[David Braue]

As you would see on the front page, we're covering the Macworld '09 keynote live thanks to the combined efforts of new AMW editor Chris Oaten, AMW publisher Nick Harris, US Macworld correspondents, and bleary-eyed AMW online editor David Braue, who will be here at 5am with a big mug of coffee to share the blow-by-blow of the announcements with you all.

Drop in to share your thoughts on whatever it is that's announced. Are you excited? Disappointed? Wondering what the big deal is with all this? Going back to bed?

[clinton1550]

As you would see on the front page, we're covering the Macworld '09 keynote live thanks to the combined efforts of new AMW editor Chris Oaten, AMW publisher Nick Harris, US Macworld correspondents, and bleary-eyed AMW online editor David Braue, who will be here at 5am with a big mug of coffee to share the blow-by-blow of the announcements with you all.

Drop in to share your thoughts on whatever it is that's announced. Are you excited? Disappointed? Wondering what the big deal is with all this? Going back to bed?

Well I'll be up at 5 am as well so that I can read all of the news before I go to work, then I'll probably be psyched about it all day, I'll tell everyone I know about it even if they don't care, which none of them do.

All will be revealed in just a few hours.

[David Braue]

Well I'll be up at 5 am as well so that I can read all of the news before I go to work, then I'll probably be psyched about it all day, I'll tell everyone I know about it even if they don't care, which none of them do.

All will be revealed in just a few hours.

Well, what does everybody think? New iLife, new iWork, new 17" MacBook? No updated mini, which is personally surprising since that rumour actually came from another company's press release and you wouldn't think they would build their own products around something that doesn't exist.

Personally, the iLife update was worth getting up early for me -- the improvements to iPhoto (especially face recognition) are long-awaited and will make my life much easier. iMovie '09 sounds like a real improvement that should satisfy the sceptics and save me some bother in my ongoing video-transfer efforts. iWork '09? Meh.

[clinton1550]

Face recognition in iPhoto, better geotagging support, hells yeah! It's just what I've wanted for the past year.

iMovie has a timeline now, I haven't even used iMovie 7 yet, none of my computers are powerful enough to run it but I know this is going to make many people very happy.

GarageBand's new learn to play feature, awesome! I can use it to learn how to play our piano.

iTunes Plus has been extended.

High-quality, DRM-free music.
iTunes Plus is the new standard on iTunes.
Now, you can choose from millions of iTunes Plus songs from all four major music labels and thousands of independents. With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So iTunes Plus music will play on iPod, Apple TV, all Mac and Windows computers, and many other digital music players. It’s also easy to upgrade your iTunes library to iTunes Plus. You don’t have to buy the song or album again. Just pay the 30¢ per song upgrade price. (Music video upgrades are 60¢ and entire albums can be upgraded for 30 percent of the album price.)

I'm rather shocked and disappointed, no new mini, what gives? There hasn't been a silent update either, I just checked the US Apple Store it's the same Mac mini but now it comes with iLife 09.

Seriously, what happened to the NVIDA powered, Firewire 800ed, extra USB ported, Mini DisplayPorted and Mini DVI ported wonder the rumors promised me.

Final nail in the mini's coffin? Yes, I'm starting to think so.

No new iMac either! they were going to be quad core marvels and there was supposed to be a high end 28" model.

[clinton1550]

More on iTunes Plus:

This is a special offer to upgrade your entire music library of previously purchased songs and albums. You will be charged $0.50 Inc GST a song and 30% of the current album price and $1.00 a music video to upgrade. Just click Buy and the new versions of all your music below will be downloaded in iTunes Plus. This page updates automatically as we add more music in iTunes Plus. Please check back often!

fifty cents a track plus 30% of the current album price! What a rip off! I only have one album available to update and it's going to cost me $5.10 to do it.

[clinton1550]

Guided Tours of iPhoto and iMovie available. Must watch!

http://www.apple.com/ilife/guided-tours/

EDIT: Places is (expletive) awesome! It's just what I wanted. watch the tour and be amazed.

EDIT EDIT: Timeline in iMovie is now called Precision Editor

EDIT EDIT EDIT: The Video stabilisation feature is… holy crap it's good! Watch the guided tour, they made hand held footage look like it was shoot on a dolly.

[skyhawkmatthew]

I'm only really interested in iWork '09 and iTunes Plus - Dad got a new 17" earlier this year, and I have Aperture + FCE to do my photos/video. I've just finished migrating everything to Aperture; I'M NOT GOING BACK

[clinton1550]

I'm only really interested in iWork '09 and iTunes Plus - Dad got a new 17" earlier this year, and I have Aperture + FCE to do my photos/video. I've just finished migrating everything to Aperture; I'M NOT GOING BACK

Fair enough, I'll be sticking with iPhoto, places is just too cool.

[gazza]

Thankyou to David, Nick and Chris for bringing us the ball-by-ball description. It's taken me about 30 minutes to read through the notes and now I'm trying to absorb what it all means for me personally and for the Apple world generally.

The most glaring "omissions" are of course the updated Mini and the iMac! These rumours came from what have been reliable(?) sources in the past - boy will they have a hard time extracting their foot from their mouth today!!

One question from me - what effect does the "new" iTunes have on your existing music collection? Not everyone will be prepared to update their tracks. Will we be "forced" to upgrade to be able to integrate our existing tracks with new ones that we purchase?

Hmmm...... I'm just going to sit back for a while and wait for the post mortems to kick-in and cover the effects of all the changes.

gazza

[skyhawkmatthew]

No, there's no 'forced upgrade'; you just go to the iTunes Plus section of iTunes and pay to have the bitrate doubled and DRM removed. You can stay with your lower-quality, DRM-ed music if you don't wish to pay

[AppleConvert]

Overall interesting stuff - good to see they're moving forward with iLife and iWork and the Keynote Remote app for the iPhone will be great for a lot of people who do presentations.

The 17" MBP update was just a - oops we couldn't finish it in time for October last years announcement on Unibody MacBooks so we'll show it here. Sure it's thinner, lighter, longer battery life as well which is nice but nothing too earth-shattering.

DRM-free iTunes has been an on again, off again discusssion for ages now - it'll be nice to see if Apple follow through completely this time.

Now we know why Steve Jobs wasn't giving the keynote - nothing really earth-shattering to tell people about. No updated Mac Mini, no fabled netbook, nothing that new. I realise that Apple can't always be bringing out world/market changing products - that my own false expectation. I do expect more from Apple during the year though - at a time of their own choosing.

Thank you to AMW people who brought the blow-by-blow to us.

[Ken Gracey]

Boring boring boring - o and did I mention boring.

No wonder Steve didn't show up he would have been booed off stage, it will be intersting to see the share price today, I think it will take a nose dive.

And I still stick to my comment from months ago the mini is dead




Tl

[clinton1550]

I've just found the System requirements for iLife 09, jeeze they make you dig for them.

http://www.apple.com/ilife/systemrequirements.html

iLife ’09 System Requirements

• Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor
• iMovie requires an Intel-based Mac, Power Mac G5 (dual 2.0GHz or faster), or iMac G5 (1.9GHz or faster).
• GarageBand Learn to Play requires an Intel-based Mac with a dual-core processor or better.
• 512MB of RAM; 1GB recommended. High-definition video requires at least 1GB of RAM.
• Approximately 4GB of available disk space
• DVD drive required for installation
• Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
• QuickTime 7.5.5 or later (included)
• AVCHD video requires a Mac with an Intel Core Duo processor or better. Visit iMovie ’09 Camcorder Support for details on digital video device and format support.
• 24-bit recording in GarageBand requires a Mac OS X-compatible audio interface with support for 24-bit audio. Please consult the owner’s manual or manufacturer directly for audio device specifications and compatibility.
• Some features require Internet access and/or MobileMe; additional fees and terms apply. MobileMe is available to persons age 13 and older. Annual subscription fee and Internet access required. Terms of service apply.
• iPhoto print products are available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, and select countries in Europe and Asia Pacific.
• GarageBand Artist Lessons are sold separately and are available directly through the GarageBand Lesson Store in select countries.
• Burning DVDs requires an Apple SuperDrive or compatible third-party DVD burner.
• Flickr service is available only in select countries.

[golfer]

What a lame keynote. Apple would have been better off not having a keynote at all.

[David Holloway]

Where's my MegaNewton??



Very impressed with iLife 09 on the face of it, looking forward to delving into GarageBand in particular when I get my hands on a copy.

[JZ]

I know I'm probably alone, I haven't watched the keynote but I love new software. Great software is what makes apple so good and all their hardware is fantastic at the moment. We can't always have an iPhone moment. And I agree with TLCAUS the mini is dead.

[rachp]

I guess I can go buy my AppleTV now. I'm sure there will be an upgrade soon but I'm not going to wait.

Let's just hope I can find a 160GB one as they seem to be very scarce!

[skyhawkmatthew]

I wouldn't really bother with the 160GB Apple TV - we have the 40GB one, and just stream everything to it. There's just a bit of music stored locally on the device.

[gazza]

I guess I can go buy my AppleTV now. I'm sure there will be an upgrade soon but I'm not going to wait.

Let's just hope I can find a 160GB one as they seem to be very scarce!

If you really want the 160GB version here is a link to an Ozzie store which has 5 in stock for order online at what appears to be a good price in comparison to others I saw quoted.

gazza

[thomasina]

More on iTunes Plus:
fifty cents a track plus 30% of the current album price! What a rip off! I only have one album available to update and it's going to cost me $5.10 to do it.

Are you sure it's not $0.50 a track OR 30% of the current album price, depending on whether you're upgrading individual songs or a whole album?