macworld
Keynote Goodies Galore
January 16, 2008 Filed in: Apple
Okay, I tried posting this last night, but
three-quarters of the entry just outright disappeared
upon export. Here's take two.
Tuesday's Macworld keynote speech by Steve Jobs was interesting and exciting in many ways. Unfortunately for Apple's stock, it seems investors were really hoping for a 3G iPhone. However, iPhone was hardly mentioned Tuesday, and the Mac took center stage. Perhaps this was Jobs' way of making up for last year's iPhone-centered keynote. Here's a quick rundown.
A part of me still covets an iPod touch, and the new features make the device even more desirable. Now, if only they would release a 32 GB version at the price-point of the current 16 GB model...
By focusing on movies, Apple has also made Apple TV a more competitive product. Once tethered to iTunes, Apple TV now has its own interface with the iTunes Store and can even download higher-resulution movie rentals (720p) than iTunes on Macs or PCs. The new user interface is very nice, and the pricetag is even nicer. A 40 GB model is available for $229 and a 160 GB model for $329.
If we watched more movies and TV shows, this might be a no-brainer, even with an XBox 360. Quite simply, iTunes has more content than XBox Live Marketplace and that content is priced better. Also, XBox Live Marketplace gives you a smaller window in which to begin viewing rented material. Out of the product announcements today, Apple TV may actually be the most competitive. (Here's a comparison of XBox Live Marketplace and Apple TV.)
Time Capsule is the child of a high-capacity wireless hard drive and an AirPort Extreme base station. It's designed to compliment Leopard's Time Machine backup solution. Featuring a 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive ($299 and $499 respectively), this is an interestingly positioned product. Quite honestly, if I were to pick up an Airport Extreme and a decent 1 TB external drive individually, it would come up to about $500 dollars. For that same amount, here's an all-in-one solution. Seems like a winner to me even if it does target a niche audience.
I even like the name.
The most attention-grabbing product announced was the MacBook Air. Closed, it's 0.76" at it's thickest point, and it weighs only 3 pounds. Check out the commercial for a good illustration of just how small this thing is. The thing looks amazing at first glance and comes packaged with some truly innovative technology, but I don't know if it will actually be a success.
Much is riding on its appeal as an ultra-light notebook and its stunning looks. Other appealing features include a gesture-sensitive trackpad and an amazing technology called Remote Disc. In a shell, Remote Disc allows the MacBook Air to wirelessly read discs inserted in another computer! This is quite important as the MacBook Air has no built-in optical drive. (However, Apple does sell a $99 USB Superdrive for the MacBook Air.)
Unfortunately, the limitations of this product relegate it to a solely secondary computer position, which is unfortunate considering its price. MacBook Air starts at $1799 with a SSD version available for $3,098! Not only is it bereft of an optical drive, but the hard drive itself is pretty small. It has few ports, excluding even an ethernet port, and the battery is not user replaceable. Fortunately, if you purchase the $129 battery through the Apple Store, installation is free, but this still costs convenience.
I am enamored by the looks and some of the technology in the MacBook Air, but I don't really see its value over Apple's other laptops. Now if Apple released a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a similar form factor and multi-touch trackpad, I might be interested. On the other hand, it's not wise to try to predict the failure or success of an Apple product, and they may have a success on their hands here. One never knows.
images courtesy Apple, Inc.
Tuesday's Macworld keynote speech by Steve Jobs was interesting and exciting in many ways. Unfortunately for Apple's stock, it seems investors were really hoping for a 3G iPhone. However, iPhone was hardly mentioned Tuesday, and the Mac took center stage. Perhaps this was Jobs' way of making up for last year's iPhone-centered keynote. Here's a quick rundown.
iPhone + iPod touch
iPhone and iPod touch both received software updates that can be downloaded through iTunes. iPhone received some GPS-like functionality to Maps, customizable home screens, Web clips (like in the Leopard Dashboard), song lyric support, video chapters, and multi-person messaging. The iPod touch receives Mail, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Stocks – bringing it to surprising parity with iPhone. The only downside of the iPod touch upgrade is a $20 fee.A part of me still covets an iPod touch, and the new features make the device even more desirable. Now, if only they would release a 32 GB version at the price-point of the current 16 GB model...
iTunes + Apple TV
The big iTunes news is movie rentals. Rentals ring in at $2.99-$4.99 depending on definition and release status. Once a movie is rented, a user has 30 days to begin watching the film and 24 hours to complete a film once it's started. The 24-hour viewing window seems stingy, but I understand it's in line with comparable services. In addition to the movie rentals, Apple has signed a deal with Fox in which new Fox DVDs will also contain an iTunes-friendly version of the film on the disc. This is an interesting way to circumvent the whole DVD-backup issue. I wonder if other studios will hop on board with this initiative.
By focusing on movies, Apple has also made Apple TV a more competitive product. Once tethered to iTunes, Apple TV now has its own interface with the iTunes Store and can even download higher-resulution movie rentals (720p) than iTunes on Macs or PCs. The new user interface is very nice, and the pricetag is even nicer. A 40 GB model is available for $229 and a 160 GB model for $329.
If we watched more movies and TV shows, this might be a no-brainer, even with an XBox 360. Quite simply, iTunes has more content than XBox Live Marketplace and that content is priced better. Also, XBox Live Marketplace gives you a smaller window in which to begin viewing rented material. Out of the product announcements today, Apple TV may actually be the most competitive. (Here's a comparison of XBox Live Marketplace and Apple TV.)
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is the child of a high-capacity wireless hard drive and an AirPort Extreme base station. It's designed to compliment Leopard's Time Machine backup solution. Featuring a 500 GB or 1 TB hard drive ($299 and $499 respectively), this is an interestingly positioned product. Quite honestly, if I were to pick up an Airport Extreme and a decent 1 TB external drive individually, it would come up to about $500 dollars. For that same amount, here's an all-in-one solution. Seems like a winner to me even if it does target a niche audience.
I even like the name.
MacBook Air
The most attention-grabbing product announced was the MacBook Air. Closed, it's 0.76" at it's thickest point, and it weighs only 3 pounds. Check out the commercial for a good illustration of just how small this thing is. The thing looks amazing at first glance and comes packaged with some truly innovative technology, but I don't know if it will actually be a success.
Much is riding on its appeal as an ultra-light notebook and its stunning looks. Other appealing features include a gesture-sensitive trackpad and an amazing technology called Remote Disc. In a shell, Remote Disc allows the MacBook Air to wirelessly read discs inserted in another computer! This is quite important as the MacBook Air has no built-in optical drive. (However, Apple does sell a $99 USB Superdrive for the MacBook Air.)
Unfortunately, the limitations of this product relegate it to a solely secondary computer position, which is unfortunate considering its price. MacBook Air starts at $1799 with a SSD version available for $3,098! Not only is it bereft of an optical drive, but the hard drive itself is pretty small. It has few ports, excluding even an ethernet port, and the battery is not user replaceable. Fortunately, if you purchase the $129 battery through the Apple Store, installation is free, but this still costs convenience.
I am enamored by the looks and some of the technology in the MacBook Air, but I don't really see its value over Apple's other laptops. Now if Apple released a MacBook or MacBook Pro with a similar form factor and multi-touch trackpad, I might be interested. On the other hand, it's not wise to try to predict the failure or success of an Apple product, and they may have a success on their hands here. One never knows.
images courtesy Apple, Inc.
Links 01/14/07
January 14, 2007 Filed in: Links
The Observer: Melting glaciers will
destroy Alpine resorts within 45 years, says
report
"Grandpa, what were ski lifts for?"
I'll be linking to some of these in an upcoming post in my Presentation Tips section, but here they are early:
Two posts about the iPhone here. In one, Kathy Sierra writes about the intangible qualities of the iPhone interface. In the other, Jason Fried writes about the lack of tangible features in the iPhone interface. Two good reads.
"Grandpa, what were ski lifts for?"
I'll be linking to some of these in an upcoming post in my Presentation Tips section, but here they are early:
- Presentation Zen: Steve Jobs At Macworld: "We come from different worlds."
- Seth's Blog: When you should stop improving
- Create your Communications Experience: Jobs Versus Gates
- DC-Connect: Who Advised Stan?
Two posts about the iPhone here. In one, Kathy Sierra writes about the intangible qualities of the iPhone interface. In the other, Jason Fried writes about the lack of tangible features in the iPhone interface. Two good reads.
Steve, TVs, and Phones
January 09, 2007 Filed in: Apple
The Macworld Keynote this morning was definitely an
interesting one. The Mac seemed to be oddly absent in
the presentation, and Steve Jobs really only focused
on two products the entire time (though a third was
updated today withoout fanfare).
The product formerly known as iTV made it's official public appearance. Baasically, this device acts as a bridge between the media on your computer and your TV. Of course, iTunes is at the center of this media ecology, but, for photos, Apple TV supports iPhoto on the Mac and Adobe Album and Photoshop Elements on Windows. The current model natively supports 480p and 720p TV resolutions. It has a built-in 40 GB hard drive, and it connects to the television using HDMI or componant cables. It can network with your home computer via ethernet or wireless network (including 802.11n).
The list of supported video formats is pretty limited (basically only anything iPod plays), but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you use the device as intended. It's billed as an HD device, but it does scale down the content if hooked up to a standard TV. I imagine that, like iPod HiFi, Apple TV isn't going to be a runaway success, but it will carve itself out a healthy niche. It'll be interesting to see what future versions bring to the table. The Apple TV is available for $299.
I have to admit, after the Other iPhone came out, I was expecting something like "iPod cellular," but the name isn't the only surprise in the iPhone. The touch screen interface is just plain elegant in the demos, and it supports multi-touch input – a first for this kind of device. Also, the screen is crisp and clear, and the sensors which detect the device's orientation are a very nice touch.
The fact that this device is also the first to run a mobile version of OS X is also notable. It makes me wonder if Apple has any other devices in the "pipeline" that will make use of this slimmed down version of their operating system. The iPhone comes with 4GB or 8BG of internal flash memory, a 3.5" 320x480 screen, and it supports all modern wireless technologies (except 3G). The iPhone will be carried by Cingular and will carry a price-tag of $499 or $599.
Check out the official product page. The iPhone is beautiful, and I am not one to gush about cellular phones. I was seriously skeptical about this product, but Apple has really brought a unique offering into the crowded cell phone market.
Finally, as food for thought, did anyone else notice the Beatles albums in Steve Jobs' demos?
Apple TV
The product formerly known as iTV made it's official public appearance. Baasically, this device acts as a bridge between the media on your computer and your TV. Of course, iTunes is at the center of this media ecology, but, for photos, Apple TV supports iPhoto on the Mac and Adobe Album and Photoshop Elements on Windows. The current model natively supports 480p and 720p TV resolutions. It has a built-in 40 GB hard drive, and it connects to the television using HDMI or componant cables. It can network with your home computer via ethernet or wireless network (including 802.11n).
The list of supported video formats is pretty limited (basically only anything iPod plays), but that shouldn't be too much of a problem if you use the device as intended. It's billed as an HD device, but it does scale down the content if hooked up to a standard TV. I imagine that, like iPod HiFi, Apple TV isn't going to be a runaway success, but it will carve itself out a healthy niche. It'll be interesting to see what future versions bring to the table. The Apple TV is available for $299.
Apple iPhone
I have to admit, after the Other iPhone came out, I was expecting something like "iPod cellular," but the name isn't the only surprise in the iPhone. The touch screen interface is just plain elegant in the demos, and it supports multi-touch input – a first for this kind of device. Also, the screen is crisp and clear, and the sensors which detect the device's orientation are a very nice touch.
The fact that this device is also the first to run a mobile version of OS X is also notable. It makes me wonder if Apple has any other devices in the "pipeline" that will make use of this slimmed down version of their operating system. The iPhone comes with 4GB or 8BG of internal flash memory, a 3.5" 320x480 screen, and it supports all modern wireless technologies (except 3G). The iPhone will be carried by Cingular and will carry a price-tag of $499 or $599.
Check out the official product page. The iPhone is beautiful, and I am not one to gush about cellular phones. I was seriously skeptical about this product, but Apple has really brought a unique offering into the crowded cell phone market.
The Undercover Updates
- Airport Extreme was updated today with a new form factor (think Apple TV) and support for 802.11n. I'm also pretty sure it's cheaper now at $179.
- Airport Express got a price drop. It's now $99.
- All Core 2 Duo Macs and the Mac Pros can take advantage of 802.11n. Via TUAW.
What Wasn't Announced
Where was the updated look at Leopard? I thought for sure we would get a tour of more new features and perhaps a new interface. iWork and iLife were totally neglected in this keynote, but these may get released alongside Leopard with some cool Leopard-only features to attract potential users. In fact the whole Mac part of this Macworld keynote seemed lacking. Okay, actually it was nonexistant. Regardless, I expect we'll be seeing some further announcements and product updates coming from the Mothership over the next few days and weeks.Finally, as food for thought, did anyone else notice the Beatles albums in Steve Jobs' demos?
Links 01/09/07
January 09, 2007 Filed in: Links
Apple – QuickTime – Macworld 2007
Keynote
This is totally worth watching for the iPhone demonstration. (Oh, and I want the version of Keynote he's using in his presentation.)
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Infinite Loop: Ars at Macworld: Microsoft
Charles Jade at Ars Technica takes a look at Office 2008 for the Macintosh due out later this year. The UI has had a major overhaul from Office 2004. It looks one part Office 2007 for Windows and one part Apple iWork. I'm going to borrow one of the Ars screenshots, so you can see the difference:
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This is totally worth watching for the iPhone demonstration. (Oh, and I want the version of Keynote he's using in his presentation.)
x
Infinite Loop: Ars at Macworld: Microsoft
Charles Jade at Ars Technica takes a look at Office 2008 for the Macintosh due out later this year. The UI has had a major overhaul from Office 2004. It looks one part Office 2007 for Windows and one part Apple iWork. I'm going to borrow one of the Ars screenshots, so you can see the difference:
x
Best. MacWorld. Ever.
January 10, 2006 Filed in: Apple
Well, perhaps that is an overstatement, but I can't
remember feeling so giddy during a SteveNote presentation since the
PowerMac G5s were unveiled at WWDC 2003 (and I
tend to get slightly giddy during any
presentation given by Steve Jobs).
First, I like the iLife and iWork updates. Sure, there is still no dedicated spreadsheet application in iWork, but the additions to Pages and Keynote look great. As far as iLife goes, iPhoto has me the most interested, though the enhancements to the other apps – particularly iMovie and iDVD – will be welcome, especially since I haven't updated iLife for two years now.
The new Intel iMac is cool. I like the current form factor, so retaining it wasn't a bad thing. However, it would be nice if there was some way of distinguishing it from the PowerPC iMac other than the specs on the box. Regardless, it seems to be getting quite the performance boost for no more cost. No complaints from this gallery.
What really floored me was this:
Say hello to the MacBook Pro. Alright, so no points for the name, but a hundred points for the computer itself. Don't get me wrong, I fell in love with the PowerBook G4 long ago, but this thing just stole my geeky heart. 1.67 or 1.83 GHz Intel Duo processor, 667 MHz frontside bus (as compared to 167 MHz on the G4), Mobility Radeon X 1600, optical audio,dual-layer DVD burning, built-in iSight,
backlit keyboard – I could go on and on.
It's everything the PowerBook was plus one important factor: Power.
Questionably, Apple has removed the FireWire 800 port, which strikes me as odd, and, according to this Infinite Loop post, battery life is somewhat disappointing. It is worth noting, though, that these machines do not ship until February, and progress could be made on the battery front between now and then.
Regardless of these apparent shortcomings, there is little to complain about here. This is one nice laptop, and it is easily the most competitive laptop Apple has released in a while. Sure, a Dell would be still cheaper, but it just wouldn't be a Mac. Congratulations, Apple, the Intel transition is underway. Here's to hoping the next several months go smoothly!
First, I like the iLife and iWork updates. Sure, there is still no dedicated spreadsheet application in iWork, but the additions to Pages and Keynote look great. As far as iLife goes, iPhoto has me the most interested, though the enhancements to the other apps – particularly iMovie and iDVD – will be welcome, especially since I haven't updated iLife for two years now.
The new Intel iMac is cool. I like the current form factor, so retaining it wasn't a bad thing. However, it would be nice if there was some way of distinguishing it from the PowerPC iMac other than the specs on the box. Regardless, it seems to be getting quite the performance boost for no more cost. No complaints from this gallery.
What really floored me was this:
Say hello to the MacBook Pro. Alright, so no points for the name, but a hundred points for the computer itself. Don't get me wrong, I fell in love with the PowerBook G4 long ago, but this thing just stole my geeky heart. 1.67 or 1.83 GHz Intel Duo processor, 667 MHz frontside bus (as compared to 167 MHz on the G4), Mobility Radeon X 1600, optical audio,
It's everything the PowerBook was plus one important factor: Power.
Questionably, Apple has removed the FireWire 800 port, which strikes me as odd, and, according to this Infinite Loop post, battery life is somewhat disappointing. It is worth noting, though, that these machines do not ship until February, and progress could be made on the battery front between now and then.
Regardless of these apparent shortcomings, there is little to complain about here. This is one nice laptop, and it is easily the most competitive laptop Apple has released in a while. Sure, a Dell would be still cheaper, but it just wouldn't be a Mac. Congratulations, Apple, the Intel transition is underway. Here's to hoping the next several months go smoothly!