No, we’re not campaigning for an award for Mr. Floofle, our pedigree half-chihuahua, half-Rottweiler—though he deserves it, the poor fellow, passed over three times in a row. No, we’re talking about the prestigious Best of Show awards passed out by our big brothers and sisters over at Macworld, and awarded at Macworld Expo in January.
Well, if you’re a developer who’s exhibiting at Expo and you want your product considered for this highest honor, then you should know that you’ve got until December 13th to submit it to the Macworld team. This year, for the first time, iPhone software applications are eligible for consideration as well. If your product isn’t going to be released until the show itself, editors will honor confidentiality agreements.
The annual one-hour ceremony for the show’s best products takes place on January 7th at 3PM Pacific in Moscone, where Macworld’s editorial team will present the winners. As for Mr. Floofle, we’re afraid that he’ll have to wait until he manages to put the finishing touches on his new iPhone app: “Mr. Floofle’s Walkies for Big Dogs and Small Dogs.” It’s a surefire winner.
If you couldn’t make it to San Francisco for this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, you can still feel like you were there, thanks to the fact that Apple has now released videos of the event’s sessions. And heck, if you were there, you can still relive the good times, albeit without all the fun of the parties and fellow developers.
You’ll need a spiffy Apple Developer Connection Premiere Account in order to access the videos, which are being distributed via iTunes. Both videos and slides of sessions from all three tracks—Mac, iPhone, and IT—are available to developers. Topics ranged from Introduction to Mac and iPhone Development to Creating Widgets with Dashcode and Debugging and Profiling Your iPhone Application.
There’s a lot of great information packed in these sessions, so if you’re an ADC member who didn’t have a chance to to see them in person, there are probably at least a few thata re worth your time (though it might take some browsing to find them).
Everyone and their mother (including our very own Jason Snell) liveblogged Apple's notebook event today, but sometimes you just want to see an Apple product introduction with your own eyes. Luckily Apple has just posted an online version of today's Special Event.
See for yourself as Tim Cook sings the praises of Apple products; wonder, as Steve introduces the new MacBooks, just where the FireWire port went; and don't forget to hide your credit cards--it's a known fact that Steve's Reality Distortion Field works over the Internet.
And for those who want to download the video for repeat viewing, don't fret: we're sure a podcast version is on its merry way to the iTunes Store soon enough.
There's always an upside and a downside to becoming obsessive about an Apple announcement. The upside is getting that adrenaline rush when drool-worthy products like the new MacBook Pro are released. The downside is that when things you've been hoping for for, say, three-and-a-half-years, are not delivered. Yes, I know you fell my pain too when I say that the latest line of Apple laptops do not feature Blu-ray disc players.
Yeah, you heard me right, no Blu-Ray, period. Even with the title of format-wars victor, and proliferation in a large variety of laptops, desktops, and DVD players, Apple has yet to offer an option for Blu-Ray disc reading and movie playback. Why was this new technology left out of Apple's latest load of portables? Well, according the Great Jobs himself, "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt." What? A bag of hurt?!? That sounds like a threat that a 50's mobster might make, not an explanation for the lack of Blu-ray support. While Phil Schiller did manage to come to the rescue, claiming that "We have the best HD movie and TV options in iTunes," I still feel that Apple's cheating me out of what's really the highest-quality way to watch movies. Well, there's always next year.
The second member of the Apple notebook family to be updated today was the MacBook Air. Unlike the MacBook Pro, no cosmetic changes to see here. It's all about the specs!
First up, the Micro-DVI port is replaced with this new Mini Display port, which also found its way onto the MacBook Pro. Under the hood, the graphics power is provided by the new Nvidia GeForce 9600M, which Apple says will be four times faster than the previous Intel integrated graphics.
The new model will be offered in two specifications. For $1799, you'll get a 1.6GHz processor with a 6MB cache (up from 4MB), 2GB of 1066MHz RAM, and a 120GB SATA hard drive. For $2499, the processor is bumped up to 1.86GHz and you get a 128GB solid state drive -- a nice upgrade from the current 64GB SSD option. All of this will be available in early November.
All in all, the new MacBook Air got some nice updates today, even though its two brothers stole the show. In all likeliness, few Air owners will rush out to buy the new models, but new buyers will welcome the increase in value.
[Photo: Engadget]
Forget about new MacBooks, folks—the future is handheld. Of course, Apple’s developed one of the most exciting handheld platforms around, so it’s only logical that aficionados of the device have organized a three day conference for the end of next July in Vancouver, BC. Topics will include GPS, syncing, and yes, developing for the Newton.
I’m sorry, whaaaa? The Worldwide Newton Conference 2009? Yes, Apple’s first (and, I’m sure these folks will argue, greatest) handheld platform is still going strong in some circles, with support for things like Wi-Fi and GPS. The focus for the conference itself is “moving forward”—how to keep the Newton relevant in today’s world of *ahem* the iPhone.
You can grab a pass for the three day extravaganza for $55, plus of course the cost of air travel and accommodations in lovely Vancouver (the conference does have a block of rooms at a local hotel). We also presume you might want to bring your own Newton, which you can probably find on eBay, or in your local museum.
With Apple’s hootenanny in Cupertino just a day away, the fact that Apple is releasing new laptops has officially become the worst secret ever kept. Even Apple’s gotten into the fun, accidentally leaking a support PDF for the “MacBook/MacBook Pro (Late 2008).”
The document in question, which has since been removed, doesn’t have many details to spill about the new models, focusing only on what it takes to replace the display on the computers, including reinstalling the AirPort card (News flash! New MacBooks will have wireless networking!).
But this all seems kind of…suspicious, doesn’t it? I mean, it’s almost too easy. An invitation spelling it out? A leaked support document? Photos all over the Interweb, purporting to be of the new aluminum case design? There’s only one possible answer.
My theory? Steve Jobs has gone full-on evil supervillain. Tired of the endless speculation about his health, Steve’s been spending the last several months quietly retrofitting Apple’s Town Hall so that it boasts a retractable floor that can slide away at a moment’s notice, dumping the assembled crowd of press and analysts into a swimming pool populated with piranhas and laser-toting cyborg seals.
It’s times like this that I’m glad I couldn’t scrape together the airfare.
Sha-zam. All those rumors about October 14th? Confirmed. This morning, Apple sent out an invitation to the press about a special event next Tuesday. We’re not sure exactly what it’s about with Apple’s puzzling title of “The spotlight turns to notebooks” but we’re going to go out on a limb and say notebooks. The event, which is invitation-only, takes place at Apple’s Town Hall on the 14th, starting at 10AM Pacific with registration beginning at a prompt 9:30 Pacific.
But what about notebooks? The image shows a spotlight shining on an aluminum-clad MacBook (Pro?), which suggests that rumors about a makeover for the MacBook are true. No doubt you’ve also been following the whispers of the mysterious “Brick”—is it a production process? A new accessory? An industrial-strength cleaning solvent? A brick? We’ll know in just a few days.
Meanwhile, let us know what you think is coming in the comments below.
Now that we’re all cooling down after Tuesday’s Steve Jobs keynote, it’s naturally time to get revved up about the next one. Did you realize January 2009 is a mere four months away? No? Well, let’s help you out with that: our parent company, IDG, has today opened up registration for Macworld Expo 2009, taking place January 5th-9th at San Francisco’s lovely Moscone Center. This is the 25th annual MWSF, to boot. Wow. Quarter of a century mark.
As usual, there’s plenty beyond just the Jobs keynote, even though that’s really what everybody’s looking forward to. There’s also the exhibit hall, the conference tracks, and even a few feature presentations. The registration page is looking a little crazy right now, but it probably works anyway. Last year, there were 47,908 attendees, keep your fingers crossed to break 50,000 this year.
Of course, should be unable to attend, the MacUser team will keep you well-informed about all the developments in Moscone.
If trying to watch Steve Jobs launch the new iPods and iTunes in stuttering streaming video is not your thing, Apple totally understands and has something that might interest you more—a downloadable, DVD quality video podcast on the iTunes Store. If you haven’t already, just subscribe to the Apple Keynotes podcast (iTunes link) and the entire keynote will be automatically delivered straight to your swanky new iTunes application.
Given that it barely lasted an hour this time round—Jobs practically rushed onstage, made that quip about rumors of his death being “greatly exaggerated”, announced the new iPods and iTunes, and dashed off—the relatively small size of 746MB should come as no surprise. I’m not sure whether it’s happening because I’m sitting on the other side of the Earth or not, but the keynote is being downloaded awfully slowly on my end. Let us know if you have any better luck.
