iWork '09: Pages

Happy Tuesday,

While I’m saddened there won’t be another Macworld keynote address, I’m thrilled that this last one was so exciting. The Places feature in iPhoto ’09 is both endlessly cool and useful; iMovie’s long list of improvements, particularly the image stabilization feature, brings the product into true prosumer territory; the 8GB of RAM option, green features, and huge advances in battery technology in the new 17″ MacBook Pro further demonstrate Apple’s commitment to environmental stewardship; and the iTunes store will pull even further into the lead as it eliminates DRM from every track offered by the big four record companies.

Phil Schiller was eloquent and focused in his delivery, and I look forward to seeing him on stage at other events in the future. Ed put it well: “Steve is like your crusty old austere grandfather, while Phil is the uncle you sneak beers with behind the barn.” This said, crusty old Steve did invent the reality distortion field and Phil couldn’t quite get it up and running.

Macworld is really just starting now. Don, Geoff, Art, and I are solidly booked all week with vendors, various Apple boards, industry colleagues, and, of course, lots of parties. Keep an eye on Barkings as we share our experiences throughout the week!

As always, thanks for reading and keep in touch.

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.

Featured updates:

* Easily create sophisticated animations with *Magic Move.*
* Add dramatic object and text transitions using *new visual effects.*
* Visualize your data with *new styles and animations* for 3D charts.
* Dramatically *reduce file size* without compromising quality.
* Create dynamic flowcharts and diagrams using *connection lines.*
* Choose from *eight new Apple-designed themes* (44 total).
* *Open, save, and email Microsoft PowerPoint files* from within Keynote.

Today at MacWorld, Phil Schiller introduced a brand-new 17″ MacBook Pro. The new MacBook shares the revolutionary aluminum unibody construction offered on the MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro. Other specs:

* .98 inches thin
* 6.6 pounds
* The world’s lightest and thinnest 17-inch notebook
* Features an LED backlit display, with 1920×1200 resolution. 700:1 contrast ratio, and 60% greater color gamut than the previous 17-inch display.
* Apple says “This is the best display we’ve ever shipped in a notebook.”

* 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core
* 6MB L2 Cache
* Up to 8GB memory at 1066 MHz DDR3.
* Glass trackpad with four-finger gestures and multi-button support.
* 320GB hard drive

* Three USB ports
* Mini DisplayPort for connecting to Apple’s new 24″ LED display
* FireWire 800 (no 400!)
* Digital audio in/out
* ExpressCard slot.
* Gigabit Ethernet
* MagSafe power adapter (duh)

* Built-in, non user-replaceable battery. This is an adaptive “smart battery” with built-in chips to maintain maximum charge and lifespan

* The battery can last up to eight hours, is good for about five years, and can be charged 1000 times. It is also fully recyclable.

* Battery life varies depending on graphics card used. With the 9600GT, battery life if seven hours. It is up to eight hours with the 9400M integrated graphics.

* All told, this is three hours longer than the previous 17-inch MacBook Pro, equalling a 60% increase in battery life.

* Also, for the first time with the new unibody MacBooks, Apple is offering an anti-glare option. It costs $50 more than the glossy display because the bezel has to be removed after it’s already assembled.

* $2799.99

“Click here to see this MacBook Pro on our website.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/72891

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/

On Monday, Google finally released a public beta of Picasa for the Mac. Picasa is a free desktop app for importing, editing, organizing and sharing digital images–particularly digital photos.

Picasa for Macs is a free download from “Picasa.google.com/mac/”:http://picasa.google.com/mac/. You need an Intel Mac running OS 10.4 or later.

Picasa has been a popular photo app on the Windows side for years. It shares some features with iPhoto, and adds some unique killer features. These include the ability to sync your Picasa desktop and Picasa Web Albums edits, screen captures, create and edit movies within Picasa, add text/watermarks to photos, manage folders on your computer, a collage creation, screensaver creation, and Facial-recognition technology. Privacy and sharing settings can be adjusted for individual photos, collections or for your entire library.

Preliminary tests show Picasa to be as fast or faster than iPhoto and easy and elegant to use. We’ll test further and review Picasa in detail in the future.

Google also offers Picasa Web Albums, which is an excellent web service for sharing and organizing photos. This has been Mac-compatible for years. There is an iPhoto plugin if you want to use Picasa Web Albums without necessarily using the desktop version of Picasa. “Click here to download this.”:http://picasa.google.com/mac_tools.html

Also, the new version of iPhoto ’09 looks amazing. News about Picasa for Mac has been swept under the rug with the announcement of iPhoto ’09.

Picasa Web Albums integrates tightly with Google’s Blogger service, along with many other blog platforms and web services. Picasa Web Albums is very easy to use, uploading is a breeze, and photos are nicely displayed online. Picasa Web Albums offers up to 1GB (“enough space for 4,000 wallpaper-size photos”) of photo hosting for free.

Flickr is still more popular and has deeper social network components then Picasa Web Albums. Again, we’ll do a detailed comparison in the near future.