Well … the Stevenote as they call it came at went at 9AM PST yesterday. And while it did not bring out new iBooks, PowerBooks, iMacs or PowerMacs … it did bring out some great new products.
First … (well technically last) was the iPods. There is a new “member of the iPod family” on the market. Small (about the size of a business card and 0.5 inches thick) and colourful, the new iPod mini as their calling it is going after the $100-200 market. The only problem here is that it is $249 … hmmm. Personally, I think it is over priced … I wanted to see it for $149 as I thought any higher would either take away or sales from the iPod (big daddy??) or remain out of the price range for christmas gifts, etc. I would have suggested the pricing to be 4 GB for $199 and a 2GB for $149. That would completely steal the market … the only question would be, can they build it for that price? I would look for it coming down in price and a 2GB version coming out over the next 6 months to a year. [prediction]
They have also updated the iLife suite … this is the set of software that allows you to do video editing, photo management, play music, and build full DVD movies. While they have updated iMovie and iDVD, the major news here is the upgrade of iPhoto. They now have improved support and speed for up to 25,000 pictures … improved slideshows … and “smart albums” and for those of you that have used iTunes this is like the “smart list”. It automatically will create albums for you based on specific information (ie dates) … this will dramatically help you keep those photos organized. Dad, you were wanting a better slide show option … give this new suite a try.
Now … there was also a new member to the iLife suite, GarageBand. This is a 64 track recording studio brought right into your machine. Watching the demo on this I was completely blown away. This would have been so useful when I was practicing for those Jazz band solos. Not to mention just screwing around. You connect keyboard via USB and/or plug your guitar directly to your Mac … just mix, record and burn. Mom … you might be interested here.
And for all you non-Mac folk … your missing out.
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