The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Even though Steve Jobs has opted out of giving the keynote at this year's Macworld Expo in San Francisco, and Apple will not be attending another Macworld after this one, there will still be a keynote presentation -- it will just be given by Phil Schiller instead. Of course, since the keynote must go on, even without Mr. Jobs, there will also be speculation and predictions as to what Apple will announce during the keynote.

We at TUAW are not immune to this phenomenon and even though we will be liveblogging the keynote to provide you with the news as soon as it's actually announced, that won't stop us from engaging in a favorite pastime of the tech press: Macworld Expo keynote predictions. Of course, when considering this event and the impending announcements, especially in light of this being the last time Apple will take part, these questions, and many others, come to mind.

Will Phil be as entertaining as Steve? How long will Phil talk about the success of iTunes and the iPod before moving on to the other more exciting announcements? Who will be the musical guest? Will Phil be wearing a black turtleneck and jeans or will he try to start a new fashion trend of his own? Will Phil and Apple do anything "special" to commemorate the last keynote? What will be the "one more thing"? And, most importantly, will Phil talk about where Steve Jobs is and why he isn't doing the keynote?

Your intrepid TUAW writers have considered those very questions, and many more, through long days and nights of deliberation, discussion and discourse. In so doing, we have come up with some interesting, perhaps even controversial, prognostications, pre-visualizations and predictions of what new products and services will be announced at this this year's keynote. Read on for all our (at least partly serious) expectations.

For full Macworld Expo coverage, bookmark the TUAW Macworld Expo 2009 landing page.

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Craigslist is one of my absolute favorite sites on the 'net -- it's been around for years, but kept the same simple look and feel, perfectly fulfilling the service of classifieds without ever once going off that course. Sure, there are issues with spam, but Craig and his minions have worked overtime to make the thing work, and it works well (in fact, if you see any weightlifing dumbells for sale in Chicago, let me know, I need some).

There are quite a few iPhone apps featuring Craig and his list out there (including a few with prices on them), but one that caught our eye as a useful free app is Craigsphone, made by Next Mobile Web (they make the very useful Dial Zero app as well). As you can see from the video above, it's all the features of Craigslist made mobile, and then some -- you can see your history, post and call directly from the phone, and even use the iPhone's location to see craigslist entries nearby (though unfortunately, the Nearby features only work in San Fransisco and Manhattan -- no Chicago?). NMW claims they're still working on the app, too -- they want to "take the best local site in the world and make it truly local." Who knows what that means, but it sounds good, right?

If you spend lot of time on Craiglist, or just want to while you're out and about, Craigsphone seems like a good way to do it. We're interested to see what else they've got planned, too.

Microsoft's share of the operating system market is dropping, while Apple computers and handhelds have topped 10 percent for the first time, according to a new report on Internet-connected computers.

NetApplications, the company that tracks browser and operating system market share for a variety of sites across the Internet, released its data for December 2008. According to a Computerworld analysis, the number of Windows users decreased in December by 0.94 percent to 88.7 percent.

The fall was the steepest in four years since Net Applications began collecting data, and was also more than twice that of any similar period in the previous three years. The Computerworld article does note that December statistics do slant slightly towards the Mac due to the reduced number of in-office days for corporate users, but the overall shift is decidedly Mac-ward even once that's accounted for.

Apple's share is just over 10 percent, if one combines the market share for both Macs and iPhones. Macs account for 9.63 percent of computers online. (Windows Mobile devices are included in the 88.7 percent figure.)

Also of note, almost three quarters of Macs online have an Intel processor. This time last year, less than half had one. Overall, Mac OS X's share grew by 31.7 percent compared to a year ago.

Windows XP remains the operating system with the largest installed base, with over 65 percent of the market.

Next week the TUAW crew will descend upon San Francisco for Macworld Conference and Expo 2009. Of course, we plan to cover the booths, the personalities and the keynote (live and in-person). Sunday night we'll have a very special TUAW Talkcast featuring seven bloggers and a room full of solid rumormongering. But we're curious: whether you are going or not, what would you like to see us report on from Macworld? If the option isn't in the poll below, leave it in the comments. Here's a look at what we covered last year. Let us know if you want more galleries or more video, more hardware hands-on reviews, or more software demos.

If you are making the pilgrimage, be sure to check our Twitter feed for any meetups (at least one of which will feature a giveaway); tag your Macworld Flickr photos with "tuaw" so they appear in the photo pool; and above all, have a safe trip.

UPDATE: A clarification -- I'm asking for what stuff you want TUAW bloggers to cover at Macworld, not what you wish would happen. Sadly, we have no control over Steve so cannot affect his presence at the event. If he's there, however, we'll certainly post about it.

Just when you thought you had the Google Mobile App with voice search all figured out, Google goes and reveals an Easter egg hidden in the settings menu.

To get there, just keep scrolling down below the 'about' button. If you keep at it, the previously hidden 'Bells and Whistles' button will appear, giving you these additional options:

• Different theme colors to change the look of the app
• Changes to the sounds the app uses, including monkeys and chickens
• The addition of a live waveform when you are speaking -- kind of like an oscilloscope
  
• The option to open links in the app itself rather than transferring to Safari

Google is hinting there may be even more hidden functions, but they are going to wait until Macworld to identify them. The Google Mobile App is free for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Way back in June of 2007, I wrote this post, a list of five things Apple could do to bring gamers back to the Mac. I said that Apple should put more games on iTunes, break out the gaming hardware, go casual, and make the experience worth it, from buying to download to playing.

Now, a year and a half later, Apple has basically done just that -- with the App Store. There are casual games aplenty, the iPhone works great as a gaming device, and the App Store itself makes it relatively easy to find new games to buy. There are kinks, of course, that need to be worked out, but no one can say the App Store isn't a gigantic success.

And so, Dennis Sellers of MacsimumNews asks, is it time for a Mac App Store? We have an App Store for your Mac already -- it's called the Internet, where you can see reviews, download software, and even get updates for the programs on your Mac. In fact, Apple already has a downloads page that looks very much like the App Store's front page, though there's no place there were you can easily see what apps you currently have installed, or what apps you have that need updating. It would work like a Software Update, but for every app you've got.

There are lots of benefits, too, the first being that more apps would be sold. Of course, the usual Internet channels would remain open; Apple would just offer a service very similar to the App Store, in that you'd have a program on your computer that would easily add and/or update all the apps you have installed. But would a Mac App Store experience the same price issues that the iPhone's App Store has? It is an interesting idea, though -- the App Store has done very well for both Apple and developers so far, and it might be helpful to look at what works there and how it might be able to come back to the Mac platform at large.

[via MacBytes]

No, not the Edge network from AT&T, but a rather unique app from Mobigame that uses the motion sensors of the iPhone and some powerful animations to make for a unique gaming experience. Looking a bit like something out of the movie Tron, Edge allows you to control a cube through several hazardous environments and traps that get more and more complicated as you move along.

The best way to get an idea of what the game looks like is with this YouTube video Mobigame has posted. Edge has been available on other platforms like the Sony Ericsson handsets, but it will debut on the iPhone and iPod touch next week. There are 26 different mazes to navigate, using the iPhone touch screen and accelerometer.

Edge has been nominated for several gaming awards in Europe and has the potential to be a major hit on the iPhone/iPod touch. We'll be anxious to try this one ASAP.

[Via Fingergaming]

A few months ago, Mark/Space delivered Fliq for iPhone, a free utility for sending contacts and photos to other iPhones and iPod touches that are also running Fliq. Later, they shipped Fliq for Mac, a US$19.95 application goes beyond the capabilities of the iPhone app by providing an easy way to move photos, contacts and notes from your Mac to any Mac or iPhone on your Wi-Fi network.

There are several free or low-cost utilities that perform similar tasks, most particularly 10base-t interactive's DropCopy and Mobile DropCopy. The latter is a new iPhone app that, like Fiiq and Fliq for Mac, facilitates transfer of non-DRM data between iPhones and Macs. Since news of both of these apps appeared in my inbox on the same day, I decided that a faceoff was in order. So how do these apps compare, or am I comparing Apples and oranges? I think you'll find that they're similar in operation, but different in what they mean to accomplish.

Read on to see how they fare in a TUAW faceoff!

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Roald Bradstock is a champion javelin thrower, but lately he's been throwing more than that, including an egg, a golf ball, and a soccer ball. You know when people start breaking random things in creative ways, an Apple product will show up. Sure enough, in the video above (turn the sound down, the wind noise is horrendous), Roald tosses an iPod a football field and a half.

There's no reason why he should do this, but it looks like Apple expected this might happen some day -- despite a mess of mud and grass, the iPod is apparently no worse for the wear. You might say it's silly, you might say it's not impressive, but then again: could you do it?

And if you do, could you post it on YouTube, too?

[via Macenstein]

The nominations are out and voting has begun for the "Best App Ever" awards for 2008, recognizing the best iPhone and iPod touch apps of the year. Nominations have already happened -- the public submitted almost 18,000 nominations, and a panel of developers and experts was assembled to finalize the choices. You can vote right now over on the website for the winners in categories like "Best App Ever," "Best Musical App," and "Most Creative Use of IPhone Hardware" all the way down to "Best Word Game."

Quite a list of choices. Voting ends on January 6th (so get started testing those apps if there are some in here you've never heard of), and the winners will be announced next week at Macworld Expo.

Unfortunately, the App Store changes so fast and is so varied that some of the most useful apps (SnapTell Explorer is in for the hardware award, but it's missing on the "Most Useful" list) are not on the list in favor of more popular or well-known apps (Weightbot is a great app and very well done, but "Most Innovative"? And you know how I feel about Ocarina). Still, as a popularity contest, it'll be fun to see what comes out as the winners, and I can guarantee that in all of the many categories presented, there are a few really great apps that will come to your attention for the first time.