[Ben]

Today's the day, folks, it's the big one!

One year ago, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone on stage at Macworld San Francisco. Today is another one of those wonderful days where Apple's course is charted for another year - it's the Stevenote!

If you haven't watched all the old ones then they come highly recommended - they're like an Apple history lesson +excitement. Of course, once you've seen a Stevenote you're lost to Apple forever, so bear that in mind.

Apple claim that they'll have the feed of the MWSF keynote up on their website within a few hours of it finishing this year... we'll see. But you can catch 'live' text based updates and pictures around the web. Should there be anything announced that I feel Talk3G'ers need to know then I'll send out a free text alert, so sign up now (https://talk3g.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4874)!

I believe it starts around 5pm our time, so get your fingers crossed for whatever it is you're hoping for and start channelling your energies ;)

[gorilla]

and could this be it? ultra portable laptop (http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/breaking-macboo.html).

[Ben]

I certainly hope it's something similar... I really don't need any more Apple stuff, but a Macbook Air? Could I really resist?

If it has integrated 3G then I think I'd have to buy it, but Apple hasn't made any indications that it's going down that route so far. Surely they appreciate, though, that on an ultraportable connectivity is the golden bullet?

I'd love to see a new iPhone announced, as it has been a year, but I think Apple could try and keep that one quiet for a few more months...

If we do get Macbook Air then I don't think we'll be seeing much else. Obviously a fair wadge of time will have to be devoted to Mac Office 2008 in order to keep Microsoft happy, and there'll be a good smothering of sales numbers and some Intel dribble I'd imagine.

Gotta love how after the keynote the Internet is alive with furious people making damning remarks about Apple not releasing the product that they'd convinced themselves they would... like a new mid range Mac! Maybe this year is the year? :p

[gorilla]

I have to say that I'm not overly bothered by what they announce, now that I have my mini. I don't think we'll see the 3g iphone. The rumours are that one is already in production, but I think the next iphone has to have 3g, bigger harddrive, better battery, better interface (ha ha ha, that last one's just for laughs!) and given that it's only 12 months old and not long released in Europe, I would expect apple to hold off until the summer.

[miffed]

MacBook Air. It’s silver (aluminum?), has black keys, is super super thin, and Steve can hold it easily with his fingertips. “It’s the world’s thinnest notebook,” he reiterates. It has a 13.3-inch widescreen display. “And the display is gorgeous.” It’s an LED backlit display that’s instant-on. It also has a built-in iSight camera, and a full-sized keyboard. Backlit too, with a trackpad and multi-touch gesture support on the trackpad.

Cool !

[miffed]

$1,799 !!! :eek:

[miffed]

Bloody rip off Britain ! :(

So $1,799 converts to £914 right ? Course not ! its obviously £1,199

And Apple TV gets reduced to $229 in the states - thats £116 ?

Nope , we get to pay the full £199 we have always paid :(

Makes you proud eh ?

[miffed]

Still, it is quite sexy

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/#ad

[Hands0n]

Errr, that'll be starting at £1,199 then :(

But as you say, it is a bit sexy. That'll be a "next year" for me I suspect!!

[gorilla]

Well I'm slightly relieved that there were no surprises for the mac mini. The macbook air is a fine piece of kit, but I'll never buy one. There will be a huge market for it however, what with business types, cash rich 20 somethings all looking for basic computing and easy access to the net. Why it's an 'eee' competitor!

I'll admit that I was a saddo and watched the feed on macroumours, while listening to a macbreak weekly podcast. See what you guys have turned me into. Thankfully a couple of mates came round to make me watch the L'pool game, which lightened the mood as L'pool are shocking to watch.

I haven't seen any mention of 3g connectivity etc for the ..air?

I'm interested in the itunes movie rentals. I'm a current subscriber to lovefilm and will be interested to see how they rival them when they launch later this year.

Have to go, I'm being told a software update is required. Windows was never this pushy!;)

[gorilla]

Good grief, 5 updates to install and it took how long?

Windows never did that :eek:

[gorilla]

Anyone care to explain this

Still - thank you to londonruss for filling in and telling us about the new free-to-all iPhone on all networks,
Source (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/digitalcontent/2008/01/macworld_steve_jobs_takes_the.html) right at the bottom!
Does that mean the iphone is going to be sold unlocked?

What about the new apps for the itouch? Are you peeved you'll have to pay to upgrade? Worthy upgrades though?

[Hands0n]

Windows never did that :eek:

Yea, Windows doesn't do a lot of things that OS X does :) I still have to support a number of XP devices, and of late a couple of Vista Home Premium for friends. Yuk. What a mess the latter is. And their "Gadgets" make me chuckle. But yea, OS X does take care of itself rather well these days. There was a time that updates on Mac were quite fraught with danger.

I wish they'd sort out an update for Airport Extreme Base Station router - the 7.2.1 update broke it. I've downgraded to 7.2 to get normal working back again! The forums are buzzing about it, but Apple have not supplied a remedy.

Edit: New apps for the iPod Touch for a $20 (I suppose that'll be £20 by the time it hits these shores). I don't think so Steve. I'll stick with my Jailbroken 1.1.2 and all the apps I can eat for precisely £0.00 (that's $0.00 in your money, mate). What a stupid thing to go and charge for an update. Is this a sign of what is to come?

[Ben]

lol @ unlocked iPhone, I think The Guardian are showing a little sarcasm towards some of their tipsters.

I do think it's a shame Apple are charging for the iPod Touch update. I suppose their logic is that iPod Touch owners bought it with only the limited selection of apps and that the extra functionality is being considered an 'upgrade'. Still, no point to it really.

Ah, the Macbook Air.

I knew it wouldn't happen, but I did wonder if they could really release an ultraportable in this day and age without integrated 3G. So, in that respect, I was a little disappointed.

What I'm excited about, however, is that they seem to have been able to make a pretty convincing ultraportable out of the 13.3" form factor. Now, Macbooks are stunning, but to have the same functionality in something as flat as a pancake and as light as a Sony TZ... well, that's something I'd like to own. Battery life is a bit disappointing... but then they did use a real processor, which should make the Air very very nice to work on.

I'm going to wait-and-see what happens with it. Can't wait to play with one!

[gorilla]

I've heard a few people moan about the Air's specs, but as far as I can tell it will do most of things people do on a daily basis. Who really needs ethernet? 80gig HD is plenty and how often does anyone use their cd drive?

I think the point of the air is to promote the digital download age. No optical drive and the removal of the ethernet point will only show people that they can survive with out these add ons. I would bet that those who choose to buy the air have at least one other computer which has optical drive etc

[miffed]

I actually think the external superdrive looks pretty cool too - at £65 I don't think it's unreasonable either !

[getti]

well im going to get an air. Will either order at work tomorrow for discount or get at my local store in Exeter.

Now here is the problem. I am ruling out the top spec because its far too much extra for what you get.

Online you can order the lower spec but boost the CPU to 1.8 for a small extra making it £1350 but i get discount

Or in store i can get a 1.6 for £1100 but will 0.2 make a difference in speed compared to my macBook?

[miffed]

Surely the difference would be barely noticable ?

Now ,I am not very clued up on these things - But the Idea of paying an extra £850 for 16GB LESS space , and .2g of proccessor seems a bit ludicrous to me !
I have been mucking around with my eee PC a lot lately , and the resounding thing you hear is that SSD are limited in write cycles , and that a journaled file system would be a terrible idea (having said that , I have seen reports saying you'd need to be continually writing for 40 years to exceed the SSD's life ... but I digress )
Is having a smaller SSD over a HDD REALLY worth £850 extra ?

[Ben]

getti - if you don't want the SSD then I'd advise you to just go with the stock option. I doubt you'll notice a difference in the CPU performance.

I, personally, really want the SSD version... the read/write speeds are going to be a lot faster than a 4200rpm HDD and an Ultraportable isn't exactly the place to store your music and video library so I'm not worried about size. Hey, they could have stuffed us with the 32GB version - that would have just been annoying.

Unfortunately at, like, £600 more for the SSD it's hardly worth it yet. Far too much extra to pay for a laptop that I don't need right now. In a few months time? Who knows. But not right now.

I think it's beautiful from the pictures, though, and a good spec too. It could be a great success. Just can't wait to hold one in my hands.

[gorilla]

Well the rumours never cease. The talk now is that macworld was a bit of a let down and because the macpro was given a soft launch the week before, Apple may be going to have another show later this year dedicated to the iphone.

While movie rentals and the slim laptop are 'big' in their own right, everyone expected new hardware (and the Apple TV doesn't seem to be rocking many peoples boat at the moment) and even new innovative software, which apparently apple have been quiet on for a while.

An iphone with a SSD and HSDPA has been predicted (surprise surprise), but with the firmware upgrades on the iphone and itouch, analysts are predicting bigger things from apple later in the year. Wall street were not best please either and Apple shares dropped yesterday.

Apple could simply be waiting until itouch and iphone gen 1 have sold x amount and wholesale prices of SSD's have fallen to their desired level.

[3g-g]

...and the Apple TV doesn't seem to be rocking many peoples boat at the moment...

I really want to buy Apple TV, but there's no way I'm forking out 270 big ones for it! The sooner they drop the price it'll move back onto my buying radar!

[miffed]

Do you really need the big one though G ?

I was thinking along the same lines myself , but then though half the attraction was being able to stream from other devices ?

Not sure why the US gets a price cut and we don't either :confused:

[Ben]

I'm very tempted by an Apple TV unit once the movie rentals are available over here. Perhaps we'll get a price drop then.

[gorilla]

Is the movie rentals available to all itunes users i.e. pc, mac etc? If so, I'll be very happy using my mini and front row.

One potential problem with apple tv is that you're buying into a 'walled garden'. Granted a very good one, but still, you can't just hop over to lovefilm and stream a movie from there and watch it on your apple tv can you? (not that I can do that on a mac :mad:)

I wonder what sort of deal we'll get. For £13 a month I get roughly 16 dvds (4 a week) from lovefilm. Granted, it's a postal service, but I would want a similar deal with itunes.

Factor in sky movies (for those 'library' titles) and you already have a big market, never mind the on demand content from virgin, BT and the rest. Isn't sky movies available already on your pc?

I get the concept, (Bill Gates', pc in the living room!) but itunes will have to really offer something new and not just a luxury gadget that comes with a premium, to get itunes movie rentals to the same level that the music store has reached. True, you'll get movies onto portable devices, but I'm thinking more of the 'living room' market.

Does anyone know what the US is like for online content such as the BBC iplayer? I've heard of netflicks, but maybe they don't have as many services availble to them already????

[Ben]

It'll be a couple of quid a rent. I'd imagine it'd be cheaper to be sent the DVD's through the post, but I'm one of the zillion people in the UK who could never be bothered with such a service :D I'd pay a premium to click and watch.

[Hands0n]

Funny enough we was talking about this at work the other day. One of the chaps summed up the Blockbuster/postal DVD mechanism when he said "I don't want to have to wait for the post or go out in the rain, I want it when I want it". I think that there is a legitimate market for VOD - the cable and satellite companies are investing huge amounts. STBs with huge storage to deliver the basics of VOD are already here (i.e. Sky Anytime), there are some fledgling services on the Internet - although the ISPs and their data pricing model have not kept pace (no reason to, commercially yet).

So if Apple (and others) can get this Internet delivery model right there will be widespread adoption. The buyers (us) have been conditioned to the paradigm, so now all we need is the vehicle at the right price and convenience. Anything more complex to use than a Sky+ or Virgin Media STB will not make it to wholesale adoption, witness M$ Media Player - too expensive and too complex upkeep (you have to know something of computers).

[gorilla]

I wouldn't be without my V+ box now. I don't watch 'normal' tv, everything is either recorded, or on demand. The only really thing I watch live is sport!

Apple tv needs to be priced to compete with current set top boxes, regardless of which is the better technology. Apple (like Sky) have the resources to subsidise the hardware and recoup their investment via monthly subscriptions. How many of you would buy apple tv to compliment your existing set up if it only cost £99? I know I probably would.

[miffed]

I'm very tempted by an Apple TV unit once the movie rentals are available over here. Perhaps we'll get a price drop then.

Very good point , I was quite annoyed that the US got a price cut and now can get one for £116 ! - yet we are still paying £199 - but as you point out , The price cut in the US was in tandem with the rental launch - Perhaps we'll get a price cut too when the rentals launch ?

[Hands0n]

Yes but also think about the USD/GBP exchange rate. At £199 Apple are charging very much more than double the local price out of us in the UK. And for what? Nothing very much at all. The Apple TV box will go nowhere at that price, even with content. The Apple corporate mindset is not about commoditising products - even the iPhone. Rather it still hangs on to its eclusivity, which is fine in the Mac world but does not translate well into these territories where there is so much more competition.

In so many ways the USA is beginning to seem rather backward in comparison to Europe and the rest of the world. No longer is it quite so groundbreaking as it used to be. What is good for their matured markets is barely so for our much more advanced (witness iPhone in comparison to almost every other "smartphone" on the planet and not made in USA). They're still knobbing around with TiVo and we've gone way beyond all that with Sky and Virgin Media (to name but two). The list goes on......

[miffed]

A friend of mind is off to Ireland this weekend - not being very aware of these things , I thought perhaps the Macbook Air would be cheaper in Ireland (what with Apple living over there etc )

How wrong I was !

US Price £914
UK Price £1,199
Ireland Price £1,264 - A whole £350 above the US Price !

I honestlly think if Apple had strived to keep the UK price below £1,000 it would make a huge difference to the amount of units sold ! - Shallow people like myself would have virtually placed an order without thinking about it at £999 , but £1,199 moves into different territory for me and requires a bit more thought - only £200 , but makes a world of difference when in comes to convinving the wife !

[Ben]

Woah! I didn't realise the battery wasn't user replaceable on the Macbook Air. That's a bit of a kicker. No part of it is user serviceable AFAIK (hence Apple shipping them with a generous [for Apple] 2GB of RAM), so buying one without Applecare would be suicide and, even with Applecare, you'd need a backup computer at the ready should the Air need an extended trip away.

Still, Apple are redefining the ultraportable with the Air. Current ultraportable leader Sony has it all in the TZ - right up to HSDPA. The Air, on the other hand, is an extension of one's Mac world, and it's as much for lying on the sofa when you can't be bothered to sit at your iMac as it is for using at coffee shops.

Will it capture peoples imaginations? Time will tell!

[miffed]

I have gone full circle in the last few days .... from thinking "nice , but I don't need /want one -to "Must have one on launch day !" - and now back to not really being interested - too many losses / compromises for not enough gain
If I am going to spend over a grand on a laptop , it is going to be a MBP , and I'll want it to outspec my Macbook in every way - not have bits missing !!

[Hands0n]

What a bitter disappointment re the Macbook Air. Its has just come right off of my shopping list!

@Miffed - trust me geezer, you won't be disappointed with the Macbook pro. I had my doubts when walking out of the shop with it. Did I do the right thing? But I can tell you that all of my concerns were needless. The machine absolutely rocks! It blows away any laptop I have ever laid my hands on - even when running XP in Parallels it does it faster than anything I've seen that is not hardwired into the mains!

Edit: Just found this nice write-up by an inde http://www.marialanger.com/2008/01/18/some-thoughts-on-the-macbook-air/ I quite like some of her musings.

[Ben]

The Macbook Pro is, indeed, very awesome.

Re. that article, Hands0n, I think the author has a point about the 12" Powerbook. It was rather ahead of its time... I guess, in a way, it was an early ultraportable.

Still, it'll be another week or so yet before we really find out if the Air is a hit or a miss.

[Ben]

I finally watched the whole keynote.

Steve had a little less sparkle this year... and I thought his voice was going to give out on him towards the end, but actually the keynote was pretty strong. It built momentum right the way through, and personally I think AppleTV+Movie Rentals is awesome. Something I'll definitely be buying once rentals come out over here (and not before).

Then there's the Macbook Air. I'm sold. No, it's not a Sony TZ with OS X like I wanted it to be, with integrated HSDPA, but what else am I going to buy, huh? If you want OS X you have to buy a Mac, and for the first time in a squillion years (Ok, more like 3 I guess) Apple has created something thin and light enough (could be smaller, IMHO) to be truly portable. Plus the sealed casing looks rather robust... bits actually snapped off my Sony TX (precursor to the TZ).

I'm not actually buying one, though. Not yet, anyway. Why? Why beta test it for Apple. Seriously, this machine cost a LOT of money to develop, it's not going to be changing for a while, and will definitely contain kinks. Given that OS X could run stunningly on a calculator provided it had enough RAM, I'm not worried about the specs of this machine ageing. Also, I'd love that SSD, but at that price? No.

So, one day probably yes. With a Vodafone Stick to go with it!

[gorilla]

I would tend to agree. It's a good enough machine and will surely only get better.

Re: movie rentals.
I was sitting back enjoying front row the other night and I came across movie trailers. I hadn't noticed this before, but was soon flicking through upcoming movie releases. This got me to wonder...will movie rentals be like this? Could I watch a trailer and then be presented with the option to buy? I would do that in the blink of an eye. Yet, I also got thinking about movie studios. Their greed is going to stiffle their growth potential. They should release itunes movies the day they are released on DVD, not 30 days later. Why should I have to go to a cinema to see the latest release when I have a home theatre set up? We saw this with the music companies being too restrictive. If you give people the choice of how to buy their media, the majority will always use the legal option, provided it fits their lifestyle. So I want movie downloads the day the DVD is released somewhere in the world. It's maybe a bit much to ask for downloads on the day a film is released in the cinema, but 30 days after would suffice. A cinema ticket probably averages out at about a fiver, offer it for download and see how many people take up that offer.

[Ben]

The studios are desperate not to cannibalise DVD sales. It's big money for them yet, and they want iTunes movie rentals to be an additional revenue stream, not a replacement one. Is it greed? Perhaps, a little. I can understand why they are cautious.

And yes, the new 'Apple TV' interface, at least, is just like Front Row's trailers. Hopefully buying movies will be integrated into Front Row in the same way. Basically, you browse to the picture of the film, click it to see a synopsis and other details, along with films other people who rented it have also rented, and the ability to view the trailer and, if you want, rent the film. You then get 30 days to watch the film you have rented, but once you start watching it you must finish within 24 hours. The service is compatible with all current iPods and iPhone.

If the rentals are about £2 for library and £3 for new release (+£1 for HD) then I think that'd be about right. If the streaming really is as instant as Steve makes out and the quality is as good as it looked then I think it'd be insane. Video store buffs out there would no longer need to leave the house - ever! :p