iPhone News Updated

Apple unveils revamped operating system

At its World Wide Developers Conference, company also unveils new laptop in its top line with fastest processor in its history.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Apple began its annual World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday by unveiling its revamped operating system, a faster notebook computer in its MacBook Pro line, and slashed prices for its laptops.

Apple announced that the new operating system, Snow Leopard, will be available in September and can perform some tasks up to 90% faster than its current Leopard OS.

Rival Microsoft has said its new Windows 7 operating system will be unveiled in October.

The new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros will both showcase a 3.06 GHz Intel Core Duo processor, the fastest processor Apple has ever used.

Like the larger 17-inch MacBook Pro, the 15-inch will also feature a new lithium battery that gets up to seven hours of battery life and three times the recharges of most laptops.

The company announced the MacBook air will cost $1,499, a $700 price cut. A 13-inch MacBook Pro will cost $100 less at $1,199, and the the 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros will be $300 less expensive at $1,699 and $2,499, respectively.

There was widespread speculation before the event that Apple’s Chief Executive Steve Jobs could show up at the conference. Jobs is due to return from his six-month long medical leave from the company at the end of June.

Jobs usually delivers the keynote address at the event, but the conference began with marketing vice president Phil Schiller on stage.

Apple is widely expected to announce a new operating system for the iPhone, after competitor Palm launched its much ballyhooed Pre phone over the weekend. Some analysts also expect Apple to unveil a new, lower-priced iPhone.

– Fortune’s Philip Elmer-DeWitt contributed to this story

My favorite iPhone app at Macworld

Meet one Mr. Makoto Kondo, the tech-brain behind iShodo. I love these art applications that give me new ways to mess around with the medium. By medium, I mean my finger on the iPhone screen. There’s so much you can do. Who knew?

I happened on the iShodo booth at Macworld yesterday, and had the happy experience of meeting Makoto. That’s him in the picture there. He explained to me that he had created the app on the plane on the way over from Japan. Well, now, I usually try to get through the SkyNews magazine between trips to the toilet, myself, but Makoto said his boss insisted. Makoto just wanted to take a nap. Instead, he created this delightful application. It’s billed as a Japanese calligraphy app. I like it more for drawing.

It’s so clean, it doubles as a whiteboard. I’ve played with Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e painting in the past, so I couldn’t resist its subtle charm. You can pull different pen sizes from the left and scrub your finger in the ink on the right to make it blacker. I haven’t been able to send a pic to Twitter yet, probably because I haven’t set it up properly at the Twitter end.

Makoto told me he has another claim to fame: He was the first person in Japan to buy an iPhone. This required a serious commitment of line-place-holding, and is debated on a few websites, but Makoto is pretty convincing.

iShodo is my new favorite art app. I can tell when I’m transfixed, because there are other apps I’ve downloaded and haven’t even opened yet. Here, I’ll show you my attempt at art on iShodo.

Awww…

[Thanks: http://www.examiner.com]