macworld
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Menuet
Pounding the carpet on the Expo floor I come across things I haven't heard about before, but wish I had. Menuet is one of those things.It is a hand little menu item that is themeable and allows you to control iTunes and download hi-res album art (amongst other things).It'll set you back $12.95 for a single user licence.
Google at Macworld
Google wins my prize for 'largest company with the smallest booth.' They were demoing Google Earth (which looks very cool) and looking for Mac developers.
EyeTV 2 released
As previously reported on TUAW, Elgato has released EyeTV 2. It costs $49 and includes a host of new features including playlists, a new on screen remote (pictured to the right), single click iPod export, batch export and much more.Check out all the new features here.
Comic Life now bundled with intel iMacs
If you need another reason to lay down the dough for a new Intel iMac then I have got one for ya. Cris Pearson, the CEO of plasq, just let me know that Comic Life is bundled with the new iMacs.Comic Life is a favorite app around here, and this can only mean good things for iMac buyers and plasq.
REALbasic 2006
REAL Software has just announced the availability of REALbasic 2006, the newest version of their cross platform development environment.This new version includes support for mouse drag events, more datatypes, structures, numerous stability enhancements, and much more. REALbasic standard edition costs $99 while the pro edition is available at an intro price of $399.95 (usually $499.95).
Kottke writes a letter to Apple support
Jason Kottke has summed up many people's thoughts with this very funny letter to Apple support.I about fell out of my chair yesterday when Steve announced the new iMacs, since I just bought one of the last PowerPC models. 'But the iMac was recently refreshed,' I moaned, 'you were supposed to introduce a new Mac mini!'Ahh well, the iMac G5 is still a great machine, but my Powerbook is getting a little long in the tooth. Where did I put that credit card?
Garmin to support OS X on GPS products
Garmin, makers of fine GPS products, have announced that they will be the first GPS device maker to support OS X 10.4. All of their GPS and mobile electronics will hopefully include support for Tiger in the coming months.They also plan to release a Mac version of Motionbased.com in the near future.[via Teal Sunglasses]
Airfoil 2
Rogue Amoeba has just announced Airfoil 2, their product that allows you to stream the audio from any application to an Airport Express, which is very cool in my opinion.What's new in Airfoil 2, you ask? Well, it supports multiple Airport Express units, it is new Applescriptable, has some audio effects and can send to password protected units. All of this for $25? It is the deal of the century.
iTunes 6.0.2 spies on you
OK, it isn't quite that bad, but iTunes does send data back to an Apple related service while you are listening to music in your library and have the 'mini-store' open. Why does it do this? So it can recommend stuff based on what you are currently playing. Boing Boing, that den of privacy loving liberals (warning, some of the stuff on Boing Boing isn't safe for work) has a nice roundup about this.
Microsoft offers Flip4Mac for free
Flip4Mac is a plugin for Quicktime that allows you to watch Windows Media files in Quicktime itself, and that's pretty cool. However, what is even cooler is that this great little plugin is now available for free thanks to Microsoft.You read that correctly, Microsoft is freely distributing Flip4Mac thought they are only offering the viewer, if you want to create WMV files in Quicktime you'll still need to pony up the cash.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
TUAW's Macworld predictions scorecard
Swing and a miss! When we made our pre-keynote predictions yesterday, we felt reasonably confident. Now, as the smoke clears, we can see just how far off we were. Let's review: C.K. - black Intel iBooks running on flash memory. C.K. got the Intel part right. Partial credit. Damien Barrett - a Mac mini media center with iLife '06, programmable remote. I really wanted to see this one come to fruition. Alas, it just didn't happen. I was with you on this one, Damien. Dave Caolo - iLife '06 including FrontRow. Wow, what was I thinking? We did get iLife '06, but that was hardly a stretch. As for FrontRow...maybe next time. David Chartier - a nearly-finished preview of 10.5 Leopard, with a release scheduled before Vista (like that's hard to do). I was wondering if we'd get even the slightest hint about Leopard. I guess we'll have to wait until the World Wide Developer's Conference. Laurie A. Duncan - iWork 06 gets a major update, finally offering a viable alternative to Office for OS X. Partial credit to Laurie as well. At least Steve didn't refer to iLife as "...Office for the rest of your life" this year. Worst. Slogan. Ever. Scott McNulty - Sell your songs on iTunes, publish your blog on .Mac, get your vlog streaming from Apple's servers. Scott scores on blog publishing via .Mac. As for Apple hosting people's vlogs...I've got my fingers crossed for that one. Victor Agreda Jr - AirPort Express update that includes video streaming. Drat, this would have rocked! Are you listening, Steve? Some of you scored better guesses that we did. Joshua wrote, "iLife '06 with iWeb...updated Mac Mini...expanded .Mac...iWork '06." Brad nailed "...Intel iBooks, 10.4.4 and updated iLife/iWeb." JayB wins the TUAW Dreamer's Award with, "The idea of the huge 50 inch plasma tv with built in computer seems like a feasible Apple product." Amen, brother.
Garageband Jampack: World Music
If your attention slipped for one second during the Keynote you may have missed that a new Jam Pack has been released for Garageband. 'World Music' is the name of the game for the 4th Jam Pack.It includes drums from Africa and Asia, Ethnic wind instruments, and exotic strings. All told this pack includes over 40 instruments to add a little flair to your songs or podcasts. 3000 loops are also included for all your loopy needs (ha! Get it?).The Jam Pack is available now and will set you back $99.
Windows on an iMac?
When I wasn't grilling Apple folks about .Mac integration I was talking to them about the possibility of running Windows on some of this newly release hardware. To a person the response I got was, 'Windows can't be installed.' When I pressed for a reason, whether it be hardware or something else, no one knew.I know that Apple didn't release this cool gear so that people could install Windows but it seems to me it should be possible. How many days do think it will be until we see an iMac running Windows?
Using iWeb to post to servers other than .Mac
I spent some time grilling some Apple employees about using iWeb with non-.Mac servers and I have some good news. It is possible. It isn't pretty, but it is possible.iWeb allows you to save your files to a local folder, or directly to .Mac. It has no built in FTP capabilities so it can't connect to a FTP server an upload files to your webserver, but you can upload the files that it saves on your computer yourself. Folder actions and some Applescript magic can do wonders, but I think Apple should have baked FTP support in the product.
Apple - Intel info
Apple has created a website to answer all your questions about the new Intel Core Duo chips that now power some of our beloved Macs. Thrill to the performance charts that show Intel chips kicking G4 and G5 butt. No one toasted Intel bunny in sight.It is a brave new world, friends, and I for one welcome our new Intel overlords with open arms.
Apple posts Intel ad
Apple has posted the Intel ad that I mentioned earlier. Bask in the advertising cleverness in full Quicktime glory.
What's an Intel chip doing in a Mac?
These banners are all over the place here at Macworld and they never fail to make me chuckle. During the keynote Steve showed a new television ad for the new Intel iMacs which followed a similar theme. We'll link to it once it is online.
Hands on: iPod /FM receiver
Dave might not be too excited about the new Apple iPod remote/FM receiver but after take a closer look at it, I am. The UI is great, and the best part is that if the radio station you are listening to broadcasts information about what song is playing that will show up on your iPod's screen.We couldn't get a signal in Moscone, but the Apple rep assures me that this is the cause.Almost makes me want to get a new iPod.
Hands on the Macbook pro: Magsafe
The most exciting thing about the new Macbooks (it is going to take me awhile to get used to that) is the new MagSafe power connector. I know, I know: that's not exciting. Let me tell you, you're wrong. This thing is rock solid. The connector is strongly connected to the MacBook, much more than the power cord for my Powerbook and it is also easy to disconnect.As you can see from the photo above, the LED tells you when your MacBook is charged, or when it is charging.It is the little things that make the biggest difference.
Apple stock leaps 6% following keynote
With Steve's voice still echoing from the stage at the Moscone center, Apple's stock climbed 6% to $81.89 by the early part of this afternoon. It would appear that Mac fans weren't the only ones impressed buy the new hardware and successful holiday shopping season. I'd say things are going well in Cupertino.[Via Macenstein]
