point for this part of the iPhone reveal he shared the following slide: "3.5 inch display, 960x640 (4 more), 326 pixels per inch, 800:1 contrast ratio (4x better), IPS technology for superb and wide viewing angle" and later went on to mention how the phone has 78% of the pixels an iPad has and also how existing apps look better.

Powered By The A4 Chip

Jobs announced as expected that the iPhone 4 will be powered by the A4 chip which allows them to have more room for other other hardware, such as the battery while still being able to maintain good processor speed. Since the A4 chip allowed for more room, Apple was able to provide a larger battery and boasted about the following usage: 3G Talk (7 hours), Browsing 3G (6 hours), Browsing WiFi (10 hours), Video (10 hours), Music (40 hours), Standby (300 hours). Jobs moved on to then discuss the Environmental checklist where he mentioned that the new device is Arsenic Free, BFR Free, Mercury Free, PVC Free, and highly recyclable. He moved on to recap some of the specs he mentioned previously with a slide which shared the following info: "Apple A4 chip, up to 32GB of storage, Quad-band HSDPA / HUPA 7.2MBs down and 5.8 MBs up, Dual mic noise suppression, 802.11n WiFi, GPS + accelerometer."

New Hardware - Gyroscope

Moving along Steve Jobs mentions "We're adding a 3 axis gyro, and we tied the gyro and accelerometer, compass, and gyro together for six axis. It's perfect for gaming." The next slide gave more details and contained the following information: "3 axis gyro (angular velocity), Pitch roll & yaw, rotation about gravity, Gyro + accelerometer provide 6-axis motion sensing." To demo this new hardware he showed an app which contained a block of stacked wood, and after turning his body, one of the blocks went with him.

A Whole New Camera System

Noting "while megapixels are nice, what these cameras are really about is capturing photons and low light photography" Jobs started the fifth point to explore. The iPhone 4 will have a 5 megapixel camera as opposed to 3. He mentions that while the number of megapixels are increased, most companies lower the size of the megapixels whereas Apple did not. He continued to show demos of pictures that further proved the quality of the new and improved camera on the fourth generation device. One of the slides mentioned all the new features for the camera, it stated the following: "5 megapixel camera, backside illuminated sensor, 1.75 micrometer size pixels, 5x digital zoom, Tap to focus, and LED flash." He then moved on to discuss how the camera even records HD video, 720p at 30fps. "We pioneered tap to focus, and we now have it for video... and we have one click sharing... and the LED flash will stay on for video recording. You can record, edit, and then with a few taps email it right on the phone" said Jobs about the video features.

iMovie for iPhone

Randy Ubillos was called out for this one where he presented the iMovie for iPhone app. Much like iMovie for the Mac, it has a timeline in the bottom where you can add videos and pictures, you can edit clips, any added image receives the Ken Burns effect, transitions and titles are also included. iMovie also automatically records geolocation which you can toggle on/off. The whole app end product was demoed by a video created by Randy which was visually stunning and impressive for everyone to watch. The app was mentioned to cost $4.99.

iOS4

Apple decided to rename iPhone OS 4 to iOS4 and Jobs proceeded to show some of the discussed new features of the updated mobile operating system. Multitasking was one of the features discussed and he demoed multitasking for everyone, claiming they didn't implement multitasking before because it "kills the battery." The features he discussed included: "Multitasking, folders, Retina Display integration, Mail - unified inbox & threading, Enhanced camera & photos apps, deeper enterprise support." For the Enterprise support, Jobs mentioned the following: "Even better data protection, Mobile device management, Wireless app distribution, Multiple Exchange accounts, Exchange SErver 2010, SSL VPN support." Jobs then moved on to announcing the expected addition of Bing to the search bar and mentioned how users can choose from setting Bing, Google, and Yahoo now as their default search engine. Furthermore, developers will get their hands on iOS4 today and it will be released soon.

iBooks

iBooks was announced for the iPhone and has all the goodies that the iPad version has. Much like the Netflix app, you can save a page and/or notes on your book with the iPhone and pick up where you left off on your iPad (or vice versa) which shows good integration between the two. Access to the iTunes Bookstore and the growing number of books available for download was also mentioned. Furthermore, it will come packed with a PDF reader so one can read their PDF files with ease.

iAds

Steve mentioned that iAds was created to help developers make more money. The following information was portrayed on a slide pertaining to iAds: "Emotion + interactivity, iAds keeps you in your app, Built into iOS4, Apple sells and hosts the ads, 60% revenues go to the developers, Payment via iTunes connect." Jobs then continued to talk about some of the advertisers that had decided to go with iAds: "So let me tell you some of the brands that will be advertising with us. Nissan, Citi, Unilever, AT&T, Chanel, GE, Liberty Mutual, State Farm, Geico, Campbells, Sears, JC Penny, Target, Best Buy, Direct TV, TBS, and Disney... those are some of the brands." To demo iAds he showed a Nissan Leaf ad which was very interactive and impressive, leaving the audience amazed. He mentions how iAd sales are projected to represent 48% of the mobile advertising market in the second half of 2010.

Jobs had finished discussing the eight things he mentioned but suddenly decided ...

"Wait One More Thing..." - Video Calling!

"You know I grew up with the Jetsons... and video calls... and now it's real. What about you?" Jony: "I grew up with the same thing, and it's real now!" Steve: "It is real... especially when people turn off their WiFi." Jony: "We've had to wait an awful long time for this to become reality." Steve: "Okay, let's have lunch soon." It's called FaceTime. WiFi only. iPhone 4 to iPhone 4. No setup. Jobs mentioned how the audio and video quality are great but Apple needs to work it out a little bit more with the carriers before its usable. Apple had a basic handful of standards when creating the idea but decided to leave it to an open industry standard. Formats supported include: "H.264, AAC, SIP, STUN, TURN, ICE, RTP, SRTP."

Pricing and Availability

The iPhone 4 was announced to come in two colors: white and black as well as in 2 models: 16GB and 32GB. The pricing for the models is as following: 16GB for $199 and 32GB for $299 with a 2 year contract each. The iPhone 3GS was bumped down respectively and will be offered for $99. Preorders start on June 15th and the iPhone 4 goes on sale June 24th (the iPhone 3GS price is also knocked down on the same date). To make the deal even sweeter, for those of you who have an AT&T contract that expires at some point in 2010, you can upgrade to the iPhone 4 six months early. As Steve Jobs said: "...So that is the iPhone 4. We think it's the biggest leap we've taken since the original."

The big iPhone 4 segment of the keynote is out! What do you think? Share your thoughts and comments below.

[WWDC] 720p HD Video Coming To iPhone With iMovie

Randy Ubillos was called on the stage during Steve Job's keynote earlier today where he discussed the new app iMovie for the iPhone. The app takes advantage of the HD video recording capability as well as the 5 megapixel camera pictures that one can take with the iPhone 4. You can not only take pictures and make movies on the fourth generation iPhone but you can also edit them! Much like iMovie for the Mac, there is a timeline at the bottom and you can mix and match clips and pictures, edit transitions, etc all with the application. It has a price tag of $4.99 and should be available on iTunes soon enough. Randy Ubillos created and demoed a movie himself using the application to show everyone and the audience had nothing but oooh's and ahh's amazed at the quality of the audio and video of his clip. Are you excited as we are?

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[WWDC] Farming On The iPhone With Facebook Farmville App

Mark Pincus from Zynga announced the release of what is essentially Farmville for your iPhone but there is much more to it. Pincus started off by telling everyone the wild success that Farmville had and how Zynga wants to take it to a whole new level. Integration between Farmville on Facebook and the app are allowed, as are push notifications, and "farming on the go."

[WWDC] Official Netflix Release for iPhone Coming This Summer

For those of you who have been using the previously announced Netflix iPad app on their iPhone, its time to rejoice. Reed Hastings from Netflix announced at WWDC that an official iPhone Netflix app is coming this summer. With features such as the ability to pick up your viewing place from iPad to iPhone (and probably vice versa as well), search, and instant que. Hastings mentioned Netflix taking advantage of Apple's bitrate technology which allows seamless switching between networks.

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AT&T To Offer Early Upgrade Option To iPhone 4G / HD

WWDC kicking off in under 2 hours, we know what’s going through the minds of a lot of AT&T iPhone users: “Will I be able to get a subsidized price on the new iPhone?” Well from what we’ve been seeing, the odds are stacked in your favor. AT&T is being suspiciously generous and is bumping up the upgrade eligibility of many iPhone users for the better, some by as many as five months.

Based upon appearances alone, it seems that all anyone has to do to take advantage of the offer is cough up $18 for an early upgrade fee and then pay the normal 2-year rate.

If you want to know if you’re eligible for this - you can either dial *639# on your AT&T handset or log onto your online account management and click “Check Upgrade Options”.

Apple Releases Official WWDC 2010 Webapp

Apple has release the official WWDC app for the attendees of WWDC 2010. If you are on your way to attend WWDC 2010 you might want to download the official WWDC 2010 app from Apple. It’s a Webapp which is available over at developer.apple.com/wwdc/app and to access the app you must login with the account you used to purchase your WWDC 2010 ticket.

The app allows you to view schedules of sessions for the conference, which runs from June 7-11, search for sessions, view events currently taking place, mark some as favorites, receive updates and quickly swipe through days. The official WWDC 2010 app also sports a convenient “Places” tab, which gives you a list of helpful locations in the San Francisco area, like nearby parking, Apple Stores, and more. You can also find two useful “now” and “filter” buttons on top.

Apple also started preparing the Moscone Center in San Francisco for WWDC 2010. The main banner for WWDC 2010 hung inside is identical to the “center of app store universe” image used on official site and also seen on the invitation cards. The banner focuses entirely on iPhone applications.

Apple is expected to unveil the next generation of iPhone - iPhone 4G / HD, more details about iPhone OS 4.0 and iPhone development on this annual World Wide Developers Conference.

Check out the gallery here.

Apple To Release Next Generation iPhone On June 18th?

WWDC, 2010 is supposed to kick off at Moscone Centre in San Francisco tomorrow, and Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is expected to announce the next generation iPhone 4G / HD.

Sources at BGR have posted that Apple's next generation iPhone 4G / HD might release later this month on June 18th. Their prediction is based on the confirmations received from multiple AT&T store reps that their sales quotas for the month of June are ridiculously high. Yes, this means the next generation iPhone 4G / HD is confirmed to launch in June, not July.

According to BGR, if the iPhone 4G /HD is launched in the last week of June, on Friday the 25th, the stores won’t be able to meet the new sales quotas (in-store orders don’t count as they don’t get recognized until the customer picks them up).

We have heard stores having a 25-30% increase in their sales quota, so we’d like to think the next Apple iPhone will launch on Friday, June 18th.

Stay tuned for more by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Safari 5.0 To Debut On Stage At WWDC 2010 Keynote?

According to a report from MacGeneration, a French blog, one of the announcements expected for Monday's WWDC 2010 keynote (which Steve Jobs will be giving himself) is a major update for Safari. If you believe the docs that the site has obtained, there are more than just a few big changes coming. Amongst the changes are Bing alongside Yahoo! and Google search options, a new Safari Reader" for improved RSS reading, 25 percent faster Javascript performance and DNS prefetching, improved HTML5 support, and new developer tools which will be along the liens of Firebug or Chrome's developer helpers. The update will allegedly add hardware acceleration for Windows PCs, and can address fields that auto-predicts URL, along with a handful of other minor tweaks as well. Furthermore, there is also an expected minor upgrade to Snow Leopard (10.6.4) which will resolve some of the nagging issues, but not much more then that. As you already know, as WWDC approaches, the rumors will be flying around, we will try to separate the good from the bad for you, so stay tuned by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.

Bing Rumored To Become Default Browser On iPhone 4G / HD

Rumor has it that Microsoft Bing will replace Google in the next version of the iPhone operating system to be released in June. We aren’t calling it more then a rumor yet, but one thing is certain, sources near Google in particular are speaking openly about the topic. In January, Business Week reported that Microsoft and Apple were in talks over an iPhone search deal, and the deal would be an excellent move on Microsoft’s behalf.

There’s also been a lot of speculation around Google’s future on the iPhone since the first public dispute between the companies rose last year over the Google Voice app for the iPhone. Android’s continued gains in the market share only highlight Google’s competition with Apple, and the fact that so many of the core iPhone apps are controlled by Google (including search, maps, and YouTube) has been a sore point with Apple. Other than the core phone, contacts, and calendar features, Apple has little to call their “own” when it comes to the iPhone.

Google has been rumored to be paying Apple $100 million a year for the search rights to the iPhone, along with the ability to serve search ads. Apple would have likely stuck with them unless Microsoft was willing to pay as well, and it certainly wasn’t a lock that Google Search would be removed from the iPhone.

The situation is more complicated than it seems and Google Search is not expected to be fully removed from the iPhone next month. WWDC is around the corner and we won’t have to worry about rumors and speculation much once it arrives so stay tuned for more info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS Feeds.