gekko
01-07-2003, 04:36 PM
Well today is a great day for the Mac community as always. MacWorld San Fransisco. One of the two big Mac shows that occur throughout the year where all the l33t new products are unvelied. Let's get started.
2003 is the year of the notebook for Apple. That being said, there are new PowerBook G4s out. There is a 12" PowerBook G4 coming out for $1799, the cheapest PowerBook ever (remember ibook is the consumer model). Can be built with a SuperDrive for only $1999. What is special about the 12"? 1.2 inches thick. 4.6 pounds -- smaller than Duos. Full sized keyboard. Smaller than the iBook in every dimension. 1024 x 768 display. 867MHz G4 processor. Nvidia GeForce4 420 Go, 40GB. Slot Load Combo drive. Wireless and bluetooth. Airport Extreme ready (module costs $99). 5 hours of battery life -- "same as iBook even though it has a G4." Also bundled with QuickBooks.
Also a new 17" PowerBook priced at $3299 coming in February. 1GHz G4 1MB L3 cache, SuperDrive, GeForce 440 Go Nvidia chipset, 64MB graphics memory, 60GB hard disk. First system to use "FireWire 800." Interface: USB, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 (can also use older FireWire devices on 800 port with adapter), Gigabit Ethernet, S-Video output, DVI output, security, power, modem, second USB port, PC card slot, audio in, headphones.
Uses the same display on the 17 inch iMac with thinner backlight. 1 inch thick. Thinnest PowerBook ever. 1440 x 900 display. Fiber optic backlighting system in keyboard. Ambient light sensors automatically detect low light conditions to light the keyboard. 6.8 lbs. First 17 inch notebook in the world, said Jobs. Made out of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy -- hard anodized, not painted.
New bigger and better AirPort wireless networking. Say hello to AirPort Extreme. 54Mbps 802.11g wireless networking. Said the other 54Mbps 802.11a standard is "doomed to failure" because of lack of compatibility with 802.11b hotspots. New card is built in to the 17 inch PowerBook. "Antennas where they belong," on the left and right edges of the screen. Said that the range is equal to the iBook.
Airport Extreme Base Station: Support for up to 50 users. Support for wireless bridging -- buy another base station and you will automatically be bridged between them. USB printing support (USB port on the base station). Priced at $199.
On to software...
Apple introduced the new iLife package. Before the iApps weren't intergrated with each other, but Apple wants to change that. They're bundling iTunes 3, iMovie 3, iPhoto 2, and iDVD 3 in a new bundle called iLife. It will be avaliable Jan. 25 for $49. It promises tighter integration between all the applications. And before you anti-Mac fans go nuts, iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto will be avaliable to download, for free. iDVD 3 is too big for most users to download, so they're charging. But it does come free on all new Macs. Nothing new, considering iMovie 2 and iDVD 2 upgrades cost money.
iLife includes incredible new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD with several new features, all integrated. For example, users can now select music from their iTunes library to use in their iPhoto slideshows, movies or DVD menus from directly within iPhoto 2, iMovie 3 or iDVD 3 -- without interrupting the creative process by having to switch back and forth between applications, according to Jobs.
iPhoto 2 now includes one-click photo Enhance, which can improve less-than-perfect pictures; a new Retouch tool for removing scratches, hair, lens dirt, etc.; photo archiving to a CD or DVD to preserve and share your iPhoto library; and the ability to e-mail photos with one click using Mac OS X Mail, Eudora, Entourage, and AOL.
iMovie 3 features pro-quality special effects, including the new "Ken Burns" effect for adding motion to still photos; new audio editing tools and sound effects from Skywalker Sound's seven-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom; special video effects such as Aged Film, Letterbox and Earthquake; and the ability to add chapter markers to movies for DVD navigation and scene selection.
iDVD 3 includes 24 new pro-quality, Apple-designed, customizable DVD menu themes; automatically created DVD scene selection menus from iMovie chapter markers; and the ability to personalize iDVD 3 themes with personal photos, music and movies using iDVD Drop Zones.
"We're so far ahead of anybody, it's not funny" -- Steve Jobs
Curious how the applications are doing?
iDVD: 680,000 copies distributed. iDVD 3 announced. Again, fully integrated with other iApps. 24 new "amazing" professionally built themes that you can add your own iTunes music to and much more. iDVD also builds automatic scene selection menus based on chapter indices in iMovie projects. Apple lowering price of DVD-Rs to $3. Jobs expects them to hit $1 a piece within 24 months. "We are so far ahead of anybody, it's not funny."
iMovie 3: Over 12 million copies of original. Integrated with iPhoto, iDVD and iTunes. Added Chapters features -- number one request. Added "Ken Burns effect" and precise audio editing, you can edit within clips. New user interface. Sound effects by Skywalker Sound. "Ken Burns effect" is pan and zoom on still images. New titles, transitions and effects. iDVD is integrated -- export no longer required.
iPhoto: 6 million copies, iPhoto 2 introduced. iTunes music library visible in iPhoto now. Retouch brush and one click enhance. Retouch brush preserves color and texture, one click enhance improves white balance and more. Archive to CD and DVD. iDVD button now causes iDVD to launch. Slides will automatically transfer over.
iTunes: 18 million copies distributed. iTunes 3 was first of new generation of integrated apps.
But where iMovie isn't enough, and Final Cut Pro is too much and out of budget, we have Final Cut Express.
Final Cut Express demo was given by Apple's Phil Schiller. The interface looks very similar to Final Cut Pro. It works the same way, too, according to Schiller. Over 200 effects and transitions included. Also includes color correction tools. Retails for $299. Available today.
Final Cut Pro is number one pro video app in the world as measured by units sold. Mentioned price as an issue. Solution: New product called Final Cut Express. "Lets you edit like a pro," similar to FCP but minus some pro features.
But of course, I saved the best for last! Anti-Microsoft news!!! w00t!! w00t!! :D
Showing Microsoft they can't do anything right, Apple introduced the almightly Safari web browser. Poor MS is going to lose that market too. Good! :)
Safari is based on standards. Based on an HTML rendering engine that is open source. Dramatically improved performance as work begun a work ago. "Some people have a problem with open source, we think it's great." Apple will post all the improvements to the engine today. Code base started with was KHTML -- "very popular in the Linux world." Runs on Jaguar. Beta release, free download. Today. And I'm using it to post this :D
i-Bench Tests compared IE, Netscape, Chimera, and Safari on 800MHz G4. 53.7, 33.6, 21.8, 16.6 seconds to load pages respectively. JavaScript test and load and launch times are faster as well. Integrated Google in tool bar. "Minimal" interface. New way of looking at bookmarks -- bookmarks bar and bookmarks library. Library looks like iTunes and iPhoto catalogs. Bug button reports issues to Apple if you find Web sites that don't work for some reason.
"So, buckle up." Safari: A "turbo browser for OS X." First major new browser in five years, said Jobs. Why make one? Speed -- fastest browser on the Mac. Also "Most innovative." Google right on the toolbar. "Snapback" to top level of Web sites.
SnapBack, for those of you who didn't watch the keynote, is a way of snapping back to a certain page easily. Let's say you're searching google, you can mark for current page as the snapback point. Go through all the links you want, then click snapback and you're instantly back at that page. Works well with shopping carts also.
Two words, kick ass. But isn't there more anti-MS news? I mean, how does Jobs make those ub3r l33t presentations for MacWorld? Does he actually use a Microsoft program? :eek: Nope! Steve Jobs uses a program created specifically for him, and now avaliable to the public, called Keynote. Keynote is Apple's answer to PowerPoint.
Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint format. It can also export to PDF and QuickTime. Open file format; XML based. Apple wants third parties to be able to support the technology. Runs on Mac OS X 10.2. To be sold for $99. Available today. (Keynote attendees get a free copy.)
Keynote: "A presentation app for when your presentation really counts ... Keynote was built for me." Ostensibly, a replacement for PowerPoint and other similar applications. Jobs has used Keynote throughout 2002. "I can assure you it's a great app," after adding that he was "a low-paid beta tester."
Keynote includes professionally designed themes, typography, pro-quality image resizing, animated charts and tables that can be created in seconds, and cinematic-quality transitions, according to Jobs. Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint, QuickTime, and PDF files.
Keynote includes 12 Apple-designed themes featuring coordinated backgrounds, fonts, colors, bullets, tables and charts. Users can change the theme of their presentation any number of times, modify an existing theme to their liking, or create custom themes to give their presentations a totally unique look.
Keynote takes advantage of Mac OS X's Quartz graphics technology, as well as OpenGL, to create presentations with pro-quality graphic elements such as fully anti-aliased text, transparency, dynamic drop shadows and cinematic-quality transitions between slides. Users can drag-and-drop graphics, digital photos, QuickTime movies and audio into their slides. Keynote's alignment guides and rulers ensure that all text and graphic elements are placed precisely where users want them, Jobs explained.
Users can choose from eight flexible chart types, progressively disclose chart and table information, and create animations, shadows and labels on any chart or table. Chart and table data can be imported from applications such as Excel and AppleWorks or organized directly in Keynote's Chart Data Editor.
For large slide shows, Keynote's Navigator offers a quick visual overview of the whole slideshow at all times. Slide thumbnails can be grouped into sections that can be collapsed or expanded. For text-oriented presentations, Keynote provides a text outline view and speaker's notes.
"Once you use this, you'll never go back," he added.
w00t!!!
And some additional Mac-loving facts:
5,000 native Mac OS X apps today. Gives Apple the confidence to announce today that all new products starting today, including speed bumps, will no longer boot in 9. Classic will still work.
Mac OS X: "Came of age" with Jaguar. Hit goal: 5 million active users of Mac OS X. 3.8 million added in 2002. "Confident" 9 - 10 million by 2003's end. "A few laggard apps ... we all know which one we're talking about."
2003 is the year of the notebook for Apple. That being said, there are new PowerBook G4s out. There is a 12" PowerBook G4 coming out for $1799, the cheapest PowerBook ever (remember ibook is the consumer model). Can be built with a SuperDrive for only $1999. What is special about the 12"? 1.2 inches thick. 4.6 pounds -- smaller than Duos. Full sized keyboard. Smaller than the iBook in every dimension. 1024 x 768 display. 867MHz G4 processor. Nvidia GeForce4 420 Go, 40GB. Slot Load Combo drive. Wireless and bluetooth. Airport Extreme ready (module costs $99). 5 hours of battery life -- "same as iBook even though it has a G4." Also bundled with QuickBooks.
Also a new 17" PowerBook priced at $3299 coming in February. 1GHz G4 1MB L3 cache, SuperDrive, GeForce 440 Go Nvidia chipset, 64MB graphics memory, 60GB hard disk. First system to use "FireWire 800." Interface: USB, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 (can also use older FireWire devices on 800 port with adapter), Gigabit Ethernet, S-Video output, DVI output, security, power, modem, second USB port, PC card slot, audio in, headphones.
Uses the same display on the 17 inch iMac with thinner backlight. 1 inch thick. Thinnest PowerBook ever. 1440 x 900 display. Fiber optic backlighting system in keyboard. Ambient light sensors automatically detect low light conditions to light the keyboard. 6.8 lbs. First 17 inch notebook in the world, said Jobs. Made out of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy -- hard anodized, not painted.
New bigger and better AirPort wireless networking. Say hello to AirPort Extreme. 54Mbps 802.11g wireless networking. Said the other 54Mbps 802.11a standard is "doomed to failure" because of lack of compatibility with 802.11b hotspots. New card is built in to the 17 inch PowerBook. "Antennas where they belong," on the left and right edges of the screen. Said that the range is equal to the iBook.
Airport Extreme Base Station: Support for up to 50 users. Support for wireless bridging -- buy another base station and you will automatically be bridged between them. USB printing support (USB port on the base station). Priced at $199.
On to software...
Apple introduced the new iLife package. Before the iApps weren't intergrated with each other, but Apple wants to change that. They're bundling iTunes 3, iMovie 3, iPhoto 2, and iDVD 3 in a new bundle called iLife. It will be avaliable Jan. 25 for $49. It promises tighter integration between all the applications. And before you anti-Mac fans go nuts, iTunes, iMovie, and iPhoto will be avaliable to download, for free. iDVD 3 is too big for most users to download, so they're charging. But it does come free on all new Macs. Nothing new, considering iMovie 2 and iDVD 2 upgrades cost money.
iLife includes incredible new versions of iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD with several new features, all integrated. For example, users can now select music from their iTunes library to use in their iPhoto slideshows, movies or DVD menus from directly within iPhoto 2, iMovie 3 or iDVD 3 -- without interrupting the creative process by having to switch back and forth between applications, according to Jobs.
iPhoto 2 now includes one-click photo Enhance, which can improve less-than-perfect pictures; a new Retouch tool for removing scratches, hair, lens dirt, etc.; photo archiving to a CD or DVD to preserve and share your iPhoto library; and the ability to e-mail photos with one click using Mac OS X Mail, Eudora, Entourage, and AOL.
iMovie 3 features pro-quality special effects, including the new "Ken Burns" effect for adding motion to still photos; new audio editing tools and sound effects from Skywalker Sound's seven-time Academy Award winner Gary Rydstrom; special video effects such as Aged Film, Letterbox and Earthquake; and the ability to add chapter markers to movies for DVD navigation and scene selection.
iDVD 3 includes 24 new pro-quality, Apple-designed, customizable DVD menu themes; automatically created DVD scene selection menus from iMovie chapter markers; and the ability to personalize iDVD 3 themes with personal photos, music and movies using iDVD Drop Zones.
"We're so far ahead of anybody, it's not funny" -- Steve Jobs
Curious how the applications are doing?
iDVD: 680,000 copies distributed. iDVD 3 announced. Again, fully integrated with other iApps. 24 new "amazing" professionally built themes that you can add your own iTunes music to and much more. iDVD also builds automatic scene selection menus based on chapter indices in iMovie projects. Apple lowering price of DVD-Rs to $3. Jobs expects them to hit $1 a piece within 24 months. "We are so far ahead of anybody, it's not funny."
iMovie 3: Over 12 million copies of original. Integrated with iPhoto, iDVD and iTunes. Added Chapters features -- number one request. Added "Ken Burns effect" and precise audio editing, you can edit within clips. New user interface. Sound effects by Skywalker Sound. "Ken Burns effect" is pan and zoom on still images. New titles, transitions and effects. iDVD is integrated -- export no longer required.
iPhoto: 6 million copies, iPhoto 2 introduced. iTunes music library visible in iPhoto now. Retouch brush and one click enhance. Retouch brush preserves color and texture, one click enhance improves white balance and more. Archive to CD and DVD. iDVD button now causes iDVD to launch. Slides will automatically transfer over.
iTunes: 18 million copies distributed. iTunes 3 was first of new generation of integrated apps.
But where iMovie isn't enough, and Final Cut Pro is too much and out of budget, we have Final Cut Express.
Final Cut Express demo was given by Apple's Phil Schiller. The interface looks very similar to Final Cut Pro. It works the same way, too, according to Schiller. Over 200 effects and transitions included. Also includes color correction tools. Retails for $299. Available today.
Final Cut Pro is number one pro video app in the world as measured by units sold. Mentioned price as an issue. Solution: New product called Final Cut Express. "Lets you edit like a pro," similar to FCP but minus some pro features.
But of course, I saved the best for last! Anti-Microsoft news!!! w00t!! w00t!! :D
Showing Microsoft they can't do anything right, Apple introduced the almightly Safari web browser. Poor MS is going to lose that market too. Good! :)
Safari is based on standards. Based on an HTML rendering engine that is open source. Dramatically improved performance as work begun a work ago. "Some people have a problem with open source, we think it's great." Apple will post all the improvements to the engine today. Code base started with was KHTML -- "very popular in the Linux world." Runs on Jaguar. Beta release, free download. Today. And I'm using it to post this :D
i-Bench Tests compared IE, Netscape, Chimera, and Safari on 800MHz G4. 53.7, 33.6, 21.8, 16.6 seconds to load pages respectively. JavaScript test and load and launch times are faster as well. Integrated Google in tool bar. "Minimal" interface. New way of looking at bookmarks -- bookmarks bar and bookmarks library. Library looks like iTunes and iPhoto catalogs. Bug button reports issues to Apple if you find Web sites that don't work for some reason.
"So, buckle up." Safari: A "turbo browser for OS X." First major new browser in five years, said Jobs. Why make one? Speed -- fastest browser on the Mac. Also "Most innovative." Google right on the toolbar. "Snapback" to top level of Web sites.
SnapBack, for those of you who didn't watch the keynote, is a way of snapping back to a certain page easily. Let's say you're searching google, you can mark for current page as the snapback point. Go through all the links you want, then click snapback and you're instantly back at that page. Works well with shopping carts also.
Two words, kick ass. But isn't there more anti-MS news? I mean, how does Jobs make those ub3r l33t presentations for MacWorld? Does he actually use a Microsoft program? :eek: Nope! Steve Jobs uses a program created specifically for him, and now avaliable to the public, called Keynote. Keynote is Apple's answer to PowerPoint.
Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint format. It can also export to PDF and QuickTime. Open file format; XML based. Apple wants third parties to be able to support the technology. Runs on Mac OS X 10.2. To be sold for $99. Available today. (Keynote attendees get a free copy.)
Keynote: "A presentation app for when your presentation really counts ... Keynote was built for me." Ostensibly, a replacement for PowerPoint and other similar applications. Jobs has used Keynote throughout 2002. "I can assure you it's a great app," after adding that he was "a low-paid beta tester."
Keynote includes professionally designed themes, typography, pro-quality image resizing, animated charts and tables that can be created in seconds, and cinematic-quality transitions, according to Jobs. Keynote imports and exports PowerPoint, QuickTime, and PDF files.
Keynote includes 12 Apple-designed themes featuring coordinated backgrounds, fonts, colors, bullets, tables and charts. Users can change the theme of their presentation any number of times, modify an existing theme to their liking, or create custom themes to give their presentations a totally unique look.
Keynote takes advantage of Mac OS X's Quartz graphics technology, as well as OpenGL, to create presentations with pro-quality graphic elements such as fully anti-aliased text, transparency, dynamic drop shadows and cinematic-quality transitions between slides. Users can drag-and-drop graphics, digital photos, QuickTime movies and audio into their slides. Keynote's alignment guides and rulers ensure that all text and graphic elements are placed precisely where users want them, Jobs explained.
Users can choose from eight flexible chart types, progressively disclose chart and table information, and create animations, shadows and labels on any chart or table. Chart and table data can be imported from applications such as Excel and AppleWorks or organized directly in Keynote's Chart Data Editor.
For large slide shows, Keynote's Navigator offers a quick visual overview of the whole slideshow at all times. Slide thumbnails can be grouped into sections that can be collapsed or expanded. For text-oriented presentations, Keynote provides a text outline view and speaker's notes.
"Once you use this, you'll never go back," he added.
w00t!!!
And some additional Mac-loving facts:
5,000 native Mac OS X apps today. Gives Apple the confidence to announce today that all new products starting today, including speed bumps, will no longer boot in 9. Classic will still work.
Mac OS X: "Came of age" with Jaguar. Hit goal: 5 million active users of Mac OS X. 3.8 million added in 2002. "Confident" 9 - 10 million by 2003's end. "A few laggard apps ... we all know which one we're talking about."