After watching the keynote, which Steve Jobs delivered a phenomenal presentation of five main Apple product (and service) announcements.
- Apple Time Capsule — Airport Extreme, 802.11n, 500G/1TB — $299/$499
This improved product allows for easy data backups over wireless, high speeds and large capacity. - iPhone Software Update — Free
iPhone users can download an update to obtain an updated Maps product, some UI enhancements (“Webclips”), a few additional enhancements. On a related note, Apple will release open SDKs for developers interested in taking advantage of the iPhone in February.
- iTunes Movie Rentals — $2.99 (old) /$3.99 (new)
iTunes has been expanded to compete with other online video distributors with a partnership with 9 movie studios, and Fox has been the front-runner in pushing for this innovation. Jobs continues, explaining the 30-day, 24-hour rule for downloads — which means you have 30 days to watch it, and from the moment you watch a film, you can watch it again for up 24 hours. Seems fair. I think this is what consumers want, fairness. - Apple TV — “Take 2” — Price Drop — $229
Jobs was humble in admitting the failure in attempting to dive into the TV market. He validates himself by listing all the companies that have attempted to bring the Internet to the traditional TV. He improved the Apple TV to be its own computer, with no dependencies (other than the Web). Boasting content to pair with HDTVs, the Apple TV offers more value for consumers. - MacBook Air — “Worlds Thinnest Notebook” — $1799
It’s MacBook, but smaller, lighter, thinner and packed with the built-in Web cam, 802.11n and a very long-life battery (5hrs!). Jobs continued to describe the engineering that took place in shrinking the MacBook. I’m not so impressed, but a lot of other people are. I’d say if Apple tweaked the whole line of the MacBook, that would be more impressive.
You can read more about the announcements made at MacWorld at http://www.macworld.com/. Or you may choose to watch a video telecast of it as well, be warned, it’s an hour and a half long.
Who knows what’s next for Apple? I find this year’s MacWorld was mainly focused on improving their existing product line. Perhaps this was just the “interim” development and Apple is working on something so innovative, he replaces the human race with iHumans. 😉
~Joe
P.S. Still a Linux/PC user.
