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If you've ever attended a Macworld keynote featuring Mr. Steve Jobs, you're familiar with the format: long. This year's Macworld SF kickoff was no different--the whole address ran upwards of an hour and a half--but this year's lineup was full of new products for the Apple faithful. From software to the long-rumored flash iPod, Jobs trotted out all kinds of news.
Mac Mini: more (or less) to love
We'd heard plenty of rumors of a budget Mac, but we weren't expecting this: a tiny box that takes small-form-factor (SFF) design to a new level. At 6.5 inches on each side, 2 inches tall, and 2.9 pounds, the Mac Mini is lighter than most laptops. Of course, this puppy doesn't come with a keyboard, a mouse, or a monitor (although it will work with a standard, two-button USB mouse), so its classification as a budget PC is arguable. Add in those necessary components, plus memory upgrades to take it up to 1GB, as well as internal Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (necessary if you subscribe to the move-your-Mac-Mini-around-the-house philosophy Apple is pushing), and your price will likely go up, up, up. Still, as with Apple's last square-box Mac, the Power Mac G4 Cube, this thing looks hot.
Apple deals up iPod Shuffle
Apple's new flash iPod was not a surprise. But aspects of this tiny player, no bigger than a pack of gum, are unique. First, the price: $99 for the 512MB model and $149 for the 1GB, holding approximately 120 and 240 songs, respectively. That's pretty inexpensive, but in some respects, you get what you pay for. The Shuffle doesn't have a screen, so you'll have to rely on playlists or, as Apple not-so-subtly suggests, Shuffle mode. Hmm. But again, the iPod Shuffle just looks so dang pretty.
Hi-ho, hi-ho, Jobs's iWork is a go
New name, new life--or so Apple execs might hope with its new iWork productivity suite. Priced at $79, iWork '05 is Apple's successor to the venerable AppleWorks productivity suite. Its Pages application is a new word processor with a desktop publishing slant, ideal for creating reports, newsletters, and brochures without having to arm yourself with a pricey Adobe suite (one would assume). Keynote 2 is Apple's follow-up to last year's new presentation app; this time around, it creates cinematic slide shows and photo portfolios with the ease you'd expect from Apple. Also included in the suite is the iLife Media Browser for video clips.
Tiger still caged but now with a parole date
Apple's latest version of its Unix-based operating system, Apple Mac OS X Tiger, now has a release date, or close to it. The OS will ship in the first half of 2005, according to Jobs, who says that Tiger will offer more than 200 new features, including a new desktop search app called Spotlight and an RSS reader built into the Safari Internet browser. Desktop search is springing up everywhere now, from Google and even Microsoft, but Apple's mad dash will integrate desktop search at the OS level before Microsoft does the same in its long-delayed Longhorn OS--big news in the search world.
iLife living large
Not to be overshadowed by iWork, the Apple iLife suite hit the decks with a number of updates: new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand all made their appearances in the Jobs keynote. iMovie now lets you edit in high definition (HD), and GarageBand gives up new multitrack recording, pitch and timing correction, and more music-geek fun. Perhaps most exciting, though, is that iLife is now shipping free on new Macs, which will save you its $79 cost.
In other news, Jobs further hyped HD with his announcement of Final Cut Express HD, which--need we say it--will allow high-definition film editing, among other improvements. Apple is preordering now online for a February ship date.
Read the CNET editor's take
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Hanns- 21" Widescreen Monitor- $199
6.9 out of 10
