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Farhad Manjoo reports from San Francisco:
Steve Jobs walked slowly on to the stage this morning at Apple's iPod press event, his first public appearance since undergoing a liver transplant earlier this year. Jobs looked thin, but was otherwise full of energy, and seemed—from afar, at least—in much better health than he did last year at this time. "I'm very happy to be here with you all," he said. "I now have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash. I wouldn't be here without such generosity."
There'd been much speculation about whether he'd show up today. Even before Jobs' medical leave, Apple had been moving away from having Jobs headline all its events. This seemed wise—Steve Jobs isn't going to be Apple's CEO forever, and it only made sense to groom other executives to take on Jobs' main public role: launching new products. On the other hand, Jobs still commands a room like no other corporate titan, and Apple sees enormous rewards—in press coverage and in fan obsession—from his public appearances. Today's press event suggests that Jobs isn't going anywhere soon; he'll continue to share the stage with other Apple executives, but there's no doubt about who is still in charge at Apple. "I'm vertical, back at Apple, and loving it," he said.
As for today's product reveal, there were no major surprises. Apple added a video camera and FM radio to the iPod Nano, updated iTunes, and added a few new features to the iPhone and iPod Touch—pretty much everything that Apple-watchers had expected. Also, Norah Jones appeared to perform a couple songs. Apple's most anticipated product—the rumored tablet computer—didn't show. Maybe the next time we see Steve.
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If we are what we Google, then Google Hot Trends—an hourly rundown of search terms "that experience sudden surges in popularity"—is the Web's best cultural barometer. Here's a sampling of today's top searches. (Rankings on Hot Trends list current as of 11 a.m.)
No. 1: "iphone 3.0 release time"; No. 12: "iphone 3.0 update download"; No. 22: "when will iphone 3.0 be available"; No. 35: "ipod touch 3.0 update"; No. 43: "is iphone 3.0 out yet?"; No. 62: "apple 3.0"; etc. It seems an iPhone update comes out today? The iPhone OS 3.0 firmware update was announced back in March and features a number of small to substantial upgrades. Earlier this morning, the update had yet to appear on the Internet, with iPhone users apparently Googling away their frustration. A little after 1 p.m. ET, the update went live, though it remains to be seen whether Apple's servers can handle the influx.
No. 15: "Obama Kills Fly." In this case, a video is worth a thousand Googles:
No. 89 "Firebird Suite." If you haven't gathered as much already from Google's enigmatic front page, today is the birthday of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. (He would have been 127.) Although Google's home-page illustration alludes to the Russian-folklore-based Firebird Suite, the discordant Rite of Spring is perhaps Stravinsky's best-known work, both for its musical qualities and for the scandal it caused at its 1913 première. More recently, a film about Stravinsky's brief love affair with Coco Chanel closed this year's Cannes.
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If we are what we Google, then Google Hot Trends—an hourly rundown of search terms "that experience sudden surges in popularity"—is the Web's best cultural barometer. Here's a sampling of today's top searches. (Rankings on Hot Trends list current as of 9 a.m.)
No. 1 "laura ling": On Monday, the highest court in North Korea sentenced two Current TV journalists to 12 years hard labor. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were filming a segment about the trafficking of women along the Chinese-North Korean border when they allegedly crossed into the DPRK illegally. Lisa Ling, formerly a host on The View, is pleading for her sister's release. The AP quotes a South Korean professor who says Monday's sentencing has actually "paved the way for ... a diplomatic solution"—by North Korean law "a pardon can only be issued after a conviction and ... the regime's courts were not about to find the reporters innocent."
No. 7 "greg grossman": If you love TV chefs but don't trust anyone over 15, rejoice: The Hollywood Reporter says "professional teen chef" Greg Grossman has a realty-TV deal. Last month, the Chicago Tribune did a Q & A with the 14-year-old molecular gastronomist, detailing his jones for dehydrated anchovy salt and sake foam. "[P]lease don't think it's all flashy and stuff," he said. "I see it as a way of enhancing the flavors of a dish. It's more about decorating the room than building it."
No. 10 "wwdc": Googlers are eager for scoops on the Worldwide Developers Conference—aka the event at which Apple might reveal some amazing new iPhone. While most analysts and rumormongers believe that new software will be today's focus, one of Google Trends' top related searches is "iphone 4g." Examiner.com runs through some of the features that might be included on such a next-gen device: 3.2 megapixel camera! More storage! FM radio!
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For months, gadget hounds have been lusting after the Palm Pre, the one device that seemed to hold any promise of toppling the iPhone from the apex of smart-phone awesomeness. The wait is almost over: The Pre goes on sale Saturday, but you might not be able to find one—reports suggest that quantities will be extremely limited.
Palm did have a few on hand for the nation's top gadget reviewers, though. Good move—the reviews came out today, and they're full of praise. Edward Baig of USA Today says the Pre "stacks up well against Apple's blockbuster device, and in some ways even surpasses it." The New York Times' David Pogue finds the phone "joyous," and Walter Mossberg, in the Wall Street Journal, names it "potentially the strongest rival to the iPhone to date." Here's more of what they loved and what they hated:
Pros: Everyone swooned over the Pre's design. "I can't think of a more comfortable cellphone in my hand," Baig declares. The Pre offers two ways to type—an iPhone-like on-screen keyboard and a slide-out physical keyboard. Reviewers found both pretty good. They also loved webOS, the phone's innovative operating system. Unlike the iPhone, the Pre can run many different programs side-by-side, and it lets you switch between them with the flick of a finger. "Play Internet radio while you read a PDF document, or compare two open e-mail messages—you can't do that on the iPhone," writes Pogue.
Cons: There are two big hits against the Pre: It gets terrible battery life, and it doesn't run many third-party apps. Both Mossberg and Pogue reported that their demo phones sometimes ran out of juice in the middle of the day. The app shortage is worse—Palm hasn't given many developers the tools they need to build programs for the phone, in part because it's still working on some bugs. One of those bugs seems to be catastrophic. Mossberg says that when he downloaded a third-party program for the Pre, the app crashed his phone and wiped away all his data! (Fortunately, the phone has a backup system that allowed him to get everything back.)
So should you run out to buy the Pre this weekend? No—wait until Monday, when Apple is widely expected to announce a new version of the iPhone. Mossberg, who often gets a sneak peek at new Apple products, dangles this hint: "Whether the Pre is better than the iPhone depends on your personal preferences, though I'd note that the new iPhone to be unveiled next week will have lots of added features that could alter those calculations." Come on, Walt, let's hear some spoilers!