Apple kicked off its 2009 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address led by marketing chief Phil Schiller. It is a satisfying presentation that answers the curiosity of many Apple fans: iPhone 3GS and Snow Leopard are announced with details and launch dates, new iPhone OS 3.0 apps highlights, and MacBook Pro line refreshes with new 13-inch models.

There are many details and it take sometimes to go through. The best coverage is Gizmodo’s Apple WWDC 2009 Live Coverage. Apple also posted the WWDC 2009 Keynote Address Video online, suitable for the rest of the millions of us who could not make it there.

We are happy with all the announcements, but below are 8 things Apple could do better with its 2009 WWDC Keynote:

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Mac does not come with an image editing software, your search for an image editing software on the Mac need not end with Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop is the de facto standard in image editing software and is build for graphics professional. If you plan for a graphics design related career, it is a worthwhile investment to pick up and learn Photoshop. If your image editing requirement is somewhat moderate, the following are the others image editing software on the Mac that might suit your need at a cheaper cost. Some of the listed software are free and open source.

1. Acorn

Build for Mac, this image editing software is designed with simplicity in mind. It has support for layers, text and vector type, filters and web export.

2. Adobe Photoshop Elements

Photo and image editing software that targets home and semi-pro users, using the “Photoshop” name but is entirely different product.

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Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2009 is just around the corner. This conference is for Apple to showcase its latest technologies and helping its developers with hands-on labs and feedback sessions. Apple itself is developer too. Here are 6 projects we hope Apple is building:

1. Wireless Sync for iTunes

It is time to introduce wireless sync for iTunes via Wi-Fi or even Bluetooth. USB docking and sync has been with us for far too many years. Speed and bandwidth are concerns when you have large contents to sync to your iPod or iPhone. But we believe it is possible to achieve an acceptable transfer rate.

2. OpenDocument Format (ODF) support in iWorks

ODF is an ISO standard for office document formats, with many government agencies in the world adopt the standard as compulsory interchange format. More organizations would be willing to adopt iWorks if ODF is a supported format. For consumers, it means their files can be saved in a format that is independent of iWorks software version changes.

3. Voice Control In iPhone

Voice control for dialing and iPod functions improves usability and is a missing feature for iPhone. Will we see this in the up and coming iPhone 3.0?

Updated June 09: Apple announced Voice Control feature when it unveiled the new iPhone 3GS during WWDC. Voice Control allows user to make calls and control iPod.

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YouTube has released its big screen optimized website called YouTube XL to all. Previously this site is restricted to Sony PS3 and Nintendo Wii game consoles. Now you can use this site if you are playing the YouTube to a big screen projector or HDTV.

In addition to an all new design offering large text and simplified navigation, YouTube XL offers a continuous play feature, which lets you search for a topic on YouTube and then press “play” once to watch all of the videos sequentially on that topic. Also, getting from one video to the next takes just a few clicks, and you can control the action with a blue tooth enabled remote control, or even some mobile phones.

Visit the big screen optimized YouTube XL.

Sony presented its keynote at E3. PSP Go is the big announcement. Here is the summaries:

• 364 games coming to the PlayStation platforms (PS3+PS2+PSP) this year. 22 million PS3 sold last year. 24 million registered accounts on PlayStation Network in 55 countries.

• Uncharted 2 and 256-player MAG for PS3 are demoed.

• Sony unveiled PSP Go, the second-generation PSP. Spec and look is the same as what has been leaked. 40% lighter than the original PSP-1000. 16G Internal Flash, built-in Wi-Fi, integrated Bluetooth, sliding control pad and M2 memory port.

• PSP Go will go on sale in North America on Oct 1 for $249, the same price as the original PSP when launched. It will not replace PSP-3000 or UMD, which will co-exist.

• All PSP games going forward will be digitally distributed via the PlayStation Network and its PlayStation Store. But also delivered to retail via UMD.

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Microsoft will release Windows 7 on Oct 22, ahead of its original schedule and in time for the year end holiday season.

“We feel confident that we will deliver Windows 7 with our partners on Oct. 22,” Bill Veghte, senior vice president for Microsoft’s Windows business, said.

There is no news on pricing, and we do not know if there is any licensing restriction to run Windows 7 on virtual machine. And it is still early for Apple to announce support for Windows 7 on Bootcamp. The wait is almost over for the true upgrade to Windows XP.

Being in debt especially a heavy one is a terrible thing at current economic downturn. Many has predicted this ‘Great Recession’ to be a prolong one lasting two years or more. If you are one of the many unfortunate ones, the best you can do is to keep afloat, keep stock of personal finance, find out why you are in debt in the first place, work at reducing the debt and hope for the best. We list here 9 tips that might be helpful for staying out of debt.

1. You need to change

You need to make changes to your attitude about money and behavior in order to have any result. How you value money impacts your spending decision. Find out why you feel good owning the latest tech toys even though you might not use it at all. Is it for vanity reason? Or is it for making up of lack of toys when you were a boy/girl? If possible, find out how much ‘coolness’ is worth to you. Getting out of debt is not a todo list or action items, its a lifelong commitment to a lifestyle change.

2. Cause and effect

Before you spend on your next purchase, check the consequence of your action especially if you are buying on credit. Shopping on credit card makes you feel good NOW, but the painful impact comes much later. Think about the future credit card bill and the pain it will bring before you buy. You would jump off a hot seat immediately because of the pain, why not for shopping on credit?

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Google signaled its intent to enter e-book retailing at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend. Google will launch a program by end of 2009 that would enable publishers to sell e-book direct to consumers through Google.

Google’s move takes on Amazon Kindle in the growing e-book marketplace. Google will allow publishers to set the selling price, unlike Kindle’s aggressive pricing strategy by Amazon. Most of Kindle edition of latest best sellers are selling for $9.99, far less than the typical $26 for hardcover version.

Google’s e-book offering will allow consumers to read books on any device with Internet access, including mobile phones. And an offline mode will allow consumers to read cached versions of the e-book when Internet is not available.

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Microsoft has a busy day at E3 with a slew of announcements that put Xbox 360 and Xbox Live squarely on the top of the games in term of coolness and features.

• Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were on stage for The Beatles: Rockband game. Yoko Ono Lennon made appearance as well.

• Microsoft showed off Final Fantasy XIII on XBox 360. The title will be a spring 2010 release.

• Exclusive games announced include Shadow Complex, Joyride, Crackdown 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Forza 3, Halo Reach and Alan Wake.

• You will be able to add movies to your Netflix queue, no need to go to your desktop. You will also be able to search through the entire Netflix catalog on Xbox itself.

• Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima appeared on stage to announce Metal Gear Solid Rising for Xbox 360. This is big blow to PS3 as Metal Gear Solid has long been a Playstation exclusive.

• The video store in Xbox Live is now branded Zune, and will add 1080p full HD instant-on streaming with 5.1 channel audio. The service will be available in 18 countries (US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Austria, Australia and New Zealand). But you need 8Mbps downstream for your internet connection in order to enjoy it.

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Microsoft recently launched a series of “Laptop Hunters” ads, promoting the price benefits of PCs. These ads are well-timed, praying on the sentiments of people in this difficult period. But value is a very subjective matter. For people who have used a Mac before, these Microsoft ads are just lame and trying, and are not to be used when making an educated purchase decision.

There is no doubt that Mac is not for everyone. We list below 5 reasons why Apple Mac is not for you. But outside of these reasons, an Apple Mac or MacBook should be in your final shortlist.

1. You like to build your own computer

You cannot buy computer parts and assemble your own Mac, at least legally. If building your own computer is a hobby or addiction, then Windows or Linux PCs are the way to go.

2. You are a hardcore PC gamer

If you are a hardcore PC gamer and do not see XBox 360 or PS3 gaming as alternative, then Windows PC is the best choice. Apple has never positioned any of its product targeting hardcore gamers.

The best computer games are available mostly exclusive and first on Windows PCs. Some games come to Mac eventually but the selection paled considerably compared with what is available for Windows. The only Mac that allows graphics card add-on is the Mac Pro, but video card choice is limited due to the availability of device driver on Mac OS X.

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