MacRumors

AMD today announced the new ATI Radeon HD 3870 for Mac & PC Edition. AMD says the video card is "designed exclusively for Apple's Mac Pro systems" and includes two dual-link DVI ports, 512 MB of GDDR4 graphics memory, and 320 stream processors.

AMD is introducing the ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition to enhance the Mac experience to maximum levels of 3D gaming and HD performance, said Matt Skynner, vice president of marketing, Graphics Products Group, AMD. Mac users demand the best when it comes to HD graphics performance, and the ATI Radeon 3870 Mac & PC Edition is designed to meet and exceed that need by delivering The Ultimate Visual Experience to our customers displays.

Delivers More Power for Professional Applications
Superior performance and visual quality make the ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition ideal for creative and professional applications on Apple Mac Pro systems, including Aperture, Motion and Final Cut Studio. Users can take advantage of the latest graphics features and drive productivity at an extraordinary price.

The release has been anticipated and is expected to give unrivaled Core Image processing power for its price class, largely confirmed by an early review by Xlr8yourmac.com. Unlike the NVIDIA 8800 GT which had two separate models for older and newer Mac Pros, the Radeon HD 3870 Mac and PC Edition will work in any Mac Pro.

AMD says the card will be available in late June for a manufacturers suggested retail price (MSRP) of USD $219.

iLounge reveals that Apple has included a second proximity sensor to the iPhone 3G to provide more accurate face-detection. This brings the total number of sensors to three (two proximity sensors, one ambient light sensor).

Apple previously included one proximity sensor near the earpiece of the original iPhone to prevent accidental key presses when the phone was held against your face. By adding a second proximity sensor, Apple is said to have improved this face-detection functionality. As a result of this addition, case manufacturers have increased the size of the opening surrounding the earpiece of the iPhone.

Details of the 3rd sensor had sparked speculation that Apple could have included a front-facing camera to enable video conferencing. No front-faced camera design, however, was announced at WWDC.

In the months leading up to the iPhone 3G launch, there were a few early 3rd party case leaks that claimed to depict the upcoming iPhone 3G design. First reports of the case specs came from iLounge. They accurately described tapered edge designs, a glossy plastic back, with white and black colors. One aspect of the original story that we haven't been able to confirm is the reported addition of a 3rd sensor, which drove speculation about the possibility of video conferencing. No additional sensor has been described in the tech specs for the new iPhone. However, iPhone 3G case designs do appear to have adjusted with a larger openings at the earpiece.

This brings us back to two early reports of 3G iPhone case designs by XSKN and Griffin Technology. Both sets of images appear to have been accurate.

Images of XSKN's EXO Mask iPhone 3G were posted in May generating a lengthy debate. Their product remains available with the design consistent with the actual iPhone 3G release. In retrospect, Griffin's leaked case molds were also accurate with the final FlexGrip for iPhone 3G now announced.

Update In the end, it appears accessory manufacturers did get dimensions of the iPhone 3G prior to the official release. According to Jeremy Horwitz at iLounge, however, the specs did not come from Apple themselves and instead leaked from Apple's iPhone contractors.

AppleInsider publishes some information released to some developers this week about how they can submit their iPhone/iPod Touch applications to the iTunes App Store.

Applications are submitted via iTunes Connect and do have an absolute size limitation of 2GB. Apps can be limited to specific geographic regions, and information about iPod Touch compatibility and game content ratings can also be specified.

While Apple does give a wide range of pricing options, pricing is restricted to between $0.99 to $999.99 with increments ranging of $1 to $100 depending on relative price differences. Alternatively, applications can also be given away for free. Only a handful of developers have publicly announced specific prices for their iPhone applications, but it appears iPhone games are starting to settle around $9.99.

AppleInsider suggests the iTunes App store will launch on July 11th alongside the iPhone 3G. This date has also been reported by AppleGazette.

Apple announced the winners of their annual Apple Design Awards (ADA) tonight.

The Apple Design Awards, held at Moscone West during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, recognize technical excellence, innovation, and outstanding achievement in software development. With new categories for iPhone development, this year's Apple Design Awards will be more exciting than ever.

The ADAs feature categories in both Mac and iPhone categories this year. TheiLife reported the winners from tonight's presentation ceremony. The winners include:

Best OS X Student Project
- Squirrel (finance management) by Axel Peju
Best OS X Graphics and Media Application
- ScreenFlow (Screencasting) by Vara Software Limited
Best OS X Application
- ScreenFlow (Screencasting) by Vara Software Limited
Best OS X User Experience
- Macnification (organize microscopic images) by Orbicule
Best OS X Game
- Guitar Hero III by Aspyr Media, Inc

Best iPhone Web App
- Remember the Milk (task management) by Remember the Milk
Best iPhone Game
- Enigmo by Pangea
Best iPhone Entertainment App
- AOL Radio by AOL LLC
Best iPhone Social Networking App
- Twitteriffic (twitter client) by The Icon Factory
Best iPhone Productivity App
- OmniFocus (task management) by The Omni Group
Best iPhone Healthcare & Fitness Application Winner
- MIM (medical imaging) by MIMVista, Corp.

The native iPhone winners, of course, are not yet available to the public. Runners up are also listed at TheiLife. The winners received two 15-inch MacBook Pro laptops, two 30-inch Apple Cinema Displays, one 16GB iPod touch, one 8GB iPhone, an ADC Premier Membership, reimbursement for one WWDC 2008 E-ticket including airfare and accommodations, and one 2009 ADC Macworld Expo Exclusive Marketing Package.

LogicielMac publishes a screenshot of the system requirements for Mac OS X Snow Leopard which was seeded to developers this week. The requirements list the following:

- An Intel Processor
- An internal, external, or shared DVD drive
- At least 512 MB of RAM
- Display connected to an Apple-supplied video card
- 9GB of disk space, or 12GB for developer tools

Developers received an early copy of Snow Leopard at WWDC this week. As this is an early developer version, requirements could change in the future, but the dropping of PowerPC support has been long rumored. MacRumors can independently verify that these are the current requirements for Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard is the next major version of Mac OS X and is expected to ship in "about a year".

On Monday, Apple officially announced the iPhone 3G. The final phone design matched up closely with expectations as spelled out in our pre-WWDC rumor roundup. The 3G/GPS iPhone also matched up closely with one of the first leaked iPhone photos originally published by iPod Observer. We will publish a full rumor scorecard later this week.

A few sites were able to get brief "hands on" time with the new iPhone (Macworld, Engadget, Gizmodo). Initial impressions included:

- Enable/Disable 3G setting is real, Reception seems better
- Feels similar to existing iPhone, thicker in center, thinner on edges but same geometric volume as previous iPhone
- Volume buttons now silver metal, Clearer speaker audio
- Camera seems same, Geotagging also there

The iPhone 3G will be released in AT&T and Apple Retail stores on July 11th, 2008 at a discounted price of $199 for 8GB and $299 for 16GB. This represents $200 less than the price for the first generation iPhone. While we were hoping details about the launch would be clearer a day or two after the announcement, there are still lingering questions about activation and the sales procedure.

AT&T's official press release only revealed that the iPhone 3G will require a 3G data plan which is priced at $30/month for consumers and $45/month for business users. While some have been quick to point out that this $10-higher 3G data cost offsets the $200 subsidy provided by AT&T, this $30/mo price is indeed AT&T's standard 3G plan for smartphones and has not been artificially raised. Customers with the most cause for objection with this pricing are those who don't live in 3G supported areas. While the new iPhone will default back to EDGE data support in these areas, users will still have to pay for 3G data. But again, this appears to be standard procedure for data plans on 3G-enabled smartphones.

Based on various interviews with AT&T representatives, it appears that activation will be carried out in-store at time of purchase. This is reportedly to deter individuals from unlocking phones for use on other carriers or other countries. Since $199 represents the subsidized price from AT&T, it is understandable that they wish to ensure activation, however, many are concerned that this procedure will slow down lines significantly when the iPhone 3G goes on sale. For users who wish to buy an unsubsidized iPhone, this does not appear to be an option. However, those users can sign up for the iPhone 3G and then cancel their contract after 30 days resulting in the usual (~$200) early termination fee, thus repaying AT&T for the built-in subsidy.

Finally, BoyGeniusReport publishes an internal AT&T memo regarding the iPhone 3G and confirms that AT&T will require in-store activation. It also describes that the customer can cancel their phone after 30 days and pay an early termination fee. Cancelation within 30 days, however, requires the customer to return the phone (and get a refund).

In the previously referenced New York Times article, Steve Jobs revealed that Apple's acquisition of P.A. Semi will be directed at the iPod and iPhone specifically

PA Semi is going to do system-on-chips for iPhones and iPods,

Apple acquired P.A. Semi in late April, and reports had suggested that Apple was not interested in any of their current technology. This generated some speculation about what specific project they had in mind when acquiring the company.