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>> What's up? I'm Brian Tong, and welcome to the Apply Byte. There's a ton of product news, and we'll get to all of it. So let's start with the refreshed Mac desktops. Now, we received so many emails asking for the new iMacs, and your wishes have finally been granted. The new iMac line still comes in 20-inch and 24-inch flavors, rocking Intel core duo processors up to 3 gigahertz. But the big selling point is the new entry-level 24-inch iMac. It's $1,400.00, and that was the price of the previous 20-inch iMac. So there's a lot more bang for your buck there. Now, MacMinis get some graphics muscle featuring the some Nvidia 9400 M integrated graphics card in MacBooks. Apples also touting the MacMini as the world's most energy efficient desktop. So I'm guessing we might see another TV commercial with those cute little green doodles. Pricing starts at $599.00. Now, for all you pro users, the updated Mac Pros features Intel's quad core Nehalem Xion processors. The powerhouse desktops will give Pro users two times the performance over previous models, and there's an option for a dual processor eight-core model. That's crazy. Pricing starts at $2,499.00. Now, to me this was the most impressive announcement out of the bunch because this might be the first commercially available desktop featuring Nehalem processors. And remember, that 24-inch LED display with the mini display port adaptor that was proprietary -- it only worked with the MacBook family -- but it's now compatible with the entire desktop line. Thank you. Now, let's break this up with some fun stuff because we still have a lot more product news coming. In the most recent issue of Vogue magazine, which I happen to read a lot, Melinda Gates, the wife of Mr. Bill Gates, tells Vogue, "There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household, but iPods and iPhones are two things we don't get for our kids." That sounds like a really dark place. Like, could you guys imagine a world without iPods or iPhones because based on combined sales, about 200 million people can't either. Melinda did say every now and then I look at my friends and say, "Oh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone." Then Bill Gates immediately ended the interview. But in all seriousness, their philanthropic work worldwide is amazing. This was just a sweet little blurb I had to bring up.
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Now, speaking of sweets -- like this transition -- I scream, you scream, we all scream for icePod. What? Well, Norwegian ice cream maker Hennig Olsen has announced plans to make a chocolate-covered ice cream bar shaped like the iPod classic. Now, look at that packaging with all those silhouettes. Man, that is so original. Now, each icePod will also come with access to a free song download by a Norwegian artist. I love this. So, you know, I did some research on iTunes, and I really hope they get this Norwegian fiddle diddy. No, like --
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>> Brian, stop that right now. You look pretty dumb. And I don't even think that's Norwegian.
>> No, dude, I -- I'm pretty sure that's Norwegian.
>> It's not.
>> Okay. Guys, icePods are in production and are expected to hit a Norwegian 7-11 near you in March. Okay. Let's jump back into more product news. The AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule are giving us some new features. The first is simultaneous dual band support, which allows your wireless products to connect on the best available band. So what that means is your 802.11N products will run on their optimal 5-gigahertz band, and your 802.11B and G products will run on the 2.4-gigahertz band. Before that, they would switch down to a mixed mode that just wasn't as effective. Now, another update is the ability to create a guest network for visiting friends while your primary network with attached devices, like printers and hard drives, will stay secured on its own. That's pretty sweet. And if you're a Mobile Me user, you can register your AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule and access any file on a hard drive connected to them. Now, a few quick bites. The high-end 15-inch MacBook received a little speed bump to a 2.66-gigahertz processor. The 15-inch and 17-inch models now have an upgrade option to a 2.93-gigahertz processor, and the 256-gig solid-state drive is now an option available for 15-inch MacBook Pros and the MacBook line. If you guys didn't get that all just rewind and watch it again. Okay, so we need to address this because I receive an overwhelming amount of emails about my CoverFlow comments. So here, first up, Louis King says, "CoverFlow in Safari is the best implantation," -- I'm guessing he meant implementation -- "I've seen of it, every. I remember my history for their design rather than their content because I'm a designer, which is what to need to look at more and most. I think you got it wrong with putting it in the Bad Apple category. Smiley face. Thank you very much." Okay, this one's from Frederick Seglum [assumed spelling], "Brian Tong, you're wrong." That rhymes. "I think it's genius because if you're looking for an awesome article you read some time ago, and you don't remember from which site was from, CoverFlow makes it easier to find it because you can see it instead of entering it." Okay, thanks for that. Now, Brad wrote in, "Brian, not every feature is for everyone. When a cool feature like CoverFlow is added, don't diss it. You're tech savvy. Think about older people who might benefit from such an easy to use feature." So okay, Apple Byters, I hear you. So what I did is I talked to my much older peers, and I apologize for dissing your beloved CoverFlow. I am sorry.
>> Stop calling me old.
>> I'm sorry, Cooley. I'm sorry.
>> CoverFlow's not for old people.
>> I'm sorry, man.
>> I think he is.
>> Are you guys happy now? Okay. Remember to send your emails to the applebyte@cnet.com. And we'll get to as many as we can. I'm Brian Tong. Thanks for watching and come back next time for another byte of the Apple.
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