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Some big changes were announced to the iWork suite of productivity applications today. Like iWork ’08, iWork ’09 includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers. Integration and sharing have been vastly improved across the suite, and it still offers excellent Microsoft Office compatibility.
The addition of iWork.com is huge. Much like Google Docs, you will be able to collaborate on projects by accessing your files online. Apple has not launched this yet in its full form, but it is available as a public beta once you have purchased iWork ’09.
In the following articles, you’ll find an overview of the highlighted new features.
“Read more about iWork here.”:http://www.apple.com/iwork/pages/
“Check out our coverage of Macworld 2009 on our blog.”:http://blog.smalldog.com
This week we are reviving a very popular special offer on previous generation 15-inch MacBook Pros. This special offer includes a MacBook Pro with 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, a 250GB hard drive, SuperDrive, a free Isis sleeve, and free shipping. “Click here to see this.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18719/
Before the introduction of the unibody MacBook Pros in late 2008, these were the top-of-the-line 15-inch MacBook Pros. We sold out of them a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately were able to find a few more at one of our distributors. It’s a great price on a fully loaded portable Mac.
“Note that this bundle is also available with AppleCare for $2199.99.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18718/
Noted features:
* Easily create formulas, using *visual placeholders with plain language text.*
* Perform calculations using *over 250 functions.*
* Organize your data instantly using *Table Categories.*
* Check your calculations at a glance with *Formula List view.*
* Create two-axis charts and combine line, column, and area series in a single mixed chart.
* Choose from *twelve new Apple-designed templates* (30 total).
* *Open, save, and email Microsoft Excel files* from within Numbers.
Pages received a bunch of updates this time around, most notably:
* *40 new Apple-designed templates* (for over 180 total).
* A new *full-screen view* option so that you can focus only on your writing!
* *Dynamic outlines* allow you to organize your ideas as they come.
* *Mail merge with Numbers* makes adding addresses, names and more really simple.
* MathType 6 and EndNote X2 (both sold separately) integration allows you to insert equations or bibliographies (respectively).
As always, you can open, save, and email Microsoft Word files from within Pages.
Millions of cheers were heard ’round the world when Phil Schiller announced some of the changes coming to the iTunes Store in April. The main one: all DRM-free music, meaning that songs can be played and burned without restriction. The four major record companies (Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI) are all now on board with the change, which was crucial to feature songs without the “DRM”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management encoding.
Beginning today, over 8 million songs in the iTunes Store feature:
* No DRM restrictions
* Higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually unchanged from the original
* Same price for song downloads onto iPhone 3G over their 3G network
The remaining 2 million songs in the 10 million+ iTunes library will be available without the DRM restrictions by the end of March. According to Apple, they will offer a “simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of previously purchased songs to the higher quality DRM-free iTunes Plus format” for 30 cents per song or 30 percent of the album price. Sounds intriguing, but it could get expensive… I say choose your favorites wisely!
In April, songs will be available at three price points: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. This will be dictated by what the music labels charge Apple for the above licensing.
“Read Apple’s entire press release here.”:http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/06itunes.html