Apple Mac Press event: New iMacs, iLife '08, iWork '08, new .Mac and faster Mac Mini.

[aryayush]

I cannot report everything all over again. Just check out my summary of the live coverage here.

Engadget's live coverage.



Yay!

Apple went above and beyond whatever my expectations were. check out Steve's last reply. I doubt I've ever read a better worded and true response to any question.

[gxsaurav]

Bring back iMac G4

[aryayush]

Mac Pros have been updated too.

[gxsaurav]

With what? New CPU, RAM? You can that "Product line" upgrade?

[aryayush]

Just new graphics cards, I think.

[gxsaurav]

Ok…my rundown of the event starts now

New iMac

What they bring is a new enclosure. That’s it, nothing else. Seriously, after 3 years in 4th gen iMac I at least expected them to give some new hardware. New iMacs are using Core 2 Duo & Radeon HD 2600 graphics card with dedicated RAM. But here is the thing, did Apple forget that OpenGL performance of ATI is lower than nVidia. Why not nVidia? Or at least give the user an option to select a GeForce 8600GT.

No HD DVD or Blu-Ray drives option. For a computer which starts at $1199 it should at least give an option to buy a HD DVD or Blu-Ray drive to the users in the High end model.

iMac has no support for HDMI output which means even if you buy an external HD drive it will still now work to play HD Movies. Tiger & Leopard both have no support for HDCP

The death of 17” model is good. It is really hard to work on Mac OS X with a resolution of 1024X768. At least 1280X960 or 1600X1200 with a resolution independent U is a must.

More storage is a good option. Still no support for e-SATA which is even faster than Firewire 800 & is rapidly becoming the new standard in external storage interface.

Why is Apple so behind the computer industry in terms of hardware?

New Apple Keyboard

Apple copied it directly from the Macbook Pro keyboard which may or may not be the best option to everyone. After so many years, Apple has added multimedia keys to the keyboard which the PC industry has been doing since 2001. The new keyboard is no doubt slim & looks nice, however it lacks a palm rest due to which typists will still refrain from using it. Also there is no “Split” type keyboard option from Apple which helps a lot to the typists. The new Apple keyboard is hardly functional & it makes more sense to buy a Logitech or Microsoft Desktop bundle.

The wired keyboard has more buttons & is more appealing then the wireless keyboard. How hard was it for Apple to release one keyboard design & layout in both wired & wireless form factor? I find no reason why Apple couldn’t have done that.

iPhoto 08

New integration features with .Mac service. What about adding my own service provider like Flikr or Photobucket? You either use .Mac or you don’t upload at all. .Mac is also not free. There is still no mention of tree view navigation or folder based management. I like to control my pics my way which iPhoto won’t let me do. I guess Apple should learn few things from ACDSee 9 for Window.

Skimming is a nifty addition however nothing much to brag about. We already have Live thumbnails in Windows Live Photo Gallary

.Mac is trying to copy Windows live services, a complete rip off. On top of that this costs $99 a year while Windows Live services are free to use. You can clearly see the winner.

What they copied from Windows Live services

New web gallery neatly integrated with iPhoto '08.
· Allows print quality downloads.
· One-button publishing.
· Integrated with the iPhone.
· Any browser, any operating system.
· Anyone can upload to anyone's gallery if permitted, using specially generated email addresses.

Windows Live Photo Beta
iMovie HD 08

Can upload to YouTube directly. All built in.

Upload to soapbox.

Keynote '08

• Now, this is getting insane!
• New text effects in Keynote.
• New transitions.
• Instant Alpha. Take the background out of photographs.
• Smart Builds allows more complex animations.
• Great new themes.

Pages '08

• Two modes: Page layout and Word processor.
• Contextual format bar.
• Tracks changes.
• Compatible with Word documents, as usual.
• 140 Apple designed templates

Numbers '08

• A new spreadsheet application. Take that, Office!
• Intelligent tables.
• Readable formulas.
• Checkboxes and sliders.
• Sort and filter.
• Flexible canvas.
• Charts, images and text.
• Interactive printing.
• Beautiful templates.
• Fully compatible with Excel documents.
• iWork '08 will retail for $79.

Both iLife '08 and iWork '08 work well with both Tiger and Leopard.

It is still not as strong as Office 2007 for Windows & soon to be released Office 2008 for Mac. It is still a good cheap software suit for those who don’t work professionally & can’t use the cheap $150 Office 2007 for Students Edition on Mac OS. However there is no mention of Exchange Server or Live updating using web servers for the content, graphs & smart tags. Professional users will as usual stay away from this & buy the Office 2008 for Mac. Too bad Mac users can’t use the 200% powerful Office 2007 Students edition for $150 only.

Mac Mini refreshed in form of a new CPU & storage. Still it is using GMA 950 which is extinct from Intel Product line. Obviously the next Mac mini will be out after a long time, I wonder why Apple didn’t go with the more efficient in hardware GMA X3500 using the new Intel G33 chipset.

As usual, Apple has again hailed back the hardware due to pathetic software backend. They should rather give the software back end job to Microsoft

[goobimama]

it lacks a palm rest due to which typists will still refrain from using it.

I trained at a professional typing institute (79wpm was my best score) and one of the lessons was health. And they specifically mentioned that typing with your palms resting on a keyboard palmrest will cause injury. I know you will say, hey, don't rest it while typing, but the temptation is too much and I see most people doing that. Your wrists are supposed to be suspended while your shoulders support your arms.

And as for iWork, I've moved from Office for mac long since. iWork (pages) is so uncluttered and everything is right there. Keynote is far ahead of powerpoint. Spreadsheets I don't use. Waiting to try out iWork 08.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by goobimama

I trained at a professional typing institute (79wpm was my best score) and one of the lessons was health. And they specifically mentioned that typing with your palms resting on a keyboard palmrest will cause injury. I know you will say, hey, don't rest it while typing, but the temptation is too much and I see most people doing that. Your wrists are supposed to be suspended while your shoulders support your arms.

Split type keyboard

[tarey_g]

Originally Posted by goobimama

Spreadsheets I don't use. Waiting to try out iWork 08.

Means : I dont use spreadsheets , but now iwork has it so i will use even if i dont need it . (kidding)

[goobimama]

I know you are kidding, but just in case someone gets the wrong idea, I don't use spreadsheets, and will not use them (I don't need to).

[aryayush]

Apple Unveils New iMac.
Apple today unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac line featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife ’08, making it the ultimate digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals.


Apple Introduces iLife ’08.
Apple today introduced iLife ’08, the most significant upgrade ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto ’08 automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let users more easily manage their growing photo collections, and iMovie ’08 introduces an entirely new way for users to quickly make movies and share them online. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple’s new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host stunning online websites for their photos and videos.


Apple Enhances .Mac
Apple today announced significant enhancements to its .Mac online service, highlighted by the debut of .Mac Web Gallery, a new feature for sharing photos and movies on the Internet. .Mac Web Gallery lets members easily share photos and movies directly from iLife ’08 with anyone on a Mac, PC or iPhone in stunning quality. In addition, .Mac Web Gallery visitors can download high quality images for printing and even contribute photos using a standard web browser or email.


Apple Introduces iWork ’08.
Apple today introduced iWork ’08, a significant upgrade to Apple’s productivity software suite featuring new versions of Pages and Keynote word processing and presentation applications, and introducing an innovative new spreadsheet application called “Numbers.” Numbers introduces the concept of intelligent tables on a flexible canvas, a new approach that makes it easy to organize information, create calculations, analyze results and make spreadsheets look as great as they work.

[gxsaurav]

lolz....Salesmanship at its best

[aryayush]

iWork makes it easy for you to create, present, and publish your work with style. iWork ’08 includes Numbers, an innovative spreadsheet application; Pages, a powerful word processor; and Keynote, a cinema-quality presentation application.


What’s in this version of iWork ’08
iWork ’08 includes Numbers ’08, Pages ’08, and Keynote ’08.

Numbers ’08

Powerful and familiar spreadsheets
• Over 150 functions
• 2D and 3D charts
• Format bar for text, tables, graphics, and charts

Innovative, intelligent tables
• Multiple, resizable tables on a canvas
• Readable cell names in formulas
• Footer rows for summary calculations
• Table tool for sorting and filtering
• Checkboxes and sliders in cells

Impressive results in minutes
• Freeform canvas to arrange tables, graphics, and charts
• iLife Media Browser
• Interactive print view
• Customizable templates and table styles

Compatibility
• Import and export Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
• Import AppleWorks spreadsheets
• Import and export other common formats
• Drag and drop Address Book contacts

Pages ’08

Streamlined word processing
• Format bar for text, tables, graphics, and charts
• Customizable paragraph, character, and list styles
• Section, layout, and page breaks

Advanced writing tools
• Change tracking and reviewer comments
• Mail merge with Address Book
• Automatic table of contents
• Spellchecker and proofreader
• Page navigator and search view

Great-looking documents in minutes
• Over 140 templates from letters to newsletters
• iLife Media Browser
• 3D charts with realistic textures

Powerful page layout mode
• Freeform graphics canvas
• Link text across multiple text objects
• Text wraps around graphics

Compatibility
• Import and export Microsoft Word documents
• Import AppleWorks word processing documents
• Send to iWeb

Keynote ’08

Stunning presentations in minutes
• Apple-designed themes with coordinated text, tables, and charts
• Slide navigator
• Reviewer comments
• Format bar for text, tables, graphics, and charts

Easy-to-use graphics tools
• Alignment guides and rulers
• Instant Alpha for image background removal
• Shapes and freeform Bézier curves
• Image masks with basic and custom shapes
• iLife Media Browser

Amazing animations
• Cinema-quality slide transitions and object builds
• Move, rotate, scale, and opacity builds
• Smart Builds for images with drop zones

• Flexible ways to deliver presentations
• Presenter view with notes, timer, and next screen displays
• Interactive slideshows for kiosks
• Record narration and timing
• Send to iWeb, GarageBand, and iTunes

Compatibility
• Import and export Microsoft PowerPoint presentations
• Import AppleWorks presentation documents
• Import and export other common formats

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

iWork makes it easy for you to create, present, and publish your work with style. iWork ’08 includes Numbers, an innovative spreadsheet application; Pages, a powerful word processor; and Keynote, a cinema-quality presentation application.

It makes it as easy as Office 2007 & Office 2008 for Mac. Not any easier. Ribbons are the future of UI & not Apple menus

• Over 150 functions

Good, is there support for custom function like Sin graph?

• 2D and 3D charts
• Format bar for text, tables, graphics, and charts
innovative, intelligent tables
• Multiple, resizable tables on a canvas
• Readable cell names in formulas
• Footer rows for summary calculations
• Table tool for sorting and filtering
• Checkboxes and sliders in cells
Impressive results in minutes
• Freeform canvas to arrange tables, graphics, and charts
• iLife Media Browser
• Interactive print view
• Customizable templates and table styles

Compatibility
• Import and export Microsoft Excel spreadsheets
• Import AppleWorks spreadsheets
• Import and export other common formats
• Drag and drop Address Book contacts

:Yawn...anything new over Office?

Pages ’08
Streamlined word processing
• Format bar for text, tables, graphics, and charts
• Customizable paragraph, character, and list styles
• Section, layout, and page breaks

Advanced writing tools
• Change tracking and reviewer comments
• Mail merge with Address Book
• Automatic table of contents
• Spellchecker and proofreader
• Page navigator and search view

Great-looking documents in minutes
• Over 140 templates from letters to newsletters
• iLife Media Browser
• 3D charts with realistic textures

Powerful page layout mode
• Freeform graphics canvas
• Link text across multiple text objects
• Text wraps around graphics

Compatibility
• Import and export Microsoft Word documents
• Import AppleWorks word processing documents
• Send to iWeb

:Yawn...anything new over Office?

Keynote ’08
Stunning presentations in minutes

Doing that since ages.

• Apple-designed themes with coordinated text, tables, and charts

Can I make my own?

On a Mac iWork 08 is good & a must due to number 08 & non-availability of Office:Mac yet. Once office 2008 for Mac is out, I wonder if it makes sence to go for less powerful iWork

Arya. for forums's sake crop the images in iPhoto before posting here. It can easily be cropped like this

[Charan]

ok first of all I want to tell this, the new iMac is dam "sexy"

ok now to the point... if apple is really slimming down stuff .. then they should also go wireless. The keyboard and mouse could have been made wireless IMO.

[aryayush]

Mac Pros gain RAID storage option

Oh Apple, you sly devil, what with all the secretly upgrading hardware and not even telling us. Thanks to eagle-eyed reader Eric Wortman, we now also found that the Mac Pro gained a RAID card option for those who need mounds of storage and a secure, redundant system with which to manage it. The card supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. The card also features a 256MB cache and a 72 hour battery with which to protect that cache, and it occupies the top PCI Express card slot, connecting to all four internet drive bays.

What's all this RAID connectivity going to cost you? A cool $999 on top of the price of your Mac Pro.

[Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)]

Originally Posted by charangk

ok now to the point... if apple is really slimming down stuff .. then they should also go wireless. The keyboard and mouse could have been made wireless IMO.

You do have the option. But they cannot include it by default, IMHO, because a lot of people prefer wired peripherals to wireless ones. Case in point, yours truly. I don't ever want to use a wireless keyboard or mouse because it just adds one more thing to the already lengthy list of devices you have to keep charging constantly. I use my Mac for more than twelve hours each day (I'm on holiday at present.) and it would be really cumbersome to have to charge the keyboard and mouse individually at least twice each day.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by aryayush

we now also found that the Mac Pro gained a RAID card option for those who need mounds of storage and a secure, redundant system with which to manage it. The card supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, and Enhanced JBOD. The card also features a 256MB cache and a 72 hour battery with which to protect that cache, and it occupies the top PCI Express card slot, connecting to all four internet drive bays.

This costs $999, $200 more then Intel/Dell solution . Why don't u say every aspect here

I don't ever want to use a wireless keyboard or mouse because it just adds one more thing to the already lengthy list of devices you have to keep charging constantly. I use my Mac for more than twelve hours each day (I'm on holiday at present.) and it would be really cumbersome to have to charge the keyboard and mouse individually at least twice each day.

Lolz...then I can only say that Apple has carappy battries or u r on pot. I m using my wireless Microsoft laser mouse 5000 from the last 5 months & I have not changed my battries. Also I changed the battries of my keyboard, Wireless Natural Keyboard 4000 4 months ago. Using duracell.

[Charan]

One more mistery.. Why ATi ? Is apple blocking users from installing Linux distros on the macs cause ATi has bad drivers for Linux?

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by gx_saurav

Lolz...then I can only say that Apple has carappy battries or u r on pot. I m using my wireless Microsoft laser mouse 5000 from the last 5 months & I have not changed my battries. Also I changed the battries of my keyboard, Wireless Natural Keyboard 4000 4 months ago. Using duracell.

there are 2 different things. u either use the built in rechargable batteries or u use standard AA sized batteries (which may or may not be rechargable). again battery life is subject to the usage. afaik, most of those AA sized battery based products advertise that u need to replace the battery once in 2 or 3 months. but i've never seen or heard any device (including the MS wireless desktop products) working for 5 months on AA sized batteries, be it duracell or energizer! i haf no idea what product you use!

regarding the built in batteries, the frequency of recharge is greater than the replacement of the external battery type. mebbe once in 7-10 dayz or so. i dunno what kinda batteries does the apple wireless desktop products use.

one problem i've faced wid wireless products is the lag they cause. of corz thats not noticable on a normal desktop usage but surely matters in gaming.

Originally Posted by charangk

One more mistery.. Why ATi ? Is apple blocking users from installing Linux distros on the macs cause ATi has bad drivers for Linux?

point to be pondered upon!

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

regarding the built in batteries, the frequency of recharge is greater than the replacement of the external battery type. mebbe once in 7-10 dayz or so. i dunno what kinda batteries does the apple wireless desktop products use.

OK, I was unaware of this. I was under the impression that a single charge lasts about 5-6 hours.

If they do indeed last for about a week or so, then I don't see why Apple shouldn't bundle wireless accessories with Macs. To make money off them, I s'pose.

[goobimama]

Wireless mouse no way. I hate the lag that wireless mice have. I haven't tried a wireless keyboard, but I expect there to be some lag while doing some high speed typing...

[pillainp]

Arya, Arya, Arya.

Since you are only copying pasting and paraphrasing anyway, would you please do all the rest of us a favour and simply give us the links to all the stuff you post as your own, so that we can visit if we want, instead of having to wait ages for the thread to load so that we can read.

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by goobimama

Wireless mouse no way. I hate the lag that wireless mice have. I haven't tried a wireless keyboard, but I expect there to be some lag while doing some high speed typing...

Hmm...I have still to encounter anything like that from a distance under 5 feet away from computer

[iMav]

^^ gx thats apple mouse ... normal wireless mice hmmm ... lag whats that ... havnt faced any for the past 2 months

[aryayush]

Originally Posted by pillainp

Arya, Arya, Arya.

Since you are only copying pasting and paraphrasing anyway, would you please do all the rest of us a favour and simply give us the links to all the stuff you post as your own, so that we can visit if we want, instead of having to wait ages for the thread to load so that we can read.

I am sure I've never done what just said I have. It is called plagiarising and I am not guilty of it. Whenever I post an article or something that is a bit lengthy, I post only an excerpt and then post a link to the article and encourage readers to visit the link to "read more...". If the article is very short, I post the entire thing but still do post where I got it from and a link to it. And I sure as Hell have never posted anything from other websites and claimed that I've authored it. If you can show me a place where you've found me guilty of doing so, feel free to point my attention to it. I'll surely apologise, edit the post and try to be more careful in future. However, since I am 100% sure that I've never done any such thing, I don't think I'll have to go to all that trouble.

And, there are polite ways of saying what you wish to. There is no need to be rude, specially when you are wrong.

[iMav]

^^ dude ... uv copy-pasted the entire mac event, the iphone reviews ... dont get me wrong but the only apple related stuff that uv written is the fast track

[goobimama]

I haven't used an Apple Wireless mouse ever, but I'm talking about the logitech wireless one. There was also a bluetooth one I had used, forgot which brand it was. Both had this lag. Its not very noticeable and the owner said that one gets used to it to a point that its not there, but its there.

[infra_red_dude]

Originally Posted by iMav

^^ gx thats apple mouse ... normal wireless mice hmmm ... lag whats that ... havnt faced any for the past 2 months

whether its logitech, apple, MS or any damn company, the lag is inevitable. practically its not possible to make it lag free. this is coz there can be no 100% obstruction free environment for wireless products. but in case of wired products the signal density is substantially more than wireless due to a well defined and negligible obstruction path (limited only by the resistance of the wire), plus there is no dearth of power. all these factors affect the performance. tho u may not perceive the lag during ur normal desktop usage there actually is a lag which is noticable when performing certain tasks.

[iMav]

^^ infra im using a logitech wireless mouse it works seemlessly ... during games during normal working no lag

[gxsaurav]

Originally Posted by infra_red_dude

whether its logitech, apple, MS or any damn company, the lag is inevitable. practically its not possible to make it lag free

In normal operation I get no lag, however I do get a lag when

1) I have a food stuff in front of the mouse

2) I had my Beetel Cordless phone on the shelf, which when rings...my mouse starts ringing. I replaced that with a small wired phone & no problems

3) The device is low on battery.