As you may have noticed I am back into my regular posting habbit. I have been back in the UK for a couple of weeks, but I have just started my A-levels and they are a lot of work. I am taking 4 subjects (out of a maximum of 5), which are Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. Not the easiest ones, but I am finding them really interesting. It is a lot of work, more than I did at GCSE, which means there may be fewer posts per day, or days where I won’t post at all. I’m going to do my best to stay on top of all my work, I don’t want to get behind. I’m aiming for 4 A’s (at AS and A2). I have some good articles lined up for today so get ready!
Monthly Archive for September, 2006
Page 3 of 3
Engadget were at Apple’s “It’s Showtime” press event today and they were able to get hands on with all the new releases, including the iTV prototype, which was a big shocker. Check out the links for all the juicy pictures.
- 2G iPod nano hands-on [link]
- 5G iPod v2 hands-on [link]
- iTV hands-on [link]
- iPod Shuffle and new headphones hands-on [link]
They all look really good, and I’m even impressed with the iTV, even though that hasn’t been officially released. I’m still not sure about the shuffle though, however I do like the nano now. I do want to try them out, but my nearest Apple store is in Birmingham and we won’t go there for no reason just to visit an Apple Store. The other one is in London, and I don’t think we’ll visit it for a while. The other ‘tech’ shops around town are pretty rubbish. They wouldn’t have the new iPods for a while. The Currys.digital shop still has the iPod nano labelled under Hard-disk player. The obviously don’t know anything, but I was amazed to see a MacBook there. I tried it out and it was very fast, I really want one now. After I finished playing with it, one of the store clerks went and started that god-awful screensaver thing they have. I hate those so much; they aren’t really going to get customers to buy the product if they can’t test it.
This is the one product which hasn’t been released, as in it is not on Apple’s website. The name iTV is not official yet, so it is subject to change. I think that is good because iTV sounds a bit plain, and similiar to Elgato’s EyeTV line of products. So people could get confused. Down to the details:
- It looks like a flatter Mac mini.
- No power brick, but there is USB 2, Ethernet, 802.11 Wireless, HDMI, Component and RCA jacks as well as optical audio.
- Controlled via the Apple remote.
- Hooks up directly to your TV, set-top box or other input device.
- An enhanced version of Front Row, with windows media centre style browsing. The right hand side has menu and the left has images.
- “You can do movie trailers form Apple.com right from your couch. This is big screen over the internet, live as we watch. [demo]“
- Movies, TV Shows, Music, Podcasts, and Photos
- Coming Q1 of 2007
- Works with Macs and PCs
- $299
As Apple doesn’t have an official page, I’ll link you to Engadget’s live coverage of the “It’s Showtime!” event.
This certainly seems like a very interesting idea and because of the price point even more so. Now we just have to wait for it to come out, doh!
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The new version of iTunes has a lot of new features, you can find a good walkthrough of the main features at TUAW. These are the main enhancements:
- TV Shows are available in h.264, in 640 x 480 which is up from 320 x 240.
- You can update your iPod from right inside iTunes now, you don’t need to go to Preferences. You can say, “I want to sync the 10 most recent unwatched episides of all my TV shows.”
- You can sync content between multiple computers as long as you have the same iTMS account and both the computers are authorised.
- Coverflow mode allows you to scroll through the artwork of your music as if it was on a shelf.
- Music Artwork can be downloaded free from Apple, and it will fill up all the missing artwork in your library!
- “Today we’re starting out with films from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax – four studios owned by Disney. Today we’re making over 70 films agvailable online today including Pirates of the Caribbean. They’ll be available the same day they’re out on DVD.“
- New movies will be $12.99 if you pre-order them or buy them during the first week. Other movies are $9.99. The movie store is integrated into iTunes and you can preview new releases in album cover flow mode. They will also be at 640 x 480 with Dolby Surround Sound. Initially it will be for the US only, but it will go international in 2007.
- Games for iPod are $4.99 and only work with the 5G iPod (old and updated).
- A refined look with sections for music, other content, playlists etc. It is not really too big, but it allows iTunes to flow more seamlessley. You have to see for yourself, it is hard to describe.
It is available for download now. I think that’s virtually it, I’ll update it if I find anything else.
So no 6G iPod with real video capabilities, but an updated ‘version 2′ iPod, if you may call it that. So what’s new? Well for starters, there is a new 80GB model, which has the same size as the 60GB. The battery life has been bumped upto 20 hours of music, and 6 and a half hours of video, that is of course on the 80GB model. There is a search capability, so you can search through the music you have and find what you want easily. You can watch movies and TV shows from the iTunes Music store (more on that in a separate post) on the 60% brighter screen. There are also dedicated games for iPod, including Texas Holdem, Zuma, Pac Man, Tetris, Minigolf and many more. These are available for download from the iTunes store for $4.99 each. The 30GB is selling for £249/£189 and the 80GB for $349/£259.
Nothing else has changed from the iPod, so I would consider it a minor revision. I like the fact that Apple has included game support, and the search is also really good. The battery life is the thing I’m most pleased about as I have always thought it would be quite short for video (though I own a 4G iPod). I can’t wait to try it out, whenever I can. Though it is a shame there is no true video iPod yet, but I think Apple are working on a few things they need to work out.
In Apple’s “It’s Showtime” event in San Francisco, a few hours earlier, they revealed the new iPod Shuffle. It is now a lot smaller, somewhere in the size of the radio adapter for the normal iPods, as you can see from the image above. It is also now made of anodized aluminium, just like the iPod nano/mini. With a built-in clip, it is 10mm thick and 41 by 27mm wide. That’s around 1.6 inches long. So it is tiny! It also includes the new headphones like the new iPod nano and the revamped box. It only comes in 1GB and the price is $79/£55. An interesting thing to not is that it doesn’t have a built-in USB port anymore, you have to use an included ‘dock’; which may seem strange, but that is one way they reduced the size so much!
I don’t really like the design so much. Sure it’s small, but the way they changed the look of it makes it look like something’s missing, or does it just look ‘too’ small. I’ll have to see for myself. What do you think?
Well not really! But the new nano’s that Apple released today (2G) look like the old iPod mini’s. And who’s to blame them because they were really popular. However, there is no white coloured iPod nano, instead blue, black, green, pink and silver. The sizes are exactly the same, except they are made out of brushed aluminium, like the mini’s, and have beveled edges. They are available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB. The 2GB only comes in silver at $149/£99, 4GB is available in pink, silver, blue and green, but not black at $199/£129 and the 8GB only comes in black at $249/£169. As to why these variations, we have yet to find out. The box has also been revamped and is 52% smaller in volume. The headphones have also been re-designed, and remain the same white colour, but with a more curved surface. The nano itself, now has a 24-hour battery life, and the screen is 40% brighter than before.
A new ad is also out, which can be seen here. I think the ad looks really cool, although I’m still not sure of the colours. I really liked the current design, but I’ll have to pop into an Apple Store and see for myself.