Thank you for so much, Steve.

I was deeply moved by Your commencement speech in Stanford as I am when I watch it today …

Sure, it’s not Steve Jobs presenting on this special event … but I think the mixture of Tim Cook, Scott Forstall, Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller giving the presentation works out quite well. But see it for yourself by watching the official video-stream from Apple about the iOS 5, iCould, iPhone 4s, Siri & all the other details.

P.S. Hope Steve Jobs health recovers!

Great to see Steve Jobs on stage again. The presentation is about three blocks of information:

1. The market: Steve presents some amazing numbers … 15 Million iPads sold, 100 Million iPhones sold, 100 Million iBooks downloaded, 200 Million Accounts on the iTunes/AppStore/iBookStore with credit cards, $2 Billion payout to AppStore developers.
2. The iPad 2: Apple listened to their customers and integrated most of the features iPad users are demanding. But they also kept the prices and the battery life. The new A5 Dual-Core CPU is up to twice as fast and the graphics performance up to 9x. With the HDMI-cable accessory, it’s possible to mirror the iPad 2 screen to a flatscreen or beamer. This is perfect for live app demos and presentations. The iPad 2 is now equipped with a front and a rear camera. The new design of the iPad 2 and the magnetic covers speak for themselves. The design team of Jony Ive did a great job.
3. The software: iOS 4.3 is shipping with a lot of improvements under the hood. By introducing iMovie and Garageband for the iPad Apple shows, that the iPad is not only a consuming device, but also a device to create things.

But I only can recommend to watch Steve Jobs, Scott Forstall, Randy Ubillos and Xander Soren on the Quicktime streaming video yourself. Sorry PC-folks: The streaming video requires Safari 4 or 5 on Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Safari on iOS 3 or later.

What’s Apple focussing on in the year 2011? Is it “just” the iPad2? Or is there just one more thing …

Let’s find out on the Apple Special Event at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts! March 2nd 10:00 AM PST (7:00 PM MEZ). Apple did not announce a live video feed (yet) … but here’s live coverage:

• Shane Richmond & Emma Barnett for The Daily Telegraph, UK … they are blogging since 01:00 PST / 10:00 MEZ.
• Ars Technica … live blog will start with the special event (ScribbleLive).
• Jason Snell & Dan Moren for Macworld… live blog will start with the special event (Demand-Media)
• Joshua Topolsky for Engadget … live blog will start with the special event
• John Paczkowski for AllThingsDigital …live blog will start with the special event.
• Josh Lowensohn for CNet … live blog will start with the special event (Demand-Media).
• Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for ZDNet … live blog will start with the special event (Demand-Media).
• MacLife … live blog will start with the special event (Demand-Media)

As soon as the video of the keynote is available as a Quicktime stream or Apple decides to live stream the event … you’ll be updated

Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave a presentation on the iPhone 4 antenna issue today, July 16th 2010. The Quicktime video stream is worth watching … and the Apple team really shows a great sense of humor: It all starts with the “iPhone Antenna Song” from Jonathan Mann. Steve Jobs had enough guts to start the presentation with this great little song and it’s chorus line “If you don’t like an iPhone 4 – don’t buy it! If you bought one and you don’t like it – bring it back!”.
So congrats to Jonathan for writing and performing it … and Steve for featuring it.

Press conference facts in short:

• Smartphones have weakspots … so the iPhone 4 shares the problem with many other smartphones
• AppleCare data shows that complains about the antenna are minimal (0,55%)
• ATT return rates are 1/3 of the return rates of the iPhone 3GS
• ATT call drop rate is a little bit higher compared with the iPhone 3GS (less than one additional call per hundred)

Conclusion from Apple:

• Updated iOS 4.0.1 – Fixes bars and Exchange bug
• Free iPhone case for every iPhone 4 customer … or a full refund for the bumper if you already bought one
• … if you’re still not happy … you’ll get a full refund if you return your undamaged iPhone 4 within 30 days of purchase.