Big Apple Announcement Today At 1PM EST
September 12, 2006 | 4 Comments
I love big Apple announcement days! All the predictions and conjecture are often more entertaining than whatever they announce. We know that Jobs is announcing the new movie plan he has negotiated, including two price points at $9.99 and $14.99. Possible additional contenders to be announced today include:
- iTunes version 7
- airVideo (airTunes equivalent for video)
- new bigger screen iPods
- a Mac Media (similar to media PCs)
Personally, I think we’ll get the first two. A new iTunes version seems natural to go with the delivery of movies. Jobs has also talked extensively about how people are not going to watch feature length movies on tiny iPod screens. This is why I think an “airVideo” would enable playing video on your regular TV, thus accomplishing the goal of putting downloadable video content on a bigger screen.
A new series of iPods seems a bit odd to me. People are still happy with the current ones and if a bigger screen means a bigger form factor, most people won’t be impressed. Other options seem more approopriate right now.
A Mac for your entertainment center has always seemed natural since the initial release of the Mac Minis. Apple has repeatedly been surrounded with rumors related to this, but they have never been true. This has always been a long shot, I don’t think the odds have changed. Especially since they retooled the Mac Minis for Intel Core Duo so recently…
Whatever happens, I’m sure Apple will have new fun toys to covet!
Tags: airvideo, apple, core duo, digital movies, intel, ipod, itunes, mac, mac media, steve jobs
MacBook Pro Arrives! and Departs…
March 6, 2006 | 6 Comments
My sister in-law Caitlyn bought an Apple MacBook Pro before she left for Australia. Since the delivery date was a bit uncertain on these brand new models, she decided to have it shipped to my house. That way I could take delivery of it, configure her software and whatnot, then ship it off. Of course I was more than happy to do this both because this makes her my first Mac convert and because I got to get my fingers on this brand new sweet hardware.
The new Macbook Pro is the first of the Apple computers to feature Intel processors, specifically it has a 1.83 Intel Core Duo processor. She also got it with 1GB of RAM, which I think is definitely the way to go. Some of the features I absolutely love on this include FrontRow, the Apple remote, the magnetic power cord plug, the backlit keyboard, the nighttime auto dimming screen, the built-in iSight, the multi-finger scroll capability of the touch pa, and more. I know a lot of these features are hold overs from the PowerBook, but that doesn’t make them any less awesome to me.
I’ve heard some complaints about the magnetic power cord. Apparently some felt it was not strong enough, but I disagree entirely. The magnetic seems strong enough to pull the cord in from around an inch or so, and it doesn’t matter which way you plug it in. Of course I didn’t try running around with it, but I usually don’t run with laptops, at least when they are plugged in…
So in the end, I was very sad to pack this amazing little device up and ship it off to Cait. As far as I can tell this is the most kick-ass laptop I’ve had the privilege of fondling.
Tags: "intel core duo", apple, frontrow, harware, intel, laptop, mac, macbook, macbook pro, os x