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Macworld 2007: Roundup

sHARD>>

By sHARD>>

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Here's what we've learned:

 

iTV

The iTV has now dropped its codename and is officially known as AppleTV. It sports a 40GB hard drive, 720p HD output, 802.11b/g/n wireless, connects to the iTunes store, can stream content from up to 5 computers, and sync content with another computer. It costs $299, can be preordered today, and will ship in February.

 

Price: $299

Shipping: February

Buy it now: Apple store

Product page: Apple TV

 

iPhone & iPod

Next up is the famed iPhone. This was coyly introduced as an iPod, iPhone, and "Internet Communicator"... all in one! Big widescreen, fully touch sensitive, multitouch, gestures, runs a version of OS X. It docks and syncs with iTunes, and can play movies, music, podcasts, TV shows, photos, contacts, and e-mail. It has a 3.5" high res screen, with 160 pixels per inch and is 11/16" thick, though it is a bit taller and wider than a standard cell phone. The screen is very impressive, though the interface looks vaguely Zune-like, in it's focus on a colorful wallpaper. It houses 4GB or 8GB of onboard flash memory. A nice 2 Megapixel camera is housed on the back of it, a standard iPod connector at the bottom, and an ambient light sensor to adjust brightness. The built-in speaker appears to function with music, not just the phone system. It also houses an acceleromoter to automatically turn on the display, and orientation detection to adjust the screen to portrait or landscape.

 

It appears that Cingular is the only carrier to have the iPhone, and as it is GSM, it also takes SIM cards. It also takes advantage of the faster EDGE network, giving mobile broadband. Connectivity also includes WiFi and Bluetooth, allowing it to connect to home networks and pair with other devices. The onstage demos showed the device flying, looking very much like a full-scale laptop with its Core animation support. Yes, that means it supports Coverflow. Overall the interface is designed with the typical Apple ethos - everything is simple and attractive.

 

"Visual" voicemail which let's you select which voicemails you wish to listen to, quick buttons to conference call, mute, speakerphone, etc. Along with standard SMS features (iChat style), the phone also supports e-mail, enhanced with a new form of predictive input. A minimalist version of Safari is used for web browsing, using the power of the WebKit engine for everything from Google Maps to Widgets (both demoed). Yes, it even has tabs. In order to offer cheaper and more reliable internet access, it automatically switches between the EDGE and WiFi connections. Free e-mail with Yahoo! uses a system similar to that on Blackberries (push IMAP). Back to Google Maps for a second - finally, a phone which uses the GPS features... it knows where you are.

 

The interface is, in general, very OS X like. With the added joys of multitouch, photos can be resized with two fingers, web pages can zoom in and out, and more. And don't forget multi-tasking. Browse the web while making a call, shoot off some e-mails. Music auto-pauses when a call comes in much like the older iTunes software for phones. With all these features, battery life sits at a respectable 5 hours talk time, 16 with audio only.

 

Price: 4GB: $499 (with 2 year contract)

8GB: $599 (with 2 year contract)

Shipping: US: June

Europe: Quarter 4

Asia: 2008

Product page: iPhone

 

Google & Yahoo

What the heck? I remarked to fellow InsanelyMac user other that it would be fairly amusing if Google bought Apple... moments before Eric Schmidt walks on stage and they start talking about doing a "merge without merging". What's that translate to? It seems it's a "strong partnership". But then again, they've also announced heavy Yahoo integration with the iPhone.

 

Apple Computer

Is no more. Now it's just Apple, Inc.

 

Airport Extreme

Here's a little gem that managed to escape the keynote: the AirPort Extreme Base Station has launched and can be found at the Apple Store. It sports 802.11a/b/g/n, 3 LAN ports, a USB port for a printer or hard drive, and a new design resembling the Mac mini or Apple TV.

 

Price: $179

Shipping: February

Buy it now: Apple store

 

Pictures and Video

Need a peek at the units? Check out MacRumors, Engadget, or Gizmodo.

The 2007 Keynote can be found at Apple's 2007 Keynote Address page.

 

Commentary

Wow, so the iPhone is really here. It's... amazing, though a bit pricey. But with those features, it's hard to complain.

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Numberzz
@asap

phone hacking is very complex. i'd love to see osx mobile on the smartphones, but not only is the hardware different, finding a monster file for it will be almost impossible. it took the krzr 3 or so months to get one to flash the verizon red bar ui to the alltel moto ui. it was a miracle, too. v3m monster didnt come out for 6 or 7 months after the release of the phone. and those phones are cheaper and more common. :/ monster files enable you to flash the firmwares of phones, btw.

i think im gonna start a blog about my quest for an iphone and my research on whether or not itll be worth it to switch to cingular. i have somewhere around $289.73, and i need to save. or get a job.

You are right, though unlocking the phone isn't as hard.

Unlocking the SLVR(my phone) was there but I can't find it.
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FabricioGS

Am I the only one that noticed the Apple´s site is getting more black every day?

 

Could this be related to that rumor of Leopard be in a new "Black Aqua" skin?

 

Anyway... I don´t know why all that complains. For me iPhone may not be a great new thing in terms of technology but still is ages in front of the competition (and I´ll probably buy one). :star_smile:

 

I just think Apple is way too much focused in US market only. They still have a huge market outside US that they´re not exploring.

 

PS: It´s Apple TV, not iTV! :lol:

Edited by Viper.Br
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bofors
Am I the only...

 

Is anyone else having problems with QuickTime on Apple's site today?

 

I just get a white box where there should be pictures.

 

 

I just think Apple is way too much focused in US market only. They still have a huge market outside US that they´re not exploring.

 

This is nonsense. Apple has opened physical and online stores in many countries outside the US. They will role the iPhone out the same way, it just starts in the US for good reasons.

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boo50
I just think Apple is way too much focused in US market only. They still have a huge market outside US that they´re not exploring.[/
]

agree with Bofors

only in Moscow city in Russia 4 Apple Stores !! so you are wrong

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VN Man

Since they change their name, it should not call "Mac World" anymore...

 

I want the iPhone, when it come to Europe....

 

As for the life of Flash Memory, how long does it lasts, now we have email, etc...that will be added and deleted on a regular basis....

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sandmanfvrga

I hope from now till release, the iPhone gets supped up and with all the preorders, maybe up the specs some. The storage is the only point that is a problem. 8 gigs can't hold that much when you have tv shows, music, a movie or two and then all your stuff for your phone. If they did 10 and 20 gig as the first versions, that would have been good.

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Numberzz
I hope from now till release, the iPhone gets supped up and with all the preorders, maybe up the specs some. The storage is the only point that is a problem. 8 gigs can't hold that much when you have tv shows, music, a movie or two and then all your stuff for your phone. If they did 10 and 20 gig as the first versions, that would have been good.

Or at least make it expandable. 16 GB is better than 8 GB. Who knows, you maybe able to get 20 GB in a flash drive by the time it is released.

Edited by mr.mac
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andrewf
As for the life of Flash Memory, how long does it lasts, now we have email, etc...that will be added and deleted on a regular basis....

A very long time. They have techniques these days that spread the writes evenly over the flashdisk.

 

SanDisk introduced NAND flashdisks with an MTBF of two million hours (mean time between failures)

That's about 200years..

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FabricioGS
Is anyone else having problems with QuickTime on Apple's site today?

 

I just get a white box where there should be pictures.

This is nonsense. Apple has opened physical and online stores in many countries outside the US. They will role the iPhone out the same way, it just starts in the US for good reasons.

 

Here in South America that´s absolutely NOT a nonsense. We pay 3-4x times the price you guys pay in US for the same hardware (and that includes iPod and stuff). There´s also no perspective to have a store here in the next years so...

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roscoe13
Or at least make it expandable. 16 GB is better than 8 GB. Who knows, you maybe able to get 20 GB in a flash drive by the time it is released.

 

We might see 16GB or 32GB, but no one will ever bother making a 20GB flash drive, just doesn't make sense with the design of flash chips...

 

Unfortunately, the iPhone probably doesn't use a plug-in flash drive, but soldered in flash, so it probably won't be easily user upgradeable as larger flash drives become available/affordable...

 

Peace

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aberracus

I don't know..

My dell Axim X51v got a 4GB SD card and i have in there 2 gb of music (in my point of view 2gbs of music is a lot, i have there what i consider is the best of my music, i wish i could rotate the music like an ipod using playlists and itunes, but...its MS {censored}.. so... anyway i have 10 movies (full movies in divx format) insde too (thats another GB) the other GB is a mix of ebooks, pictures, and notes.

 

So for me 4Gb is just enough 8 gb would be perfect, i dont need to carry all my music with me, do you?

 

im with you Sandman, why are you whinning? we had have plenty of OSX and Macs this year, and Steve Jobs Said at the start of the conference that they are gonna keep rolling out this year some wonderfull and awesome Macs, new designs and some suprises.

 

BTW i concord with Bofors, Apple store is geting darker, i would love a black aqua... but isnt vista black?

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