Notes from Apple's Showtime event
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.
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.
Comments
Did you miss all of the 1980s? Dude, way to botch the single most popular arcade game of all-time.
-Clive
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.
what about laptops? Merombook plz =(
Are the new features (games, search...) available on new ipods only?
cant you read?
I want my iTV
okay, so what of gizmodo's pix for "iTV"
I want my iTV
u got it
That wheel-based text input however might mean something for the iphone.
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.
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...
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.
???