Well apple had there annual macworld keynote and they announced some pretty amazing stuff.
Macbook AirApple stunned a nation today with the unveiling of a very ultra-thin new MacBook called the MacBook Air. 'The world's thinnest notebooks' starts at £1199 and comes with, a full sexy black keyboard, built-in 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, built-in iSight, and a multitouch trackpad that lets you use gestures to control a number of actions on the MacBook Air. Some other stats include:
* 1.6 GHz or 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 4MB L2 cache
* 2GB of RAM
* 80GB 1.8-inch hard drive (with optional 64 gig solid state drive
* 1 USB 2.0 port
* 13.3" LED screen
Alas it doesnt come with ethernet, firewire ports or optical drive. But you can get an external drive or use the new drive sharing feature so you can "Borrow" another persons drive. also an Ethernet to USB adapter for those who absolutely must use a wired network. For $29 you get a 10/100Base-T Ethernet connection and the opportunity to use up your one USB port for connectivity
Movie RentalsLibrary titles are $2.99, and new releases will be available 30 days after DVD release and will cost $3.99. Each movie will be available to download within 30 days, and once you start watching it, you'll have 24 hours to finish.
There is good news for HD viewers-- HD rentals will be available, but they'll cost an extra buck (so $3.99 and $4.99 for library titles and new releases. There'll be 100 HD titles starting today, and more all the time. And of course, movie rentals will be sync-able with the iPhone and iPod, or have the ability to be downloaded straight on to the revamped Apple TV.
US release today and europe later this year.
Time CapsuleApple has released Time Capsule, a NAS (network-attached storage) unit that will wirelessly sync with multiple instances of Time Machine, all the while also working as an 802.11n base station (there are three included ethernet ports as well). Time Capsule has wireless backup, wireless networking, and even a USB port for networked printing, a networked hard drive, or both with a USB hub.
And perhaps most amazing is the sheer size available-- it's $399 for a 500gb hard drive, and $499 for a 1 TB hard drive. Sure, that's a little pricey if you've got only one or two computers at home, but $500 for a complete (and completely wireless) backup solution for a house full of computers is a pretty nice setup.
I am so getting this as it is a great solution for me and my families macs. apple ftw
Itunes Digital CopyiTunes Digital Copy sort of snuck into the Keynote, but it is a pretty big deal (that we already knew about). Starting today if you buy any 20th Century Fox DVD that is labeled 'iTunes Digital Copy' you'll not only get the physical DVD, but a digital copy. Simply insert the disk into your Mac or PC, enter a unique code into iTunes, and iTunes will import a digital version of the movie onto your Mac/PC. You can view the movie on your Mac, iPod, or iPhone as many times as you like (since you own the movie) but the digital copy can only be imported into one iTunes library.
Apple TV Take 2While the Apple TV's form factor remains the same, the software interface has changed significantly. The most notable feature is the ability to buy music, movies and iTunes rentals directly from the device, no computer required. Frankly, this is something I think should have been included from the very beginning. The Apple TV will be able to playback HD and standard definition movies and support Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.
Additionally, Apple TV will now support interactive slideshows via Flickr and .Mac accounts.
There's one more change - one I also think is a big improvement to the overall product - the price has dropped. The 40 GB entry model is now just $229 USD (down from $299) and the 160 GB model is $329. Now that users actually have the ability to buy content directly from the device, and that HD content will be readily available, it has suddenly become much more attractive.
Current Apple TV owners can get the additional benefits via a software update now.
more updates to come
watch the keynote here