Confirming what much of the gadgetosphere had been rumormongering the last few weeks, Steve Jobs (the real one, not the outed fake) offered up a treasure trove of goodies that included the new aluminum iMacs (with a so fresh, so clean redesigned keyboard), revamped iLife and iWork software packages, and an amped up .Mac online service. One of the few surprises of the day was the continuation of the forgotten Mac--the mini lives! Here's the skinny on what got unloaded from Uncle Steve's treasure trove:
- One of the worst kept Apple secrets of recent time, the new iMacs veer away from the blocky white plastic shell of the old and get a thinner, all-aluminized industrial design that's destined to win awards. And with the addition of a glass screen, Apple can continue to tout its move to a cradle-to-cradle production/recycle lifespan. It also includes the thin, redesigned keyboard that was leaked to the intertubes a few weeks ago, which is also available separately in both wired (with extended keyboard layout) and more compact Bluetooth wireless versions. Powered by a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the new iMac comes in two screen sizes--20-inch and 24-inch--with the 20-inch model offering a step-down option of a 2.0 GHz processor. They've also gotten slimmer in price, with the 20-inch now $300 less and the 24-inch dropping $200. Other specs of note: they come with integrated 802.11n wireless and can handle up to a 1 TB (terabyte) internal hard disk drive. Gizmodo has loaded up a photo gallery full of up-close-and-personal pics as well as this hands-on preview of the keyboard.
- No new looks for the Mac mini, but it does get a power upgrade to Core 2 Duo processors (with 2 speeds on offer--1.83 GHz and 2.0 GHz), as well as 1 GB of RAM installed as standard issue and larger hard drive capacity (120 GB for the top end). However, no 802.11n connectivity.
- On the software front, iLife '08 gets major new versions of iPhoto and iMovie. Aside from UI, the biggest change in iPhoto is the addition of a new feature called Events, which automatically groups a single day's worth of photos into a container, with the ability to break a day into multiple events. Other new features include the ability to hide photos that you want to keep but don't necessarily need to see all the time, a new .Mac Web gallery, and the ability to send photos from an iPhone to that online gallery.
- A fully redesigned iMovie now encapsulates all your video into a library, and adds support for editing AVCHD files and adds options for encoding and sending movies directly to YouTube, to an iPhone via iTunes, and to Apple's enhanced .Mac service. GarageBand '08 adds Magic GarageBand, which TidBITS explains as "a way to play music in a 'virtual band': choose a genre, assign some instruments on the faux stage, and then pick an instrument for you to play along with a preloaded track."
- Offering competition to Google Docs as well as the recently delayed Microsoft Mac Office suite, iWork '08 adds the new spreadsheet application, Numbers, to its Pages word processor and Keynote presentation apps. TidBITS explains the magic of Numbers:
Instead of a large expanse of empty cells, Numbers appears to treat the document as a blank canvas on which you add "intelligent tables" that provide spreadsheet functionality. Of course, you can add (and move) other elements on that document page, including 2D and 3D charts, images, text labels, and photos. It almost appears as if Apple designed Numbers to be as much a presentation tool as Keynote.
- The .Mac online service has been upgraded to include a 10 GB of online storage (with the ability to increase to 20 GB) and the .Mac Web Gallery, which enables you to more easily upload and share photos and videos directly from iPhoto and iMovie.
- On the hush-hush, TUAW notes that Apple has revamped its Airport Extreme wireless base station to include a Gigabit Ethernet port.
- Finally, if you check your Software Update application, you'll find updates for Aperture (to version 1.5.4) and Front Row (to version 1.3.1).
~Agen G.N. Schmitz, Amazon Current
