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Macworld Expo 2002, New York
 | (Items are posted in reverse chronological order, as they are announced during the keynote) |
| That ends the keynote address. Grab your iWallet and check for iCash before the excitement over iChat and iSync and iPod and...before they all get the iBest of iYou... |
| - features a 1440 x 900 pixel display |
| - Nvidia GeForce4 MX graphics |
| - 800MHz |
| - 256MB RAM |
| - 80 GB drive |
| - SuperDrive |
| - US $1,999 |
| - Jobs comments that iApps are unmatched on the Windows side |
| - Sony, Cingular and Erricson announce a deal to make their phone products part of the Apple Digital Hub |
| Another comment: (After 90 minutes of repeatedly trying to connect to the live keynote via QuickTime 6, the application locked up and had to be force quit. I am not sure if the problem this morning was with QuickTime or Apple's provisions for covering the event in NY. Either way, they blew it...) |
| - iSync is billed as a groundbreaking new application |
| - Will be available as a free download for OS X 10.2 users in September |
| - Takes less than a minute to sync data between the enabled devices connected to your Mac through iSync |
| - iPod for Windows |
| -Partnered with MusicMatch for synching with a Windows machine |
| - iPod for Windows available in late August |
| - New iPod in stores in early August |
| - iCal calendars supported on the iPod now, as well as games |
| - Audible.com is now supported in the new software for the iPod, as well as new genre and composer categories |
| - The price of the 5GB iPod drops to $299 |
| - Price of the 10GB iPod goes to $399 |
| - iTunes 3 will be available for download today (though I see no link for it yet...It should be linked from here soon...) |
| - New "smart playlists" that can work depending on rules set up by the user |
| - New version has ratings built in, play counts, and a feature called Sound Check that normalizes audio so that all songs play at the same volume level |
| - Audible.com audio now supported |
| - iCal is a new calendar application that allows different calendars for work, personal or any other category you want, and the calendars can be hosted online through .Mac |
| - Total price tag of Apple's announcements so far |
| OS X 10.2 upgrade = $129 |
| .Mac service per year = $49-99 |
| Cost = $178-228 |
| - .Mac |
| - The .Mac price tag = $49 per year for all current iTools users (which I assume means every current Mac user with iTools access), and $99 per year for new subscribers... |
| - iPhoto hosting remains, and there will be backup software options to work with iDisk, DVD and CD-R |
| - .Mac will offer IMAP, POP and Webmail services, and iDisk services will go from 25 to 100 MB |
| - iTools is no more |
| Jaguar, aka, Mac OS X 10.2 |
| - The price tag of OS X 10.2 is $129, and it hits the shelves August 24 (You knew this was coming...but off the cuff, $129? I had better start saving some pennies...) |
| - iChat |
| - Uses your mac.com account to access AOL Instant Messenger |
| - Also ties in with Rendezvous to automatically add any users around you on the network or Wi-Fi to your buddy list |
| - File transfer will be supported on iChat |
| - A new Address Book also coming to OS X 10.2 |
| - Address Book can tie in via Bluetooth to enabled cell phones to transfer contact information |
| - Address Book can also dial outgoing calls, or match up info from caller ID systems on inbound calls to names in the contact database |
| - New Mail app, with junk mail filtering |
| - The new "Junk Mail" feature turns most Spam posts brown, and the Mail software can go into a "training" mode to update and learn which mail is Spam |
| - Rendezvous offers automatic discovery of devices over an IP network with no configuration on your part. |
| - HP, Epson and Lexmark have adopted Rendezvous and plan to build its capabilities into their network printers. |
| - Inkwell, the handwriting software that is part of OS X 10.2 is mentioned but not demoed. |
| - Introduction of Sherlock 3 |
| - Intro includes showing stock data, movie previews and a theater locator |
| - Universal Access in OS X 10.2 includes zooming, a screen reader and other features. |
| - QuickTime 6 is integrated into OS X 10.2...already since its release yesterday, more than 1.2 million people have downloaded QuickTime 6 |
| - The Finder also offers integrated search capabilities. |
| - The new Finder in 10.2 will include Spring Loaded folders, a feature many people miss from the Classic Mac |
| - It appears that the update to 10.2 will be available only on CD, from first mention of the software |
| - It will officially be called Mac OS X 10.2 |
| Rob Glaser introduces RealOne Player beta for OS X |
| Claims that the new beta offers the smoothest playback of Real Video in the world. Get the beta here. |
| Apple predicts 5 millions OS X users |
| Steve says that by the end of this year there will be 5 million people using OS X. 72% of those buying new Macs are booting into OS X now rather than OS 9.x. Apple claims there are now 3,000 applications for OS X... |
| My own comment: Apple has really dropped the ball on QuickTime coverage again. Trying to connect to the live .mov stream gets an immediate "timed out" response, and the MPEG-4 stream just keeps reading "requested data" until it too times out. More bandwidth please... |
| The success of the Switch ads |
| Jobs says that 1.7 million viewers have visited the Switch site to check out about making the move to OS X, with 60% of the visitors being Windows users |
| If you cannot connect to listen live |
| Another site called MacTeens has someone on the Expo floor and is updating the keynote every 5 minutes. Since I cannot connect through QuickTime right now, that is something I am watching until I get in... |
| Be patient connecting to the keynote |
| As usual, Apple's QuickTime broadcast of the keynote speech is overloaded...no luck connecting so far... |
| Keynote time has arrived....still trying to connect |
| (Updated as news breaks) |
| RealNetworks rolls out RealOne Player for OS X |
| Nearly 18 months after the unveiling of Mac OS X, the folks at RealNetworks have joined the Mac market again with an OS X beta version of RealOne Player. The beta is downloadable now and it should allow access to the same content that you could have been watching and listening to under Classic over the last 16 months... |
| Gideon Softworks offers photo journal |
| Gideon Desktop Bundle includes Snard, Dock-It and FileXaminer |
| Gideon Softworks has special Expo pricing of $25 when you buy the Gideon Desktop Bundle, which combines Dock-It (a tool that allows you to have multiple docks), Snard (a file and application launcher) and FileXaminer (an enhanced version of Apple's get info command). Save $10 by ordering the bundle during Macworld Expo. Check the Desktop Bundle page for ordering information. |
| Omni Group, Bare Bones offer Macworld specials |
| The Omni Group, makers of OmniWeb, OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle, is among the companies offering special prices on its products during this week to coincide with the Macworld Expo in New York. Omni is offering $10 discounts on OmniWeb and OmniOutliner, as well as $15 off the purchase of OmniGraffle. Meanwhile, Bare Bones Software, the makers of BBEdit and MailSmith, offers a Macworld deal of its own. Buyers this week will get a free T-shirt with the purchase of BBEdit 6.5 for $79 or with the purchase of MailSmith 1.5 for $79. Upgrading from a previous version of either program costs $39. |
| These are links to sites that are covering Macworld Expo |
Rob McNair-Huff is a longtime Mac user and writer from the Pacific Northwest. In addition to writing about the Mac, and running this Web site, Mac Net Journal, he is the author of two books - Insiders' Guide to the Olympic Peninsula and Mountain Bike America: Washington - and he is working with his wife Natalie to write a third book this year called Birding Washington. If you have a need for Mac consulting, writing, Web design or photography help, check out Rob's business site: White Rabbit Publishing.  Donate to support MNJ
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© Copyright 2002 Rob McNair-Huff.
Last update: 10/24/02; 1:24:02 PM.
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