Nope, no Apple fan boy here. But, as a tech guy, I did want to post what I thought were the most interesting bits of Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

First, and foremost, I thought the top news of the day was the AT&T upgrade offer. Second, would be that they’re offering an 8GB iPhone 3GS for $99. Facetime and the HD video recording options were definitely cool bonuses. I also found the numerous references to PDF across iBook and other Apple software amusing, and I’ll get to that in a minute.

First, the upgrade news. AT&T is going to offer anyone eligible for an upgrade in 2010 to upgrade to a new iPhone. I’m sorry, but am I the only one who sees this as a desperate plea to keep subscribers onboard? I also think this signals towards a Verizon iPhone before the end of 2011. Seriously, why else would they make this offer? Sure, they make a ton of money, but won’t they make just as much (if not more) by having hordes of morons jumping through hoops, paying higher upgrade fees, etc; just to get their hands on Apple’s latest creation? Basically, this signals AT&T feels they have lost the upper hand in the current market. I just get the feeling they’re grasping for any traction they can to lock up subscribers for two more years. Or, maybe it’s a reaction to all the success of Android? Both?

Second, the $99 price point for an 8GB iPhone. I’m not overly familiar with iPhone pricing, but I don’t remember they’re being a less expensive option before now. If they did have it before, then it’s obviously not big news to anyone else, just me. If they didn’t, then having a competitor to less-expensive, but capable, Blackberry and Android phones; is a HUGE deal. You can get certain Blackberry models for free with a 2-yr contract and you can even get Android phones for as low as $50 with a 2 year deal. Apple having a competitor for more of the budget-minded, “average” user, is definitely a big win in my book. I’ll still take Android though…

Other cool features:

I really, really, really, like the idea of video calls via Facetime; especially to the ones we love. That would be a huge bonus if you’re out of town for a trip and want to “see” the family. While Facetime was cool, it is wi-fi only right now. Sure, that’s great for those people with constant wi-fi connections. But, for those of us who don’t live in a metropolis where wi-fi abounds; what good is that?

HD video recording capability, was also super cool. I scoffed at the notion of uploading/publishing HD video to YouTube via your phone. Yeah, maybe over wi-fi, but are you really going to do that via 3G? I doubt it, and again, what about those dependent on 3G; not wi-fi? Would you be willing to spend your entire data plan allotment, per the new AT&T rules, just to TRY and upload a video to YouTube?

Anyways, definitely some cool features, but nothing to sway me from Android.

Okay, the non-iPhone bit of news I found interesting was this…PDF. Was it just me or did everything else cool with the iPad or iBook seem dependent on PDF? I know Adobe created the PDF format, and after a quick bit of research, maybe this isn’t as interesting as I thought. According to the wikipedia page PDF is an open standard. My initial thought was that Adobe could fire a shot across the bow of Apple by refusing to allow PDF software developed on the iOS (as they now call the platform). An obvious retort to Apple’s stance on Flash. I wonder if Adobe regrets making PDF an open standard? Anyways, just another interesting thought that occurred to me.

Feel free to post your thoughts and comments about WWDC. Were you underwhelmed? About what you expected? Super stoked? Please share.