Sep 4, 2007 Sep 6, 2007 Wednesday September 5, 2007
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Initial look at new iPods yields positive first impression
Apple's overhaul of its iPod roster brings about several appealing developments: video on the Nano; a wireless version of the ...
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Apple dramatically chops iPhone cost
Apple slashed the price of its best-selling iPhone to $399 today. The company says it's on track to ship its 1,000,000th unit ...
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‘Zune Thoughts’ on Today’s iPod News
Jason Dunn: Today isn’t a good day to be a Zune fan, that’s for sure. Why? Because Apple unleashed a new wave of iPods today, and they’re every bit as impressive as I was fearing they’d be. This was no simple product refresh with memory bumps and price drops — no, this is a whole new generation of iPods. ★
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Conspicuous By Their Absence
A few notable things weren’t announced alongside new iPods today. Yeah, aside from the Beatles (let it go, old media, let it go)… First, no new labels were announced for iTunes Plus, a program that therefore still consists largely of the EMI catalog of higher-bitrate, DRM-free, $1.29 tracks. Even if the other majors don’t want to play — Universal because they’re being dicks, and the rest because they still love DRM — it’s hard to imagine that there aren’t some indie labels that wouldn’t like to get in on the higher-priced, audio-philic, fan-friendly format that isn’t defective by design. Maybe Apple’s holding out for another major before they let in the indies, so they don’t look desperate? I hope that iTunes Plus succeeds — I’ve already converted all my eligible tunes — but it hinges in a big way on the behavior of third parties that may not be inclined to be Apple’s allies. Similarly, Steve announced no new studios as movie providers. Right now, iTunes makes do with a library of Disney content, and some Paramount back-catalog stuff. As many format wars (including the current HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray fiasco) teach us, consumers are not enthusiastic into buying into formats with obviously limited libraries, so iTunes may still be struggling in long-form video until consumers have the confidence that pretty much whatever they want will be on iTunes (or, barring that, at least available in some form that runs on the iPod). That said, there are still video content providers being added all the time. Just before today’s big show, iTunes added Tezuka Productions, so anime snobs like me can get influential stuff from the “God of Manga”, like Phoenix… while the rest of anime fandom posts comments to the effect of “this sucks, where’s Naruto and Evangelion?” And nowadays, all the good video is nichey TV anyways, so if I can’t get big-ass Hollywood dreck like Shrek 13 on my iPod… well, darn. Finally, aside from the games included with the new models, we didn’t hear about any new games for sale on the iTunes Store. This seems like another offering that’s sort of limping along on iTunes. While there are thousands of games available for Java-enabled phones, many of them excellent, Apple’s proprietary and close-to-the-chest approach has left iPod owners with fewer than 20 titles. And if it was OK to slam the N-Gage for having no good games, shouldn’t the iPod be subject to similar abuse, so long as Apple’s genuinely trying (and, frankly, failing) in this effort?
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Q&A with Jobs: 'That's what happens in technology'
It's not every day you slice the price of a popular product by one-third. But Apple CEO Steve Jobs did just that Wednesday with ...
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Apple unveils new iPod that has wi-fi and touch screen
After a week of feverish speculation, Apple released its new iPod last night, confirming rumours that the sixth generation of the digital music player will have a 3.5in touch-screen and integrated wi-fi connection, allowing users to connect to the internet from an iPod for the first time.
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Classic or touch?
Wednesday's product announcements left Brian Chen in a bind when it comes to picking his next iPod. Does he embrace the iPod classic and its massive capacity? Or does the iPod touch's wireless connectivity win the day?
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The iPhone Rebellion
Steve Jobs' casual announcement today that Apple (AAPL) was cutting the price of the 8GB iPhone by $200 is not going over well among customers who paid $599 for theirs. In fact, it has sparked an outright rebellion in the Apple support forums, where discussion threads filled with hate mail are piling up faster than Apple can delete them. "The more the day goes by, the more furious I become," writes VSiskos in "1 Million People Slapped In The Face Today," one of the forums still standing. "I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" adds graphicalliber425. " Somewhere in my heart I'm hoping, Apple's going to offer all of us an extended return policy, or a brand new iPod nano right?" Under's Apple's standard return policy, customers who bought a product within 14 days of a price reduction can ask to be reimbursed the difference, and some Apple stores have reportedly done the same for iPhones purchased earlier than that. But those random acts of flexibility seem only to have further inflamed the wounded feelings of those who weren't extended the same courtesy. "They told me to shove it," wrote tulanejosjh. "14 days or nothing." "Same here," added jmolina1313. "The guy treated me like I was on drugs!" Many customers reported being treated rudely, which is not something you often hear about Apple employees and quite a contrast to the scene in the same stores two months ago. "The last time I walked into an Apple Store there were lines of employees clapping and giving high fives to congradulate us on the wise decision to buy an iPhone," wrote ck2875. "I wonder if going back for this would be similar?" Some AT&T stores, which also sell iPhones, are reported to have a 30-day money back return policy (minus a 10% restocking fee). Customers who bought the now discontinued 4 GB model from AT&T for $499 within the last month could theoretically trade it in for a 8 GB model and still come out $50 ahead. Meanwhile, Apple is selling off its remaining stock of 4 GB iPhones for $299 each.
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A good question
So now that the speculation is over (and dare I say how correct the rumors were) one good question was raised today about how entirely out of character it was for Apple to cut the price of a current product (in this case the iPhone) from $599 to $399. Was it panic? Were they simply gouging the early adopters (such as me)? I'd like to answer that. I think Apple had every intention or rolling out the iPod touch around the same time as the iPhone and letting users decide if they wanted a converged cell phone and iPod. But at some point they got a little behind with the iPhone and had to take some engineers off MacOS 10.5 to help. Now that iPod touch and others are ready they can lower the price and align the products the way they wanted. That said Apple must be kicking itself for sticking it to their very important early adopters. If I were still at Apple I'd be sceaming to make it right - at the very least a few free ringtones would be nice. 9/6 UPDATE: Steve makes things right! If you missed the keynote, here it is. Sent from my iPhone
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Apple Price Protection
From Apple’s Sales and Refund policy: Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment. So if you just bought an iPhone in the last 10 days, you can get $200 back. I wonder about the 30-day refund period, though — the $200 cut is far more than the restocking fee. Update: My mistake, the refund period is 14 days. Interestingly, one DF reader who bought an iPhone in early August reports that he called Apple and they offered him a $100 refund. Anyone else corroborate this? ★
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Goodbye iPod Hi-Fi?
Since the iPod Hi-Fi was announced almost 2 years ago Apple has seemingly thrown it to the side without so much as a single mention after it's initial public debut. It's always been a rather odd product for Apple to have produced as it plays the role as mainly an expensive accessory to the iPod. Apple is really in the business of creating major products and not so much “accessory” products. After the Apple online store re-opened today the Apple Hi-Fi appears to have be removed from the catalog. Clicking on the “Buy Now” buttons on the Hi-Fi product page take you to a simple page with a message that says : Sorry. The item you have selected is currently not available from the Apple Store. Who knows if this is just a simple glitch. I personally see this product falling by the wayside. ipod hifi
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Regarding July Smartphone Sales Numbers
Worth pointing out that the source for these “iPhone is best-selling smartphone in July” is iSuppli, the market research company whose break-apart cost analyses I questioned last month. The source for their sales estimates is, according to Reuters, “a consumer survey of 2 million participants in the United States that it carries out online once a month.” So take them with a grain of salt. ★
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Apple recolors, renames or redoes its whole line of iPods
At today's "Big Apple Event," Steve Jobs unveiled iPod shuffles in five new colors; an iPod classic (the new name for the good ol' iPod) holding up to 40,000 songs; an all new iPod nano with video... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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“The Beat Goes On� Keynote Stream Now Available
Only a small number of people were invited to “The Beat Goes On” keynote but Apple has quickly made the entire keynote available for streaming here. The full video is about 1 hour and 30 minutes long and covers everything from the intro of Steve Jobs to the ending with KT Tunstall playing. keynote, stream
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iPod touch Guided Tour
It will be a few weeks before Apple's new iPod touch is available so to help feed your addiction Apple has a fairly thorough video tour of the new iPod. At around 15 minutes long, it really does cover just about everything you'd need to know about the new iPod touch. You can stream it or download it here. ipod, ipod touch, tour
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Blambot is making an example of its FREE font for September: Duncecap
Nate Piekos at Blambot.com invites is to check out his new funky, chunky title font--Duncecap! Nate describes it as sort of a cross between 1970's disco and a bizarre Japanese restaurant menu font.... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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Apple Gives iPod a Touch of iPhone
After more than a week of furious industry speculation, the word from Apple was finally announced Wednesday, and it was, in fact, an iPod. It was actually a raft of new iPod and other developments, announced to a rapt crowd of reporters gathered in San Francisco. Among the highlights of the announcements were the new iPod touch, an ultra-slim iPod nano, a 160-gigabyte iPod classic, and new colors for the iPod Shuffle. Apple also announced the iTunes WiFi Music Store and kicked off the holiday shopping season by dropping the price of the iPhone from $599 to $399.
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MarsEdit 2 adds Flickr support
Red Sweater Software has announced the release of MarsEdit 2 with a redesigned user interface, brand-new Flickr photo integration, and new post-editing macros. Bloggers appreciate MarsEdit's ability... ....Read more on MacMerc.com
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Joe Hewitt Gets Fifth Row Seat for Keynote
Hewitt helped create the Facebook iPhone-optimized site: Apple was kind enough to invite myself and Dave Morin from Facebook to the event, telling us only that Steve would be browsing the Facebook iPhone site at some point in the presentation. Nice move on Apple’s part, but it leads to a question: What do we call iPhone-optimized sites now? ★
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Scott Moritz, Jackass of the Week
TheStreet.com’s Scott Moritz: Then, in an unexpected move, Apple killed the 4-gigabit [sic] iPhone and slashed the price of the 8-gigabit [sic] iPhone by $200, to $399. Apple rarely cuts prices on products, preferring to introduce replacements and discontinue previous models. The move will add more evidence to the speculation that the iPhone, while causing quite a buzz, may not be selling as rapidly as some optimists had expected. There is no need for speculation. We know exactly how well the iPhone has been selling, because Jobs said so on stage today: they’re on track to sell their millionth iPhone some time this month. That’s a good number. Earlier this week the news hit that the iPhone outsold every other smartphone on the market in July. Apple didn’t cut the price because demand is low — they set the debut price ridiculously high because demand was ridiculously high. I suspect that for the first few weeks, they were selling iPhones as fast as they could make them. Apple’s being aggressive, not defensive. (And for those of you who’ve already bought one and are pissed about the price cut, if you didn’t think the iPhone was worth $599, you shouldn’t have bought it. That’s how supply and demand works.) (Via big-time Moritz fan Gedeon Maheux.) ★
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Days After Dumping iTunes, NBC Shacks Up With Amazon
Last week Apple publicly announced the breakup between its iTunes music and video store and NBC Universal, noting NBC's desire to dally with modified retail pricing plans and potentially force Apple to sell episodes at $4.99 each. Holding fast to its insistence on selling online TV shows at exactly $1.99 an episode, the company in Cupertino, Calif., booted NBC's fall season content altogether after the network informed Apple it did not wish to renew its contract, which expires in December.
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Jackassiest Headline of the Day
Post-event headline on Apple 2.0 (Business 2.0’s Apple weblog): “iPod Refresh Does Not Include the Beatles”. Yeah, iPod Touch is a “refresh” and the still-unannounced Beatles deal is the biggest news of the day. ★
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Apple Reactions: First Product Impressions
The Nano is both fat and thin. People who bought the iPhone at $599 are mad that the price is now $399. And more reactions.
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Pioneers take the arrows
In the flurry of iPod announcements today came word that Apple dropped the price of the iPhone 8GB from US$600 to $400–an almost 35 percent drop in just over two months (68 days, to be precise). They are discontinuing the 4GB model completely. That’s a huge early adopter tax if I ever heard of one. It [...]
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Curious Stuff About the New iPods
Daniel Eran DilgerApple's iPod Event introduced a flurry of new features that raises some interesting questions and uncovers some new information on Apple’s worldwide plans to expand the iPod’s reach. The Standard iPods.The entire existing iPod lineup got a revamping, with the Shuffle simply getting new colors, the Nano getting video playback, video games, and Coverflow, and the 5.5G iPod, commonly called the "video iPod," getting more capacity, a facelift, and new official designation as the "iPod Classic."Those three products all maintained existing price points with several new features:The Video Nano, leaked under the name "Fat Nano" and called the “3G Nano� by Apple, gets a 2� 320 x 240 screen for video and Coverflow features, as well as video game compatibility with the 5G iPods. It ships with three free games: Apple's Vortex, Klondike, and iQuiz. The Nano also remains the only iPod that works with the Nike+ system.Nano is rated for 24 hours audio playback, 5 hours video playback and comes in two 6.5 mm thick versions:4 GB $149, silver8 GB $199, silver, black, red, blue, greenThose new colors match the iPod Shuffles, which remain at $79.The iPod Classic is mildly revised, thinner, and offers a new top capacity of 160 GB. This is the only remaining hard drive based iPod, and comes in silver or black. It is rated for 40 hours audio playback, 7 hours video playback, and comes in two versions:80 GB $249, silver, black, 10.5 mm thick160 GB $349, silver, black, 13.5 mm thickNew OS X iPods.Many assumed an iPod based on the iPhone would be a natural, but I originally didn't expect Apple to release one this fall. Rumors called for an “iPhone nano,� which I argued against back in July. Rather than a new smaller iPhone, Apple released an iPod with iPhone features. [Kevin Chang, iSuppli and The iPhone Nano Myth]Called the iPod Touch, it has the same display as the iPhone, WiFi, and an even thinner case: 8 mm vs 11 mm. Its WiFi works with same Safari browser and YouTube client as the iPhone, the it delivers the same Coverflow features and multitouch photo and video playback. It also adds a new WiFi Store application for buying songs from iTunes. Oddly, the iPod Touch appears to lack the Google Maps, Weather, and Stocks widgets of the iPhone, which is a curious omission. It also lacks a Mail client, Notes, and a camera. It does have the iPhone’s Calendar and Contacts--making the new iPod Touch a full fledged PDA.Interestingly, Apple has also added dictionaries for UK English, French, and German, and localized support for English, French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish.Clearly, Apple plans to blow out the new iPod touch worldwide at a scale far faster than is possible with the iPhone, which is tied to service provider agreements in every location. That may also explain why Apple isn’t advertising the US based stocks, weather, and Google Maps applications with the iPod Touch, although YouTube is there, and Mail should be.It appears Apple is ready to establish the iPod Touch around the world to prime the market for the iPhone. Also, there’s no longer much reason to try to get around activation for the iPhone.Put a Mail and VoIP client for this device, and the mobile phone market may change dramatically worldwide, shifting from cellular to WiFi. At $300 - 400, this makes a very cheap Internet mobile computer. The iPod Touch also offers 8 or 16 GB of Flash storage, twice that of the largest iPhone.8 GB $299 8 mm thick16 GB $399 8 mm thickThe iPhone meanwhile, got an aggressive $200 price drop and the smaller 4 GB model was discontinued. I did not expect Apple to cut its price so soon or so much, particularly given the fact that sales appear to have surpassed all other smartphones and even tied the popular LG Chocolate feature phone.8 GB $399, 11 mm thick.This will be painful news for mobile makers already struggling to live up to comparisons with the iPhone. Motorola is banking on the RAZR 2, which is just another flip phone with slight improvements in its crappy software. Nokia demonstrated the iPhone as its own vision for the future. Things don’t look good for mobile makers, or their service provider partners, particularly the CDMA2000 Sprint and Verizon in the US. The iPhone was already cheaper, now it’s no contest. Say goodnight, Palm and Windows Mobile.[Ten Fake Apple Scandals: Phony Rage About iPhone Price and Profits]The New WiFi Store Steve Jobs also demonstrated a new WiFi Store, a custom application that will be released for both the iPod Touch and the iPhone later in the month. Through the new store, you can search for songs, browse popular tracks or by genre, listen to samples and buy songs at the same $.99 price. Downloads are saved to the device and synced up to iTunes for backup. Interestingly, Apple doesn’t use mobile networks to download songs; as I had pointed out, WiFi is far faster. Also, there’s no provision for subscription music, keeping the iTunes DRM simple and consistent. No exploding media, and no prohibition from using your own music on CDs. One thing I thought would be impractical was a mobile iTunes store; Apple’s slick custom app version makes me wrong on that point. “Will iTunes sales jump if the iPhone gets a more difficult to navigate mobile interface that is slower, more complex, and more restrictive?� As it turns out, Apple didn’t add any Janus style DRM.One missing feature on the iPhone and iPod Touch is no Internet streaming music capacity. Even if this was only available over WiFi, it would make a lot of sense--as a feature, certainly not as a way to sell downloads. But since Apple makes its money selling hardware and not on selling music, adding iTunes’ Internet radio features might make sense. The reason for no offering it may be that WiFi streaming would kill the battery too quick.[Using iPhone: File and iTunes Sync Via USB, Wireless, and Over the Air]Starbucks’ Hot Spots.Apple announced a partnership with the ubiquitous Starbucks to allow devices running the WiFi Store app--including the iPod Touch, the iPhone, or a laptop running iTunes--to connect at Starbucks locations and download purchased songs at no additional charge. Starbucks will also popup its list of songs being played in the store, you can browse and buy them. The new service is to get rolled out in the thousands of Starbucks stores over the next year. Missing in the deal was any offer for free WiFi access in general, which is a bit lame. Apple offers free WiFi in its own 200+ retail stores, but it would be great to form a federation of WiFi providers that offer low cost access. Even a cheap subscription service--or free hotspot access with a purchase--would be great.What's also interesting is that the WiFi access at Starbucks locations is sold by T-Mobile. Why hasn't that company jumped to offer low cost WiFi plans for iPhone users? It's currently trying to sell WiFi VoIP phones; perhaps it should remember that it is a service provider, and offer service to phones, not try to sell more equipment. Offering a $20 HotSpot-only plan would allow T-Mobile to pickup a lot of iPhone--and now iPod Touch--users, customers it would otherwise never gain. WiFi providers now need to think past just laptop users, and cellular providers with hotspots need to think past cell phone users. While Jobs was in error to call the iPod Touch the first music player with a web browser, it will certainly have far more impact than the existing Archos devices. Jobs demonstrated a custom app for Facebook. Other recent sites geared toward the iPhone version of Safari include a client from WebEx and various third pary games and utilities.[iPhone Appr]New Ringtones in iTunes.Rather than selling static song clips for $2 like the mobile service providers, Apple appeared to ready to add ringtone syncing with the iPhone back in January; screenshots taken during the original iPhone event caught a new Ringtones tab in iTunes. Instead, the tab failed to ever appear and the iTunes contract was revised to say that songs couldn't be used as ringtones. Clearly, the genius of music executives got involved in the process.So now, the compromise is revealed. Of a select half million songs on iTunes, users will be able to upgrade a purchased song for an extra $1, and then be able to edit their own section of the song within iTunes for use as an official iPhone ringtone. There are also standalone apps for putting DIY ringtones on the iPhone, but Apple can't tell you that. Ringtones can also be used to set alarm sounds.The new version of iTunes is scheduled for availability later today.What do you think? I really like to hear from readers. Comment in the Forum or email me with your ideas. Like reading RoughlyDrafted? Share articles with your friends, link from your blog, and subscribe to my podcast! Submit to Reddit or Slashdot, or consider making a small donation supporting this site. Thanks!
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iPod touch - Multi-touch interface, Wi-Fi, and more
Today Apple announced a major addition to their iPod line called iPod touch. It bears significant similarities to the iPhone with touch screen capabilities, wide screen display, and more. There are two major new features included in the new iPod touch that have never been included in a previous iPod. Multi-touch interface and Wi-Fi access. Multi-touch Interface With functionality practically identical to the iPhone, the multi-touch interface really brings a new dimension to Apple's iPod lineup. The iPhone's finger-flickin' goodness is now officially on an iPod via the same Coverflow feature that exists on the iPhone and in iTunes. Wi-Fi Another first for the iPod lineup, Wi-Fi is now built in to the iPod touch. What would you need Wi-Fi for? Well I'm glad you asked. The Safari browser that exists on the iPhone is now integrated in to the iPod touch and using any public Wi-Fi network you can now browse the internet, watch YouTube videos or purchase music from the brand spankin' new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Pricing There is an 8GB model that will set you back almost $300 and a 16GB model that will set you back almost $400. My initial thoughts are that the pricing is a bit steep, especially for the 16GB model. As with other Apple products, there is a good chance the price will drop after 6-12 months. Wrapping Up Overall I feel like this is a pretty solid new product. The fact that it looks almost identical to the iPhone does irk me a bit. It just seems like a bit of a copout. Though it could be argued that there is no need to fix what isn't broken. Touché. There is also the new Starbucks partnership that reeks of burnt coffee to me. Sure, the fact that you could be in a Starbucks, here a song you like, and purchase it on the spot is a cool feature but it just seems to be an extra layer of fluff that is unnecessary and just overcrowds Apple's brand. ipod, ipod touch
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Do You Love or Hate the New Nano?
I wanna get your feedback here, loyal TAB readers. What are your thoughts on the new Nano? Love it? Hate it? Luke warm? Personally I'm in the hate it camp. I was really crossing my fingers that the spy photos that had previously leaked out on the 'net where fake. I like the larger screen I guess (320×240), but it just feels like it's now the bastard child of the iPod line. So, what do you guys think? ipod, ipod nano
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The Scourge of That Damn Frog Song
Jeff Harrell on Apple’s ringtone strategy. Reasonable and interesting theory, but I disagree. ★
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Apple Reactions: The Future of Wireless Audio and Video
The iPhone Touch may represent the future of media use: audio and video that can be played both from local storage and from a vast server with everything.
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iPods Galore - “The Beat Goes On� Apple Special Event Overview
Today at 10AM PST Apple held a special event called “The Beat Goes On” in which a whole slew of new iPod and iTunes announcements were made. The entire iPod line was “refreshed” including the addition of a new iPod Touch model that is similar to the iPhone. Here's an overview of the new products (many of which are available today). (more…) iphone, ipod classic, ipod nano, ipod shuffle, ipod touch, itunes, ringtones
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Capturing the excitement
It's all over but the shouting and it looks like Apple's hit another home run. No Beatles, but Apple did announce: Roll-your-own ringtones for 99 cents. The "fat" nano, a squarish nano with coverflow and video. 4 GB for $149, 8 GB for $199. Higher capacity "classic" iPods. ...
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Apple Event: New iPods, iPhone Price Cut, No Beatles
In a move timed to prepare customers for the 2007 holiday buying season, Steve Jobs today refreshed Apple’s (AAPL) entire line of iPod music and video players, from the tiny $79 shuffle to a new wide-screen iPod Touch -- an Internet-ready device that is basically an iPhone but without the phone. "It's one of the seven wonders of the world, it's just incredible," Jobs told a crowd of about 1,000 analysts, journalists and bloggers gathered at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. But he waited until the end of the program to announce a sharp price cut in the much-hyped iPhone, one that suggests that sales of the device may not be going as well as he hoped. The event capped a week of anticipation and frenzied speculation, and although many of the rumors proved true -- including spy photos of the so-called iPod "fatty" that Apple's legal department ordered removed from several websites -- the one many music fans cared most about did not: Paul McCartney did not appear live from the BBC and the Beatles are not yet available for download on Apple's iTunes Music Store. The new version of the iPod nano, Apple’s most popular model, sports a wider screen that can browse through album covers, play games and show movies and TV episodes downloaded from iTunes. A 4GB nano costs $149, the 8GB version is $199. The new standard iPod – renamed the iPod Classic -- is thinner and packs twice as much flash for the buck as its predecessors, enough to hold up to 40,000 songs. The 80 GB model costs $249; the 160 GB is $349. The iPod Touch, like the iPhone, has a 3.5 inch screen designed for fingertip control. Although it can’t make phone calls, it is equipped with Wi-Fi, which means users can wirelessly surf the Internet, download YouTube videos, and buy songs directly from Apple or from selected Starbucks coffee shops. There are two models: 8 GB for $299 and 16 GB for $399. They will ship later this month. The dramatic price cut on the 8 GB iPhone, from $599 to $399 -- and apparent (but not yet official) discontinuation of the less popular 4 GB model -- took most observers by surprise. The price reduction looks a lot like a last-ditch effort to boost sales, which Jobs claims are still on track to hit 1 million units before the end of September. Many analysts had predicted that Apple would have reached that goal before now. Om Malik points out that according to Apple's return policy, customers who paid $599 for an 8 GB model within the past 14 days can can request to be reimbursed for the difference. With reporting by John Fortt, who live-blogged the event at The Utility Belt. [Photo Courtesy of Engadget]
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Apple Event: A Touch-Screen Wi-Fi iPod
The new iPod Touch has Wi-Fi access, a web browser and a touch screen. For $299 and up. Meanwhile, Apple cut $200 from the price of the iPhone.
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Apple updates iPod lineup; touch, nano and shuffle (Updated 10x)
Apple CEO Steve Jobs used today’s “The beat goes on” media event in San Francisco to announce the iPod touch. It’s basically an iPhone without the phone and email. It’s a full screen iPod that’s 8mm thick with almost all of the features of the iPhone–except the annual contract. Features of the iPod touch: Wi-Fi Multi-touch display Cover Flow Large [...]
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It's going to be a very merry Apple Christmas selling season
Here's a quick summary of today's announcement-filled Apple special event in San Francisco today:$0.99 make-them-yourself ringtones in iTunesiPod shuffles in new colors, but not new storage capacities.iPod nanos sporting video and CoverFlow interfaces.iPod classics in 80 and 160 GByte sizes.An iPhone-clone without the phone functionality called the iPod touch. It includes WiFi, but is even thinner than an iPhone. It costs $299 for 8 GB and $399 for 16 GBytes.The iTunes Music store will now be available via WiFi on both iPod touches and iPhones.iPhones and iPod owners can now buy music tracks being played in Starbucks stores over WiFi as they hear them.Apple has lowered the price on the 8 GByte iPhone to $399; the 4 GByte version has been discontinued, but will be sold while supplies last.A few implications of this event:iPods are going to remain a hot product this holiday seasonThe market for iPhones just got significantly larger.iPhone competitors such as Nokia and RIM selling phones at $400+ now have serious competition from iPhone's significantly better user experience.The iTunes WiFi music store and the Starbucks relationship is going to accelerate impulse digital music purchases.Apple's 100 million+ iPod and iPhone user base is creating an iTunes exclusive buying community and making the iTunes store a must-have location for content distributors. And the delivery of video capable iPod nanos -- Apple's most popular iPod -- should give TV show distributors like NBC pause that they can reach that user base without being on iTunes.This truly was a special event. But no one should think the competitive landscape is now set, because there's still one more Apple event coming: the release of Leopard in October. The big question: has Apple left the biggest announcement of 2007 for last?Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone nano, iPod, iPod shuffle, Marketing, Starbucks, Retail, Wi-Fi, WiFi
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Apple Event: New Colors for the Shuffle; Video for the Nano
Good news for those who want a purple iPod or to watch video on a tiny tiny screen.
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Apple Event: Do-It-Yourself Ringtones for $1.98 Each
Steve Jobs first announcment: iPhone ringtones.
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Place your bets
Here's the Macalope's take on what will get announced in about an hour (hey, it's at least as useful information as predicting touch-screen iPods 20 months early). New iPods and iPod nanos, naturally, both based on OS X. Yes, the iPods will be touch-screen and video will ...
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How NBC Made the Real Apple TV
I love my Apple TV. At first I thought it was pointless technology that didn’t fill a niche. Then I got my iPhone and made two realizations. First, the iPhone has a drop-dead gorgeous screen that begs for video. Second? If I’m going to download the entire third season of House, chances are I won’t want to watch the whole thing on my iPhone. Ah ha! The Apple TV finds purpose! But even as much as I now care for the little set-top box and the function it performs, I can’t help but wonder as I lie awake some cold, lonely nights how it could have been. It could have been a DVD-ripper. A DVR for the rest of us. A TiVo killer. But Steve made it pretty clear at D that DVR functionality isn’t on the road map for the Apple TV. And far from being a DVD player or ripper, Apple sees the tiny TV appliance as the successor to DVDs. Of course, that was before NBC’s announcement that they’re pulling out of iTunes. I can see why Apple would want to position the Apple TV as a “DVD player 2.0″. There’s a big advantage in this for them. After all, in a post DVD world where movies have gone online, Apple sells 80% of the “disks”. If they were to try to be a TiVo, they would need to sort out the whole CableCARD mess, partner with satellite providers that make dealing with AT&T look like rolling an 8-year-old’s lemonaid stand, and put together some sort of database that catalogs all program information for all networks of all its customers in all their localities. If they wanted to start ripping DVDs, there would at least be a lengthy court battle that tested copyright law and the DMCA… both of which Apple has relied on in the past. Why bother with any of that mess when they can distribute content directly from providers? Apple gets to expand its entertainment products. Consumers get a better, more seamless way to enjoy video. The content providers get their cut. Everyone’s happy! Well, except for NBC. They want more of something (some say money, some say copy restrictions) from Apple, and Apple isn’t willing to give. So NBC says they’re going to walk. But before they do, they need to think very carefully about the ways in which this might force Apple’s hand. The content is, after all, out there. NBC seems to think they get to say where their shows will (and will not) ultimately reside. But I can get The Office, 30 Rock, et al. for free with an antenna — in HD. I can buy the DVD collections for about what I used to spend on downloads and rip them with Handbrake. I can use any number of Elgato products to timeshift NBC shows directly off cable and on to my computer. All the above are perfectly legal. The only thing that’s stopped me from perusing any of these activities in the past is the fact that the iTunes user experience is, in classic Apple fashion, so damn seamless. It makes everything else look like some tedious rigmarole. Of course, by pulling content off iTunes, NBC may have just made it in Apple’s best interest to work their magic on said rigamarole. Sure, it’s way easier to sell shows direct from NBC than deal with all the issues surrounding DVRs and DVD rippers mentioned above. But if the easy options are yanked out from under you, you find a lot of motivation to get the difficult ones sorted, right? And if you think Apple hasn’t already worked this out, you’re forgetting this is the company that kept a parallel intel-ready build of all their products “just in case”. If NBC’s pullout precipitates any sort of decline in sales, we’ll see new Apple TVs by then end of the year. NBC will have, in essence, forced Apple to evolve new seamless ways to timeshift or rip NBC content so as to be consumed by Apple devices. Oh, and because this content won’t be downloaded from iTunes anymore, it will be completely unencumbered by DRM. NBC will have ensured that, In the digital world, all their content will be easily copyable. The opposite of what they set out to accomplish, I believe. But we’ll get a better Apple TV out of it, so I see no reason to complain.
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Regarding OS X-Based iPods
Re-linking this one from July, on why I expect to see iPhone-esque OS X-based iPods announced today. In short, don’t get trapped over-thinking Apple’s fundamental strategy. It’s simple: Make the best products they can and sell them. ★
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Subscription Savior to Obsolete iPod?
There was a very interesting piece in The New York Times this week about Rick Rubin, co-head of Columbia Records. He is not your average record industry executive, looking more guru or Christ-like than industry saving mogul. So his thoughts on music subscription seemed out of character. Maybe he is starting…
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JollysFastVNC - A speedy VNC client
The macosxhints Rating: [Score: 7 out of 10] Developer: Patrick Stein/ Product page Price: Free With five Macs scattered around our home, I spend a fair bit of time accessing all of them for various reasons -- testing hints, looking for something on one of them, even just installing software updates. For these tasks, I rely on both file sharing and full remote GUI control. For remote control, up until very recently I've been using the built-in VNC server (see this hint), and Chicken of the VNC (CotVNC; a ...
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VMWare Fusion, Bluetooth, and Windows GPS software
Although the options are growing, the Mac market for GPS navigation software with GPS and turn-by-turn directions is far less mature than the market for such solutions in Windows. With VMWare Fusion's support for linking your MacBook or MacBook Pro's Bluetooth radio to a Windows virtual machine (including your Boot Camp partition running as a virtual machine (VM)), you can use your Bluetooth GPS receiver with Windows navigation software. All you have to do to enable the Bluetooth support in a VM is find the appropriate USB icon for the built-in Bluetooth radio in the VMWare window frame, and activate it on the VM. The icon will turn blue to let you know that that the Bluetooth radio is now linked to the VM. I posted a quick demo of Streets & Trips detecting and using a Bluetooth GPS receiver in a VMWare session on my blog.
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Subscribe to Picasa Web Album RSS feeds in iPhoto '08
All is in the title. You can subscribe to Picasa Web Albums' RSS feeds by copying the RSS link (at the bottom right of the album page if the owner of the album has set the corresponding pref in his Picasa Web profile), switching to iPhoto '08, selecting File » Subscribe to Photo Feed, and pasting the link. I don't know if it was possible with previous versions of iPhoto or not. As a side comment, as of today, the Picasa Web Export plug-in doesn't work with iPhoto '08. You can still use the standalone application to export your photos, though.
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Use SRS Labs iWow iTunes plug-in with AirTunes
SRS Labs' iWow iTunes plug-in is a nice way to enhance the perceived quality of one's music, especially if you are trying to use just your laptop's speakers. I have one gripe with it, however: it does not seem to work if you try to use AirTunes (i.e. redirect iTunes audio output to your speakers connected to your Airport Express). Well the fix is simple, and involves another utility called Airfoil. The trick is to redirect music from iTunes to Airport Express using Airfoil instead of using the iTunes built-in feature to do so. When I set it up that way, iWow worked with the remote speakers. [robg adds: I haven't tested this one. Note that both iWow and Airfoil are shareware programs with free trial periods.]
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A basic command and diagnostics shell script
I wrote a shell script at work to automate some of our Zenworks imaging solutions, since it wasn't very intuitive on how you interact with them. Since then, I have been making more scripts just to get some practice in. Here's one example. I wrote a basic script that will allow users to run some Terminal commands that may help them with their problems. For instnace, if you are trying to get help on the forums here or elsewhere, you can run the script to help those trying to help you. It will display a monthly calendar, the number of logged in users, and then a menu of commands to run; just enter the number of the item you'd like to run and press Return. Enter 0 and Return to exit. Here's the code: #!/bin/bash #This is a menu for basic diagnostics by Thomas Larkin echo "Hello $USER, Welcome to the Tom's Diagnostic script!"...
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An AppleScript to convert the clipboard to plain text
Trying to convert RTF-formatted text on the clipboard to plain text is a nightmare. There are many solutions out there, some of which cost money, and others which are free but don't work reliably. So here's an AppleScript that will do the job: try set the clipboard to string of (the clipboard as record) on error errMsg display dialog errMsg end try Turn it into a run-only AppleScript, bind that AppleScript to a keyboard shorcut with a utility like Keyboard Maestro (my personal favorite), and never look back again. Note that the code above is adapted from the script "clip2pure_text" found at the bottom of this blog post. [robg adds: In the comments to this older hint, an alternative method was provided -- just do a pbpaste | p...
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Watching Apple Today? Look for the Wi-Fi
Of all the features that Apple may add to its iPod line, wireless music capability may be the most important.
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That damned recessed iPhone headphone jack
I don’t know what Apple was thinking when they released the iPhone with a recessed headphone jack that prevents customers from using almost any set of earphones or earbuds that they already own. Surely someone mentioned this little fact in the beta testing? Focus groups? Oh yeah, I forgot, Apple does neither of those because they [...]
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Proof Apple needs retail stores in Europe
Lest anyone doubt my assertion yesterday that Apple needs retail stores in Europe to drive iPhone sales in Europe, the Unofficial Apple Weblog notes that Apple retail sold seven times as many iPhones as all the AT&T stores in July. The reason? Marketing 101: every Apple retail store has an entire table of iPhones available to try and make calls on (Yikes! I didn't know those phones were actually activated!). The AT&T store experience is much more spotty, with some stores not even displaying iPhones at all.Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone availability, Marketing, Europe, Retail
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Microsoft cuts Zune price in anticipation of Apple's new iPods
I always say that price is the last refuge of the desperate (or incompetent, depending on how snarky I'm feeling that day) marketer; it's what you sell when you have nothing else to sell. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to readers that Microsoft cut the price of its 30 GByte Zune music player to $199, just hours before Apple will unveil its new iPod lineup for the holiday selling season. And given the buzz suggesting that Apple may announce a touch-screen iPod powered by iPhone technology and may even exceed those lofty expectations, even that 20% Zune price cut may not be enough.Technorati Tags: Apple, iPod, Marketing, Microsoft, Zune
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Apple and Best Buy: Giving It a Second Try
The Macintosh has landed at Best Buy -- again. Eight years after California-based Apple stopped selling its computers in the retail megastores, it has returned in a major way with ministore-style displays inside certain Best Buy locations. Those ministores mimic Apple's own retail chain, and showcase the bulk of its Mac line. In 1999, it sold only iMac desktop machines at Best Buy, but stopped after a spat with the Richfield-based retailer over exactly how to stock those consumer Macs. Now, Apple and Best Buy are singing each other's praises.
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Why the Show Must Go On for iTunes and NBC
Some of your favorite NBC shows may soon be "canceled" by iTunes, thanks to a standoff between NBC Universal and Apple. However, don't start fretting. Yes, NBC has threatened to pull its TV shows, including "The Office" and "Battlestar Galactica," from iTunes by December, and yes, Apple has responded by promising not to sell any new episodes of NBC's shows starting next month. However, the two companies are still negotiating, and each has good reason for a deal. "There's no doubt that the companies will settle," said Aram Sinnreich, managing partner of Radar Research.
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All Eyes on Apple Today
Eight days of anticipation and frenzied speculation come to a head today. At Apple's (AAPL) invitation, thousands of technology analysts and press will gather in San Francisco's Moscone Center for an event about which the company has said only four words: "The beat goes on." What does Steve Jobs have up his sleeve this time? Nobody outside Apple knows for sure, of course, but that hasn't stopped -- and may have only encouraged -- Apple watchers from trying to guess. Over the past week, the rumor sites have settled into something that resembles a consensus opinion. They're expecting: A new generation of iPods: It's been nearly two years since the line was refreshed and it's badly in need of an overhaul; sales have been drifting south since last Christmas and profit margins are shrinking. Most Apple watchers expect three new products: A wide-screen, touch-sensitive iPod that looks like the iPhone and runs a miniature version of OS X. Some reports say it will be Wi-Fi enabled to download music and video wirelessly; most expect it to have a hard drive rather than flash memory to hold down costs. A new iPod nano with a larger screen, a clickwheel and a "CoverFlow" interface like the iPhone. Based on spy photos that have been floating around for weeks, this squat iPod has already acquired several nicknames, among them the bilbo, the fatty (or phatty), and the Danny DeVito of iPods. A (PRODUCT) RED iPod Shuffle with more memory for the same price; reports that Apple will discontinue this popular line of iPods have mostly been dismissed. An iPhone update: Jobs has said he expects to sell 1 million iPhones by the end of September, and if he has reached that goal early you can be sure he will let us know tomorrow. (iSuppli reported yesterday that the iPhone outsold all other smartphones in July.) Rumors that Apple has signed three European cell phone providers to carry the device overseas have been knocking around for several weeks, waiting for Apple to make them official; that could happen today. Apple is also widely reported to be working on a lower-cost iPhone nano. A few rumor sites suggest it could be unveiled tomorrow, but that is not the consensus opinion. iTunes news: The image above, which accompanied the press invitation, looks like something out of Apple's iTunes Music (and Video) Store, and there has been no shortage of speculation about what changes might be coming there. Everybody expects Apple to announce downloadable ringtones for the iPhone, something that should have been available from day 1. More speculatively, some expect Apple to announce a wireless iTunes store that would permit iPhones (and, if they exist, wireless iPods) to download music and video without going through a computer; there's even talk of a digital radio service that would allow users to buy and download songs as they hear them broadcast. The Beatles. The easy consensus is that it's got to happen sometime. The minority opinion is that today is the day the beat goes online, perhaps with a live performance by Paul McCartney. Tune in at 10 a.m. (1 p.m. ET) for live blogging from Jon Fortt at The Utility Belt and instant analysis here at Apple 2.0.
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Mac OS Ken: 09.05.2007
NBC Leaves iTunes: The View from Cupertino / NBC Leaves iTunes: The View 30 Rock / Saying Hello to Hulu / Sony Plans iTunes Video Challenge / iPod Rumor Round-Up / iSuppli: iPhone Rocks Smart and Feature Phones in July / Music Giants Herald Music Subscriptions / Woz on Segway Today Podcast