Leander Kahney - page 56

A major update of the Apple TV may be in the works.

Apple has slashed the price of the 160GB Apple TV to $229 (from $329) and discontinued the 40GB model. Meanwhile, it looks like Apple’s new iTunes LP — a new format for multimedia music bundles — is designed for high-resolution output on the AppleTV.

The iTunes LP content is output at 1,280-by-720, the native resolution of an Apple TV when hooked to a high-definition TV. Apple’s new iTunes Extras (bonus movie material usually included on bonus DVDs and now available for download on iTunes) is also designed to be output at the same high resolution. While this is natural for movie content, it’s a curious choice for music content, albeit multimedia music content, which might naturally be formatted for playing on computers and laptops.

Which all points to a major update for the Apple TV in the near future. The AppleTV hardware has remained essentially unchanged since its introduction, although it has received a couple of software upgrades.

The 160GB model is the only configuration of the Apple TV now on offer. The 40GB Apple TV was previously priced at $229.

Steve Jobs usually refers to the AppleTV as a “hobby,” and not a real business. The choice of movies for the device on the iTunes store remains relatively limited.

Apple TV on Amazon.

An astute MacRumors reader compared the pictures from iFixit’s teardown of the latest iPod touch with earlier leaked pictures of a prototype equipped with a camera — and the internal details are the same.

Look at the pictures after the jump. The internal circuit boards are indentical — and both are completely different to the second-generation touch.

Never mind what Steve Jobs tells the New York Times, the iPod Touch is getting a camera, likely sooner than later.

The new iPod Touch has an internal space for a camera, a teardown by iFixit has discovered. And there’s a couple more surprises also.

Apple has three new TV ads today.

Check them out.

A teardown of the new nano throws some light on the two big questions raised by Apple’s new iPod line: Why doesn’t the iPod touch have a camera, and why can’t the iPod nano take still pictures?

A popular tethering hack that allows your computer to access the internet via your iPhone’s cell connection is broken with the iPhone 3.1 update. The update also disables MMS messaging enabled by the same hack.

The hack is enabled by changing iPhone’s AT&T carrier file. It’s easily enabled by visiting sites like BenM.at using mobile Safari on the iPhone, and appears under the Network settings. The option is removed under 3.1.

AT&T will roll out multimedia messaging for the iPhone on Sept. 25, but hasn’t given a release date for tethering, saying only it will be available “in the future.”

Apple’s new fifth-generation iPod nano, now with a video camera, is a perfect pearl of 21st-century technology. It’s a lovely piece of electronic jewelry that does almost everything except dispense pints of beer.

It can record video, play movies, store weeks’ worth of music, wake you in the morning, remind you of a dental appointment, record how many steps you walked to work, and how long it took you. It remembers all your contacts, records voice memos, stores your shopping lists and plays a bunch of games that are controlled by tipping and tilting the beautiful little device.

It’s easy to get complacent about Apple’s iPods, new ones come out so often. They’ve got to be 3D holographic auto-mastubators to get anyone’s attention. But take a step back, and it’s pretty astonishing how much advanced technology is stuffed into such a tiny device, and how beautifully it’s done.

Singer Nick Cave has a new novel out: The Death of Bunny Munro, a light, cheery, life-affirming tale of the last days of a the eponymous traveling salesman. Just kidding — it’s dark. It’s also available as an audio book and an iPhone application.

But the best part is, guess what he used to write the first chapter?

When i was younger I worked as a house painter and had a great JVC boombox that blasted punk tunes to everyone’s annoyance.

That’s why I like Altec Lansing’s new $300 Mix iMT800, a ghettoblaster for the iPhone age.

The Mix Boombox is loud and obnoxious, like a boombox should be. It mixes old school block-rockin’ beats with new school digital connectivity. It easily fills a room with sound and can piss off the neighbors, even in the daytime.

Apple has posted some nice, high–res video of today’s “Rock & Roll” special press event. The video is available here and has been added to Apple’s Keynote podcast, although it isn’t yet linked from the iTunes front page.

It’s worth watching for four reasons:

* To see Steve’s heartfelt thanks to his liver donor, to Apple’s staff, and the Apple community, whose best wishes seems to have genuinely buoyed and touched him.
* The gaming demos. The iPhone/iPod touch platform is maturing into an important and fun game platform. The demos make this very clear. It isn’t for hard-core gamers, but the rest of us — the millions of casual gamers that only Nintendo seems to know how to engage.
* To see the preview of iTunes LP, and look for clues what the format might be like on a multitouch device (which I think is what project codename Cocktail is really about).
* To see Steve, who’s magnetic and charismatic and utterly watchable even when he’s very unwell. Who knows how many more times we’ll get to see him? These opportunities are getting rarer and rarer. Here’s hoping he makes an appearance at CES in Las Vegas in January to introduce the Apple tablet. And that he puts on 30lbs eating ice cream. I know it worked for me.

Earlier today Steve Jobs told the New York Times that the iPod touch is first and foremost a gaming device, and that’s why it doesn’t have a camera. We’re not entirely convinced, but look at this chart Apple trotted out this morning’s “Rock & Roll” event.

It shows the number of game and entertainment titles for the iPhone/iPod platform. Apple has almost five times the number of titles as the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS combined.

That’s a huge number. Yes, a lot of those titles are fart apps or simple throwaway games. But that’s still a lot of titles. My kids haven’t touched their GameBoys since we got an iPod touch.

This is why the iPod touch was upgraded with beefier CPU and graphics — to make it a better gaming machine. And no wonder every game company under the sun is rushing out apps — the iPhone/iPod platform is taking over. Add another industry to Steve Jobs’ quiver: PCs, digital music, computer animation, mobile internet and now games.

Via Silicon Valley Insider.

Remember John Lennon’s famous quip that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus?

Well, now Steve Jobs is bigger than the Beatles, says music-industry pundit Bob Lefsetz.

“Steve Jobs’ appearance today is the biggest story in the world,” he wrote today.

“What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where the biggest rock star doesn’t even play an instrument? I don’t know if you were online at 10 A.M. (1 P.M. on the east coast), but a roar was heard on the Internet louder than any audience explosion ever noted on a dB meter.  Steve Jobs hit the stage!”

Lefsetz has banged on about Jobs being a rock star before, but he is absolutely right.

Who’s heard a peep all day about the Beatles? It’s all been about Steve Jobs. And that’s because Apple has got someting new and fresh and honest, while the music industry is once again repackaging something old, something “that meant something once,” Lefsetz says.

Go read the whole thing.

Why doesn’t the new iPod touch have a camera? And why can’t the nano take still pictures? Steve Jobs gave David Pogue of the New York Times some answers…

iTunes 9 is available for download from Apple’s website, even though it isn’t yet showing up in Software Update. According to Apple, here is what’s new:

iTunes LP — song lyrics, liner notes, photos, and more.
Home Sharing — Transfer music, movies, and more between your computers at home.
New iTunes Store — The Redesigned iTunes Store. With a great new look, it’s even easier to explore.
iTunes Extras — Get an inside look at your favorite movies with new special features.
Genius Mixes — Genius makes up to twelve perfect music mixes, automatically.
Improved Syncing — Better ways to sync. And a new way manage apps on your Home screens.

Steve Jobs received a standing ovation at the beginning of today’s “Rock&Roll” special event. Watch the video after the jump and hear him thank the donor whose liver saved his life. It’s humble and touching.

The OS 3.1.1 update for iPhone and iPod touch is available now from Apple’s servers. Plug in your device, go to iTunes and hit “Update.”

Details after the jump.

While it’s great news that Steve Jobs is “vertical,” CultofMac’s readers are in revolt over the lack of a camera in the new iPod touch. One reader is even threatening to buy a Microsoft Zune.

“That pretty much seals the deal for me to go to Zune,” says reader Joan. “Darn, and I thought that Apple would have blown Zune’s top off today.”

Reader Miguel writes that he will not be upgrading his iPod Touch. “Big disappointment from Apple,” he says. “Hopefully they include it next year or before that.”

Why didn’t Apple upgrade the iPod touch with a camera? Here at CoM we suspect it’s the last-minute manufacturing glitches that were rumored to have delayed the new devices. After all, convincing photographs of a prototype, camera-equipped touch have been circulating, and case manufacturers are betting heavily that the iPod would get a backside camera.

CoM writer Giles Turnbull suspects it’s only a temporary manufacturing delay. Apple will add cameras as soon as the factories are ready.

Says Giles: “I think it’s coming, possibly sooner than people think. It’s madness to have a camera at the top end and bottom end and not in the middle, so common sense suggests it will be added to the touch as soon as manufacturing facilities can be secured for it.”

Wow. Big surprise. The iPod Touch isn’t getting a video camera, as was widely rumored. Only the iPod nano got a camera. Bummer.

The iPod touch does have a lower price point though: $199 for an 8GB model.

“The iPod mini used to sell for $250, and when we brought it down to $199, sales doubled,” said Phil Schiller. “We learned something: $199 is the magic price point in the iPod world. We’re bringing it down today to $199 for an 8GB iPod touch.”

Plus, the middle- and higher-end models get faster processors and double the storage capacity: 32 and 64GB.

Here’s the new price points and capacities:

8GB at $199
32GB at $299
64GB at $399

The 32GB and 64GB iPod Touch will be 50% faster, Schiller said, and run OpenGL ES 2.0, the same graphics engine used in the iPhone 3GS. Schiller showed the new iPods running several games at the event, which make use of the OpenGL ES 2.0 technology. The entry-level 8GB iPod touch is still running the older processor.

Update: The new iPod’s are available for order from Apple’s website:

Nano
iPod nano with video camera, 8GB for $149, 16GB for $179

Touch
iPod touch 8GB for $199
iPod touch 32GB for $299
iPod touch 64GB for $399

Shuffle
iPod shuffle 2GB MP3 Player for $59
iPod shuffle 4GB for $79
iPod shuffle 4GB Special Edition in Stainless Steel for $99

Phil Schiller just announced a new iPod Classic, which was widely rumored to be on its deathbed. Many expected the Classic — the last iPod to be based on a spinning hard drive — to be discontinued (not us here at CoM though), as Apple promoted the iPod Touch instead. Looks like that was premature.

The iPod Classic has been bumped up to 160GB $249, the same price as the previous 120 GB model. Available today, Apple says.

Steve just introduced iTunes 9. Available today as a free download, the new version adds:

* iTunes LP — includes videos, lyrics, liner notes, credits, chronologies and other digital content. Tries to recreate the LPs of Steve’s youth. The images are big and colorful, and its interactive. “The photos are amazing.” Thsi doesn;t sound like the rumored “Cocktail” project, which has been tied to the tablet, and is therefore probably a multitouch app. But perhaps iTunes LP is a precursor.

* Home sharing — iTunes lets you copy songs, movies and TV shows among the five authorized computers in your house. Automatically transfers new purchases between computers. This is a nice change. Media management between computers at home is a huge pain, and one of the reasons consumers download pirate content, because there are no DRM headaches. This should make sharing a lot easier.

* Better Syncing — Set up and manage your iPhone/touch Home Screen within iTunes. You manage what Apps go where via drag and drop. Another welcome change. Should make App management a lot easier.

* Redesigned Store — “Cleaner,” says Steve. Bigger images, lots more song previews. You no longer have to drill down to hear a song preview. Store can go full screen, dispensing with the sidebar. “Looking good,” says Gdgt.

* Genius mixes — auto DJ that mixes songs from your iTunes library that it thinks will go well together. iTunes will make 12 by default. Click one, and it’ll play indefinitely.

* Social software — publish items in iTunes to Facebook and Twitter, or send them as gifts.

Steve Jobs has just taken the stage and is getting a long standing ovation. “I’m vertical, back at Apple, loving every day of it,” he said.

“I’m very happy to be here with you all. As some of you might know, I had a liver transplant,” he told reporters and Apple staffers gather at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

His voice is very soft.

He said he now has the liver of a 20 year old who died in a car crash, and he thanks him for his generosity, says Gizmodo.

“I’d like to thank everyone in the Apple community for the heartfelt support — it meant a lot. I’d also like to thank Tim Cook and the rest of the Apple team, they really rose to the occasion.”

There’s a silver Aston Martin Vantage parked around the corner from Apple’s “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” event, which is about to kick off.

It’s in a spot where Steve Jobs has parked his Mercedes in the past, just to the side of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. There are several spots cordoned off with traffic cones, watched over by a guard with an Apple-logo shirt. I asked if it belonged to Jonatahn Ive, Apple’s head designer. He said, “Who?”

The Aston Martin is a Vantage and has a “V 007” license plate. Jonny Ive is known to drive a DB9, a $250,000 supercar imported from his homeland, Britain.

More pictures after the jump.

Basically: new iPods and iTunes, no Beatles and no tablet.

In declining order of likelihood, here’s what Apple will show off tomorrow:

On Monday, reader Abram Siegel’s iDisk showed 2TB of available storage. Yeah, that’s right — terabytes. The default iDisk storage is 20 gigabytes.

Siegel’s iDisk said 2TB when  logged on this morning and is still saying 2TB this evening. “Still showing,” he says. “Very strange.”

Even stranger, a few other people on MacRumors forums have also experienced the mystery 2TB upgrade.

Is it a common glitch, or is Apple upgrading accounts? Anyone else’s iDisk showing 2TB?

Spotify’s iPhone app has just gone live on the iTunes app store. But us poor Yankees are SOL. It’s available in Europe only — for now anyway.

The app is available here for free from Apple’s App Store, but requires a premium Spotify account to work at a cost of about £9.99 (about about $16) a month.

Neither the app nor Spotify is available in the U.S., but plans are afoot to bring the highly-rated service across the pond. It is set to come to the U.S. sometime later this year, or maybe next, pending licensing agreements with the record labels, and advertising deals that support the free service.

Because Spotify’s streaming music service is such a threat to iTunes, it was possible that Apple might somehow disable the iPhone app. Apple has disapproved of apps that replicate core iPhone functions, like Google Voice. While there is no indication yet that Apple cripples threatening apps, it doesn’t approve them. Apple perhaps doesn’t see the Spotify iPhone app as a threat while it is restricted to premium customers.

But Spotify’s app doesn’t seem to have any restrictions, except one imposed on all third-party apps — it can’t run in the background.

Spotify’s streaming music service has taken the world by storm with a music library that rivals iTunes — about 6 million tracks — and an interface to match. It’s dead easy to search, build playlists, and find new artists. It’s basically iTunes in the cloud — but free (with the occasional ad).

Spotify’s iPhone app adds a very important feature: it can cache full playlists to be played offline. You can store up to 3,333 songs — that’s 10 days constant listening — and they will play when the network goes dark. The offline caching service allows tracks to be played anywhere offline: on airplanes, in subways or even when traveling overseas to avoid roaming charges.

Official screenshots of the app and a video of it in action after the jump.