Macworld 2009 Thread: It's coming, the Macbook Wheel!

[photon]

Macbook Wheel!

This is awesome, pure gold.



Seriously though, there's a rumour that the next software update for the iPhone will have tethering. I hope so.

[ricosuave]

ROFL, I was seconds away from posting this myself.

A joke, to be sure, but is it really that far off? LOL

[FanIn80]

Hahaha nice.

[FanIn80]

Last minute rumours!

With Macworld Expo kicking off in a matter of hours, a number of last minute rumors have appeared today.

- CNet reports that Apple has cut deals that will allow iTunes to offer copy-protection free (DRM free) songs from the largest music labels. In exchange, Apple is said to offer more flexible pricing.

Under the terms of the deal, song prices will be broken down into three categories--older songs from the catalog, midline songs (newer songs that aren't big hits), and current hits--said one of the sources.
Beyond this, Apple has also come to an agreement to deliver over-the-air downloads which will allow iPhone users to download music directly on their iPhones. These announcements could be announced at Macworld.

- Arstechnica points out one press release by SeeFile software that reveals the software supports the "new Apple Mac Mini".

- TUAW suggests we may finally see an AT&T / iPhone tethering deal announced this week, according to a "trusted" source.

MacRumors will have live coverage of the keynote at MacRumorsLive.com. The keynote kicks off at 9 a.m. Pacific on Tuesday, Jan 6th.

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/05/...ne-tehthering/

[photon]

I'm hoping for a subscription service. Not sure I'd use it, but I think having one for iPods would be huge.

[FanIn80]

New iLife, iWork. Both look pretty sweet.

Waiting for the big stuffs though!

Edit: iWork.com! Move over, Google Docs.

Edit: New 17" MacBook Pro!

Edit: iTunes = DRM Free !

- New prices (US$): $0.69 and $1.29 per song. (not sure of the breakdown, probably catalogue/new release)
- Starting today, 8 million songs DRM free... 10 million by the end of this quarter
- iPhone iTunes WiFi store is now available over 3G.

iPhone music store = same prices, same selection, same quality... DRM free and syncable back to your computer (and then to any other devices).

Taken from Apple's site:

High-quality, DRM-free music.
iTunes Plus is the new standard on iTunes.

Now, you can choose from millions of iTunes Plus songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independents. With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So iTunes Plus music will play on iPod, Apple TV, all Mac and Windows computers, and many other digital music players. It’s also easy to upgrade your iTunes library to iTunes Plus. You don’t have to buy the song or album again. Just pay the 30¢ per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60¢ and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)

[FanIn80]

All in all... some good stuffs. I love the new lessons in Garage Band. $4.99 gets you a guitar lesson in HD video from a famous musician. Or a piano lesson, etc.

Also, the face recognition and geo-tagging in iPhoto is nice. Some great new transitions, etc.

New 17" MBP and DRM free iTunes...

But no new iMac, Mac Mini, iPhone Nano... no new iPhone OS... no news on Snow Leopard... kind of an overall let down.

[FanIn80]

Links to new and/or updated products:

http://www.apple.com/ilife/
http://www.apple.com/iwork/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/
http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/itunes.html
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/features-17inch.html


Edit:

17-inch MacBook Pro
* 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB on-chip shared L2 cache running 1:1 with processor speed; or 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache
* 1066MHz frontside bus
* 4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM; two SO-DIMM slots support up to 8GB

[mykalberta]

Is it true this is the last year Apple will be attending MacWorld.

Will be very interesting if the software does include tethering, I can't see it but if the do, and if Rogers allows it, that mgiht make me get the iPhone.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Is it true this is the last year Apple will be attending MacWorld.

Will be very interesting if the software does include tethering, I can't see it but if the do, and if Rogers allows it, that mgiht make me get the iPhone.

Rogers already allows tethering if you have the 6GB intro plan from when the iPhone first launched. But there was no infos about anything to do with a new iPhone OS anyway.


Edit: Cleaned up my info posts a bit. I really didn't need to make 3 different posts for what I posted... so I reorganized everything to make it look like I did.

[Igottago]

DRM free is awesome. I will definitely be using itunes a lot more.

[TurnedTheCorner]

When music was offered both with DRM in iTunes and without DRM in iTunes Plus, I would get prompted to "upgrade" to iTunes Plus. If all music is going DRM free, will I be prompted to update my previously DRM-only music purchased from Apple?

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

When music was offered both with DRM in iTunes and without DRM in iTunes Plus, I would get prompted to "upgrade" to iTunes Plus. If all music is going DRM free, will I be prompted to update my previously DRM-only music purchased from Apple?

Yep yep!

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06itunes.html

"iTunes offers customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format for just 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price. The iTunes Store will begin offering eight million of its 10 million songs in Apple’s DRM-free format, iTunes Plus, today with the remaining two million songs offered in iTunes Plus by the end of March."

[TurnedTheCorner]

So I could burn mp3 CDs for archiving after the upgrade to DRM free files, I guess. Interesting.

[FanIn80]

You'd be able to do anything you wanted to with the files. It would be exactly like downloading them illegally, but with professional encoding, artist-approved edits and no risk of viruses or other malware.

For $0.69 - $1.29 per song, or $9.99 per album.

(Personally, I wish they'd offer a lossless version though. I'd pay extra, say $11.99 per album, for full quality Apple Lossless.)

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

All in all... some good stuffs. I love the new lessons in Garage Band. $4.99 gets you a guitar lesson in HD video from a famous musician. Or a piano lesson, etc.

Also, the face recognition and geo-tagging in iPhoto is nice. Some great new transitions, etc.

New 17" MBP and DRM free iTunes...

But no new iMac, Mac Mini, iPhone Nano... no new iPhone OS... no news on Snow Leopard... kind of an overall let down.

These are all things you will see announced and unveiled in Cupertino. Apple is pulling out of Macworld so that they can announce products on their own timelines, not the artificial constraints of having to have something ready every time Macworld rolls around.

[FanIn80]

That's a really good point.

[Russic]

Getting rid of the DRM is very handy, that is excellent news. I haven't had time to look at the new upgrades to ilife yet ... I've been working like a chump.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Rogers already allows tethering if you have the 6GB intro plan from when the iPhone first launched. But there was no infos about anything to do with a new iPhone OS anyway.

So all we need is the new firmware, and I'm good to go tethering on Rogers?

[photon]

I sure hope so.