Notes from Apple's Showtime event

[AppleInsider]

Apple's Showtime event has begun and Steve Jobs is currently on stage introducing new products.

Over 70 percent of 2007 model cars sold in the United States will include some form of iPod connectivity
Apple has sold over 450,000 Nike+iPod Sport Kits in just under three months.
Apple is introducing a new video capable iPod with 60 percent brighter screen. Battery life has been increased from 2 hours to 3 and a half hours when playing videos.
Apple is introducing a new earphone design they've been working on for about a year and a half. They are white and look similar to the existing version.
New iPods feature gapless playback so songs flow into one another
New iPod software features: instant searching, faster scrolling and games.
Some of the new games -- which will work on 5G iPods -- include Bejeweled, Tetris, Texas Hold'em, Mini Golf, Packman, etc. They'll be on sale at iTunes for $4.99
$249 for the new 30GB iPod video and $349 for the new 80GB model.
New iPod nano: Aluminum and in colors. Color options include Black (8GB), Silver (2GB), Green (4GB), Pink (4GB), and Blue (4GB). Using new software like on the iPod video. 24 hour playback. 2GB model for $149, 4GB model for $199, and 8GB for $249. The new nano packaging is more economical -- about 52% smaller. Less fuel to burn when shipping. New accessories include armbands, lanyard, and charger
Apple is also introducing a second generation iPod shuffle with built in clip for improved wearability. It comes in one standard configuration: 1GB, metal enclosure, available in October for $79. It will also come in new packaging.
Apple has sold 10 million shuffles so far.
That's it for iPods...moving on to iTunes.
iTunes has sold 1.5 billion songs and is now the 5th largest reseller of music in the US behind Wal-mart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon.com
Apple today is introducing iTunes 7 with three different interface views. Apple has added an Album View that allows users to flip through their albums digitally. And if you've ripped your CDs and don't have album covers, Apple is gonna give you the missing covers for free (if you have an iTunes account). The third view is called Cover Flow view and it looks like you are flipping through a CD album book.
Apple has sold over 45 million iTunes videos. iTunes now features 220 shows from over 40 networks. NFL is joining as a new network today.
All videos are now encoded in H.264 at 640x480 and iTunes 7 features seamless playback for videos
You can now sync iPods with multiple computers if authorized.
iTunes will show games you've download and list instructions for the games.
iTunes 7 is a free download today
One more thing... Movies
Apple today is rolling out movies from Disney, Pixar, Touchstone, and Miramax (studios owned by Disney). Over 70 movies online today and new movies will be available the same day they arrive on DVD.
New movies will be $12.99 if pre-ordered during the first week with others costing $9.99. Movies can be previewed in iTunes. They'll be available in near DVD resolution of 640x480 with Dolby surround sound. Download time is about 30 minutes and you can begin watching as it downloads after the first minute.
Bob Iger, the CEO of the Walt Disney Company is invited on stage to wrap things up. He makes some comments.
But wait -- there's still one more thing... It won't be ready till early 2007, but it completes the iTunes movie story so they are going to preview it today.
It's the long rumored Apple set-top box / wireless streaming device temporarily called iTV
It's half the size of the Mac mini (looks like a mini sliced horizontally) and includes a built-in power supply, USB, Ethernet, 802.11 wireless component video, optical audio and HDMI ports (in addition to old RCA audio ports) and works with Apple Remote. It will feature a next-gen Front Row interface. Video streams almost instantaneously and looks pretty damn good on a large screen.
iTV even interfaces with iTunes store movie trailers... Steve is using it to play The Incredibles in HDTV!
iTV: $299...Q12007. Mac or PC.
Steve: Apple is now in your Den, Living Room, Car and Pocket.
Still one more thing -- it all comes down to the artists. Steve is closing out the show with a live performance by Grammy-winning artist John Legend.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[aplnub]

Boy, what a let down on the iPod side. Yeah, battery life and screen brightness are a plus but nothing show stopping imho.

[lsngctrl]

So far, pretty lame!

[SpamSandwich]

Nothing spectacular here, but it will offer greater incremental sales thanks to more content and lower iPod pricing.

[mbaynham]

is this it or is it being updated as things get announced?? but yeh, so far pretty lame

[Clive At Five]

"Packman??"

Did you miss all of the 1980s? Dude, way to botch the single most popular arcade game of all-time.

-Clive

[bdj21ya]

This is missing the Q1 2007 set top box (as of this comment)

[kozchris]

It is going to be nice to get all the album covers. Pain to keep pilfering Amazon.

[Kuku]

This is pretty old update(relativity) but then we're demanding fanboi's heh.

They key here for me is battery life all around, and bigger.

The different shinny colors are nice too.

Look back when the next update comes in for 2nd half of the event.

[akerman]

live stream anywhere?

what about laptops? Merombook plz =(

[rok]

son of a bitch! (i mean that in a good way) -- cover flow. steelskies must've sold their awesome little freeware app by the same name to apple (or the idea, or the developer went to work for them). i'm actually quite happy, because coverflow is a great idea that suffered only because it had to stand alone as a separate app. now it's part-and-parcel, which means it might actually get some of the features i requested (which also explains why steelskies never wrote me back from a couple weeks ago).

[Buck]

Are the new features (games, search...) available on new ipods only?

[mbaynham]

Originally Posted by Buck

Are the new features (games, search...) available on new ipods only?

cant you read?

[rok]

okay, so what of gizmodo's pix for "iTV"

I want my iTV

[zedrac]

iTV sounds pretty damn interesting, I reckon...I will seriously consider getting one in 2007

[mbaynham]

Originally Posted by rok

okay, so what of gizmodo's pix for "iTV"

I want my iTV

u got it

[Buck]

And it just occured to me that there'll be no blutooth full-screen ipods in the nearest future, since they've already invested in refreshing the current one. That's sad.

That wheel-based text input however might mean something for the iphone.

[hmurchison]

I'm pretty happy with a solid upgrade.

We got the gapless playback that many wanted.
Cover Art downloads are automatic right now
The new Nano is back to multiple colors which means I'll likely purchase another one to replace my gf's older iPod mini.
There's the potentially nifty iTV. I'm hoping that it does more than just playback movies from iTunes.

I didn't expect anything groundbreaking. iTunes 7 should be a solid update and being able to use the iPod to transfer music is long overdue.

[WhetWurm]

Well... I'm pissed about no MBP refresh. Seriously, I hope to Christ that it's a silent update before the end of September. I don't need it right now, but I damn sure want it. And I can't wait for MWSF07. Bloody turds! I hope there is something that's making this wait worthwhile (all offenses will be forgiven if we get HD panels on the 15" MBP).

Other than that, I'm kinda glad nothing big on the iPod front. iTunes7 was the star of the show, so I can imagine Apple dropping a true Video iPod in Feb/March 07. And since I have a 5G already, I hope that software (the search and gapless) transfers to the 5G iPods. I'll probably get one or two games so I don't kill my cellphone battery instead.

I might get one of those media extenders. My Xbox360 isn't cutting it (doesn't play divx/xvid so it's pretty worthless). I'm trying to decide on building a HTPC/MCE PVR or not. Eh, decisions...

[D.J. Adequate]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

I'm pretty happy with a solid upgrade.

We got the gapless playback that many wanted.
.

That and the 80Gig of storage just convinced me to upgrade my old 4G iPod.

[Catman4d2]

The Itunes Visualizer Is Gone?????????????????????????????????? Look Down Folks

???

[FineWine]

So far, the best is going up to 80GB, and re-design of the earbud. But that's about it. And why did the screen stay the same size? I thought it was a given once they intro movies, it'll HAVE to get a bigger screen. Wow, this is lame.

The rest is just sad. They couldn't get any studio onboard - other than Disney, where Steve Jobs dominates. This, folks, is a failure. I mean, Disney was onboard from day one, no need to twist any arms. It means the entire time negotiating with the other studios gave a result of ZERO. NADA. ZIP. TOTAL FAILURE.

The iTV is nice, but it's 2007.

For today, we got very, very little. I must say, Apple's recent "special events" are lame beyond help. I mean, what's next? At this point it's like the boy who cried wolf. When Steve makes another special event with special "invitation only", I'm gonna yawn... he'll probably intro a new shade to an existing color for an ipod sock or something.

LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yamas]

the new ipod looks more like a 5G rev B to me, not the 6G i had been hoping for. Maybe the are waiting till a few days before Zune's launch and then blow it out of the water with a full screen 6G. Plus this will give thm time to secure more movie deals and launch it around the world.

The new nano, not that keen, looks too much like the old mini ipod.

As for the new Shuffle I am going to shoot to the shops and buy myself a 1gig 1G before the sell out. The beauty of the old shuffles was the built in USB so i could use it as a memory stick and recharge it. the new one lack this.

iTV look interesting.

[AgNuke1707]

Jesus Christ people. I got one comment in before someone started bitching and moaning about it being a lame special event. What did Apple do. The restructured the ENTIRE iPod line from the shuffle to the big one AND dropped the goddamn price 50 bucks! They redid iTunes with some pretty nifty shit and gave us the streaming device that eveyone has been screaming about since video was added to the iPod. So, I still fail to see how this is a let down. They have updated almost every product they offer within the last 4 weeks. I'm willing to bet notebook updates are next in line. Please ... enjoy the announcement and stop bitching. Way to go on the price drops - the new Apple business model???

[zedrac]

Originally Posted by FineWine

So far, the best is going up to 80GB, and re-design of the earbud. But that's about it. And why did the screen stay the same size? I thought it was a given once they intro movies, it'll HAVE to get a bigger screen. Wow, this is lame.

The rest is just sad. They couldn't get any studio onboard - other than Disney, where Steve Jobs dominates. This, folks, is a failure. I mean, Disney was onboard from day one, no need to twist any arms. It means the entire time negotiating with the other studios gave a result of ZERO. NADA. ZIP. TOTAL FAILURE.

The iTV is nice, but it's 2007.

For today, we got very, very little. I must say, Apple's recent "special events" are lame beyond help. I mean, what's next? At this point it's like the boy who cried wolf. When Steve makes another special event with special "invitation only", I'm gonna yawn... he'll probably intro a new shade to an existing color for an ipod sock or something.

LAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're kidding, right? All three iPod models updated. iTunes now sells movies and games, and has received a major upgrade. Give the movie store 3 months, many many more studios will be on board by then. Look at the tv show store. I think you were just expecting too much. I was expecting much less than this.

[mbaynham]

how do you view chapters in podcasts in the new itunes?

[rok]

Originally Posted by zedrac

You're kidding, right? All three iPod models updated. iTunes now sells movies and games, and has received a major upgrade. Give the movie store 3 months, many many more studios will be on board by then. Look at the tv show store. I think you were just expecting too much. I was expecting much less than this.

agreed. and oh no, disney is the only studio on board! um, i don't know about the rest of you, but i didn't realize how many movies disney actually had rights to. for one studio, they sure got a good one.

[Eduardo]

Originally Posted by kozchris

It is going to be nice to get all the album covers. Pain to keep pilfering Amazon.

I wonder if Apple did this on purpose. Think about the timing.

I would use amazon for all of my non-iTunes songs; Apple is steering traffic away from Amazon's site (steer traffic from unbox).

[kylephoto760]

Did I read that right? Steve-o previewed something that is between 3 and 6 months away????

[melgross]

Originally Posted by kylephoto760

Did I read that right? Steve-o previewed something that is between 3 and 6 months away????

Yes. Now he has to investigate himself.

[backtomac]

Can't say I'm as pessimistic as Fine Wine but not overwhelmed by this special event either. Very surprised that a true video iPod not released. While the updated ipods are nice, do they merrit a special event? As for the movie store offerings, it sure does look like Hollywood is lining up against Apple. Hopefully more will join over time as has happened with iTunes with most artists joining and selling songs there. iTV looks interesting but will wait to see the final product. BTW, where is my iPhone? Shaw Wu promised me one.

[rok]

Originally Posted by Eduardo

I wonder if Apple did this on purpose. Think about the timing.

I would use amazon for all of my non-iTunes songs; Apple is steering traffic away from Amazon's site (steer traffic from unbox).

well, at a certain point, even apple can't be so stupid to see that a hell of a lot of itunes players offer "download album artwork" as a primary feature. there's obviously a demand for it, and the other apps can be pretty hit or miss with their accuracy. i hadn't though of the "steer people away from other services" aspect, but it makes a lot of sense.

for the record, though, i already got the cover flow part of itunes 7 to get wonky on me (it stopped showing textures in the albums, just empty unclickable squares, BUT the reflections on the "floor" still appeared correctly. switching views back and forth (from cover flow to anything and back) fixed it, but well, just so you know.

[rok]

Originally Posted by melgross

Yes. Now he has to investigate himself.

my money's on apple computer. steve's GOING DOWN!

[D.J. Adequate]

Originally Posted by Catman4d2

The Itunes Visualizer Is Gone?????????????????????????????????? Look Down Folks

???

It's still there in the view menu, and command-T still starts it up. The button is gone from the bottom, however.

[rok]

i was right, apple bought out steelskies' "cover flow", name and all.

the app formerly known as cover flow

it's nice to see that apple didn't just rip the guy off, they actually bought it because it was friggin cool. YET they hamstrung it a bit for now (no full screen, no "zoomy" when an album is selected for playback). they also put it in the itunes movie store interface.

methinks this guy is set for life now.

[hazar]

Well, I have a feeling that the "full screen ipod" is something that is reserved for this news iphone-cum-everthing-else gadget.

Overall, I believe that Apple is segmenting and serving well it's niches:

a) ipod is and will most likely remain for long term *music device only*. Apple believes that PSP and other players are simply not adequate for video.
b) video should be watched on TV, and hence the iTV
c) Then there is this mysterious iphone that might indeed be full screen and include other features like ical, etc. It is full screen only because it will serve purposes other than music and video.

It makes lot os sense to me. One must admit that Apple is playing the "innovator" card again, this time in negative sense: portable devices are not adeguate for video, and this is a departure from Creative (full) and Zune (bigget screen) approach. For one, it certainly avoids problems of battery time -- and creates the market for hardware that in this very moment has no (or very limited) competition.
The problem with innovation is that it is damn difficult to predict how the market will react, although I see bright feature ahead ;-).

[Sororca]

Very sad Apple did not release some sort of updated Macbook Pro.. It's the PRO laptop ¤&%##"

Nothing Pro about Core Duo anymore.. Sad sad sad

[gremlin]

What a un-happy bunch you are! I hope you show a little more gratitude when santa comes to your house! Me? Im as happy as can be

[spindler]

I'm glad about the incremental improvements, but there is a good possibility that the iPod will lose its' cool. Everyone has one, and the big ones are all white. I think at this stage in the game, Apple should be diversifying to keep the mystery going. One white iPod was fine for a while, but I instead I would like to see them add five different totally unique larger size iPods. How about one for women with a soft, smooth pink or green finish? How about a flashy gold or copper shiny one? How about an executive iPod that has the feel of a BMW? I think the white one should be thought of as iPod classic, but other models added to the lineup. People like to feel like they are adding something new that fits their personality and choices would give them that. But at all white for everyone, the iPod will lose its mystery.

[pt123]

Originally Posted by kylephoto760

Did I read that right? Steve-o previewed something that is between 3 and 6 months away????

Since they couldn't get it out by Christmas season, they had to announce something so consumers can save some room on their credit cards.