steve-jobs posts

While Microsoft has its own game development and publishing arm, one of its biggest rivals, Apple, has long been rumored to be in the running to purchase a game publisher like Electronic Arts. But according to a new report at IndustryGames that isn't likely to happen.

The story quotes Panoptic Management Consultants analyst Asif Khan who states he spoke personally with Apple founder and head man Steve Jobs at Apple's shareholder meeting. He states, " ... I can tell you with confidence that Apple will not acquire a game company. They would rather rake in the 30 percent of App Store sales that they currently have set up with developers."

The article points out that Apple does have a war chest of $60 billion in cash that could be used to acquire companies. But if this report is true, game developers and publisher shouldn't look to Apple for a big payday anytime soon.

During last week's annual QuakeCon gathering, John Carmack spoke about the iPhone as a viable gaming platform. He lamented not having one ready for the iPhone's debut last year, nor for the iPhone 3G last month. Carmack then mentioned occasionally making comments that landed him on Steve Jobs' "shi* list," such as not understanding gaming. Perhaps caught up in the spirit of his statement, Carmack recently expanded on his thoughts with Eurogamer.

Speaking as frankly as usual, Carmack told Eurogamer that "Steve Jobs doesn't care about games." He then readily admitted that this comment would likely put him back near the top of Jobs' special list, but maintained his "general opinion. He's not a gamer."

At QuakeCon, Carmack predicted success for gaming on the iPhone, even going so far as to say that "it could be the type of thing that really makes inroads into...does it kill the PSP," though for structural reasons, probably not Nintendo's DS.

id Software currently has two iPhone projects in the works, though Carmack confirmed that neither is a port from the company's library of Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein titles.

Right before announcing the iPhone 3G, Apple, Inc., CEO Steve Jobs asked a rather innocuous question: "Why do you want 3G?"

That question could do with a bit of tweaking, Mr. Jobs. How about: Why wouldn't we want a 3G?

Set to debut on July 11, a scant time after the iPhone's first birthday, the 3G will be sleeker, more affordable, and faster than its predecessor -- and most other phones. To demonstrate the 3G's speed increase, Jobs fired up its browser, which loaded significantly faster than the original iPhone, and "36% faster than the nokia N95 and Treo 750."

Because everyone's time is always of the essence, Jobs happily divulged battery statistics such as "3G talk time... other phones have 3 - 3.5 hours, we've managed 5 hours of 3G talk time, which is an industry-leading amount of time." Users will be able to browse the web for five to six hours, watch video for seven hours, and listen to audio for a staggering 24 hours.

Striving to cut down on the number of gadgets most of us have to take on road trips, the 3G will be equipped with a GPS unit. As a general overview, Jobs reminded attendees of the apps created by the SDK earlier in the presentation, as well as full Exchange and VPN support.

As if checking off items on a list, Jobs broached the affordable nature of the iPhone -- or, to some, its rather unaffordable nature. "We think the iPhone 3G will be affordable to almost everyone," Jobs said. "[A] 16GB model for $299 ... The big news, is $399 to $199 [for an 8GB model]."

The iPhone 3G will be available on July 11. Where can you get one, you ask? "We'll be rolling it out in 70 countries in the next severeal months," said Jobs. "Next time you're in Malta and you need an iPhone 3G, it'll be there for ya."

[Thanks to Engadget for live coverage of WWDC.]