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Microsoft promises 5 years of Office development
During today's keynote, Jobs brought a Microsoft rep up on stage who announced a promise to develop Office for OS X for another five years (make of that what you will). They also announced that a new version of Office as a universal binary will be available later this Spring (March I believe), and that a Rosetta-optimized version would be available either today or very soon from Mactopia.
Macworld 06 keynote available for streaming
Today's Macworld 06 keynote is now available for streaming from Apple's QuickTime site. From reports from our bloggers on the scene, I believe it clocked in around an hour and a half. Jobs unleashed a lot of goodies this time around, so it should make for good viewing. I know that a few commercials debuted, and the audience from what I heard really liked them.One thing disappoints me however: this isn't available as an iTMS download, at least not yet. It's only available for streaming. Oh well, I guess we can't have it all.
My "head-slap" moment from Steve's Keynote
The January keynote is usually a doozy, and today's was no exception...not by a long shot. For me, there's always that one moment that causes me to smack my hand against my forehead and just say, "Wow." This year, it wasn't the flash of iLife '06, the shiny new Mactels or even the .Mac enhancements. No, this year I was blow away to see that iDVD now supports third party DVD burners! Holy cow! *smack*How long have we Mac users clamored for this, and how long has Apple used their non-compliance as a means to sell Macs? Finally, Apple. Thank you.So, what was your "head-slap" moment? I know you all had one.
I'm buying a new Apple [BLANK]
So, I'm switching jobs (you may have heard) and therefore I had to turn in my 15-inch PowerBook (Fare thee well, Kurosawa; you served me well). I've set up a temporary user account on my wife's 12-inch PowerBook, which I have temporarily usurped.But, I'm very excited, because for the first time in a long time, I'm ready. I'm waiting to buy a new computer and it's falling nicely in time with the Stevenote and possible new hardware announcements. Whatever they announce at the Keynote (btw, we have a whole slew of TUAWers there and will be live chatcasting the event with multiple detailed posts to follow), Intel-chipped PowerBooks, iBooks, Mac mini entertainment centers, an Intel-chipped iTablet, or something entirely new, I'm getting one as fast as I can and reporting all the details back to you all as soon as I get it. If there are multiple options available, I'll post back here and get your input. I'll want to order ASAP, so check back for a poll: what should C.K. order / what do you want reporting on first?It's like Christmas morning all over again!
.Mac is down
We knew it was coming, and a visit to the .Mac homepage has confirmed that it's down for "maintenance" (but we all know that really means "adding cool new stuff"). As of this posting, at least, my .Mac email seems to be still working. Still, I've let my contacts know to use my Gmail address for the day. Is a post about the status of the .Mac hompage a little obsessive? Probably, but at least I'm not watching Steve get into his car.Thanks, Berko!
What will Jobs wear?
So today is the day of the Stevenote and the one question on everyone's mind is: what will Steve be wearing? The smart money is on a jeans/black turtleneck combo with some New Balance kicks (as the kids say), but I think this year will be different.I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Steve will be wearing a flannel shirt and some cutoff jean shorts and no shoes. Why? Because he said so.What do you think Steve will be wearing, and do you really care?Oh, and just so you know we will be liveblogging the keynote even though we couldn't get a media pass. We will not be silenced!
Apple Plasma TV today?
Jason O'Grady is adding more fuel to the fire of his plasma tv rumor, which I think wins the prize for best rumor this Macworld season. Jason says that Steve will be announcing a 42 and 50 inch plasma tv called the Apple Digital Display. It will include built-in chargers for the LCD remote, charger for an iPod, have a dual Viiv chip, a 750 GB hard drive (with room for one more) and a gig of RAM.If this rumor is indeed true I owe Jason a beer, but somehow I don't think we'll be seeing this one later today (of course whenever I say that I'm wrong).
Are you at Macworld? I want to talk to you
Macworld isn't just about all the cool gear that will be around, or the booth babes that will lure me into booths I would otherwise ignore. Nay, it is about people: the people who use Macs, and I want to talk to you all.If you're a vendor and want to demo your product, contact us.If you're a reader and want to chat, contact us.If you're a podcaster and want to record us, contact us.If you're a disgruntled reader and you want to punch us, contact C.K.I'll be wandering around the entire week looking for news and having some fun. If you spot me (here's all the photos tagged scottmcnulty on Flickr) say hello!
Don't buy the soda at Moscone
Ahh, I'm on the ground at Macworld. I can smell the Apple goodness. Everywhere I look I see an iPod ad, or a Mac person using a Powerbook. Methinks this is heaven.However, there is one thing that isn't right and it is the price of food at the convention center. I needed a good dose of Pepsi, so I sought some out. A 20 ouncer cost me $2.75. The woman in front of me paid over 8 bucks for a small sandwich. Luckily Macworld has compiled a list of cheap eats around Moscone for transport on your iPod, so I won't be making the same mistake twice.Who wants to grab lunch with me at some point this week?
TUAW predictions roundup for Macworld 06 keynote
Alright everyone, we're on the home stretch for tomorrow's keynote, and we thought it would be fun to round up predictions (hopes?) from some of the TUAW bloggers of what will be introduced. Some of these predictions might be honing in on rumors, others could simply be baseless hope for a particular product. The main point of this post is to spark some conversation about what we could see tomorrow to help pass the time and keep the shakes from setting in. So without further ado, here are TUAW's predictions for the Macworld 06 keynote: C.K. - black Intel iBooks running on flash memory Damien Barrett - a Mac mini media center with iLife '06, programmable remote Dave Caolo - iLife '06 including FrontRow David Chartier - a nearly-finished preview of 10.5 Leopard, with a release scheduled before Vista (like that's hard to do) Laurie A. Duncan - iWork 06 gets a major update, finally offering a viable alternative to Office for OS X Scott McNulty - Sell your songs on iTunes, publish your blog on .Mac, get your vlog streaming from Apple's servers Victor Agreda Jr - AirPort Express update that includes video streaming So there you have our hopes and predictions for what we'll see on stage tomorrow. I think we all agreed that we won't see any new iPods, as some of these potential new products (like a Mac mini media center) could really carry the line they have out now. Time will only tell, so until then, feel free to discuss.
No live Keynote webcast, again
The only thing more fun than poring over all of the new stuff that's revealed during a Steve Jobs keynote is watching Jobs himself deliver the goods. He's such a talented public speaker, and knows precisely how to work a Mac geek like me into a credit card-fueled frenzy. For the past couple of years at least, Apple has not provided a live web broadcast of the keynote, opting instead to post the video to its website after the fact. It looks like that's the plan for this Tuesday as well, which is disappointing. I'll watch the video, of course, but watching it happen live is so much more pleasant than impatiently waiting for a bare-bones and overburdened website to refresh its content.Come on, Steve, let us have the webcasts back. Aside from feeding my adolescent need for instant gratification, the webcasts are a real display of Apple's technical prowess. Or something.
iLife 06 and iWeb to be introduced at Macworld?
A MacRumors Forums user spotted the image to the right on Garageband's podcasting page earlier today. It lists iLife '06 (though the link just goes to the iLife page) and a mysterious application called 'iWeb.' iLife '06 seems like a no brainer, since I am sure Apple will be releasing this suite every year at Macworld.iWeb is the real interesting thing here. Is this some sort of web authoring tool? Will it have some uber-benefits for .Mac members? Is this all baseless speculation?We will soon find out.Thanks to gaboosh for sending this in.
Jobs in a suit
I've seen this pic before, but it's getting the traffic over at Digg, so I thought it worth pointing to again. Here's the full-size picture of the cover of the premiere issue of Macworld, featuring Steve Jobs, not in jeans and a turtleneck as a friend to the consumer, but in a suit, trying to sell the Mac to the world. He also seems to be doing some sort of Jesus's arms in the Last Supper painting thing with the way he's hovering over those three Macs.
MW Rumor: Apple to spin off new brand
This is less of a rumor and more 'wild speculation,' but I like my speculation like I like my women, wild and completely unfounded. Peter Stone thinks that Apple will be introducing a bunch of cool new stuff at Macworld, but the big announcement will be that Apple is going to announce a 'split brand.' Apple Computer on one side and 'Apple Entertaiment' on the other.I don't think this is going to happen, however, lots of folks think of Apple as the 'iPod company,' so there is a chance that it could happen. Heck, now that Mac will be using Intel processors anything can happen!
Macworld reviews Aperture 1.0.1
Macworld has taken Aperture 1.0.1 for a spin and they like what they see, for the most part. It seems like the phrase 'diamond in the rough' might be the best way to describe Apple's latest prosumer app. There are lots of bugs to deal with, a sluggish interface, and some RAW concerns that may trouble someone looking to plunk down $500 on some software.However, with that said, Macworld finds loads to like about Aperture as well, including the robust organizational methods that Aperture allows you to use.I'm sure lots of use would like to take Aperture for a test drive, but Apple hasn't released a demo version. I wonder why not.
Om Malik's Macworld 2006 predictions
Every person who is even remotely involved with tech writing has started to make their own predictions about Macworld. Om Malik, who breaks news before it even happens (he's that good), has joined the party (ok, so he is predicting stuff that Apple will do in 2006, but where's the fun in that?).What is he hoping for? Apple marketshare above 5%, the iPhone, a Mac mini entertainment platform, iPod like devices for the home, and Apple and Cingular sitting in a tree.What do you hope Apple will do in the coming year?
Apple Wireless Earbuds?
We're not really quite sure what this means, but it could be a clue as to what Jobs and Co. have up their sleeves for MacWorld Expo in two weeks. A TUAW reader visited the Apple Store in Japan recently and found the employees all wearing maroon T-shirts with the slogan, "Luck is in the Air". On the computers in the store was a screensaver displaying the same theme with a picture of an iPod as the middle of a flower and earbuds floating away from the center, as a flower releases pollen.There are six more screens, some with Japanse on them that I am unable to read (if any Japanese-reading readers would like to translate for us; send me an email and I'll share the screensaver images with you).So, what does this mean? It might be an early indicator of an Apple-created iPod-compatible wireless earbud system, or it might mean Apple has figured out a way to include Bluetooth or wireless sharing of music between iPods. It's something "different" that Apple might introduce to keep the iPod and iTunes ahead of their competitors.Of course, it might also just be an advertising campaign unique to Japan.Update: Reader Steve Forrest has translated the text for us and it seems perhaps that this is just an advertising campaign for Apple Japan. No idea why the images are what they are, or what they mean. The Japanese text on the other images tranlates to:1. Luck is in the air2. Enjoy the Apple Store your way3. Advice just right for you Enjoy your Mac even more The best place to enjoy music4. In the New Year free workshops for kids Accessories to make your iPod rejoiceHowever, wireless functionality in our iPods is still a pretty interesting idea and possibly something we may see soon, particularly with earbuds.
We're going to Macworld!
Some of you may recall my post about TUAW being refused a press pass to Macworld. Some thought it was appropriate, others thought I was whining, and still others applied the 'Fight Club' rule of press passes and said that since I talked about getting a press pass I didn't deserve to get a press pass. Sadly, we still don't have a press pass but IDG was nice enough to offer us a different kind of pass that gives us almost the same kind of access (thanks, IDG!).This means that TUAW will be out in force at Macworld (Laurie, Jan, Victor, and Damien (still finalizing his plans) will be there as well as yours truly) covering all the news, and perhaps making some news of our own. If you would like to schedule some time to meet with us about your product, invite us to your party, or just want a chance to meet a TUAW blogger in the flesh at the Maciest event of the season use our contact form and get in touch.
Could we meet 10.5 at Macworld 06?
Whoa whoa whoa, let's put all this talk about Intel Macs on hold for a second and think about what we could also see at Macworld 06 in addition to - or instead of - new hardware: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. How much would that rock? I mean: Apple using new, faster Intel chips is cool, but I personally don't believe the hardware makes the Mac experience - it's all about the software in my book, so I'd be much more interested to see a more powerful, more refined, more everything version of OS X.A couple of clues brought me to this post. The first is the fact that we know the next version of OS X is landing in 06, as Apple has already used it to fire a shot across Vista's bow by announcing it would be out by late 06 or early 07. The second clue is from all the buzz surrounding Intel chips and new hardware. An introduction of Leopard at Macworld would be a fantastic "one more thing" and/or showstopper that no one - but me, of course - saw coming.So just in case it happens: you heard it here first. In case it doesn't happen, well then I'd like to point out that my ability to predict what Apple will do next is neither more nor less accurate than most of the rumor sites out there.But enough about me, what do you guys think: will we get a sneak peek of Leopard alongside or instead of Intel Macs on January 10th?
Is Apple first in line this January for the Yonnah?
Engadget picked up on a post from ThinkSecret claiming that Apple could announce portables at Macworld '06 that just might be the some of the first available on the market to have Intel's new Yonah chips inside. Getting this close to Macworld there's no shortage of buzz and rumors flying around about which move Apple's going to take in light of this Intel switch. But ever since I blogged Intel's announcement of the new chips over on DownloadSquad last August, I was willing to put money down (if I had money, that is) that Apple wasn't switching for the Pentium 4 (how old is that chip now?) or even the M or Centrino chips. Apple's after what Intel has cooking in the pot, and I'm willing to throw down (Monopoly) money that Macworld is where they'll whip out those new Intel chips, especially since Macworld Boston is no more. Things also look positive for a Yonah iBook/PowerBook since Engadget also notes that NEC has officially announced a Yonah portable, sans shipping date, however.So could Apple (ironically) beat other PC manufacturers to the punch with brand new chips from Intel, come Macworld '06? To me, that sounds like a play straight out of Jobs' book.
