Lots of good stuff happened at this years Macworld. There was Time Capsule, new iPhone and iPod updates, iTunes movie rentals, Apple TV 2.0 and of course the new MacBook Air.

In your opinion, what was the biggest announcement at Macworld 2008?

Cast Your Vote Here >

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Apple TV, iTunes, MacBook Air, macworld, Time Capsule

Along with the Time Capsule and movie rentals announcements at this mornings’ Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs perhaps saved some of the biggest news for last. He unveiled the long-rumored and speculated upon MacBook Air. The thing looks pretty darn amazing. In fact, he brought it on stage in an envelope. Intel has shrunk the processor down by 60%. The processor on this is apparently as thick as a nickle and as wide as a dime! The MacBook Air is 0.16″ to 0.76″ at its thickest. Now that’s thin!

Some environmental details:

• Full aluminum case (good for recycling)
• Mercury and lead free display
• Circuit boards are BFR free
• Retail packaging uses 56% less volume than the MacBook.

Some key features and specs:

• 2GB memory (standard)
• 1.6 GHz Standard, 1.8 GHz Option - Intel Core 2 Duo
• 80 GB hard disk standard
• 13.3″ display
• Magnetic closure
• 5 hrs battery life
• Superdrive acceessory available for $99
• 802.11n + Bluetooth 2.1/EDR
• 45 Watt MagSafe
• 1 USB 2.0 port (only 1???)
• Micro-DVI, Audio Out
• Multi-touch trackpad
• Backlit LED
• iSight built-in

The MacBook Air is pre-ordering today, and will ship in two weeks. You can pick one up from $1799.

Read more from Apple, or pre-order here.

[Source]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: MacBook Air, macworld

Another major announcement at this years Macworld keynote is the introduction of iTunes movie rentals!

All of the major studios are on board. Miramax, Touchstone, MGM, Lionsgate, FoX, Newline, Warner Brothers, Disnay, Paramount, Universal and Sony.

To start, over 1000 movies are going to be available in the iTunes store and all new movies will be available 30 days after DVD release.

You can watch the movies anywhere on a Mac, PC, your iPhone or iPod. PLUS you can watch instantly because you can stream the video right to your device. When you rent a movie you have 30 days to start watching it, and once you have started watching, you then have 24 hours to finish.

Titles in the iTunes library will be available for $2.99, and new releases will be $3.99.

iTunes movies rentals is launching today in the U.S. The international version will launch later this year. Software updates for iPods and iTunes will be coming soon.

[Source]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: iTunes, macworld, Movie Rentals

‘The Steve’ is on stage and has already announced one new product called ‘Time Capsule’.

This fills a need for laptop users that are tired of plugging in and running Time Machine on external hard drives.

Basically Time Capsule is a full Airport Extreme base station with a server grade internal hard drive. Woohoo! It will be available in 2 versions, a 500GB version for $299USD and a 1TB version for $499.

Special thanks to MacRumorsLive for the photo.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: macworld, Time Capsule

Our friends over at MacRumors are producing live coverage of this years Macworld keynote. While it is not live video, it is still pretty darn good. Simply click here and leave the page open in your browser. It will automatically update with news, pics and updates as they happen, live from the keynote.

Exciting stuff, let the keynote begin!

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Macrumorslive, macworld

The latest rumors late last night and early this morning have Steve Jobs announcing the release of the iPhone to the Canadian market this morning at the Macworld keynote.

The phone is set to launch on the Rogers network, however Apple may announce more carriers north of the border to support the phone.

In my opinion this would be great. No need to give Rogers the monopoly in iPhones up in Canada. I’m sure Telus and Bell will want to get their hands on the device as well, and there’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. We all know how rediculous phone/data rates are in Canada, and a little competition can only help the situation.

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Canada, iPhone, macworld

Our friends over at AppleGazette have reported some interesting news. They report that for some reason at Adium stats you can see a device called ‘MacBookAir’.

Could this be confirmation that there really is ’something in the air’? I can’t confirm any of this… Could be a hoax or it could be real… One thing is for sure, we’ll find out on Tuesday!

To check out the full stats page over at Adium, click here. (scroll down a bit when you get there)

[Source]

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Adium, MacBook Air, macworld

Ok, as you know I’m not going to actually be at Macworld, so perhaps the title of this post is a little misleading. However, below are the apps I’m most interested in that are ‘debuting’ at Macworld.

• Office for Mac 2008 from Microsoft
• Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac from Adobe
• Mac OS X 10.5.2 from Apple (rumor… please be true!)
• Soundbooth for Leopard from Adobe
• iPhone v1.1.3 from Apple (rumor)
• iTunes 7.6 from Apple (rumor)
• Transmit 3.6 from Panic (I use Transmit all the time)
• CandyBar 3.1.2 from Panic
• Interarchy 9 from Nolob

Obviously there are many, MANY more apps that are going to be debuting at the expo, but this is my ’short-list’.

What is on your short-list?

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: macworld

Attention to all attending Macworld! 

Deborah Shadovitz and Adam Christianson invite all Macworld Expo-goers to join them for the 2nd Annual Mac Mingle at Jillian’s on Thursday, January 17th, starting at 8:15 pm.

This popular, open-to-all-badge holders party will begin immediately after the Mac Podcaster’s Meetup and run until close to midnight. This is a great opportunity to meet, mingle and gossip with fellow Mac users. Party goes will also have the opportunity to win some great prizes from party sponsors.

All you need is your expo badge and you’re in. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. The bar will be open for all drink purchases, and Jillian’s full menu is available in case you’re really hungry.

Jillian’s is conveniently located right across from either Moscone, on the corner of 4th and Howard Streets.

Have I mentioned how disappointed I am I can’t attend this years’ Macworld? 

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: Mac Mingle, macworld

Mike over at MacMegaSite has reported that a little bird tweeted that the MacBook Nano will be announced next week at MacWorld! It will be roughly half the size of the current MacBook, 3/4 of an inch thick with an SSD drive (no optical drive) and will use a new ‘beam technology’ to transfer data faster than Bluetooth.

We can’t confirm or deny this rumor as of yet. So that’s all it will be for now, a rumor… But what a rumor it is!

written by Mr. Mayor \\ tags: MacBook Nano, macworld