New Bigger, Better, Faster MacBooks and MacBook Pros

The Pros get the new multi-touch trackpad from the MacBook Air. The MacBooks don't. But they are still £699.

The 2.1 GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, £699 includes:

- 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW) optical drive;
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
- Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
- two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port.

The 2.4GHz, 13-inch white MacBook, £829 includes:

- 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 800MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
- Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
- two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port.

The 2.4GHz, 13-inch black MacBook, £949, includes:

- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support
- Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
- Mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold
separately);
- two USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port;

Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, Apple USB Modem, Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adapter, Apple Mini-DVI to VGA adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, £1.299, includes:

- 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
- 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 200GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR3 memory;
- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video adapter sold separately);
- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
- two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port;

The 2.5 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, £1,599 includes:

- 15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 LCD display;
- 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video adapter sold separately);
- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
- two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port.

The 2.5 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, £1,799, includes:

- 17-inch widescreen 1680 x 1050 LCD display;
- 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache;
- 800 MHz front-side bus;
- 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
- 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
- a slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support
- NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB GDDR3 memory;
- DVI-out port for external display (VGA-out adapter included, Composite/S-Video adapter sold separately);
- built-in Dual Link support for driving Apple 30-inch Cinema HD Display;
- two USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port and one FireWire 400 port.

Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to up to 4GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a 2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 200GB (7,200 rpm), 250GB (5,400 rpm) or a 300GB (4,200 rpm) hard drive, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple USB Modem, glossy widescreen display, 17- inch LED-backlit 1,920-x-1,200 high-resolution display and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

BBC iPlayer to come to iPhone & iPod touch 'soon'

This in fresh from the Guardian: Today the BBC publicised their iPlayer viewer ratings, which were very healthy indeed; 17 million downloads and streams since Christmas, with Doctor Who, Louis Theroux, Torchwood and Ashes to Ashes top of the bill. Even more interesting was the fact that they are following YouTube by porting their player to the iPod touch and iPhone. And the service will be available within the next few weeks. Having just acquired a touch, this is news of the most excellent! Let's hope Apple don't charge for the software update again.

Xsan 2 unleased

It's something to do with servers. I can't be bothered to read the gumph, but I'm sure that it's an improvement on Xsan 1. It would have to be, really. There'd be no point in releasing Xsan 2 if it wasn't.
I'm going to be lazy and cut & paste from the PR email:
"Apple® today introduced Xsan® 2, the first major upgrade to its easy to use, high performance, enterprise class Storage Area Network (SAN) file system for Mac OS® X. Combining enhanced performance with Apple’s legendary ease of use, Xsan 2 makes it easier for first time users to set up and quickly deploy a SAN; introduces MultiSAN, allowing users on a single workstation to access multiple SANs at the same time; is fully integrated with Mac OS X Leopard™ and Mac OS X Server Leopard and is now qualified to work with third-party RAID storage.
Administration tools have been completely redesigned in Xsan 2, making it easier than ever to set up and manage a SAN file system. Xsan 2 intelligently handles different data types, file sizes and usage scenarios for ideal performance. For example, administrators have the ability to pre-set volume workload settings for optimal streaming of all file types, from very large files, such as uncompressed HD video to small data center files. Xsan 2 includes a new feature, MultiSAN, for users who need to access multiple Xsan volumes from the same workstation or server, such as in newsrooms with separate SAN volumes for production and broadcast.
Xsan 2 is fully integrated with Mac OS X Leopard and takes complete advantage of core Mac OS X features, such as Spotlight™ to search across multiple SAN volumes. Xsan 2 also works seamlessly with Server Assistant in Leopard Server for easy setup and configuration of SAN volumes. Leopard Server features, such as iCal® Server, Mail Server and Podcast Producer, can now integrate with Xsan 2 to support clustered file systems, improving performance and scalability and reducing the impact of a service outage from the loss of any one server.
For the first time, Xsan 2 has been qualified with third-party RAID storage hardware. Along with Apple’s Xserve® RAID, Xsan 2 supports third-party RAID solutions from Promise Technology in configurations tuned and optimised for Xsan, Mac OS X Server and Apple’s professional applications.
Pricing & Availability
Xsan 2 is available immediately through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com/ukstore) and through Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £699 (inc VAT) per node."

1GB shuffle reduced to make way for new 2GB version

Apple's has added a 2GB version of 'the World's most wearable music player' to the shuffle family. The 1GB (240 song) shuffle has been reduced to £32 and the new (480 song) one will be 'available later this month', priced at £45.

Best of British BBC programmes now available on iTunes

The BBC have began to sell many of their best shows on iTunes. Looks like the trial of selling 'Damages' proved that they could actually make some money from downloads. Show like Little Britain, Spooks, Robin Hood, Life On Mars, The Catherine Tate Show and Ashes to Ashes are all available for £1.89 per episode. It's a good stop gap until the BBC sort out their iPlayer to properly work with Macs.

Apple TV 2.0: The Waiting Is Over.

The promised software update is finally released. UK Apple TV owner won't be able to rent movies from the Store, but do get a new interface.
TomBK3 can hardly contain himself.

.Mac Web Galleries Updated.

Today .Mac members received their first email from the .Mac Team. Here's what is said:

Dear .Mac member:
Over the last several weeks we have enhanced .Mac Web Gallery with a variety of new features. Many of these will require that you update to the latest versions of iPhoto ’08 and iMovie ’08. Read below for more details.
Apple TV viewing.
Web Gallery is now integrated with Apple TV so you can view any .Mac member’s public photos and movies right on your widescreen television. Just choose .Mac in the Photos menu and enter a .Mac member name.
Full-size JPEG downloads. Using iPhoto ’08 7.1.2, you can now choose to let visitors download your full-size JPEGs (highest resolution), or images optimized for 16-by-20-inch prints (smaller file size).
Standalone photo albums. Also using iPhoto ’08 7.1.2, you can publish standalone albums that do not appear on your Web Gallery home page. These are ideal for sharing photos intended for a select audience.
Password-protected movies. Using iMovie ’08 7.1.1, you can now require visitors to enter a password to view or download specific movies from your Web Gallery.
Web Gallery subscriptions. Visitors can now subscribe to your entire Web Gallery with a single RSS feed. The feed is updated any time new photos or movies are added, so subscribers can stay up to date automatically.
Aperture support. Aperture 2.0 users can now publish directly to .Mac Web Gallery. You get all the publishing features of iPhoto ’08, plus an option to allow visitors to download your original RAW files.
We hope you enjoy these improvements to .Mac Web Gallery. Thank you for being a .Mac member.
Sincerely,
The .Mac Team

Major Upgrade for Aperture

Apple has just released Aperture 2, "the next major release of its groundbreaking photo editing and management software with over 100 new features that make it faster, easier to use and more powerful. With a streamlined user interface and entirely new image processing engine, Aperture 2 also introduces new imaging tools for highlight recovery, colour vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning, and lets users directly post their portfolios on the .Mac Web Gallery* for viewing on the web, iPhone™, iPod® touch and Apple TV®. At a new low price of £129 (inc VAT), anyone can easily organise, edit and publish photos like a pro."

A Closed Apple Store Hints At New Products

The US Apple Store is closed for the moment. So what could this mean? New touchy-trackpad MacBook Pros?

More new Apple products by the end of February?

AppleInsider seem to think so. MIRA Mobile, the company that streams and records Apples keynotes and events are 'soliciting staffers' for a date on or after the 21st. It could be 'Penryn' powered MacBooks. Who knows?

Vintage Nerd Porn on Flickr.

Look at this beauty. Someone found a 20 year-old, unopened Apple //c on eBay and here are the photos of it being unboxed for the first time. He's gonna give that computer a lot of lovin', I can tell. Thanks to Wired's Cult of Mac for digging this up.

Don't be a Victim of Bullying (on iTunes). You do have a choice.

Don't you just hate it? When you go to the iTunes Store for a track to discover that it's an 'album-only' purchase? This happens to me quite a lot. The other day I wanted to buy the Soulwax remix of Ready For The Floor by Hot Chip. But iTunes wanted me to buy the whole E.P. for £1.99. After a quick look on my favourite subscription music shop, eMusic ended in disappointment as they only have their first album (probably from when Hot Chip were on an indie label). But then I remembered receiving an email from EMI. I dug it out of Mail and found out that EMI sell all of their music through the 7digital store, as top-quality 320Kbps MP3s for 99p a track (much better than iTunes 256k AAC 79p files). Jurassic Park!
It seems that more and more music download sites are switching from restricted WMAs to universally acceptable MP3s every day. I despise the fact that Apple still sells AAC files that don't play on anything other than an iPod. I recently bought my six year-old daughter a cheap Creative Zen Stone and spent hours in Audio Hijack re-recording her iTunes purchases and then re-encoding them as MP3s just so she could listen to them. In fact it annoyed me so much that I changed my iTunes preferences to encode my CDs as MP3 insted of Apple's AAC Format. Apple still have the best music store. You really have to spend hours trawling through eMusic and 7digital to find what you're after. But as an increasing ammount of record companies wake up to the fact that restricting music is a wate of time, I just wish that Apple would take note and give up on the whole freeplay AAC file format altogether as customers choose unrestricted quality over ease of use.

Duffy Live at Regent Street on the 15th Feb.

Gorgeous newcomer, Duffy - who's about to steal Amy Winehouse's crown (the singing crown, not the booze and drugs one)- will be the next artiste to play live at the flagship Store. Best get to the Apple Store before eight to join the queue as she's on at nine pm.

iPhone and iPod touch storage increase.

Today Apple have added a 16GB iPhone and 32GB iPod touch to their line-up. These join the models already available so you're gonna have to pay for the extra disk space I'm afraid. The new 16GB iPhone costs £329, and joins the 8GB model at £269. The 32GB iPod touch is £329, joining the 16GB model for £269 and the 8GB model for £199. Whatever happened to Moore's Law?

Before I forget - The MacBook Airs have finally made it over the pond and are in at the Regent Street Apple Store! They look quite small compared to the others. The MacBooks look as brick-like as the 4th Gen iPod did when the video iPods came out.

Jon Doty makes his own iMac.

Here's the poor man's way to get an all-in-one: strap a Mac mini to the back of a cheap monitor. Jon Doty explains how he did it for $50 on his site.
Why he feels the need to hide a beautifully designed product behind a cheap black plastic monitor beats me.

MacBook Air is shipping but AppleTV users will have to wait.

Straight from the Apple PR Horse's mouth:

Apple® today announced that MacBook Air™, the world’s thinnest notebook, is now shipping. MacBook Air measures an unprecedented 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, while its maximum height of 0.76-inches is less than the thinnest point on competing notebooks. Apple also announced that the new Apple TV® software update is not quite finished. Apple now plans to make the free software download available to existing Apple TV customers in another week or two.

MacBook Air has a stunning 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display, a full-size and backlit keyboard, a built-in iSight® video camera for video conferencing, and a spacious trackpad with multi-touch gesture support so users can pinch, rotate and swipe. MacBook Air is powered by a 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache, and includes as standard features 2GB of memory, an 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive, and the latest 802.11n Wi-Fi technology and Bluetooth 2.1.

Pricing & Availability
The new MacBook Air is now shipping and will be available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £1,199 (inc VAT), and includes:
• 13.3-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display with 1280x800 resolution;
• 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache;
• 800 MHz front-side bus;
• 2GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM;
• 80GB hard disk drive with Sudden Motion Sensor;
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100;
• Micro-DVI port (includes Micro-DVI to VGA and Micro-DVI to DVI Adapters);
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• one USB 2.0 port;
• one headphone port;
• multi-touch TrackPad with support for advanced multi-touch gestures including tap, scroll, pinch, rotate and swipe; and
• 45 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options and accessories for MacBook Air include the ability to upgrade to a 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor; 64GB solid state drive, MacBook Air SuperDrive®, Apple USB Ethernet Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter, Apple Remote and the AppleCare Protection Plan. Additional build-to-order options also include pre-installed copies of iWork™ ‘08, Logic® Express 8, Final Cut® Express 4 and Aperture™ 1.5.

The new Apple TV software will be available as a free automatic download to all Apple TV customers within two weeks. Apple TV, which includes the Apple Remote, is available from the Apple Store (www.apple.com/ukstore), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorised Resellers for a suggested retail price of £199 (inc VAT) for the 40GB model and £269 (inc VAT) for the 160GB model. Apple TV requires an 802.11g/n wireless network or 10/100 Base-T Ethernet networking, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition widescreen TV. iPod® games will not play on Apple TV. iTunes Movie Rentals are available in the US only.

*Movie rentals work on iPod classic, iPod nano with video and iPod touch.

Skateboard comes to iPhone and iPod touch.

This looks like quite an interesting use of the touchscreen. It's a game called Finger Fracture from trainer maker Vans. You choose a pair of Vans and each pair give you different 'rad' moves on a skateboard. It's what those advertising people call an 'advergame'. Rumour has it that Burger King are also developing gameverts(that sounds better) for the iPhone and touch. Could this be the begining of the end for the PSP? Read all about it on Brand Republic