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Apple Mac App Store to be launched next Dec 13th

Frank Guillen — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 14:39:55 +0000

There’s a lot of buzz around the impending launch of the Mac App Store, some developers point to December 13th. as the official date for the introduction of the new app store, Apple has been warning developers to avoid demos or betas for their applications and is also requiring developers to host bigger apps.

The Mac App Store is poised to make a revolution in the computer application market and provide a bigger and better exposure for any kind of mac application, helping developers to get an easy way to profit from their apps.

Apple unveiled the New Macbook Aire 11? and 13?

Frank Guillen — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 14:45:36 +0000

Apple today unveiled an all new MacBook Air, the first of a next generation of notebooks which will replace mechanical hard disks and optical drives with Internet services and solid state flash storage. These next generation notebooks are:
faster–solid state flash storage is up to twice as fast as hard drive storage
more reliable–hard drive crashes are eliminated
lighter and smaller–solid state flash storage is up to 90 percent smaller and lighter than hard drives

Available in 11-inch and 13-inch models and weighing as little as 2.3 pounds, the new MacBook Air is Apple’s lightest and most portable notebook ever. MacBook Air uses the same solid state storage technology as iPad™ to deliver instant-on responsiveness, up to seven hours of battery life and up to 30 days of standby time.* Starting at $999, the affordable MacBook Air defines the next generation of MacBooks.

With its precision aluminum unibody enclosure, the new MacBook Air measures an incredibly thin 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest, and weighs just 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch model and 2.9 pounds for the 13-inch. Like iPad, MacBook Air was designed from the ground up to use flash storage exclusively. Apple’s custom-designed flash storage is 90 percent smaller and lighter than a conventional notebook hard drive, contributing to MacBook Air’s mobile, featherweight design. MacBook Air’s flash storage also provides faster data access and is more reliable than notebook hard drives due to its solid state design.

MacBook Air features a full-sized keyboard for typing comfort and productivity, as well as the highly acclaimed glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad found on Apple’s MacBook® Pro, so you can scroll through web sites, flip through photos, and resize or rotate images all from the trackpad. The built-in FaceTime® camera, mic and stereo speakers are perfect for video calls with iPhone® 4, iPod touch® and other Macs.

Flash storage combined with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics delivers an ideal balance of mobility, battery life and performance. MacBook Air features an 11.6-inch or 13.3-inch high-resolution LED-backlit display and Mini DisplayPort to connect your 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, projector or HD TV. Ultra-fast 802.11n Wi-Fi networking allows you to download music and movies from iTunes®, back up data to Time Capsule and store or share files with MobileMe? and iDisk. MacBook Air includes Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for wireless peripherals and two USB ports making it easy to sync and charge an iPad, iPhone or iPod® while using another device. The 13-inch MacBook Air also includes an SD card slot.

Apple makes the industry’s greenest notebooks and the MacBook Air is the latest Mac® notebook to achieve EPEAT Gold status and meet Energy Star 5.0 requirements. Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Apple uses advanced chemistry and Adaptive Charging technology to create a MacBook Air battery that delivers up to seven hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges. The built-in battery design results in less waste, and depleted MacBook Air batteries can be replaced for $129, which includes installation and disposal of your old battery in an environmentally responsible manner.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes multiple features for portable computing such as Multi-Touch navigation, advanced wireless networking, easy file sharing, automated data backup and intelligent power management. The new iLife ‘11 features iPhoto® with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand® with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.

The 11-inch and 13-inch MacBook Air are immediately available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The 1.4 GHz 11-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 64GB of flash storage starts at a suggested retail price of $999 (US) with a 128GB model for $1,199 (US). The 1.86 GHz 13-inch MacBook Air with 2GB of memory and 128GB of flash storage starts at a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US) with a 256GB model for $1,599 (US). Configure-to-order options and accessories include faster processors, 4GB of memory, MacBook Air SuperDrive® and a USB Ethernet Adapter.

New Apple iLife 11 available

Frank Guillen — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:46:35 +0000

Apple today introduced iLife ‘11, a major upgrade that gives Mac® users even more great ways to create and share photos, movies and music. iPhoto ‘11 has a whole new look, with stunning full screen modes for Faces, Places and Events. iMovie® ‘11 makes it easier than ever to edit videos and quickly transform them into fun theatrical trailers for easy posting online. GarageBand® ‘11 introduces new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs with Flex Time and Groove Matching. Free with every new Mac, iLife ‘11 is available as a $49 upgrade for existing users.

iPhoto ‘11 features stunning new full screen modes that take advantage of your Mac’s brilliant display for browsing, editing and showcasing your photos. Sharing your photos is easier than ever in iPhoto ‘11, whether you send them by email using one of eight beautiful themes, post them to your Facebook wall with a single click, or play them in full screen with one of 12 professionally designed slideshows. iPhoto ‘11 features a completely new approach to creating books and cards with a sleek carousel interface, intelligent book layout and a bookshelf that displays all your projects. New letterpress cards let you combine your photos and text with elegant imprinted designs to create unique wedding invitations, birth announcements, holiday greetings and more.

iMovie ‘11 helps you turn your videos into captivating Hollywood-style trailers that are fun to watch and share. You can choose from 15 different genres including Adventure, Romantic Comedy and Epic Drama, each one complete with its own unique titles, graphics and cinematic soundtrack. Powerful new tools make it easy to selectively adjust audio levels and apply sophisticated visual effects like flash and hold, instant replay and jump cuts with a single click. People Finder analyzes your videos and marks sections containing faces, so you can quickly find the perfect clips for your trailer or movie. iMovie ‘11 also adds exciting new themes that make your videos look like professional news or sports programs.

GarageBand ‘11 includes two new ways to fix or change the timing of your recordings. Flex Time lets you move, stretch or shorten individual notes by clicking on just the part of the audio waveform you want to change, without affecting the rest of the recording. With Groove Matching, you can select any track as the “Groove Track” and all other tracks will instantly match its rhythmic feel. GarageBand ‘11 adds seven authentic-sounding new guitar amps, five fun new stompbox effects, and 22 new Basic Lessons for piano and guitar. The new “How did I Play?” feature listens while you play along with any lesson, highlights mistakes and tracks your progress to help you become a better musician.

iLife ‘11 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $49 (US) through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. The iLife ‘11 Family Pack includes five licenses and is available for $79 (US) and the Mac Box Set which includes iLife ‘11, iWork® and Mac OS® X v10.6 Snow Leopard® is available for $129 (US).

iLife ‘11 requires Mac OS X version 10.6.3 or later, a Mac computer with an Intel processor, 1GB of RAM, a DVD drive for installation and 5GB of available disk space. iPhoto print products and GarageBand Artist Lessons are sold separately and are available in select countries. Full system requirements and more information on iLife ‘11 can be found at www.apple.com/ilife.

Apple launches lighter, faster Macbook Air 11? and 13?

Frank Guillen — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:44:18 +0000

Available in 11-inch and 13-inch models and weighing as little as 2.3 pounds, the new MacBook Air is Apple’s lightest and most portable notebook ever. MacBook Air uses the same solid state storage technology as iPad™ to deliver instant-on responsiveness, up to seven hours of battery life and up to 30 days of standby time.* Starting at $999, the affordable MacBook Air defines the next generation of MacBooks.

With its precision aluminum unibody enclosure, the new MacBook Air measures an incredibly thin 0.11-inches at its thinnest point and 0.68-inches at its thickest, and weighs just 2.3 pounds for the 11-inch model and 2.9 pounds for the 13-inch. Like iPad, MacBook Air was designed from the ground up to use flash storage exclusively. Apple’s custom-designed flash storage is 90 percent smaller and lighter than a conventional notebook hard drive, contributing to MacBook Air’s mobile, featherweight design. MacBook Air’s flash storage also provides faster data access and is more reliable than notebook hard drives due to its solid state design.

MacBook Air features a full-sized keyboard for typing comfort and productivity, as well as the highly acclaimed glass Multi-Touch™ trackpad found on Apple’s MacBook® Pro, so you can scroll through web sites, flip through photos, and resize or rotate images all from the trackpad. The built-in FaceTime® camera, mic and stereo speakers are perfect for video calls with iPhone® 4, iPod touch® and other Macs.

Flash storage combined with power-efficient Intel Core 2 Duo processors and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics delivers an ideal balance of mobility, battery life and performance. MacBook Air features an 11.6-inch or 13.3-inch high-resolution LED-backlit display and Mini DisplayPort to connect your 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display, projector or HD TV. Ultra-fast 802.11n Wi-Fi networking allows you to download music and movies from iTunes®, back up data to Time Capsule and store or share files with MobileMe? and iDisk. MacBook Air includes Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for wireless peripherals and two USB ports making it easy to sync and charge an iPad, iPhone or iPod® while using another device. The 13-inch MacBook Air also includes an SD card slot.

Apple makes the industry’s greenest notebooks and the MacBook Air is the latest Mac® notebook to achieve EPEAT Gold status and meet Energy Star 5.0 requirements. Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Every Mac comes with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for creating and sharing great photos, movies and music. Snow Leopard builds on more than a decade of innovation and includes multiple features for portable computing such as Multi-Touch navigation, advanced wireless networking, easy file sharing, automated data backup and intelligent power management. The new iLife ’11 features iPhoto® with stunning full screen views for browsing, editing and sharing photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use tools to transform home videos into fun theatrical trailers; and GarageBand® with new ways to improve your playing and create great sounding songs.

Apple Back to the Mac event to be livestream into Apple iOS and Mac OS X devices

Frank Guillen — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:42:41 +0000

Mac fanboys get ready for a 2 hour long livestream directly to your Apple device, the show begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT today and will be only available to those with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touches and Mac running Snow Leopard 10.6 and Safari, stay tuned for the complete follow up here.

Apple will be using open standards to transmit this event so it may be possible to get it on VLC for Windows or any other platform.

What to Expect from Apple’s “Back to the Mac” Event Tomorrow

Frank Guillen — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:12:54 +0000

Steve Jobs has been taking its energy pills, yesterday he burned the Conference Call with rants about Google, RIM, Nokia and any other Apple rival that attempt to take any marketshare from Apple, but tomorrow is the day for the Back to the Mac media event and things are getting quite crazy with Macbook Air chassis all over the net, but apart from the imminent introduction of the Macbook Air what’s to expect from the event?

Well, Apple is like the KGB, you never know what to expect, but as the event shows it’s going to be about the new Mac OS X Lion, animal, the king of the computer jungle and the one that is supposed to bring Mac OS X and iOS together, speculation point that Apple is thinking about implementing iOS features in Mac OS X like Scrollers and Quicklook and a possible iOS applications environment into the Dashboard.

A revamped Mac OS X with added UI features from the iPhone and the iPad will transform the Halo Effect back from the iPhone to the Mac and to do so Apple needs to add wireless sync between the desktop OS and iOS devices, easy screen sharing for multimedia application like Facetime and a system-wide implementation of the newly AirPlay, fully control remote of your desktop computer using your iPad or iPhone with server-like features that accelerate the enterprise adoption of Apple mobile strategy.

I expect from Apple tomorrow:

• A more social Address Book with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn syncronization, map and location based features from the desktop.
• A Free Mobileme to new mac and iOS users.
• Instant wireless sync between desktop and mobile devices.
• Dockbable iPad with Screen and Keyboard.
• Facetime all over the System with Facebook Twitter and LinkedIn syncronization.
• iCal Remote for easy retrieval and sync from desktop to mobile and vice versa.
• Game Center implementation on the desktop.

Hardware:
The refresh Macbook Air with smaller screen and lighter, but faster specs and of course cheaper price. In the desktop Apple is poised to change the Mac Pro design and bring something between the iMac and the Mac Pro in price and performance, Mac users have been forced to buy an iMac when some of us really need a more robust machine like the Mac Pro, but the entry price is too high for many.

Verizon’s iPad is a slap on the face to the Android community… business as usual

Frank Guillen — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 15:46:56 +0000

Verizon is ready to marry the devil, from one side it’s selling its own version of the Droid, an Android based mobile phone that has been pitched against the iPhone, while on the other side it’s secretly courting Apple for its iPhone and now the iPad and its recent introduction of iPad on their nationwide stores means that Verizon is playing all its cards, betting for Android, but praying for the iPhone. This is nothing new, Verizon is just doing business, changing the default search engine inside their Android phones and getting some exclusivity for the Skype.

But, hey, wasn’t Verizon the one that tell us that their Droid X does things that the iPhone won’t ever do or wasn’t Verizon almost launching its Android based Tablet and the Samsung Tab 7? Yep, the same Verizon that has been laughing in the face of iPhone users is now selling the iPad and soon the iPhone, I would like to see how those phandroids are feeling.

In the end, the iPhone is the real deal and Verizon is just taking the Android platform for a ride, it has been good, but not good as the iPhone and Verizon knows it, that’s the main reason for the rumors about a Verizon iPhone, just expect to see what Verizon would be able to do to sell the iPhone to its Android users or will just turn the back on them when the iPhone is available?

Apple is out to sell truck-load of iPhone and iPads and Verizon is in need to have a real mobile phone that can help them compete to AT&T or at least put them in the same category and the iPhone would do that for Verizon and its mobile business, Android could just wait.

Apple killed Snow Leopard… brings Lion right on time

Frank Guillen — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 13:34:55 +0000

Apple is growing from all sides, its mobile business has been the engine that accelerated this grow, being the iPhone, iPod and now the iPad the cash cows that provides fresh green dollars to Apple’s bank account while the mac business has grown slowly but consistently, Macbooks and iMacs are everywhere, even in places you won’t expect to see a mac.

This growth has helped Apple get more than 10% of USA domestic computer business for the first time in years according to IDC, securing the third spot in the US PC vendor chart.

So for Apple the Mac is still relevant and for this ocasion, Apple is sending invitation for a October 20th “Back to the Mac”, an event that could shed some light about the next major version of Mac OS X and marks the end of Snow Leopard and the introduction of a whole new cat-based nickname: lion.

Lion could be a whole new Operating System that brings some iOS features back to the mac like multitouch and add more than 200,000 applications that may run freely on the desktop or inside the dashboard, this will be a revitalization of the platform together with an unified environment for easy and quick development of applications entitled to run on Macs or mobile devices.

Going back to the mac could also means providing more hardcore tools for game developers and adding new media and tools to create hardcore mobile newspapers and magazines for the iPad just using Keynote or Pages to help will accelerate the mass adoption of digital of this new kind of media in a broader market.

The reborn of Mac is due in part to Mac OS X, the power behind it and its industry-wise strength as the core, a power that has been transfered to Apple’s mobile devices with iOS and the heart of the next major revolution: AppleTV.

Apple is loosening its restrictions on the AppStore and on its way to do business, licensing DVR IP from Rovi means that every mac or iOS device could act as a wireless media hub for other iOS or non-iOS devices that accept AirPlay.

Half baked-AppleTV or hack-able AppleTV?

Frank Guillen — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:12:25 +0000

Apple has launched the second generation of its hobby project, the AppleTV, this time is about streaming your favorite shows starting at $.99 cents, a move that has some media executives crying foul for the ultra not lucrative price, but AppleTV real and more important feature is the AirPlay, an over-the-air music and video sharing and sync method that will change the way We consume our media.

But, while I like the new AppleTV and its ultra cheap price, I still believe that the new AppleTV is still a hobby or is a half-baked device that is trying to stay afloat in a crowded marekt among better feature-packed devices, it still holds some chances but rivals are not standing still for Apple to satisfy the market.

Why is the AppleTV a half-baked device? It has a tremendous opportunity to take the market by storm, but Apple is holding back some of the most important features for a later update (or not), dvr features, iOS applications, Facetime and more, features that may help move more and more devices out of the Appledome.

Other thing is that Apple could have let the door open for hackers to enhance some features for the machine, a move that is impossible to believe, but not impossible enough watching how media partners aren’t signing into the new AppleTV price scheme.

What is holding Apple for not to open the whole AppleTV programming environment to programmers, why is not available the VLC application or any .avi player that lets AppleTV owners run play or streaming anything.

China desperation for iPhones proves that Apple is not prepared to meet the massive demand

Frank Guillen — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 13:41:19 +0000

Apple has been soooo slow in China that even Lenovo’s head Liu Chuanzhi believes so, Apple is missing a big opportunity in China and is taking a ultra passive stance when the indications point to a more aggressive response, but I really don’t believe Apple was so slow until yesterday news about people buying all the iphones they can, jumping and running with dozen of iphones to satisfy the grey market, this situation forced Apple to close the Beijing Apple Store, but the stellar introduction of the iPhone in China’ Unicorn that received 200,000 pre-orders but could deliver 100,000.

There are two facts here:
1) If there’s a need (like desperation) for the iPhone in China that people would like to buy more than 20 iPhones if permitted, why not inject more devices and keep the market with enough units to meet the high demand, maybe Apple was so cautious that it’s hurting itself and at the same time is helping grow the grey market, a market that has shown that the demand is even higher when they approached people from other countries in order to buy their iPhones, an indication for Apple that the chinese market was more than ready to move million of iphones but ended up supplied with just less than expected.

2) Android? What Android? Apple Store Beijing incident could be taken as the most important indication of who is really driving the market, this time is not about perception, it is about units sold and people were like crazy, like a Black Friday in the U. S., buying all the iPhone they can is something you won’t and haven’t seen with any Samsung, Motorola or HTC Android based phones and Apple didn’t take the whole advantage with enough units available to supply the market.

This is a bad calculation, poor anticipation or is Apple applying a myopic strategy that guarantee a complete sold out, but left thousands of new customers waiting for the grey market to satisfy their need? I would go for the massive sell out, I would sell all the iPhone any given people can buy or set the unit limit to a higher level (40, 80) per buyer.

The iPhone Grey market is the reason of a poor planification/anticipation or acknowledge of how any given market will react to any product, Apple should knew that and opted for a more convervative implementation of something that was supposed to be bigger than expected, closing the Beijing Apple Store and force buyers to the Grey Market.