Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled movie rentals from iTunes, a superthin notebook computer and new software for the iPhone and iPod iTouch at his Macworld presentation in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Jobs said every major movie studio will make its films available at a price of $2.99 each for older films and $3.99 each for new releases. High-definition videos will cost $1 more. The downloaded rental can be watched for 24 hours after it's initially launched. Jobs said more than 1,000 films will be available by February.
Jobs unveiled what he called the "world's thinnest notebook," the MacBook Air, which will join the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop lines.
He showed that the new computer, which is 0.76-inch at its thickest point, can fit inside an interoffice mail envelope. Jobs said the new computer has a 13.3-inch wide screen, an LED backlit display, a built-in iSight camera and a full-size keyboard. The MacBook Air has 5 hours of battery life and weighs 3 pounds. It runs on a 1.6-gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, has 2 gigabytes of buffer memory, and an 80-gigabyte hard drive.
The computer will not have an optical drive for reading DVDs and CDs, with Jobs saying that task can be done by iPods and wireless movie rentals. But he said the MacBook Air will have software that will allow it to "borrow" the optical drive of nearby Macs and PCs.
The price will be $1,799, and it will be available in two weeks, Jobs said.
For widescreen TV owners, Jobs unveiled new software for the Apple TV device that will allow the downloading of movies, podcasts, photos and music directly to the screen. He also announced a lowering of the Apple TV device's price to $229, and said a free software upgrade will be available to existing owners.
The Apple CEO showed off new software for the iPhone, including a mapping application that works in conjunction with Google. The application uses a Wi-Fi network instead of GPS software. There's also a new text messaging feature and a way to put clips of Web pages on the iPhone screen.
For the iPod iTouch, Jobs unveiled five new software applications, available for $20 for those who already have the device. The applications are mail, stocks, notes, weather and location.
The Apple CEO also unveiled a wireless Mac backup device, called Time Capsule, as a companion to the Time Machine component in Apple's new Leopard version of its operating system. Time Capsule will be sold in a 500-gigabyte version for $299 and a 1-terabyte version for $499.
Jobs also unveiled the first version of Microsoft Office for Mac computers made with Intel chips.
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technorati tags: apple, steve jobs, macworld, macbook air, time capsule
Apple unveils movie rentals, thin laptop, software upgrades for iPhone
CEA to Gizmodo Crew: Gizmo-B-Gone
By now, you’ve probably heard or read about Gizmodo’s CES crew, who brought a universal IR remote control called TV-B-Gone, and then worked themselves into a giggle-fest by covertly shutting down some devices on the show floor, thereby sabotaging some demos and displays. The Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA) take on them? Banned.
In a blog posting at CNET staffer Rafe Needleman posts CEA's official response:"We have been informed of inappropriate behavior on the show floor by a credentialed media attendee from the Web site Gizmodo, owned by Gawker Media. Specifically, the Gizmodo staffer interfered with the exhibitor booth operations of numerous companies, including disrupting at least one press event. The Gizmodo staffer violated the terms of CES media credentials and caused harm to CES exhibitors. This Gizmodo staffer has been identified and will be barred from attending any future CES events. Additional sanctions against Gizmodo and Gawker Media are under discussion."
I myself am somehow embarrassed with the actions of the Gizmodo staff, especially with the Motorola presentation. If this is a scene in a Hollywood flick, it would probably be hilarious. But it's not. Most of the participants here worked hard and prepared for weeks, even months just to make their presentations as smooth as possible. Maybe shutting down one or two wall displays is tolerable, just for the sake of fun.. but with what they did with Motorola, as what gizmodo editor Brian Lam admitted.. is over the line.
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technorati tags: CES 2008, gizmodo prank, gizmodo banned
CES 2008 kicks off with Gates' final keynote speech
It's a new year and a new January CES (Consumer Electronics Show) expo is about to begin that will hopefully bring enough new stuff to keep us drooling for the rest of the year. Last night, Bill Gates delivered his last opening CES keynote after 12 occasions of doing so in the last 15 years.
Bill Gates' made his final speech January 6 to kick off CES 2008. Explaining that thinking about how he would spend his last full day at the office has inspired a film, Gates presented a short funny video about such a day, starting with Gates driving to the office in a bog standard car, leaving his briefcase on the top of the car in a comedic fashion.
The hilarity continued with guest star appearances from names as varied as Steven Spielberg, Hilary Clinton, George Clooney and a scene where Gates calls Bono and plays a Guitar Hero riff down the phone in an attempt to audition for a place in the band. The picture above is Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash helping Gates on a Guitar Hero bet.
CES is an annual trade show event held each January at Las Vegas, Nevada. At the show, many previews of products are introduced, or new products are announced.
Yugatech will be doing a "remote coverage" of CES 2008 so expect some updates there. For a complete info about CES visit their website at www.cesweb.org
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technorati tags: Consumer Electronics Show, CES 2008, Bill Gates, final speech, technology
POGS 2008 (Philippine Online Gaming Summit) on January 13
Attention all pinoy gamers! This year's Philippine Online Gaming Summit will be held at the Trinoma Activity Center this coming January 13 (Sunday).
Just like the past POGS, expect some intense gaming tournaments, live musical performances, cos players, and exclusive freebies. You can also get a chance to win a gaming PC or a Nintendo Wii.
For updates regarding POGS 2008, visit www.gamemagazine.ph
It was 2005 when the first Summit was held at the NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio. Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC) in Pasay City hosted the next following years' (2006 & 2007) event.
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technorati tags: POGS, Philippine Online Gaming Summit, gaming events