macworld conference

Jan 15 2008

The other 3 things…

When Steve Jobs took the stage today to address the crowd at the 2008 Macworld Conference and Expo Keynote, he told us up front that he had 4 things to talk about. Number 4 was the biggie: the MacBook Air. I’ve already posted about that. But let’s take a look at the other 3 things…

Number 1: Time Capsule
I know Steve said the first thing was Leopard, but that was just so that he could quote stats and reviews. The Leopard talk lead to Time Machine which lead to the nuisance of using Mac OS X 10.5′s backup solution with a notebook Mac. Enter Time Capsule.

Time Capsule is a backup appliance that automatically and wirelessly backs up everything on one or more Macs running Leopard. Time Capsule combines an 802.11n base station with a server grade hard disk in one small package. Simply plug it in, then set up automatic wireless backup for every Mac in your house to a single Time Capsule. Time Capsule offers the benefits of a full-featured 802.11n Wi-Fi base station, and comes in two models: a 500 gigabyte model for USD$299 and a 1 terabyte model for USD$499.
Number 2: iPhone
I know the iPhone itself isn’t new, but Apple announced a free software update that allows users to find their location using the redesigned Maps application; text message multiple people in one message; create Web Clips for their favorite websites; customize their home screen; and watch movies rented from the new iTunes Movie Rentals right on their iPhone. New iPhone products shipping from the factory will include the software update and existing iPhone customers will automatically get the update for free when they sync their iPhone with iTunes.

There was also a software upgrade announcement for the iPod touch adding five more great mobile applications–Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes. The iPod touch software upgrade also
includes new features such as Web Clips and beginning today, the ability to watch iTunes Movie Rentals. New iPod touch products shipping from the factory will include the software upgrade and
existing iPod touch customers can get the software upgrade for USD$19.99 by purchasing and downloading it from iTunes.

Number 3: iTunes
Again, Steve said iTunes, but it is really iTunes and Apple TV. The big iTunes Movie Rentals service announcement came down as expected. Movies from all the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema can be rented for as low as USD$2.99. Users can watch them on their Macs or PCs, all current generation iPods, iPhone and Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals launches today and will offer over 1,000 titles by the end of February, including over 100 titles in high definition video with 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound which users can rent directly from their widescreen TV using Apple TV and newly announced software. iTunes Movie Rentals are priced at USD$2.99 for library titles and USD$3.99 for new releases, and high definition versions are just one dollar more with library titles at USD$3.99 and new releases at USD$4.99.

As I mentioned, the Apple TV needs new software to access the new iTunes Movie Rentals. This was announced as was a price drop of the Apple TV to just USD$229 for the 40GB model.

With the new software, Apple TV users can view photos from their computers, Flickr and .Mac Web Galleries on their widescreen TV as slideshows or screen savers, and anytime photos are updated on Flickr or .Mac, they are automatically updated on Apple TV. Apple TV users can now also browse and enjoy the iTunes Store podcast directory of over 125,000 video and audio podcasts.
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By admin • apple, General News, News • Comments Off • Tags: 3 things, backup appliance, home, iPhone, mac os x, macworld conference, Mail, Maps, mobile applications, model, Rentals, software, Studios, time, time capsule, touch software, Update, web clips