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Steve Jobs No-Show at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference

Even though many much-anticipated new apps, upgrades, and hardware tools were brought onstage at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference today, what was missing was even more significant: Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs, who is on leave of absence from the company owing to health issues but was rumored to have planned a brief appearance. The big announcement of the day was the new iPhone 3G S, which features a better camera, longer battery life, and faster functioning. OS X Snow Leopard was also introduced, upgrading the operating system for faster installation, more efficient use of memory (after you install the software you recover 6 GB of hard-drive space), and better-protected code. A new line of Macbook Airs that has faster processing and is more environmentally friendly (and $300 less expensive) was also announced. “Taken all together, Apple seems to be willing to take a hit on laptop margins to further expand Mac market share,” noted the Times’ tech bloggers. “That’s a shift for a company that has heretofore been more concerned with profits.” The presentation was kicked off by “I’m a PC” comedian John Hodgman greeting the crowd. “You’ve already sold over a million apps,” he said. “Don’t you think that’s enough? Maybe you can send some my way?”

New Software, New iPhone, New Steve? Live-blogging the Apple Extravaganza [Bits/NYT]

Steve Jobs No-Show at Apple Worldwide Developers Conference