Apple announces iLife '06

[AppleInsider]

Apple today announced iLife '06, the most significant upgrade to its award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications ever.

iLife '06 features iPhoto 6 with faster performance, new printed books, calendars and cards, and Apple’s new Photocasting for sharing photos over the Internet; iMovie HD 6 with new motion themes for adding spectacular production value to movies; iDVD 6 for authoring custom DVDs for today’s widescreen TVs; and GarageBand 3, now the complete solution for creating professional-quality Podcasts. iLife '06 also introduces iWeb, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click.

“This is the most exciting iLife upgrade ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Apple pioneered applications to serve our emerging digital lifestyle and then consolidated them into the iLife suite. With this major upgrade to iLife, we’re leaping even further ahead of anything available for the PC.”

The new iWeb application is one of the easiest ways to create professional-looking web pages, online photo albums, blogs and Podcasts in minutes, Apple said. New templates help create stunning websites while the iLife media browser makes adding photos, movies, music or playlists as simple as drag and drop. Additionally, powerful editing tools make it easy to customize websites without having to know HTML. iWeb works seamlessly with other iLife '06 applications as a complete solution for creating photo albums, blogs and Podcasts that can be published to the Internet with one click using .Mac.

iPhoto 6 offers faster performance, support for up to 250,000 photos and introduces Photocasting, an innovative new way to share photos directly from within iPhoto via .Mac to friends and family. Photocasting is like Podcasting for photos where anyone can subscribe to a published photo album and automatically receive full quality photos directly within iPhoto 6 or on a PC. Pictures automatically update when the owner adds, edits or deletes a photo within the published album. Up to eight photos can be compared simultaneously and adjusted with a one-click image enhancements and effects panel. Professional-quality books, calendars and greeting cards are created easily by adding photos to Apple-designed themes.

iMovie HD 6 introduces new Apple-designed motion themes that let users add Hollywood-style production value to their movies in minutes. Effects can be previewed without waiting with new real-time Core Video effects, while cinematic titling gives users flexibility to create incredible text effects. New audio enhancement tools and sound effects make movies sound as good as they look. Multiple projects can now be opened at once in iMovie HD 6 and clips can be moved among projects. iMovie HD is the easiest way to make a video Podcast which can be published with iWeb for the whole world to experience.

iDVD 6 allows users to take content shot with the latest HDV and widescreen DV cameras and author custom DVDs with widescreen menus, movies and high resolution slideshows that fill every inch of the newest widescreen TVs. iDVD 6 features 10 new Apple-designed menu themes in both widescreen (16:9) and standard (4:3) formats. iDVD 6 themes include new autofill drop zones to make customizing menus even easier. In addition, iDVD 6 can burn using compatible third-party DVD burners. iDVD 6 also includes new Magic iDVD, the easiest way ever to make a DVD. With just a few clicks, users select a theme and choose their movies and photos, Magic iDVD then automatically creates a complete DVD that’s ready to burn.

In addition to being one of the best ways to make music on a computer, GarageBand 3 is now also a complete solution for creating professional quality Podcasts. Voices can easily be recorded using the built-in expertise of an audio engineer and Podcasts can be enhanced with radio-style sound effects and music jingles, chapter artwork and URL links. Talk show Podcasts are created by interviewing one or more guests simultaneously in iChat AV and recording directly into GarageBand 3. Podcasts can be posted for the world to enjoy on .Mac and submitted to iTunes using iWeb. In addition, a new video track makes it easy to create music to score iMovie projects.

Pricing & Availability

iLife ’06 is now available for a suggested retail price of $79. The iLife ’06 suite of applications will be included with all new Macs. iTunes version 6.0.2 is currently available as a free download at www.apple.com. .Mac is available as a subscription-based service for $99.95 per year for individuals and $179.95 for a Family Pack which includes one master account and five sub accounts.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[melgross]

People here seem to be ignoring this.

I think that's too bad. It might be a more significant upgrade than thought.

This is what Michael Gartenberg from Jupiter Research thinks about it:

http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/a...es/012959.html

[Gene Clean]

Originally posted by melgross
People here seem to be ignoring this.

No, they're not. There are already existing threads on iLife and iWork 06. It's just that opening yet another thread is futile and useless.

[kim kap sol]

Originally posted by melgross
People here seem to be ignoring this.

I think that's too bad. It might be a more significant upgrade than thought.

This is what Michael Gartenberg from Jupiter Research thinks about it:

http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/a...es/012959.html

It's perhaps the biggest update to iLife so far.

The integration between the iLife apps (as well as apps such as iCal, iChat and Address Book) is phenomenal.

The user interface across all the apps is finally unified and makes sense (dynamic toolbar at the bottom...removal of button clutter and thicker edges seen in previous iApps.)

CoreImage/CoreVideo added to iPhoto and iMovie.

iPhoto is finally fast. iPhoto gains Aperture-like fullscreen editing. New calender and card printing service. Photocast seems interesting.

iWeb is really about ease-of-use. The websites are not as customizable as something created in RapidWeaver...but they're a heck of a lot easier to create and publish (I suppose even easier if you got .mac). Not a whole lot of templates right now but the number of templates will grow as time goes by.

Garageband now integrates well with iMovie and allows podcast creation. When I had first heard the rumor, I thought it would be a bad idea, but it doesn't seem so bad now.

[melgross]

Originally posted by Gene Clean
No, they're not. There are already existing threads on iLife and iWork 06. It's just that opening yet another thread is futile and useless.

Generally we have threads start with the news article, and then sometimes, later, another one opens on the forums.

[melgross]

Originally posted by kim kap sol
It's perhaps the biggest update to iLife so far.

The integration between the iLife apps (as well as apps such as iCal, iChat and Address Book) is phenomenal.

The user interface across all the apps is finally unified and makes sense (dynamic toolbar at the bottom...removal of button clutter and thicker edges seen in previous iApps.)

CoreImage/CoreVideo added to iPhoto and iMovie.

iPhoto is finally fast. iPhoto gains Aperture-like fullscreen editing. New calender and card printing service. Photocast seems interesting.

iWeb is really about ease-of-use. The websites are not as customizable as something created in RapidWeaver...but they're a heck of a lot easier to create and publish (I suppose even easier if you got .mac). Not a whole lot of templates right now but the number of templates will grow as time goes by.

Garageband now integrates well with iMovie and allows podcast creation. When I had first heard the rumor, I thought it would be a bad idea, but it doesn't seem so bad now.

These apps add amazingly to the value of the Mac, particularly for the low cost machines.

I wish Apple would follow through with ads in the PC magazines featuring these apps. All too many PC people still don't realize how much they get with the machine.

[a_greer]

If the proformance of the iPhoto on my G4 with <1000 photos is anything like the proformance of the intel imac with 25000, it will be worth every penny.
Now that is a nice one-up on Picasa, great job Apple.

[EuroChild]

I look forward to loading iLife '06, if not just for the more unified interfaces. But what do you all make of the lack of Front Row? Before MWSF it seemed that everyone thought this was a certainty... and it was overshadowed by talk of Plasmas and media centre thingys...

Do you think we'll see Font Row part of iLife soon (as an additional download), or will it simply be restricted to all new macs, as seems to be the case? The insistence on using a IR remote seems to point to this...



Your computer must be *this* new to go on this ride...

[melgross]

Originally posted by EuroChild
I look forward to loading iLife '06, if not just for the more unified interfaces. But what do you all make of the lack of Front Row? Before MWSF it seemed that everyone thought this was a certainty... and it was overshadowed by talk of Plasmas and media centre thingys...

Do you think we'll see Font Row part of iLife soon (as an additional download), or will it simply be restricted to all new macs, as seems to be the case? The insistence on using a IR remote seems to point to this...



Your computer must be *this* new to go on this ride...

Just because "everybody" might have thought something to be true (which we didn't) doesn't mean that it would be.

Plasma was nothing more than the insane ramblings of O'Grady, who has these drug-like induced dreams several times a year. Anything he says can be safely disgarded.

Yeah, some thought the media center would be here. But, it wasn't anything more than a guess after the 5G's and video content came out. No doubt Apple will come out with something, but they don't do everything at once.

[kcmac]

What I am wondering is just how much faster iPhoto will be on our non intel based macs. It seemed to fly on the keynote but Apple claims that the intel iMac is 2-3 times faster than the iMac G5.

I did order iLife and like the new features. Can't wait to try it out in a few days.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally posted by melgross
People here seem to be ignoring this.

I think that's too bad. It might be a more significant upgrade than thought.

This is what Michael Gartenberg from Jupiter Research thinks about it:

http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/a...es/012959.html

I agree with M. Gartenberg's comments. The software upgrades are really the reason for the show, and the reason a dyed-in-the-wool PC user might finally, seriously look at a Mac.

My gosh, the iWeb portion of the presentation was very exciting, although I don't think anything other than a .mac accout would be able to host content created in the iWeb apps. If anyone knows different, please say so... at any rate, I'll be ordering iLife tomorrow.

[melgross]

Originally posted by SpamSandwich
I agree with M. Gartenberg's comments. The software upgrades are really the reason for the show, and the reason a dyed-in-the-wool PC user might finally, seriously look at a Mac.

My gosh, the iWeb portion of the presentation was very exciting, although I don't think anything other than a .mac accout would be able to host content created in the iWeb apps. If anyone knows different, please say so... at any rate, I'll be ordering iLife tomorrow.

I'm not sure how much of what you said was tongue in cheek, he does make some good points.

PC users I've shown iLife to are very impressed. If this gets them thinking just a little, it could be enough to get them to move over.

Obviously dyed-in-the-wool users won't be swayed. But a friend of mine who was the person buying the workstations for the MTA here in NYC, said to me about 18 months ago f**k Windows, I'm tired of it, does the PB come with any software, or do I have to start all over again?

He bought a PB back then, and even owns Apple stock. So, it does help.

[kenaustus]

iLife is a huge factor in getting PC users to consider and buy Macs. (Actually Front row is just as big - I was rather sad to see it excluded form iLife 06.)

Because of the importance of iLife in competing against the PC market Apple has invested more resources in 06 than I expected and they have definitely moved the bar a lot higher. For consumers the PCs don't compete - especially when 06 ships with Mac minis.

I ordered yesterday and it's already shipped. Apple is ready to go full speed with this and I look for it to have a major impact on sales, and on customers picking up a .Mac subscription.

[SpamSandwich]

Originally posted by melgross
I'm not sure how much of what you said was tongue in cheek, he does make some good points.

PC users I've shown iLife to are very impressed. If this gets them thinking just a little, it could be enough to get them to move over.

Obviously dyed-in-the-wool users won't be swayed. But a friend of mine who was the person buying the workstations for the MTA here in NYC, said to me about 18 months ago f**k Windows, I'm tired of it, does the PB come with any software, or do I have to start all over again?

He bought a PB back then, and even owns Apple stock. So, it does help.

Actually, none of that post was tongue in cheek... I am dead serious. And the new UBS estimate that Apple stock will hit $100 soon lends additional credibility to the bean counters and the man on the street. I think just like movie grosses being a barometer with the public's perception of "$$$=good", people pay attention to winners and will follow lemming-like to their final computational salvation. (OK, so I was being a little tongue-in-cheek).