Matt Dodd, Sam Epstein, myself, and Keith Hobin are set up here at the Apple Store at 5th Avenue in New York! The staff has already come out to greet us and supply us with official Apple umbrellas (which we are absolutely going to need).

We’ll be posting updates throughout the day here and on Twitter (@theilife) and the folks at TheDigitalLifestyle.tv are planning to set us up with live streaming later today, so keep an eye on their feed.

If you’re in the area, stop by. If not, drop us a Tweet or a comment. Happy 3GS day to all!

Apple is expected to release updated versions of it’s MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop models. Stick to this page for live coverage from this event starting at 10AM PST (1PM EST).

Tuesday beginning at 10AM Pacific in the Cupertino campus, Apple is expected to release the latest revisions of MacBook and MacBook Pro’s. Rumors have been flying around since the start of this year about a new aluminum MacBook and a redesigned MacBook Pro. Originally rumored to take place in September, but later pushed until October, Apple issued members of the press invites last week.

Since then, there have been a number of breaks in secrecy including a number of case shots and an Apple Support document. It is almost certain that Apple will be introducing new MacBook and MacBook Pro’s at this event. Stay on this page for live coverage throughout the event- as well a pictures gallery after the jump. Apple Town Hall has been the venue for the introduction of the latest generation iMac and Mac mini.

11:09AM EST The servers have been locked down and prepared for tomorrows event. T-minus 13 hours and counting. More coming soon!
1:02PM EST The event has begun. Steve Jobs has taken the stage.
1:03PM EST Tim Cook takes over to cover the state of the Mac.
1:06PM EST Talks about the Mac success over the past few years.
1:10PM EST Steve Jobs returns to the stage.
1:15PM Jon Ive takes the stage to talk about the new notebook manufacturing process. Brick?
1:16PM EST Started with a large piece of aluminum and work it down allows for stronger and lighter notebooks.
1:18PM EST Used it for the MacBook Air. Now applying it to the new Apple laptops. Jobs is again taking the stage.
1:19PM EST Apple is using new NVIDIA cards in their laptops. 9400M.
1:21PM EST Multi-touch glass trackpads. No button. 4 software gestures.
1:25PM EST New MacBook Pros that look exactly like the leaks seen last night.
1:32PM EST MacBook Pro specs: Magsafe, Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire 800, two USB ports, a Mini Display Port, Audio In/Out analog and optical digital, ExpressCard 34. Both 9400 and 9600GT. SSD option.
1:39PM EST New MacBook Air update. Now shipping with a 9400 integrated graphics card. 128SSD option. Mini display port.
1:42PM EST The current MacBook price has been dropped to $999. New model is shipping with an all aluminum case, LED backlit display and starts at $1299.
2:07PM EST That’s all. Sorry for the lacking liveblog, there were some server issues.

Photo gallery after the jump! Read more…

Although a writer from theiLife.com will not be present at the Let’s Rock event, theiLife will be providing a liveblog for readers to watch the events unfold live.

Information coming in from a collaboration of sources will be compiled and continuously updated on this page as the event unfolds. You can bookmark this page now, and at 10AM PST or 1PM EST, start your refreshing! For now, read up on the rumors!

1:25AM EST The liveblog page is up! Only about 12 more hours!!
9:58AM EST The rumor mill is heating up. There have been swirls of new rumors in these last remaining hours. The event is only about 3 hours away!
11:00AM EST Apple Online Store is down! It is getting closer!!
11:44AM EST Several people in Barbarian Group t-shirts have been spotted outside the event. Hmm.. that would corroborate with the Magnetosphere iTunes visualizer rumor.
12:40PM EST T-minus 20 minutes to the start of the event.
12:55PM EST Reporters are filing into the hall with rock tunes bumping!
1:01PM EST Steve Jobs just took the stage. Energetic and skinny, we hear.
1:02PM EST Over 8.5 million songs are available on iTunes. 125,000 podcasts, 30,000 TV shows, 2,600 movies, and 3,000 applications for iPhone and iPod Touch. 65 million user accounts on iTunes.
1:06PM EST“iTunes is getting some new content”. First is High Definition TV shows. HD shows will be $2.99 for computer or Apple TV.
1:07PM EST iTunes 8. The rumored grid view is true. Genius playlists can be made with just one click.
1:08PM EST NBC is back!
1:09PM EST iTunes 8 will be available for download today.
1:10PM ESTGenius information gets sent to iTunes to give them your musical tastes. It’s sent anonymously, and is completely optional.
1:13PM EST Steve just played a John Mayer song. The internet l0lz.
1:15PM EST iPod has a 73.4% marketshare. Followed by 8.6% for SanDisk, Microsoft with 2.6 and other for 15.4%.
1:17PM EST The 80GB is being upgraded to 120GB, and the 160GB is being discontinued.
1:19PM EST New skinny nanos are true. Skinny, rounded, and a lot like the 2nd gen Nano. Portrait aspect ratio plus the exact same resolution display.
1:21PM EST They have added curved glass over the screen, new user interface, and an accelerometer!
1:23PM EST Shake to shuffle is true. Shake the iPod nano, and it will shuffle.
1:25PM EST 24 hours music, 4 hours video. Jobs says that it’s the thinnest iPod ever.
1:26PM EST Purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, and silver. $149 for 8GB; $199 for 16GB. Both are shipping today; 8GB’s shipping today, 16GB should be in stock by the weekend.
1:30PM EST New accessories including headphones and armbands. The headphone, actually, has an in-band control feature to have volume control, playback control (next, prev, play pause) from the button. There’s also a microphone on the back that works with the voice recording app. These will be $29 next month.
1:35PM EST Over 100 million apps downloaded from the App Store.
1:36PM EST New iPod touch has built in Nike+ support.
1:38PM EST Phil Schiller coming on stage to introduce some unannounced games.
1:39PM EST Demoing Spore. Moving to Real Soccer 2009.
1:45PM EST Now moving to Need for Speed Undercover.
1:48PM EST Both the nano and touch are arsenic-free, BFR-free, Mercury-free, PVC-free, and highly recyclable. Steve is back on the stage and calls the touch the “funnest iPod ever”.
1:50PM EST Touch battery life is 36 hours of music, 6 hours of video.
1:51PM EST The 8GB is $229, 16GB is $299 and 32GB is $399. All available starting today.
1:53PM EST iPhone OS 2.1 available for free for all iPhone and iPod touch users who are already on 2.0. Lots of performance and bug fixes within.
1:54PM EST Steve says: “Back to iTunes and iPod. We’ve got the best lineup we’ve ever had. We’ve sold over 160 million iPods. We’re ready for this coming season. And we really appreciate the chance to share that.”
2:03PM EST Looks like “Let’s Rock” is over with. Thanks for joining us!

Gallery after the jump! Read more…

So while the writers at theiLife.com have been patiently waiting for the release of the 3G iPhone outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City; we have had the pleasure of being interviewed by many other blogs, papers, radio stations, as well as various other media outlets. Here is an up to the minute list of all the published interviews with various publications:

Interview by Fortune!

Store Line Check by Racked. We’re the site that’s liveblogging!

Matt R. and Geoff K., were quoted by the New York Sun.

Matt Dodd was featured in an interview with NBC 4.

NYPost.com video featured a number of iLife writers!

We are seen a number of times in this Fox 5 video!

Matt Dodd was featured in an article in Information Week.

Geoff K. was quoted in Bloomberg News.

We’ve on CNN Money.

We’ve been video posted on NPR.

The article on MacLife about waiting on the line is up here.

Matt Dodd and various other bloggers were featured on the 10 o’clock Channel 11 news here.

CBS used Matt Dodd’s new iPhone in this segment.

Apple has posted an image of theiLife crew activating their new phone in the store!

We were told we have appeared on multiple TV news channels such as CW11, CBS, NBC, and more as well as WCBS 880 Radio and Fox News Radio.

Three members from theiLife.com crew have taken position at the 5th Avenue Apple Store in New York City. We are the third group in line for the iPhone 3G, which goes on sale tomorrow morning.

Other groups represented in the line as of now include a organic farming activist group, and another man holding a spot for a friend. The number of media outlets attending the event is more than a little disproportionate in comparison to the number of people on line. So far MacLife, NY 1, Reuters and a Japanese national station have covered the event, with varying levels in interest. The unknown Japanese seemed most interested in whether we had ever heard of the term “iPhoner”, while Reuters wanted to know why we were waiting in line for an iPhone rather than a Blackberry.

Things here have been fairly calm so far, except for the random pedestrians who stop and ask questions. The first group has however been approached by what appeared to be a combination of Apple security and NYPD reps who asked them to take some of their signs down. Naturally, that request was denied pending a written order.

We will be doing a liveblog of events below from the line:

7:55AM EST: We have taken the third group position in line on 5th Avenue.
1:31PM EST: Still holding the last position in the line; we have seen more media interviews than people on this entire line. We are going out to eat lunch soon!
2:33PM EST: After leaving the bathroom of the Apple Store, we ran into a pallet jack carting in a shipment of boxes labeled 3G iPhone. See gallery after the jump for picture.
4:14PM EST: Apple has just given us all black umbrellas with a white Apple logo on them! They have been going around the line insuring that we are all iReady. Greg Packard, the guy who was first online last year stopped by to say hello, and we are currently uploading the interview with him. More coming soon!
4:34PM EST: Just posted the Greg Packard Interview below.
5:45PM EST: Matt Dodd just had an interview with Leo Laporte from TWiT and the servers are seeing heavy traffic. Foot traffic on the street is heavily increasing as the day is ending here in New York City. More media coming soon!!
8:05PM EST: The sun is setting on a beautiful day here in New York. We are working on finding a spot to eat dinner!
10:05PM EST: Scaffolding is going up by the cube, it looks like it is getting a bath!
10:35PM EST: Workers are downstairs (in the Apple Store) grouting the cracks between the tiles.

Photo gallery and videos after the jump! Read more…

Since 1996, every year at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple has awarded the most innovative Macintosh software and related hardware produced by independent developers with a Design Award. Apple Design Awards are given away on a number of categories that vary from year to year. The physical awards have an Apple logo that glows when touched. This years Award Ceremony begins at 7:30 PST (10:30 EST). We will be bringing you live coverage with photos throughout the awards below.

The winners, in order of presentation:

Best Leopard Student Product Runner Up:
Flow 1.0.1 by Brian Amerige
Best Leopard Student Product Winner:
Squirrel by Axel Peju
Best Mac OS X Leopard Graphics and Media Application Runner Up:
FotoMagico by Boinx Software Ltd.
Best Mac OS X Leopard Graphics and Media Application Winner:
ScreenFlow by Vara Software Limited
Best Mac OS X Leopard User Experience Runner Up:
Checkout by Werk BV
Best Mac OS X Leopard User Experience Winner:
Macnification by Orbicule
Best Mac OS X Leopard Game Runner Up:
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars by Electronic Arts Inc.
Best Mac OS X Leopard Game Winner:
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock by Aspyr Media, Inc.
Best Mac OS X Leopard Application Runner Up:
Bee Docs’ Timeline 3D Edition by Bee Documents
Best Mac OS X Leopard Application Winner:
ScreenFlow by Vara Software Limited
Best iPhone Web App Runner Up:
AP Mobile News Network by The Associated Press
Best iPhone Web App Winner:
Remember the Milk by Remember the Milk
Best iPhone Game Winner:
Enigmo by Pangea Software, Inc.
Best iPhone Entertainment Application Winner:
AOL Radio by AOL LLC
Best iPhone Social Networking Application Winner:
Twitterrific by The Iconfactory
Best iPhone Productivity Application Winner:
OmniFocus by The Omni Group
Best iPhone Healthcare & Fitness Application Winner:
MIM by MIMVista, Corp.

(If you want to see second by second updates, save our servers: please visit the liveblog!)

3:17 PM (PST) [Matt]: The Apple Design Awards post is live and Sidney will be lining up about an hour and a half in advance (about 6 o’clock PST).

4:56 PM (PST) [Sidney]: I’m in Presidio for another session. I might score a top seat while I’m here and just hold onto it.

4:56 PM (PST): I’ve taken my seat, this time slightly farther right, next to the left presenter display to better see acceptances. In my opinion it’s the best in the house.

7:49 PM (PST): Liveblog is up and running at live.theilife.com- check it out. Pictures to follow, on this post. Transcript of the event will be added later.

8:30 PM (PST): Event is over, everything from the liveblog has been transfered to this post, more pictures coming very soon (~15 minutes)!

9:18 PM (PST): All photos from the ADA are live, gallery is just after the jump!

Photos after the jump! Read more…

Tonight, Savant Systems is throwing a party for WWDC developers. The iLife is glad to be in attendance and will be bringing you text updates and photos from the party. A more complete account of the event and the company will follow after WWDC. For those of you who not familiar with Savant Systems:

“Savant Systems is an exciting, new home automation platform, leveraging Mac OS X technologies throughout the house. Savant is throwing a party to introduce themselves to the Mac developer community and to demonstrate the Savant platform.”

4:55 PM (PST) Still at Moscone West — leaving soon.
6:39 PM (PST) I’ve entered the event. Maybe 40-50 people here. There are music, drinks, and projectors showing digital art along with demo computers and equipment and a couple of touchscreen coffee tables.
7:21 PM (PST) Listened to the CEO present how he started the company: when he retired from the telecom industry, he wanted to install a few large TVs and automation, but found that a software engineer, after two years of custom work, hadn’t gotten beyond a primitive system. He started a new company which used Macs and code-free automation to, perhaps, solve the home automation “problem” once and for all. Savant is currently looking for developers to add modules to their system. For example, an application that set up the house for evening when the user arrived home. In other news, at least half the attendees appear to be Apple employees!
7:45 PM (PST) Heading out to check out other after parties. Pictures will be uploaded when I get back to the hotel.

Pictures after the jump! Read more…

With Sidney out of the keynote and currently eating lunch, the coverage of this years Worldwide Developers Conference is far from over. Sidney will be broadcasting occasionally for theDigitalLifestyle.tv from within WWDC. You can still follow our liveblog for the latest information. If you have any questions or requests for him, feel free to leave them in the comments below or contact us.

Check out the liveblog at live.theilife.com. Sidney just entered and is in the 7th row, which is the closest any non-VIP can get. Video of his entrance into the keynote attached below. Stay with theiLife.com for continued coverage of WWDC 2008 and the keynote.

More after the jump! Read more…

With the WWDC 2008 keynote starting in less three hours, things are coming down to the wire. Sidney San Martin as of now, remains number one in line. After hours of waiting by himself, then with a small group of about seven, there are now hundreds of people lined up outside the sidewalk of Moscone West as of 9:30AM EST (6:30 PST). Sidney is now located on the second floor, where they are waiting for about 10AM (PST) to file into the third floor hall where the keynote will take place. Sidney currently is walking inside the building to queue up for the Keynote. Keep with theiLife.com for the latest regarding WWDC 2008 at live.theiLife.com, via Twitter or our SMS updater. You can also check out theDigitalLifestyle.tv for video coverage and commentary of the keynote.

More pictures and videos after the jump! Read more…