[photopress:TEMP_Image_2_4.jpg,full,center] Here she is, the Mac laptop that had us all buzzing these past few weeks, the MacBook Air. What is it, exactly? And what’s with the Air monkier? • She’s really, really thin. Like, 0.16 inches thin at the thinnest point. It fits inside an envelope. I’m staring at my credit card. • It’s got a 13.3-inch widescreen, LED display. • Yes, it uses a multi-touch trackpad. • It uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 1.66 GHz. It comes with an 80GB hard drive as standard, or you can opt for a 64GB flash drive, but that’ll cost ya. 2GB RAM is standard. Finally. • There’s no built-in optical drive. A separate, USB drive will be available for $99 later. You can “borrow” another PC/Mac’s optical drive using supplied software. • Built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth. It has something called a micro-DVI port for outputting video. • She weighs three pounds, with a five-hour battery life. Three pounds? Isn’t that a little on the heavy side? • Price: $1,799. Yeah… • You can pre-order it today and it’ll ship in two weeks. • Apple just put a video of it on its Web site. Right here, or thereabouts. → Read More
The iTunes Movie Rental Store, rumored for so many weeks, is real, as Mr. Jobs just announced. Here’s what’s up. • Every major studio, including Sony, Warner, Paramount and Universal, has signed up. So much for them hating Apple. • New releases hit the Rental Store 30 days after their DVD release. • Rentals last 24 hours, You have 30 days from the time of purchase to actually begin watching the movie. • Price: New releases are $3.99, while older titles are $2.99. That’s a hell of a lot cheaper than going to the cinema and dealing with all the nonsense that entails. • It launches today here in the U.S. International dudes will have to wait till later in the year. → Read More
[photopress:imgp4584.JPG,full,center] Apple TV has been a bust thus far, but Apple hasn’t given up on the concept yet. Here’s what Jobs just announced during his MacWorld keynote. • It’s a free software update. No having to buy Apple TV V2 or anything. • Most importantly you no longer need a PC/Mac to use Apple TV. You’ll be able to rent movies, including high-def movies for $4.99, right from the device itself. You can also buy music right from the device. Note that Jobs said he’ll never let iTunes have a music rental service. • Apple TV now supports Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. • Apple dropped the price from $299 to $229. → Read More
Below is the transcript, in reverse chronological order, from the Steve Jobs keynote at the Macworld Expo. Thanks for tuning in! 10:44am: Newman stopped talking, Steve thanked everyone for coming, lots of applause, it’s over. 10:40am: lots of political references and he compares Bush to Ceasar and the Spanish Armada. Very political and Republicans wouldn’t be happy 10:38am: 3 minutes later and the Newman is still rambling about god knows what. Some movie references are funny, but I’m waiting for the hook to come on stage to get him off 10:35am: Newman finishes signing and is now talking about SJ being a hard act to follow, then cracks some jokes. 10:34am: wow, the song is heavily political, Republicans wont be happy. Jokes about the high court, referring to the US Gov as an Empire with comparisons to the Spanish Armada. I’m just waiting to SJ to endorse a candidate 10:33am: Newman signing song in defense of America, starts by saying the leaders in the US aren’t good, but not has bad a Caesar….seriously. 10:30am: Randy Newman to sing on stage to finish off proceedings. SJ notes his achievements in movie scores etc… 10:28am: the 4 major things SJ wanted to talk about have finished. Now reviewing the announcements 10:27am: Macbook Air: it’s “green”. Mercury and Arsenic free LCD and glass, Aluminum frame can be recycled. PVC free on circutry, and packing is less 10:26am: First Air video demoed. The brown envelope is the key to the campaign to emphasize the size 10:24am: price: $1799. 10:23am: 5 hours battery life for Macbook Air, compared with competitors at 1 1/2 hours 10:21am: new feature: “remote disk” that will allow you to install software from another computer 10:20am: no optical drive, but you can buy a special external for $99 10:19am: comes with 802.11n and latest Bluetooth 10:18am: SJ says this is “awesome technology” 10:17am: new Intel chip that is 60% smaller than usual core duos. Intel’s Paul Otellini takes the stage 10:16am: 1.6ghz or 1.8ghz Intel Core Duo. → Read More
[photopress:macworldrentals.jpg,full,center] The rumors suggesting Apple would begin renting videos on iTunes appear to be true. Bloomberg today cites “people familiar with the agreements” in a report that claims Warner Bros., Fox, Paramount, Disney and Lions Gate have all signed up to be part of the new service. To be announced on January 15, likely during Steve Jobs’ MacWorld keynote, rented movies will cost $3.99 and will last 24 hours. How many times you’ll be able to view the movie and on how many different devices is still unknown. Apple might want to use this to let everyone knows that Apple TV still exists. (Am I being fair in calling the Apple TV a disappointment so far?) Apple to Allow ITunes Users to Rent Films, People Say (Update5) [Bloomberg] → Read More
[photopress:08mp_display.jpg,full,center] A prelude of things to come next week at MacWorld? Apple speed bumped the Mac Pro and Xserve today; both now use Intel’s recently-released Penryn processor. The revised Mac Pro, what every little Mac Head wish he had the money for, has: – two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses; – 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB; – ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory; – 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm; – 16x SuperDrive(TM) with double-layer support (DVD+/-R DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW); – two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots; – Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; and – ships with Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse. That’ll set you back $2,799. As for the $2,999 Xserve… → Read More
Announced back in September, iTunes Tagging is a way for listeners of HD Radio to take a song they’ve heard on the radio, mark it with the appropriate metadata (that’s then synced to your iPod), then download the song from the iTunes Store after connecting their iPod to their computer. I’ve completely make a mess of that sentence, but you know what I mean to say. Now we’re hearing word that Apple will be making a big push at January’s MacWorld for stereos and boomboxes that work with iTunes Tagging. Apple says it’s a way for non-satellite radio stations to get into the digital music age. Because, you know, I always wanted to hear radio ads for the local car dealership in the highest quality possible. So far, manufacturers committed to building iTunes Tagging-compatible radios include Sony, Griffin and Cambridge Soundworks. Apple readying HD Radio push for Macworld [iLounge] → Read More
So we’re getting close to the end of year, which is followed by the beginning of a new year, and that means a Macworld Expo. Earlier this year, Macworld was the launching pad for what is perhaps Apple’s most anticipated device ever, the iPhone. This year, there’s now way they could match the hype, but it’s still the premiere arena to launch new lust-worthy hardware. So, what does Apple have in store? → Read More
Two things here. First, it’s being reported on CNBC that Apple’s sub-notebook that’s supposed to be launched at Macworld next month "is expected to be priced aggressively at approximately $1500," according to AppleInsider. The device will be 50% thinner than the MacBook Pro, use NAND flash memory instead of a hard drive, and "it will definitively arrive at Macworld." Second, it’s been suggested by sources close to Jim Goldman of CNBC that a 3G iPhone "will be on store selves by late May or early June at the latest" instead of the end of next year. Apple sub-notebook to retail for $1500, 3G iPhone by June [AppleInsider] → Read More
There’s a story in today’s Digitimes that claims Apple has placed an order for 13.3-inch LED backligt units, known on the street as BLUs. What could Apple be doing with a bunch BLUs, say, maybe, putting the finishing touches on a Damn Small notebook? (That’s what I’m hoping for. I’ve been without a notebook for seven months now… I missing going into Starbucks and stealing passwords and reading AIM conversations.) MacWorld is only a few weeks away. Please don’t disappoint be, Mr. Jobs. Kenmos and Nano-Op supply LED notebook BLUs to Dell and A [DigiTimes] → Read More
http://www.viddler.com/player/9cee709d/ Macworld workout? Seriously? I better get started. *shrug* → Read More
If the LX hadn’t come along I’d still be fondling my iPhone with a manic intensity. But after updating to 1.1.1 and fearing for my life and my $400, I was almost about to relegate the phone to the drawer of failed cellphones. I liked my third-party apps. I really did. Well, it seems that the iPhone will have an SDK and it will be fabulous. Tentantively expected at January’s MacWorld Conference, we can expect all sorts of Leopard/iPOS crossover. Will I ever get Tetris back? Only Steve knows. Will Apple Open the iPhone? [BusinessWeek] → Read More
OK, so maybe these two little gems weren’t found in ruins, but they might as well have seeing as how Mac case mods as extravagant as this one aren’t seen too often. While I was venturing the Moscone Center North Hall for the MacWorld Expo, I ran across these two bad boys at a MacMod booth. The people working there were selling this “Necromac II” at an auction. At the time I didn’t see many people around putting down money for the Mac, however, I did start to see people bringing in their own towers and talking to the people at MacMod about doing their own case mods. Will we be seeing more beautiful looking Macs by the end of the week? Cross your fingers! (Plus, I think Mel Gibson owns one of these already…) → Read More
The E-MU 404 AudioPod is a new USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface with 24-bit A/D and D/A converters and XTC mic/line/hi-Z preamps. Not only are you going to get great sound coming out of the 0404 AudioPod, but you’re also going to get a hot signal going to tape without having to worry about clipping the track. The XTC Class-A ultra-low noise preamps will allow you to plug microphones, keyboards, guitars, MIDI controllers and any other MIDI device into your digital workstation/laptop/desktop and the preamplifiers will give you great sound. → Read More
If you missed our previous coverage of Apple TV, here’s a second chance to take a look at Apple’s new product that changes the way we can experience our digital media. Apple TV features HDMI, component outputs, built-in 802.11 g/b/n, Ethernet, an Intel CPU, 40GB of space and can support 720p resolution. On top of all that, Apple TV can also wirelessly stream media from up to 5 different computers. → Read More
Now that we’ve all taken in the excitement of the new iPhone, it’s time to take a look at other innovative things going on at MacWorld 2007. The ModBook is an after-market mod kit for your Apple MacBook. The hardware mod kit allows you to convert your MacBook into a tablet computer. The ModBook is marketed toward students, professionals and artists who prefer to draw and write directly on screen rather than using a mouse and keyboard. Every move you make with the pen will automatically be recognized by OS X Tiger, giving you ultimate control in apps like Photoshop. Pretty interesting, yeah? You also have the option of turning on a built-in GPS when you purchase a ModBook. The display screen also features an anti-reflective coating to give you an overall brighter image. Axiotron also states that the LCD has been acid treated to give a smooth, paper-like writing sensation to users. Honestly, the tablet takes a little bit getting used to, but after you play with it for a few minutes, there aren’t many flaws. The biggest problem I had was with trying to tap on the little icons in Photoshop, which isn’t really a big problem. There’s no pricing or release date yet, so stay tuned. More pictures after the jump. → Read More
, Steve!? Really, I love the new products. And the name change from Apple Computer to Apple, Inc. is great, too. But what about Leopard? What about new portables? What about 8-way MacPros? What about the Macs? Or are we going to see “one more thing” later in the week? Steve? → Read More
Holy crap! After an unfathomable amount of speculation culminating recently in the release of iPhone products from Linksys, Apple has finally dropped the ball on the holy grail of the tech industry: the Apple iPhone. The device blends style and functionality into one groundbreaking device. It features a full touchscreen interface and is powered by OS X. It supports Widgets, Safari, Google Maps and iTunes with CoverFlow. What’s more, it integrates total iPod capabilities, making it the first music phone that people might actually want. My question though, at 11.6-millimeters thick, does it really have enough juice to be a functional phone and media player? Apple is saying it can get 5 hours with talk or video and 16 hours of music, but there is no information as to what happens when users do all of that stuff concurrently. Anyway, it also features a 2-megapixel camera and some efficient use of iPhoto that could make it a legitimate pocket camera replacement. And for the music there are versions with 4GB and 8GB of NAND storage. It’ll be available exclusively through Cingular and it only features EDGE, which makes it not appealing at all to me. If, however, you’re not dissuaded by that fact, you can get them this June. The 4GB will be $499 and the 8GB will be $599—both WITH a two year contract. → Read More
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