Rumors of iPod mini, 100 Million Songs, Xserve G5 All True 1318
The mini is anodized aluminum and comes in silver, gold, blue, green, and pink. Accessories include a dock and armband. It can be connected to the computer via FireWire 400 or USB 2.0.
Jobs also announced some changes to the existing iPod line, including a bump from 10GB to 15GB for the $300 version, and new in-ear headphones for $40.
The Xserve G5 is, like the previous Xserve, a 1U server. It can hold up to 8GB of ECC DDR 400 memory, and up to 750GB of storage. It includes an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server 10.3, and comes in three configurations: 2GHz for $3,000, dual 2GHz for $4,000, and cluster node dual 2GHz for $3,000.
The Xserve RAID got a bump, too. The 3U RAID has a 500GB increase in capacity to 3.5TB for $11,000; 1.75TB for $7,500; and 1TB for $6,000. And, it is now certified for use with some versions of Windows and Linux.
Jobs, with the help of recording artist John Mayer, introduced the newest member of the iLife media application family: Garage Band. It is a music instrument and recording tool, that can mix up to 64 tracks, comes with 50 software instruments, over 1,000 professional loops, and 200 effects. It can record live instruments and take input from a USB or MIDI controller. It simulates various modern and vintage amps for guitar playback.
The optional $99 Jam Pack adds 100 more instruments, 2,000 more loops, 15 more amps, and more effects.
iPhoto, the most maligned of the iLife apps for its performance problems, received a much-needed update. It can now handle up to 25,000 photos (instead of mere hundreds), and adds automatic and smart albums (similar to iTunes), ratings of photos, and sharing via Rendezvous. Like iTunes, you apparently can't modify descriptions and titles through sharing, but unlike iTunes, there are no copyright restrictions.
iDVD and iMovie also got updates: better control, new and improved effects, and more. iMovie has exporting directly to your iDisk for use on your home page and importing directly from an iSight camera, and iDVD adds a navigation map and archiving projects for burning on another computer. iDVD also gets higher-quality Pro encoding, with 2 hours per DVD.
iLife, for $49, and the Jam Pack are available starting January 16. There was no indication that any new components of iLife will be available for free download, but iLife will be included with all new Macs.
Final Cut Express was bumped to version 2, and is basically updated to include the features from Final Cut Pro 4. Upgrades are $99.
Microsoft announced Office 2004, an upgrade to Office X. People who purchase Office X now until the spring, when 2004 is released, will be eligible for a free upgrade.
Pepsi's iTunes Music Store giveaway will begin on February 1. Yellow caps noting the 100 million song giveaway will have a 1 in 3 chance of winning.
Jobs also noted that iTunes Music Store has 70% of the market share for online music purchasing; that 50,000 audio books were sold for the quarter; that 500,000 songs are now online, making the store the largest online; and that one person has spent $29,500 on iTunes Music Store. Yes, $29,500.
Classic ad updated, too! (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.apple.com/hardware/ads/1984/1984_480.h
And that makes me wonder what new stuff Apple will introduce on January 24th...
Don't be suckered by the trendyness (Score:5, Informative)
Of course, Apple uses what is pretty much a 1/.8 rather than a 1/0.55 exchange rate for the UK market, so I'm scammed either way
Also, has anyone got a URL for a video of the full keynote like the one for where he announced the G5s?
The Pepsi giveaway wasn't a rumor, (Score:5, Informative)
Apple Playing Catch Up (Score:5, Informative)
Wow (Score:5, Informative)
Xgrid (Score:5, Informative)
Also worth noting is that they officially announced Xgrid, their clustering software. There had been a maililng list for it a couple of months ago that was later shutdown. From the press release it says:
"Xgrid makes it easy to turn your Mac cluster into a supercomputer," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "The new Xgrid software agents use Apple's breakthrough Rendezvous networking technology to automatically discover, connect and manage tasks across available systems in a Mac cluster."
The entire press release can be read here [apple.com] and in it they say they have posted a beta version of the software but I've yet to find it.
Re:iPod Mini song capacity (Score:5, Informative)
That's because the new numbers are based on AAC compression, which is a bit more efficient than MP3. AAC wasn't available when the original iPod came out.
Re:Mixed response (Score:5, Informative)
Re:250?!? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:GarageBand (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mixed response (Score:5, Informative)
It's worth noting that Garage Band seems to be a miniaturized version of Apple's $199 Soundtrack [apple.com] application, which may have the features you need.
Re:Apple Playing Catch Up (Score:3, Informative)
Well, by "already announced" you mean "announced the same day" but otherwise your facts are straight. I am curious if you get the same playing time of 16 hours with mp3s as your do with WMA.
Re:Mixed response (Score:3, Informative)
Re:iPod mini Price Worries Me (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Powerbook G5? (Score:4, Informative)
The average 1U case has more fans than a desktop does running at even higher speeds to pass the air through it. A Powerbook is expected to run with perhaps one tiny fan that only comes on when it gets warm enough to keep it quiet and save power. There's no comparison between a laptop and a 1U server case.
Re:Mixed response (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mixed response (Score:5, Informative)
Re:GarageBand (Score:5, Informative)
Plenty of it that costs way more than $50 that does the same thing. The closest thing I can find that does decent Amp-modeling and multi-track recording is at least over $100, if not closer to $200 or more. Unless you know of a $50 music recording application that does the same stuff...
Throw in the fact that it comes with plenty of other neat, helpful applications too, and the whole ilife pack starts to look like a ton of fun...
iPod mini battery charges via USB (Score:4, Informative)
Re:iPod mini Price Worries Me (Score:5, Informative)
You also get the remote ($39), the dock ($39), and the carrying case ($39).
So, 5 gig plus $117 worth of accessories for $100.
Not a bad deal.
Re:250?!? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:GarageBand (Score:2, Informative)
Re:250?!? (Score:2, Informative)
>The person that was going to buy that 256 meg Rio doodad for $199, perhaps...
Are you talking about my $199 Rio Karma? Cause heck, I coulda sworn it had a 20gb drive, not the 256mb you mention.
Re:shitty: they shipped old iLife to me last night (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.apple.com/ilife/uptodate/
Or, return it. I know of two people who received and opened 30 GB iPods the day the 40GB models were introduced. Apple's customer service took the 30s back and sent 40s, free of charge.
It's worth asking, at least. :)
Re:Xgrid (Score:4, Informative)
they say they have posted a beta version of the software but I've yet to find it.
How about here:
http://www.apple.com/acg/xgrid/ [apple.com]
There's a link on the right to download the preview release.
Re:Steve's iPod mini presentation didn't mention H (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Xgrid - The return of Zilla!! (Score:1, Informative)
Now with rendezvous technology! yum
Armbands for older ipods (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The Pepsi giveaway wasn't a rumor, (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mixed response (Score:1, Informative)
Yeah, but that's a fucking Rio Karma for christ sake -- they're cheaply made (mine physically fell apart in my hands after two months), and have a horrible interface that basically requires you to sit down and think about what you want to do before even attempting to navigate it. DON'T GET A RIO KARMA!
Re:250?!? (Score:2, Informative)
Then, in the summer of 2002, Apple dropped the price of the 5Gb model to $299 [macobserver.com], made the 10Gb model $399 and introduced a 20 Gb model for $499.
At this point, the iPod was selling like hotcakes [mp3newswire.net] even though its average price was $400.
Now they've introduced the smaller, lighter, COLORED (oooh!) 4Gb iPod mini for $50 less than the older 5Gb iPod.
These are going to sell great now, but just wait until Apple drops the price on the iPod mini. I predict that we'll see them at $199 by this summer, and then EVERYONE will have one, including me.
Re:Keynote Available Online Anywhere? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Linux iLife? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mixed response (Score:3, Informative)
According to Apple [apple.com] it's hard drive based. It does have 25 minutes skip protection, however, so the drive is very rarely spinning. I've shaken an iPod while it's loading fresh tracks in and it' been fine. I imagine that doing it too much would be A Bad Thing, however.
Mini iPod - No Japanese character engraving? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Mixed response (Score:2, Informative)
i have a rio karma and i love it! It doesnt suffer from cheap build quality, i have no idea what you are talking about. the menu system is easy to use (i havent used the ipods). im sure if you want to go drop the $400 for a 20gb ipod, it will be easier to use, etc, but i wanted the best deal for the money. they release new firmware updates all the time and through the network connection you can use it from any operating system (which has java runtime installed) and load music or files onto it! i think maybe people should try it out for themselves
Add $19 to effective price difference (Score:2, Informative)
Yes, the Mini's included USB 2.0 cable may be significant for PC users without Firewire (such as myself).
A full-sized (15+ GB) iPod would require a $19 optional cable for USB 2.0 connectivity. So for me, the 'effective' price difference becomes $50 + $19 = $69.
I confirmed this with the Apple Store by phone. I also asked them to correct one erroneous statement on their site, which said that the full-sized iPods include the USB 2.0 cable. Not so. Only the Mini includes one at no extra charge.
Also, by the way, some people believe that the Mini ships with the Dock and/or Remote at no extra charge. Again, not so.
Apple's iPod specs page [apple.com] has correct information, I'm told.
Re:Vocals in Garageband? (Score:2, Informative)