Archives for Category : Apple

Today’s Apple Special Event was indeed very eventful with updates to all of the iPod families (except the venerable hard drive version) and announcement of Apple TV version 2 as well as updates on iOS 4.1 and 4.2. You can watch the full Steve Jobs keynote here:

• Apple Special Event September 1st, 2010

Here are some the highlights:

iPod shuffle

Physically it’s reverting from the last buttonless incarnation to the previous button-ful look while retaining the VoiceOver features [$49]

• Apple: iPod shuffle – The perfect mix

iPod nano

Radical new design that’s looks like an oversized iPod shuffle with the front being a touch screen. NOTE: he new nano appears to lose the previous model’s camera and video playback support [8GB/$149, 16GB/$179]

• Apple: A new way to nano
• engadget: iPod nano (2010) first hands-on!

iPod touch

Bill’s wishes appear to have come true as the new iPod touch gains all the goodies he was hoping to see:

• Retina display
• Front and rear facing cameras
• Support for FaceTime
• HD video recording
• A4 processor & 3-axis gyroscope

In other words, it’s exactly an iPhone 4 without the phone part [8GB/$229, 32GB/$299, 64GB/$399]

• Apple: Introducing the new iPod touch
• engadget: iPod touch (2010) first hands-on!

Apple TV

The Apple TV loses the internal hard drive, the ability to sync with your computer, the ability to buy movies and video rather than just rent, and significant size and weight while gaining Netflix support and a huge price cut ($99!) I’m a tad bit annoyed by the loss of on-board storage but the Netflix support alone is a big win.

You can also now stream video from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone to the Apple TV using AirPlay, an expanded version of the old Air Tunes remote speakers feature. No announced support for doing the same from your iMac or MacBook but hopefully that will be coming in a future Mac OS X update.

• Apple: The all-new Apple TV engadget: The new Apple TV for $99

iTunes 10

The new big revision of iTunes brings more interface tweaks and Ping which brings social networking to the iTunes Store (“Ah, I see you have the machine that goes PING!”) FaceBook fans will probably rejoice while everyone else will just say “Meh”.

Oh, and Apple is replacing the venerable old CD based iTunes logo with a new stylized one that didn’t seem to impress Collin very much.

This is supposed to be available today but at the moment the Apple iTunes page just says it’s coming soon.

iOS 4.1

Coming next week, iOS 4.1 is mainly a bug fix for the issues created in iOS 4.0. It does however add potentially very useful features: High Dynamic Range photos, HD video uploads to YouTube and Game Center. This will be a free update for all iPhone and iPod touch owners.

• engadget: Apple announces iOS 4.1

iOS 4.2

iPad owners will really appreciate this one. Coming in November, iOS 4.2 beings all the cool 4.0 features (multi-tasking, folders, etc.) to the iPad. It also brings something that we’ve all been clamoring for: PRINTING. Yes, Apple will finally provide support for printing from iPad, iPhone and iPod touch devices. This will be another free update for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users.

• Apple demoes iOS 4.2, features AirPlay media streaming

And that’s about it. Follow the links for more details and leave your comments below.

In a nod to keynotes past, Apple will be providing a live video feed of tomorrow’s media event. Details are available here:

• Apple to Provide Live Video Streaming of September 1 Event

The event starts at 1:00pm Eastern Time. I guess we’ll find out how well Apple’s video servers handle heavy loads as a large percentage of the known universe attempts to watch this.

Announcement of the next iPod touch is pretty much a given since Apple has traditionally used this slot for that purpose. iOS 4.1 also appears likely since testing seems to be winding up on that. The rumor mill is banking on a $99 replacement for the Apple TV with new content deals to reedit.

Tune in Wednesday at 1:00pm to find out.

The iMac and Mac pro lines have both been updated:

Mac Pro

Under the tag line “Mac. To the power of 12.”, the Mac pro line receives better standard graphics; new Solid State Drive (SSD) flash storage options and an option for 12 processing cores!

• Mac. To the power of 12.

Available in August. Standard configurations are Quad-Core for $2499 and 8-Code for $3299. The 12 core option is provided by upgrading to two 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 processors.

iMacs

The iMac line receives an upgrade to the Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors and a higher performance graphics chip.

• The ultimate all-in-one. Turbocharged.

The new iMac models are available now.

In an interesting and fairly unexpected announcement, Apple is now selling a Bluetooth track pad designed to be used with desktop machines!

• Apple: Magic Trackpad

Price is $69.

Why should notebooks have all the fun?

Desktop users, your time has come. The new Magic Trackpad is the first Multi-Touch trackpad designed to work with your Mac desktop computer. It uses the same Multi-Touch technology you love on the MacBook Pro. And it supports a full set of gestures, giving you a whole new way to control and interact with what’s on your screen. Swiping through pages online feels just like flipping through pages in a book or magazine. And inertial scrolling makes moving up and down a page more natural than ever. Magic Trackpad connects to your Mac via Bluetooth wireless technology. Use it in place of a mouse or in conjunction with one on any Mac computer — even a notebook.

And to keep it in batteries you can now buy the Apple Battery Charger.

The Library of Congress has announced exemptions to the (in)famous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that allow iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners to legally jailbreak their devices.

• The Library of Congress Statement
• USA Today: Library of Congress authorizes a jailbreak for iPhone and cell phone users
• Yahoo News: New gov’t rules allow unapproved iPhone apps
• ars technica: Apple loses big in DRM ruling: jailbreaks are “fair use”
• It’s legal to jailbreak iPhone, but it voids warranty

Other exemptions involving fair use of DVD content, video games and hardware “dongles” are also included. Understand that while this means it is legally permissible to jailbreak one of your devices that does not mean that Apple has to condone or support it. In other words, don’t expect your warranty to survive your jailbreak efforts.