ilife 09
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iWeb updated to 3.0.2
The iWeb component of iLife '09 has just been updated to version 3.0.2. Apple hasn't provided much information on what the new 186 MB update will do outside of saying it addresses assorted minor issues and more serious issues when using it to publish to MobileMe, but it's available now via Software Update. So go grab the new iWeb update and tell us what you find. Note after posting: The iWeb update also cleans up support for searching podcasts and blogs. It requires 10.5.6 or better to run and outside of Software Update, you can download it from Apple's Support Website. Thanks Macworld UK for the additional information
iMovie, other non-Apple QuickTime components updated
Hot on the heels of yesterday's Aperture 3.0.2 update, Apple has released iMovie 8.0.6. The update improves reliability when working with videos from Aperture and requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later and iLife '09. The update weighs in at 35.84 MB and is available via the download link above or Software Update. In other movie software update news, Flip4Mac WMV has updated its free player to version 2.3.2. Flip4Mac is a QuickTime plugin that lets you watch WMV files in QuickTime Player. The new update fixes problems playing back files and streams with MP3 content and corrects problems launching QuickTime Player under Snow Leopard. Finally, Perian has been updated to 1.2.1. Perian is a QuickTime plugin that allows you to play virtually any kind of media through QuickTime Player. This update adds Indeo 5 decoding and fixes several bugs. Both Perian and Flip4Mac require 10.4 or higher.
Apple offers 2 software updates for iLife '09 and Camera RAW
Well, it's Tuesday, and that's Apple's favorite day to update software. Today we get an iLife '09 update, and a bunch of camera RAW updates. Here's what Apple has to say about the iLife update: Provides system software resources that are shared by iLife and other applications. This update improves overall stability for the Media Browser and iPhoto slideshows. It also provides compatibility between Aperture 3 and the Media Browser. The update is recommended for all users of iLife '09, iWork '09, and Aperture. And the camera updates: This update extends RAW image compatibility for Aperture 3 and iPhoto '09 for the following cameras and formats: Canon PowerShot S90 Canon sRAW Canon mRAW Leica D-LUX 4 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 It's not earthshaking, but will be welcome for heavy iLife '09 users. You can get these from the software update option under the Apple menu. [Thanks Michael for the tip]
Apple posts iMovie 8.0.4 update
Apple has just released an update for iMovie '09. The new version, 8.0.4, improves overall stability and fixes a number of other minor issues. According to Apple, these issues include: • Fixing a problem with incorrect rotation when working with video created by iPhone 3GS. • Resolving instability when adding multiple beat markers in some languages. • Correcting an issue where iMovie could become unresponsive after using fine-tuning controls beyond the stabilized portions of a clip. To download this update, open Software Update (Apple Menu > Software Update) or visit the download page on the Apple support website.
iPhoto update to 8.0.4 released
Constant reader Joachim Bean alerted us that the an update to iPhoto '09. Version 8.0.4 is ready and available via Software Update.Apple states that 'this update addresses a rarely encountered issue involving photos imported into a previous version that could affect overall stability, and corrects references to a few points of interest and location names that were labelled incorrectly. It's recommended for all users of iPhoto '09.'The update also fixes the installation bug in 8.0.3 that we covered a few weeks back. The update screen contains a link to an Apple article explaining the fix of this problem.
iPhoto 8.0.3 updater bug bites many
Yesterday I tried to open up iPhoto '09, and was greeted with a screen telling me that my iPhoto library needed to be updated. This was sort of odd, since I had run the program many times since the software update of June 4th bringing the program to version 8.0.3, but what the heck. I clicked on upgrade and the program crashed displaying one of the wonderfully unclear error screens of hex numbers.After trying all the usual things like rebooting, resetting the PRAM and saying 'Candyman' three times in front of a mirror, I sheepishly gave up and called Apple. It turned out that this has been happening to many people. Up until two days ago, Apple had been capturing reports to find the source. I was told that they stopped capturing reports when they numbered around 3,000. What Apple found was a bug in the 8.0.3 updater, and apparently the bug could bite just about anytime since it didn't necessarily rear its head directly after the update. The bug, in various incarnations with various solutions, is to be cursorily found in the support forums, but here is the authorized Apple fix:Hold down the option key as you boot iPhoto and you'll see a screen like the one displayed here. Just choose your library (there should only be one) and iPhoto will boot normally. Problem solved! As of now the problem hasn't resurfaced for me, and according to Apple tech support, it shouldn't. This bug will be squashed in a future iPhoto update but for now it's easy to get around.
iLife '09 gets the Software Update treatment
Apple just released some updates for iLife '09 via Software Update. In a very un-Apple fashion, the release notes are actually sort of descriptive!Here's the breakdown: iLife Support -- this is for iLife '09, iWork '09 and Aperture 2 users and it addresses some memory leaks, custom folder issues with Media Browser and maintaining the correct image date when importing from iPhoto to Aperture. iDVD gets an update to fix an issue where iDVD is unable to add a title/comment to an image. Recommended for all iDVD 7 users. iMovie now supports 720p AVCHD Lite cameras and camcorders and some other issues. iPhoto -- some fixes to publishing to MobileMe, Flickr and Facebook, slideshow playback and location GPS in emailed and exported JPEGs See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3532 Digital Camera RAW update -- RAW support for iPhoto '08, iPhoto '09 and Aperture 2 for various Canon, Nikon and Olympus cameras. This all looks like good stuff. I'm off to install/restart. Head to Software Update on your computer or hit up Apple Downloads to get the individual installers.
Sting, Sarah McLachlan are hiding in your Garage(band)
Apple has added new "Learn to Play" lessons to the latest version of GarageBand, including two lessons by Sting and the first one by Sarah McLachlan. Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting, so named by his friends when he wore a shirt with black and yellow stripes) will teach you how to play "Message in a Bottle" and "Fragile" (in my humble opinion, one of the lesser-known but more amazing Sting songs), and Sarah McLachlan, who really likes ice cream, will teach you how to play her "Angel." I miss Sarah McLachlan -- it's hard to believe we had someone that was even more bland than Norah Jones.But excuse my musical snobbery -- all three lessons are now available in the GarageBand Lesson Store for the low low price of $4.99. And lest you think I am anti-McLachlan in any way, think again: I too owned a copy of Surfacing. If you wanted to hang out with girls in my high school, you pretty much had to have a copy around at any given time. That, and Crash. Ah, how young we were.
TUAW review: iWeb '09
Along with the other changes to iLife '09, iWeb was quietly upgraded to version 3. While the changes aren't as dramatic as those seen in iPhoto and iMovie, they do move iWeb further down the path to being a good web design tool for beginning to intermediate users.I'm in the process of writing a new edition of an iWeb book, and I took a month to go through iWeb in detail during my research. Click the Read More link below to see what's new in iWeb '09.
Garageband's Learn to Play will run on a PPC... kind of
Good news for those of us who still have PowerPC-powered Macs lying around: while the new Garageband Learn to Play feature isn't actually designed to work with the old machines (part of Apple's switch to the new Intel chips), it apparently still does. If you've got iLife installed on your old Mac and double-click on the Learn to Play files themselves (hidden in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Learn To Play/), Mac.Blorge says that they'll work just fine. Unfortunately, you won't be able to buy new lessons from the store (people are still testing -- there may be a workaround here eventually), but if you want to play the ones you've got, they should work, even if playback isn't perfect.Additionally, if you want to try to do a little hex editing, you may be able to get iMovie '09 playing on a PowerPC Mac as well. That one's just dodging the PowerPC check, though, so there's a good chance that some things won't work right on the old machine. Either that, or Apple is just trying to build in random requirements to get us to upgrade. Conspiracy hats, anyone?At any rate, this isn't unexpected -- we're two years past the official switch, and of course at some point Apple had to move on with their new software. For the moment, you might get things working with a few tweaks, but eventually you'll have to look at replacing that old G4 if you want to run the shiny stuff.
Got a G4 or G5? iPhoto '09 will be missing features
As Apple continues a march toward all Intel-based computers, those hanging on to perfectly good G5 and G4 computers are left to watch features slowly bleed off.In the recently released iLife '09 package, iPhoto has left some owners of older Macs wondering where their slide show transitions have gone.Apple has now released a support document detailing what is missing: The number of slideshow themes available in iPhoto '09 depends on your Mac's processor and, in some cases, available vRAM: Intel-based Mac computers, PowerPC G5 with more than 64MB of vRAM: All iPhoto '09 slideshow themes are available. PowerPC G5 with less than 64MB of vRAM: Only Classic, Ken Burns, Scrapbook, Sliding Panels are available. PowerPC G4: Classic and Ken Burns are available. Apple has also changed the minimum specs on Garageband '09, noting that one of the apps most desired features is Intel only: GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.It is also rumored that the next version of OS X, Snow Leopard will completely drop support for PowerPC processors. Last year, iMovie dropped PowerPC support, so it looks like the handwriting is on the wall. Apple's push to get consumers and businesses to change to the newer Intel platform will get less and less subtle as time goes on.
Apple updates GarageBand '09 to 5.0.1, fixes lesson store
Apple just released an update for GarageBand '09 that will fix some problems with the lesson store. According to Apple, "This update improves overall stability and addresses specific issues with downloading lessons from the Learn to Play Lesson Store. It is recommended for all GarageBand 09 users." You can download the update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by downloading the installer package from the Apple Support Downloads website.Perhaps this has something do do with the recent uproar about PowerPC Mac being unable to play back certain downloaded lessons from the store. If you are using a PPC Mac and find this update does anything for playback, be sure to let us know in the comments or by dropping us a line!Thanks, Doug!
iLife '09 begins move to Intel-only mainstream software from Apple
Our friends over at Ars have discovered a potentially foreboding sign concerning the recently shipping iLife '09. Apparently, GarageBand's new Learn to Play feature, in which various recording artists talk about their songs and "teach" you to play them, will not run on PowerPC Macs.In the very fine print of the System Requirements section of the iLife '09 page at the Apple online store you'll find: "GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better." One can't help but suspect that this is the start of more of the same to come. When the architecture switch was first announced Apple went out of their way to extol the virtues of Universal binaries. But it was only a matter of time before even consumer software went in this direction. it's yet another sign that Apple sees the PPC Macs as rapidly heading for obsolescence.
iLife Tip: Enable Multi-Touch maps in iPhoto '09
After using iPhoto '09 for a couple days, I have come to love the new features, in particular the Places feature. However, one thing that annoyed me is that you cannot use the Multi-Touch feature on newer MacBooks to manipulate the maps (zooming in/out, etc.). However, thanks to a Tweet-tip from Steven Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith), there is a way to enable this functionality. To add Multi-Touch maps to places in iPhoto '09, just open Terminal.app (/Applications/Utilities) and type (or copy/paste) the following statement and press enter: defaults write com.apple.iphoto MapScrollWheel -bool YES When you restart iPhoto, you will notice that you are now able to scroll in/out of the Places maps with ease. If it turns out that you don't want the scrolling feature, just retype the statement, replacing "YES" with "NO." Thanks for the tip, Steven!
TUAW Review: iPhoto '09 is a pretty picture
As noted by Robert yesterday, the first boxed copies of iLife '09 reached users today. The two iLife '09 apps that have changed the most are garnering the lion's share of excitement this week. iMovie and iPhoto have some rather dramatic improvements, and I'll detail the iPhoto changes here. Before you install, please note that the iLife '09 setup will nuke your older iLife apps. You'll need your original install disc to revert. I ran a Spotlight search and those old iLife apps are nowhere to be found. If you think you might want to roll back, be sure to back up your apps and your iPhoto library beforehand. When you start up iPhoto for the first time it updates your libraries and starts an immediate search for faces in your photos. That search goes on in the background, so you can do other things with iPhoto at the same time. Here's a rundown on the new features: The most technically advanced feature is Faces. iPhoto now does some face recognition to help you automatically find people in your bushel of images. You start by identifying a face, and you enter the person's name. iPhoto will then suggest matches in your library, and you can confirm them with a click. iPhoto generates a cork board where you can see one example of each face you have identified. Double-click on that face and it displays all the other faces that match. The technology is not perfect. It didn't get all the matches right, but when it was wrong I'd have to admit the person it found had a similar face. To try and trick it, I showed it a picture of a parrot. Although there were many similar shots of the same parrot, iPhoto utterly failed to match any of them. I think Faces wants human faces (although there are examples of penguins being recognized, and Mac|Life has tested it out successfully on feline faces). Check out the gallery for some close ups of iPhoto features and controls, and read on for more notes on the updated features. %Gallery-43286%
iLife '09 ships tomorrow
Apple issued a press release first thing this morning, noting that iLife '09, announced at Macworld, is shipping tomorrow for $79. We covered iLife '09's major features, including face detection and geotagging for iPhoto, guitar and piano lessons for GarageBand, and another re-imagining of iMovie. If you purchased a new Mac on or after January 6, you can upgrade to iLife '09 for $10. iLife is also available in a family pack: five licenses for $99. A box set that includes iLife, iWork, and Mac OS X is $169, and individual music lessons are available separately for $5 each. iLife '09 requires Mac OS X 10.5.6 or later. It's available for purchase (among many locations) in the Apple Store online, at Apple retail stores, and Amazon.com. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
iPhoto, iMovie guided tours available
With new software from Apple comes new guided tours hosted by clean cut, well-dressed Apple employees in the requisite uniform.The iPhoto guided tour can be found here and features John, whom we've seen in other guided tours. It's a fun way to check out the new features that were demonstrated during the keynote, as well as others that didn't make the presentation.The iMovie tour can be found here, and again features our friend John. We must admit that the animated map is pretty cool, even though we expect it to be heavily abused in the next few months.Additionally, you'll find tutorials for the new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb and iDVD here. Check them out and decide if you're willing to pay the $79US upgrade fee.
Apple introduces iLife '09 at Macworld Expo
Earlier today at Macworld Expo, Phill Schiller announced that availability of iLife '09. Not a huge surprise, as a few of us guessed we'd see an iLife update today, but it does offer some cool new features.iPhotoiPhoto has been updated with two features called "Faces" and "Places." Faces, as you may have guessed, lets you tag photos by subjects' faces, similar to what Facebook and Picasa have done. iPhoto makes its best guess as to the identity of a subject based on previous tags and asks for confirmation. Of course, Phil called it "..the best technology we've found for face detection."Places allows for geotagging of photos. Some cameras and the 3G iPhone will use GPS information to tag photos on longitude and latitude. iPhoto then organizes those photos by location, or "place." Also, Flickr and Facebook support are built-in. Those without GPS access can retro-tag photos by hand.Other iPhoto features include enhanced slideshows and travel books.Click below to read more about iLife '09Update: Reader Lou purchased iLife '09 today, and says his receipt shows a ship date of Feb. 09.For full Macworld Expo coverage, bookmark the TUAW Macworld Expo 2009 landing page. If you missed our liveblog coverage, you can review it here.
