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Remote Disk
The MacBook Air doesn't have an optical drive, but it does have a new software feature called Remote Disk. This comes with every MacBook Air and works with both Macs and PCs. Simply install the Remote Disk software on the Mac or PC that has an optical drive and that drive will now be available to the MacBook Air. Slide a disk into the optical drive and Remote Disk shows up in the MacBook Air's Finder. Install software to your heart's content, but sadly you won't be burning CDs using Remote Disk.
MacBook Air Guided Tour
Following in the grand tradition of the iPhone guided tours Apple has posted a guided tour of the new MacBook Air. Available in QuickTime, of course, for download (iPod or large versions) and in a variety of streaming sizes.This guide will answer any questions you might have about just how thin this thing is (it is very thin) and just might get you to open that wallet of yours and increase your consumer debt.
iTunes now supports movie rentals
iTunes 7.6 is out, and it finally has something we've been hearing about for a long time: movie rentals. As announced at the Macworld Keynote earlier today, Apple has made deals with all of the major studios to provide streaming, downloadable flicks for you to watch on your computer, iPod or iPhone. Library titles are $2.99, and new releases will be available 30 days after DVD release and will cost $3.99. Each movie will be available to download within 30 days, and once you start watching it, you'll have 24 hours to finish.There is good news for HD viewers-- HD rentals will be available, but they'll cost an extra buck (so $3.99 and $4.99 for library titles and new releases. There'll be 100 HD titles starting today, and more all the time. And of course, movie rentals will be sync-able with the iPhone and iPod, or have the ability to be downloaded straight on to the revamped Apple TV. Unfortunately, we haven't heard an official resolution on the HD (720p is one of the numbers being tossed around, and that's not great for serious HD viewers), but if we get to see one of these flicks, we'll let you know.Get out the popcorn-- it's time to rent some movies from iTunes!
MacBook Air
Apple stunned a nation, or at least those who haven't been paying attention to the rumors, today with the unveiling of a very thin new MacBook called the MacBook Air. 'The world's thinnest notebooks' starts at $1799 and comes with a 13.3 inch display (LED), a full keyboard, built-in 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, built-in iSight, and a multitouch trackpad that lets you use gestures to control a number of actions on the MacBook Air. Some other stats include: 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache 2GB of RAM 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive (with optional 64 gig solid state drive 1 USB 2.0 port What it doesn't come with are built-in ethernet ports, FireWire, and optical drive, or enough graphics power to power a 30 inch Display (but you can hook up a 20 or 23 inch display via a built in mini-DVI port).
The Keynote Line
After just over 2 hours in line, we're pleased to bring you the latest photos from the keynote queue line. Already around the block of the Moscone Centre's West Hall, there's a huge number of Apple fans waiting patiently both for Steve Jobs' keynote, and their Starbucks.Stay tuned as we progress further towards the keynote.%Gallery-13841%
TUAW Macworld Talkcast #2 at 8pm ET tonight
We'll be live again tonight at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for another preshow talkcast, with Scott McNulty and the entire team musing on the next-day excitement. If you've got a burning question that you want answered, call on in and join the fun. It's worth noting that the TalkShoe Java client (long a subject of discussion among our listeners) has been superceded by a shiny new browser-only client, no downloading required and no account registration needed. Just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 8 pm tonight.We'll also be live on Tuesday evening at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT for a full wrapup of the keynote, first day reactions, and more. Don't miss it!
Macworld 2008: The Build-Up
As the Steve Jobs keynote draws ever-nearer, the TUAW team has been busy preparing for our hectic coverage. In between the partying hard work and sleep, we ventured around San Francisco to sample the atmosphere as the registration for the Conference and Expo started at 8am this morning.%Gallery-13651%
Apple promotes keynote playback on home page
Apple's home page has been updated to encourage browsers to come back and watch the keynote on "Tuesday afternoon." As far as we know this does not mean a live stream of the event (thank goodness, otherwise who would read our liveblog?) but the after-event video should be up quickly and streamable for your viewing pleasure.Thanks elixirgraphics!
Reminder: Sunday night pre-Macworld talkcast at 8:30 pm ET
UPDATE: We just found out a conflict with the Typical Mac User talkcast, so we're moving the TUAW talkcast to 8:30pm ET, 5:30 PT.This East Coast-West Coast thing is messing with our talkcast scheduling -- we'll be doing a special earlier show at 8:30 pm ET, 5:30 pm PT to stay clear of the all-important San Francisco cocktail hour. Engineering permitting, we'll actually have multiple bloggers in the same room for the first time on the show; this should be fascinating. As always, can listen in on Talkshoe or call in on regular or VOIP lines; if you want to join in the chat, you'll need a Talkshoe account and the client app. The agenda for Sunday is 100% reader feedback, so you can let us know exactly what you want to see covered from Macworld Expo. We are hitting town with a five-person team this year, in addition to our alumni and colleagues at Engadget and Download Squad, so if you want us to track down the tiniest booth in the West Hall, we're on it. Call in and give us our marching orders!On Monday evening, schedules permitting, we'll do another brief show to wrap up the predictions and rumors before the Big Tuesday Shindig. Keep an eye on the Talkshoe page for details.
Another zero-day exploit for QuickTime
US-CERT and Information Week are reporting a new vulnerability in QuickTime's handling of RTSP streams, which has been demonstrated to crash QuickTime Player on Windows and may also affect the Mac version. See the writeup by researcher Luigi Auriemma, who first announced the flaw.Unlike the RTSP bug patched in QuickTime 7.3.1 last month, this vector works by overflowing an HTTP error buffer sent when the RTSP port 554 is closed on the malicious server, and the QuickTime client tries to switch to port 80. Sneaky.Since we're almost certain to see iTunes 7.6 and possibly QuickTime 7.3.2 at Macworld anyway, expect another rev of QuickTime to close this hole after those versions ship -- since Apple wasn't notified in advance of this hole, it's unlikely to be caught in the pending updates, as commenter Nicholas points out (unless Apple found the vector independently).
Old-school FTP gets souped up: Interarchy 9
Interarchy 9, Nolobe's FTP application, is out Friday 1/11 with over 100 new features. We've covered Interarchy in the past, in part because of its old-school cred, but this release has some new-school polish. In addition to the existing support for the usual protocols and Amazon S3 transfers, version 9 adds a new protocol built on SSH that offers security, speed and flexibility beyond the limitations of SFTP. The protocol is perl-based and should work with any server running perl v4 or later. I'm also happy to see the addition of a Finder-style path bar which accepts dropped files on any part of the path. Some other highlights from the extensive release notes include: Major upgrades to tab functionality A multi-function sidebar for easy access to, well, everything "Copy Public URL" "Preview in Safari" support added Path Finder support Sparkle updates Interarchy 9 will retail at $59, but is available at a $39 introductory price until March 1st. Even with the discount, it still comes in higher than most of its commercial competitors. There is a fully functioning demo you can use to test it against your current solution and see if the hype stacks up to the price. Of course, if Interarchy is your current solution, upgrades are $29 and free for anyone who purchased Interarchy on or after February 1st, 2007.
Growl website back online
The Growl website has been offline since last week due to the developers retiring their server for a new one. I am pleased to say that Growl.info is back online as of today. Growl is the indispensable Mac notification system which allows you to customize the way you see notifications, system-wide. Tonight, I spoke with Chris Forsythe, one of the developers of Growl. He said that while the site is back up, the SVN and Trac are still down. However, you are now able to download the latest release of Growl on their site. Forsythe also mentioned that the new Growl website design will go live "soon-ish." On his blog, he has a picture of what the new design will look like.
Five ways to prepare for Macworld
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/5_Ways_To_Prepare_For_Macworld'; Some believe that the Macworld anticipation is as fun as the show itself; others find it stressful and unpleasant. This list has something for members of both parties, from stress reducers to getting the most out of the show. Let's get started.1. Prep your iPhone. You'll be bringing your iPhone, right? Of course you will. Here's how you can get it ready for the show. Install the San Francisco BART information. BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) is San Fran's public transportation system. People visiting the show from out-of-town may want to install a BART subway map or add http://www.bart.gov/wireless as a bookmark to Mobile Safari. The latter offers real-time arrival times and advisories, point-to-point travel planning, an interactive map and even bike rules. Set up bookmarks in Google Maps. Before traveling to a new city, it's a good idea to create relevant bookmarks in Google Maps. Your hotel, the expo center and the location of the party you'll be attending are a good place to start. That way, when you're in front of the hotel and need to find a Starbucks or bike rental place (see above), you'll have your starting point ready to go. Create a travel playlist. Waiting for planes, trains and automobiles is annoying. Organize your favorite tunes into a stress-reducing playlist that you can access when needed. Subscribe to relevant RSS feeds. Use Mobile Safari to follow feeds rich with expo info. Might we suggest our Pingie page? Just enter your phone number and email address to receive updates from us via SMS. Bookmark iZami.com. This cool iPhone-optimized website lets you browse exhibitors (sorted by name and aisle), rate exhibitors via a message board and share your ratings with other iZami-using attendees. Plus, you can search local restaurants, hotels, and other points of interest. Engage airplane mode. Because you don't want to get arrested.
iTunes pricing unified across UK & European stores
As Erica previewed earlier, the expected cash register reconciliation between the iTunes UK store and the other European stores is officially in the works, press release below. Interesting to note that Apple is throwing down the gauntlet with the labels on UK vs. Eurozone wholesale music pricing, so that we might see some subtractions from the UK store if the labels don't jump in line.LONDON-January 9, 2008-Apple® today announced that within six months it will lower the prices it charges for music on its UK iTunes® Store to match the already standardised pricing on iTunes across Europe in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain. Apple currently must pay some record labels more to distribute their music in the UK than it pays them to distribute the same music elsewhere in Europe. Apple will reconsider its continuing relationship in the UK with any record label that does not lower its wholesale prices in the UK to the pan-European level within six months. "This is an important step towards a pan-European marketplace for music," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We hope every major record label will take a pan-European view of pricing."Full release here.
Rumour: Fox to include iTunes files with DVDs starting 15th Jan
We heard a while back that Apple and the movie studios were in negotiations over movie rentals, and there were mentions of iPod compatible movie files being shipped with DVDs. Of course, to be able to legitimately import DVDs (without resorting to Handbrake) has been a pipe dream for consumers. But not for much longer, it would appear -- that is, if you're a buyer of a particular Fox TV animated series on DVD. Tipster Stewart sent us a note saying he'd received a Family Guy (Blue Harvest) DVD ahead of the January 15th release (coincidence?) and that an iPod-compatible version, branded as a "Fox Digital Copy file," was included on the disc. The only downside was that the disc "requires iTunes version 7.6." We were both sceptical and interested, naturally, and he was gracious enough to send over two shots of the offending article, possibly lifting the lid on some of the iTunes news we can expect next Tuesday. Check the shots out after the jump, keeping your eyes peeled for the (over-zealous) "serial number" that appears to be required to access this digital copy as with existing Fox titles. Thanks Stewart!
New Mac Pros and Xserve
Well, as Nik posted a bit earlier this morning, the Apple Store is indeed down worldwide. As commenters in that post noted, Apple has updated the Mac Pro line before major trade shows before, and as commenter John pointed out, Apple has just updated the front page of Apple.com announcing upgrades to the Mac Pro and Xserve line. I think it's a pretty safe bet that these machines will be available as soon as the Apple Store comes back online.So what are the specs? For the Mac Pro the machines are now 8-core standard (!) running up to 3.2 Ghz each (and this is on the new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon). "Fastest Mac ever" is a phrase bandied around a lot -- but in this case, it's absolutely true.From the press release, the basic configuration ($2799 US) includes: two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses; 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB; ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory; 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm; 16x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW); two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots; Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; and ships with Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse. Full CTO options are detailed in the press release linked above.As for the Xserve, it now includes built-in accelerated graphics to drive up to a 23" Cinema Display and front facing USB 2.0 ports. It is also taking advantage of the new Intel 45 nanometer core technology.The basic configuration ($2999 US) includes: a single 64-bit 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processor with 12MB of L2 cache and a 1600 Mhz front side bus; 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GB; a single 80GB SATA Apple Drive Module; dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board; internal graphics; two FireWire® 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard. The unlimited client license for Leopard OS X Server is pretty fantastic, as are the power and cooling specs. Full configuration details can be found in the press release here.
The Apple Store is down.....
Thanks to all our tipsters who noticed that, indeed, the Apple Store is down at the moment all around the world. Unusual? Perhaps. It is after all the week before Macworld. But then again, it's a Tuesday morning, and we all know that Apple chooses this day of the week to jest with us....We'll let you know if there's any changes online.
Grab your 2008 Keynote Bingo cards!
With just over a week to go until the Steve Jobs January Riot Macworld Keynote and mockups of desired Apple products flying at us, Ars Technica's John Siracusa has posted his definitive Macworld Keynote Bingo card. Complete with that immortal Jobs-ian catch-phrase "Boom" and "a few squares for the phone weenies," it's everything you need for the keynote guessing-game.Be sure to check out the rules and regulations to see what will tick off each square -- we'd hate for any keynote attendees to jump up and shout "Bingo!" only to find that their line isn't really valid. That would be embarrassing, wouldn't it?
10 ways to get the most out of Quick Look
When Steve first demonstrated Quick Look, I though it looked gimmicky. Interesting, for sure, but nothing I'd use regularly. Much like Star Wars Episode I: Fun when viewed for the first time, but I'll never watch it again.Three months later, Quick Look is my favorite feature of Leopard. It's convenient, useful and very fast. With a tap of the space bar, I can identify files in the Finder without having to open a separate application.Of course, it goes beyond that. With a little effort (and in some cases, plug-ins), you can get even more out of Quick Look. Here's how. Identify files on remote machines. I've been using Remote Desktop at my day job for a couple of years now. With a few clicks, I can observe or control a remote Mac. Leopard brings this convenience to home users with Screen Sharing. It's useful, but files appear quite tiny when viewed on this screen-within-a-screen (and titles even smaller). Fortunately, Quick Look makes things much more legible. Preview the contents of Zip files (plug-in required). BetterZip and the Zip Quick Look Plug-in both let you view the contents of a zipped file with Quick Look. In fact, Zip Quick Look's display is dependent on a HTML file which you may alter to your liking. Here's how to install Quick Look plug-ins. Preview the contents of a folder (plug-in required). Much like BetterZip and Zip Quick Look, the Folder List plug-in lets you preview the contents of a folder. You can also customize its HTML-powered display and show or hide hidden files or time stamps. Examine snippets of code with syntax highlighting intact. Here's another tip that requires a plug-in. Qlcolorcode lets you preview your code with all the helpful highlighting you expect. Examine files in the trash. Until Leopard, the Finder's trash would keep its contents to itself. Anything you wanted to examine had to be moved back to the desktop. Fortunately, Quick Look lets you preview trashed items. Now you know precisely which item to yank out of there. Prep your iWork documents for use with Quick Look. When you create a document with Numbers, Pages or Keynote, you can ensure that its preview will display the proper formatting by selecting the Include Preview in Document check box whey you save (or turn this feature on by default in the general preference pane). Enhance TextMate. TextMate is the editor that geeks everywhere love (including the geeks at TUAW). Ciarán Walsh has written two Quick Look plug-ins for TextMate that let you preview items in a project or render Quick Look previews (for certain file types) using the TextMate syntax highlighter, respectively. Preview fonts. Open a Finder window, select Cover Flow view and navigate to the font you're interested in. Click the space bar and presto! Instant preview. Quick Look and Cover Flow. I love the combination of Cover Flow and Quick Look. Open a bulging folder in the Finder and select Cover Flow view. Tap the space bar to preview the 1st file and then use the arrow keys to move the next one and so on. You'll stay in Quick Look mode! Very cool. Send images to iPhoto. When viewing an image with Quick Look - either from the Finder or attached to a Mail message - you'll see a tiny iPhoto icon at the bottom of the window. Click it to send that image to iPhoto. I hope you found these tips useful. And I still dislike Episode I.
Apple stock price dips in January rollercoaster
In our last-of-2007 podcast, our resident AAPL-watcher Mike Rose pointed out Apple's exceptional fiscal performance as one of the most important stories of the year. Quite rightly so: Apple had, by all accounts, a phenomenal year. There's even predictions from analysts of AAPL reaching the frankly dizzying heights of $300 - $600 in the next 18 months - we'll see how those fare, folks.With the financial analysts talking about Apple stock's seemingly rosy future, it's perhaps surprising news that AAPL has lost 7.5% (dropping nearly $15) just today. That's about $12 billion knocked off Apple's market cap. With Macworld around the corner, Apple stock is the subject of much speculation already - both for us covering the 'Keynote Index Fund' here at TUAW and over at Wired (to mention but a few). Undoubtedly, there's folks looking to partake in a little daytrading or trading over the duration of the entire Macworld week. With that in mind, might the Feds and SEC be more than interested in the interaction between the keynote (including its audience, one might fathom) and the effect it has on Wall Street?For ongoing coverage of AAPL, check out our colleagues' posts at Blogging Stocks:AAPL.Disclaimer: The points mentioned above come from a personal, and strictly non-professional, opinion, and should not be considered investment advice. For advice on stocks and investments, always seek advice from a regulated financial advice professional.Update: We ought to add that the market did indeed drop as a whole. However, the drop in Apple's stock was disproportionate to the down day.
