Newsletter to Members
November 2005
Hello AMUG members,
This is the second interim email newsletter to members to keep you informed of what's happening in the Macintosh community, until such time as we have a regular printed newsletter (hopefully before December meeting).
Ken Driver
Vice-President/Webmaster
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In this issue: |
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News from Apple
October has seen a breathtaking raft of product announcements from Apple. For home users, there is a brand new video-enabled iPod, a new iMac G5 range with an iSight camera built-in, the release of iTunes v6, and – finally - the iTunes Music Store comes to Australia!
For pro users, the G4 PowerBook range has been enhanced, Apple introduces Aperture, and the new Power Mac G5 line gets a boost with dual-core processors – there's even a new Quad model! ...
Apple Unveils the New iPod
Fifth Generation iPod Now Plays Music, Photos & Video
Apple has introduced the new iPod, featuring a gorgeous 2.5-inch colour screen that can display album artwork and photos, and play stunning video including video Podcasts and home movies. The new iPod holds up to 15,000 songs, 25,000 photos or over 150 hours of video and is available in a 30GB model for $449 and a 60GB model for $598, with both models available in stunning white or black designs. More...
iTunes Music Store Comes Down Under!
Apple yesterday launched the revolutionary iTunes Music Store in Australia, giving Australian music fans the same innovative features, breakthrough pricing and seamless integration with iPod that have made iTunes the world's most popular music jukebox and online music store. Priced at just $1.69 per song, $3.39 per video and with most albums at $16.99 including GST, the iTunes Music Store in Australia is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online.
The iTunes Music Store features personal use rights, giving users the ability to play songs on up to five personal computers, burn a single song onto CDs an unlimited number of times, burn the same playlist up to seven times and listen to their music on an unlimited number of iPods.
Exclusive music featured today includes tracks from Australian artists Missy Higgins, Bernard Fanning, Paul Mac, Evermore, Gyroscope and The Dissociatives. Extensive catalogues are available from Australian greats INXS, Hunters & Collectors, Paul Kelly and Slim Dusty. In addition, there are iTunes Originals from local heroes Spiderbait, and international stars R.E.M., Alanis Morissette, LL Cool J, PJ Harvey and Sting. International exclusives include Madonna's entire catalogue, digital box sets from U2 and Stevie Wonder, albums with digital booklets from Jack Johnson and Elvis Costello and more exclusives from Black Eyed Peas, Tiesto, Bloc Party, Elbow, Hayley Westenra and Jamie Cullum. Exclusive videos include U2, an online Beastie Boys exclusive and an extensive Madonna catalogue. The iTunes Podcast Directory features over 25,000 Podcasts, including featured Australian Podcasts from ABC, Triple J, Triple M and SBS Radio.
iTunes for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Music Store and is available as a free download immediately from www.apple.com.au/itunes. Purchase and download of songs from the iTunes Music Store requires a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. Music fans in Australia have the option to use iTunes Music Cards for cash purchases on the iTunes Music Store. iTunes Music Cards are available at Coles Myer stores as well as through the Apple Store. iTunes Music Cards will be sold in $20, $50 and $100 denominations and are available through Myer, Megamart, BI-LO, Coles Supermarkets, Pick 'n' Pay Hypermarket, Kmart, Target, Coles Express, Officeworks and Harris Technology. Prices include GST.
iTunes 6 Gets Video
Extract from TidBITS 801 by Adam C. Engst
In the much-anticipated "One More Thing..." special event in early October, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced iTunes 6, just five weeks after the release of iTunes 5. That version numbering was somewhat deceptive; iTunes 5.0 was really just the next point upgrade after iTunes 4.9, and its features reflected that reality. Although it doesn't look much different from the previous versions, iTunes 6 (and the iTunes Music Store) breaks new ground in a variety of ways, most notably in its support for video.
The unrivaled combination of iPod and iTunes 6 now provides customers with a seamless experience for buying, managing and playing video as well as audio content. iTunes 6 can be downloaded free from Apple. More...
Apple Introduces the New iMac G5
Built-in iSight Video Camera; Breakthrough “Front Row” Media Experience
Apple has unveiled the new iMac G5 that features a built-in iSight video camera for out-of-the-box video conferencing and the debut of Apple’s breakthrough Front Row media experience. Front Row gives users a simple, intuitive and powerful way to play their music, enjoy their photo slideshows, and watch their DVDs and iMovies - as well as popular movie trailers - on their iMac from up to 9 metres away, using the new bundled Apple Remote. The new iMac G5 comes in a sleek, new design that is even thinner than its predecessor, and starts at just $1,999.
Offering the latest high-performance I/O, the new iMac G5s include built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, built-in AirPort Extreme for fast 54 Mbps wireless networking*, built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a total of five USB ports (three USB 2.0) and two FireWire 400 ports. More...
*Actual speed will vary based on range from the base station, environmental conditions and other factors.
Apple Enhances PowerBooks
Higher-Resolution Displays, Longer Battery Life
Apple has made its PowerBook G4 line of notebook computers even more desirable for business and creative professionals with higher-resolution displays and up to one hour more battery life on the 15- and 17-inch models.* In addition, every new PowerBook now includes a DVD burning SuperDrive with prices starting at just $2,499.
The PowerBook line includes three models: the 1.5 GHz 12-inch PowerBook with an 8X SuperDrive and the new 1.67 GHz 15- and 17-inch PowerBooks with an 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support. Both the 15- and 17-inch PowerBooks include ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics with 128MB DDR dedicated video memory. More...
*Battery life depends on configuration and use.
New Power Mac G5 Dual and Power Mac G5 Quad
Dual-Core or Quad-Core Processing, PCI Express & Workstation Graphics
All new Power Mac G5 models now feature dual-core processors, a new PCI Express architecture and higher performance graphics options including NVIDIA’s Quadro FX 4500, bringing the industry standard for workstation graphics to the Mac.
At the top of the range is the new Power Mac G5 Quad. With two 2.5 GHz dual-core processors, each with 1MB of L2 cache, the Power Mac G5 Quad delivers breakthrough performance on applications used extensively by creative professionals and scientists.
The Power Mac Dual 2.0GHz is priced at $3,199; Power Mac Dual 2.3GHz is $3,999 and Power Mac Quad is $5,299. More...
Apple Introduces Aperture
First All-in-One Post Production Tool for Photographers
New Aperture – think of it as iPhoto on steroids - offers an advanced and incredibly fast RAW workflow that makes working with a digital camera's RAW images format as easy as JPEG. Built from the ground up for pros, Aperture features powerful compare and select tools, non-destructive image processing, colour managed printing and custom web and book publishing.
"Aperture is to professional photography what Final Cut Pro is to filmmaking," said Rob Schoeben, Apple’s vice-president of Applications Marketing. The Apple Australia Store has Aperture listed for $699. More...
November Meeting
Monday 7th November 6:30 pm
Room 327 Theatrette, Level 3, Webster Building, UNSW Kensington
Raffle Prize:
We have one copy of The Macintosh iLife '05 Teachers Guide textbook by Jim Heid, published by Peachpit Press and kindly donated for our November raffle by Warwick Harty. About 300 pages, comes with a CD. Value approx $70.
Don't forget: You can borrow Colin's Software Updates CD at meetings, to get all Apple's latest System and Security Updates for OS X 10.3 and 10.4, without the huge downloads (Colin's already done that for you). And, Robin has a compilation CD available with OS 9 Updates as well.
Beginners Mac Workshop
Learn Mac OS X basics in a friendly, informative environment. Presented by AMUG Sydney.
Saturday 12th November 10am-2pm.
Room 136C (Computer Lab), Ground Floor, Webster Building, UNSW Kensington.
- One Mac per person
- No questions too silly
- Use one of the Uni's eMacs or bring your own Notebook
- Get Apple's latest Software Updates on CD, without the big downloads
- Free for AMUG members
To book, phone Rob on 9387 2069 or email sydamug@mac.com
Puzzle: 'A Few More Things'
It has been a few months since AUSOM's Nicholas Pyers released one of his famous Crossword Puzzles. Apple have made many announcements during that time, including Steve Jobs' "...and One More Thing..." set of revelations in October. This puzzle highlights some of these recent announcements.
Download and print a PDF copy (55K) of the puzzle and clues, see if you can nut it out, then check the solution on Nicholas's web site.
Mac 911 Secrets
Christopher Breen - editor in chief of Playlistmag.com and contributing author of US Macworld magazine's tips & troubleshooting column "Mac 911" - provides solutions to your most vexing Mac problems.
You can read his latest postings here.
Apple User Group Milestones
Congratulations to ambassador Stan Miller and members of Apple-Q Inc user group in South Brisbane, Queensland, celebrating the 26th anniversary of their club being formed. Apple-Q Inc started in 1979 (we beat them by a year: Sydney AUG first met in 1978 – see Our Early History article on AMUG Sydney's web site).
MUG Center Vendor Offers
The MUG Center regularly negotiates special discount offers for members of Macintosh User Groups worldwide. For an up-to-date list of all available user group offers, visit the MUG Center Vendor Offers web page. Just look for those marked as 'Global' availability and check the expiry date. Most offers require a special order code or URL; if these are not published, contact us at AMUG Sydney for that information.
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Apple product images courtesy of Apple. Prices quoted are RRP incl GST, correct at time of preparation, and subject to change.